As I long-time EDF customer, I reckoned it's time I had a look at other
suppliers. I'd read somewhere that uSwitch and similar sites weren't
quite as independent as they seemed (is that right or wrong?), so went
to MoneySuperMarket to have a look, although I'm not sure that's much
better.

I eventually found myself at
http://www.moneysupermarket.com/utilities/gas-electricity-prices.aspx
to have a look at available tariffs, and couldn't believe what I was
seeing. Is that what a deregulated market is supposed to be doing? There
are over *2000* tariffs on that page!

How can anyone work their way through this insanity of tariffs? I know
there are apps and webpages designed to help you through the maze, but
should Ofgem be allowing this in the first place?

--

Jeff

Yes I just suggested to EDF that the current 9 percent rise, which I'm
protected from till end of June, is probably there so the next hears
discount rate. known as Blue, will actually look better.
Offgen said today the current recent rises are unjustifiable in its eyes,
well yes I n that case bloody do something about it then!
The thing is, in theory all they are selling you is a billing system are
they not? all Gas and Electricity still comes down the same bits of pipe and
wires, and one supposes the costs would be the same to all the companies, so
that being the case one would expect similar stable pricing to be possible.
My guess is inept wasteful running and the tendency to subsidise things
like big power stations like the one being part funded by EDF from the
punters bills.
Then there is this farce called smart meters. The regulator told the blind
charities at a recent conference on accessibility that now it was possible
for all new remote units to be purchased by the companies with selectable
speech output, yet when I asked EDF they knew nothing about it at all.

I'm just glad this bunch are nopot in charge of my pension, I'd end up
paying them.
Brian

--
----- -
This newsgroup posting comes to you directly from...
The Sofa of Brian Gaff...

Blind user, so no pictures please!
"Jeff Layman" wrote in message
news
As I long-time EDF customer, I reckoned it's time I had a look at other
suppliers. I'd read somewhere that uSwitch and similar sites weren't quite
as independent as they seemed (is that right or wrong?), so went to
MoneySuperMarket to have a look, although I'm not sure that's much better.

I eventually found myself at
http://www.moneysupermarket.com/utilities/gas-electricity-prices.aspx to
have a look at available tariffs, and couldn't believe what I was seeing.
Is that what a deregulated market is supposed to be doing? There are over
*2000* tariffs on that page!

How can anyone work their way through this insanity of tariffs? I know
there are apps and webpages designed to help you through the maze, but
should Ofgem be allowing this in the first place?

--

Jeff

Jeff Layman wrote:

http://www.moneysupermarket.com/utilities/gas-electricity-prices.aspx
to have a look at available tariffs, and couldn't believe what I was
seeing. Is that what a deregulated market is supposed to be doing? There
are over *2000* tariffs on that page!

Some of those tariffs are a decade old, so I presume most of them are
unavailable now, I think each supplier is limited to four tariffs (per
fuel).

If you have a year-old bill available, find your annual gas and electric
usage in kWh and feed that plus your address into

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/cheapenergyclub

if you tell it your existing tariff it will compare differences with
that, but if you don't know then tell it whatever supplier you like, but
disregard whatever comparative "saving" it tells you back in return.

You can choose whether to look at all deals (including those from new or
tiny suppliers you've never heard of) or only to pick from more well
known names.

I've never had the slightest bit of spam from them, and they're honest
about how much kickback they get, and they share some of it with you.

On 13/04/2017 08:24, Jeff Layman wrote:
As I long-time EDF customer, I reckoned it's time I had a look at other
suppliers. I'd read somewhere that uSwitch and similar sites weren't
quite as independent as they seemed (is that right or wrong?), so went

They are probably not entirely trustworthy in terms of "savings" since
they assume you are on the maximal ripoff tariff of your present
supplier when your contract ends instead of the most sensible one. This
is your suppliers default action and plenty of elderly people are on it!

Correct for that aberration and the site is fine - although you should
always go and run the same scenario through the suppliers website before
you commit to make sure their best offer hasn't changed recently.

The savings made still have the right order but the magnitude has a
fixed offset (check to see where your current suppliers best is).

to MoneySuperMarket to have a look, although I'm not sure that's much
better.

I eventually found myself at
http://www.moneysupermarket.com/utilities/gas-electricity-prices.aspx
to have a look at available tariffs, and couldn't believe what I was
seeing. Is that what a deregulated market is supposed to be doing? There
are over *2000* tariffs on that page!

That is *exactly* what a deregulated market looks like. You can sort to
show minimum standing charge, minimum unit rate first etc. The idea is
to offer so much choice consumers can't see the wood for the trees.

How can anyone work their way through this insanity of tariffs? I know
there are apps and webpages designed to help you through the maze, but
should Ofgem be allowing this in the first place?

That is the whole point - make the process painful enough and people
give up on the idea of changing supplier because it is too difficult.

The thing that Ofgem should be doing is forcing suppliers to put their
customers onto the most suitable tariff for them instead of their
maximal ripoff variable tariff when a fixed term contract expires.

Customer loyalty counts for nothing these days - if you are loyal to
your supplier then they will rip you off it is as simple as that.

--
Regards,
Martin Brown

On 13/04/2017 08:24, Jeff Layman wrote:

Is that what a deregulated market is supposed to be doing?

As others have said, yes. Many people think they want a much more
tightly regulated market. Oddly, they are rarely people who wanted to
be spared choice in other areas and would have been happy to drive a
Trabant.

If you want a comparison site try

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/cheapenergyclub



--
Robin
reply-to address is (intended to be) valid

Martin Brown wrote:

The thing that Ofgem should be doing is forcing suppliers to put their
customers onto the most suitable tariff for them instead of their
maximal ripoff variable tariff when a fixed term contract expires.

As I have said before (somewhere!) the first supplier that actually
offers a system whereby you are charged at the end of each year (or
other interval) using the 'best' tariff (i.e. the one that costs you
least) will get a lot of business won't it? In fact I'd have thought
people will swarm to it.

The same applies for mobile phone charges and such.

--
Chris Green
·

On 13/04/2017 08:24, Jeff Layman wrote:
As I long-time EDF customer, I reckoned it's time I had a look at other
suppliers. I'd read somewhere that uSwitch and similar sites weren't
quite as independent as they seemed (is that right or wrong?), so went
to MoneySuperMarket to have a look, although I'm not sure that's much
better.

I eventually found myself at
http://www.moneysupermarket.com/utilities/gas-electricity-prices.aspx
to have a look at available tariffs, and couldn't believe what I was
seeing. Is that what a deregulated market is supposed to be doing? There
are over *2000* tariffs on that page!

How can anyone work their way through this insanity of tariffs? I know
there are apps and webpages designed to help you through the maze, but
should Ofgem be allowing this in the first place?


One of the things the government did was to stop comparison sites having
contracts with energy supplies that ensured their prices were the lowest
available. The idea was to introduce competition between the comparison
sites, thus ensuring that you can not trust them.

I pick a contract with supplier that is shown as cheaper at a number of
comparison sites. I just look at estimated annual cost, ignoring any
estimates of savings.

It is important to select another supplier when the contract expires to
stop being charged some exorbitant standard price.

I can buy a years supply of heating oil and have it delivered the next
day. It can take 3-4 weeks to change electricity supplier, although all
they need is a meter reading.

--
Michael Chare

On 13/04/2017 09:37, Chris Green wrote:
Martin Brown wrote:

The thing that Ofgem should be doing is forcing suppliers to put their
customers onto the most suitable tariff for them instead of their
maximal ripoff variable tariff when a fixed term contract expires.

As I have said before (somewhere!) the first supplier that actually
offers a system whereby you are charged at the end of each year (or
other interval) using the 'best' tariff (i.e. the one that costs you
least) will get a lot of business won't it? In fact I'd have thought
people will swarm to it.

They will get a lot of business but they will not be anything like as
profitable as the price gougers. Many people are on default tariffs
because they don't pay attention to the billing info sent to them and
fail to act on the "helpful" advice contained in it.

Doing nothing gets you put on the most expensive tariff the company
offers. Not quite as bad as the PAYG meter in the home option but still
way more expensive than their best deal.

The same applies for mobile phone charges and such.


A surprising number of middle aged people are still paying for a mobile
phone contract which includes a premium for a new phone long after the
deal has expired and with an old phone. They could save a decent sum by
switching to SIM only or have a much newer phone at equal cost.

Inertia selling is a powerful force which is why there are so many
bargain introductory offers that vanish after 12/24 months to be
replaced by some form of ripoff.

Mobile phone contracts rely on people not using anything like the
monthly resources they have contracted. I could use way more data but
seldom spend more than 30 minutes on my mobile phone and I never get
close to my infinite number of txts. One or two a day being typical.

--
Regards,
Martin Brown

"Brian Gaff" wrote in message
news
Yes I just suggested to EDF that the current 9 percent rise, which I'm
protected from till end of June, is probably there so the next hears
discount rate. known as Blue, will actually look better.
Offgen said today the current recent rises are unjustifiable in its eyes,
well yes I n that case bloody do something about it then!
The thing is, in theory all they are selling you is a billing system are
they not? all Gas and Electricity still comes down the same bits of pipe
and wires, and one supposes the costs would be the same to all the
companies,

no

some hedge by entering into pre-purchasing agreements with the suppliers.

This means they win if prices go up, but will lose if prices go down

This loss has to be recouped somehow

On 13/04/17 09:37, Robin wrote:
On 13/04/2017 08:24, Jeff Layman wrote:

Is that what a deregulated market is supposed to be doing?

As others have said, yes. Many people think they want a much more
tightly regulated market. Oddly, they are rarely people who wanted to
be spared choice in other areas and would have been happy to drive a
Trabant.

But I don't know if a deregulated market is supposed to be doing that.
It might be the result of deregulation, but is it the intended result?

Just make a comparison with food shopping. You want to try a different
coffee so you look on the supermarket shelves. Maybe there are ten or so
different brands and each has two or three jar sizes, and perhaps a
couple of "special offers". Quite difficult to make your mind up, maybe,
based on cost. But what if there were 1000 options? Sure, you can look
at the shelf labels which usually show "X pence for y grams" or
whatever, and save some time finding the cheapest, but it would still
take ages. And if that was the case for *everything* you wanted to buy,
you'd spend your whole life shopping, as probably next week the offers
would be different.

It's so much easier with petrol. You drive past a garage which says
120p/l. The next garages could be above or below that, so you know which
to buy. Correct me if I'm wrong, but petrol is just another type of
deregulated fuel, so why is it so different for gas and electricity? I
do believe that Martin Brown is quite right " The idea is to offer so
much choice consumers can't see the wood for the trees."

If you want a comparison site try

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/cheapenergyclub

Thanks, I'd missed that link on MSE's rather confusing Gas and Elec
pages. I'll have a look.

--

Jeff

Jeff Layman wrote:

How can anyone work their way through this insanity of tariffs? I know
there are apps and webpages designed to help you through the maze, but
should Ofgem be allowing this in the first place?

Whilst I quite agree about the insanity of the current situation,
I don't really see a happy ending any time soon.

If the utilities were somehow constrained to limit their tariffs,
or automatically give everybody the best deal, simple maths
suggests that those of us who have been busily changing deals
would actually be worse off, since they would still strive to
maintain the same overall profit levels.

Chris
--
Chris J Dixon Nottingham UK


Plant amazing Acers.

On 13/04/2017 13:11, Jeff Layman wrote:
On 13/04/17 09:37, Robin wrote:
On 13/04/2017 08:24, Jeff Layman wrote:

Is that what a deregulated market is supposed to be doing?

As others have said, yes. Many people think they want a much more
tightly regulated market. Oddly, they are rarely people who wanted to
be spared choice in other areas and would have been happy to drive a
Trabant.

But I don't know if a deregulated market is supposed to be doing that.
It might be the result of deregulation, but is it the intended result?

No it is a side effect. The intended result was to encourage people to
change energy supplier but it just hasn't worked. The most vulnerable in
society typically without internet are on the worst possible tariff.

The suppliers are offering a huge choice and you just have to work out
which one is best for you. Anything is better than std variable rate.

Just make a comparison with food shopping. You want to try a different
coffee so you look on the supermarket shelves. Maybe there are ten or so
different brands and each has two or three jar sizes, and perhaps a
couple of "special offers". Quite difficult to make your mind up, maybe,
based on cost. But what if there were 1000 options? Sure, you can look

There are 246 sorts of coffee on Tescos online groceries today (and they
have cut down their range as a part of rationalisation):

https://www.tesco.com/groceries/prod...&Ne=4294793660

FWIW Gold Blend 200g and Milicano 170g are both on decent offers.

at the shelf labels which usually show "X pence for y grams" or
whatever, and save some time finding the cheapest, but it would still
take ages. And if that was the case for *everything* you wanted to buy,
you'd spend your whole life shopping, as probably next week the offers
would be different.

It is always amusing to look for the ones where thanks to offers you pay
more for less as a result of confusion marketing.

It's so much easier with petrol. You drive past a garage which says
120p/l. The next garages could be above or below that, so you know which
to buy. Correct me if I'm wrong, but petrol is just another type of
deregulated fuel, so why is it so different for gas and electricity?

You have to think about buying fuel fairly regularly or your car will
stop working. Even so there are price gougers about - you have to be
pretty dumb or desperate to buy fuel at a motorway service station.

AA keeps an eye on it and reports monthly. Several geolocation apps will
find you the nearest petrol station with a good price.

do believe that Martin Brown is quite right " The idea is to offer so
much choice consumers can't see the wood for the trees."

They are limited to four tariffs per supplier these days. I think you
must have found an archive of every tariff that ever was or something.

Use one of the price comparison sites but double check the numbers again
on the actual suppliers site before you commit to anything.

The first ever switch from your historical geographic supplier to any
other makes the largest saving and then dual fuel will refine it.

Any of the fixed deals is better than the do nothing default.

--
Regards,
Martin Brown

On Thu, 13 Apr 2017 08:53:02 +0100, Martin Brown wrote:

The thing that Ofgem should be doing is forcing suppliers to put their
customers onto the most suitable tariff for them instead of their
maximal ripoff variable tariff when a fixed term contract expires.

I was pleasantly surprised when my fix with Flow Energy was nearing the end
and I had an e-mail offering a new fix at v. little more. Going via
EnergySaving Club showed a couple that were a few quid cheaper but they had
bad reputations for CS, so I stayed put.
--
Peter.
The gods will stay away
whilst religions hold sway

I actually emailed EDF about their latest hike and the lady said they were
not told anything about the new price rise yet, the first they heard was on
the news.
Rather says it all does it not.
Mushroom management at its best.

She suggested that I'd probably get the best deal by looking for aquote
from them before the price rise kicks in as the quotes are computer
generated and last for a year when you sign up so although it will be higher
for a couple of months than it would have been if I leave it, it might well
be a winner after it goes up as it will be fixed for the whole year. However
if it goes down, you might end up paying too much.
One gets the distinct impression the whole thing is grabbed out of thin air
as nobody really knows what is going on.
I have other things to think of with power companies.
A: I only have Electricity, so quotes from other vendors are often higher
B: I need to make sure I can get readable bills by email.
The problem often is that the bills many send out via email or on line are
just photos of what you would get in the post, which then needs to be
optically character recognised to read it for a blind user.
On top of that many of the other companies are just fitting smart meters
but the inaccessible kind without the speech on the remote unit and I'd
rather hang on for the new one to be ready, which according to Offgen it is,
but nobody else even acknowledges there is one but EDF and I'm still trying
to get a straight answer from them. At present they tell me it cannot cope
with economy 7, which I find hard to imagine as it is after all just a
different timed costing of units at certain hours of the day. Hardly rocket
science.
Brian

--
----- -
This newsgroup posting comes to you directly from...
The Sofa of Brian Gaff...

Blind user, so no pictures please!
"Chris J Dixon" wrote in message
...
Jeff Layman wrote:

How can anyone work their way through this insanity of tariffs? I know
there are apps and webpages designed to help you through the maze, but
should Ofgem be allowing this in the first place?

Whilst I quite agree about the insanity of the current situation,
I don't really see a happy ending any time soon.

If the utilities were somehow constrained to limit their tariffs,
or automatically give everybody the best deal, simple maths
suggests that those of us who have been busily changing deals
would actually be worse off, since they would still strive to
maintain the same overall profit levels.

Chris
--
Chris J Dixon Nottingham UK


Plant amazing Acers.

On 13/04/17 15:11, Martin Brown wrote:
On 13/04/2017 13:11, Jeff Layman wrote:

at the shelf labels which usually show "X pence for y grams" or
whatever, and save some time finding the cheapest, but it would still
take ages. And if that was the case for *everything* you wanted to buy,
you'd spend your whole life shopping, as probably next week the offers
would be different.

It is always amusing to look for the ones where thanks to offers you pay
more for less as a result of confusion marketing.

Yes, I often see larger packs costing proportionally more than smaller
pack as a result of those offers. I wonder if it's due to stupidity or a
deliberate ploy. No I don't - we both know the answer!

do believe that Martin Brown is quite right " The idea is to offer so
much choice consumers can't see the wood for the trees."

They are limited to four tariffs per supplier these days.

I'm not sure that's quite as straightforward as it appears. I looked at
the Ofgem pages relating to tariffs and the actual wording refers to
four *core* tariffs. These are defined - in crystal clear English - as
follows:
"The charges for supply of electricity/gas combined with all other terms
and conditions that apply, or are in any way linked, to a particular
type of contract for the supply of gas/electricity to a domestic
customer excluding certain matters such as dual fuel discounts,
variations in charges relating to payment method, appropriate surcharges
and optional additional services or products."

Once those "excluding certain matters" start appearing, the four core
tariffs soon multiply!

I think you must have found an archive of every tariff that ever was or something.

Well, it was the bottom left link "Energy price changes" at the webpage
https://www.moneysupermarket.com/gas-and-electricity/

I'd ask moneysupermarket.com for a comment but I don't want to have the
bother of unsubscribing from spam.

Use one of the price comparison sites but double check the numbers again
on the actual suppliers site before you commit to anything.

Will do. Thanks for the advice.

--

Jeff

Jeff Layman wrote:

Yes, I often see larger packs costing proportionally more than smaller
pack as a result of those offers. I wonder if it's due to stupidity or a
deliberate ploy. No I don't - we both know the answer!

I challenged Sainsbury's last year:

"I am puzzled about the way you organise your multibuy pricing,
when there are larger or multipacks also available. To look at
particular examples from my regular shopping list:

For quite a while you have had an offer on Sainsbury's Meusli
Fruit and Nut 750g "Buy any 2 for £4.00", which still works out
2p more expensive than the 1.5kg pack, making your on line flash
"Save Money" impossible to justify.

On the other hand, you have recently changed your offer on
Sainsbury's Pure Apple Juice "Buy any 2 for £1.50" which makes it
40p cheaper to buy singles instead of your 4 pack.

It is clearly not always best to accept the offer, nor always to
go for the bigger pack.

Is this just some strange marketing ploy taking advantage of the
fact that not everybody has the time or inclination to do the
maths? "

After a few unsatisfactory emails, their final response was:

"Some of our customers prefer to purchase smaller pack items
whereas other customers prefer multibuys. By having various
offers available this allows our customers to make an informed
choice when shopping."

I contend that those lacking time, inclination or ability to do
the maths will certainly not be able to make an informed choice.

Chris
--
Chris J Dixon Nottingham UK


Plant amazing Acers.

On 13/04/2017 08:45, Andy Burns wrote:
Jeff Layman wrote:

http://www.moneysupermarket.com/utilities/gas-electricity-prices.aspx
to have a look at available tariffs, and couldn't believe what I was
seeing. Is that what a deregulated market is supposed to be doing? There
are over *2000* tariffs on that page!

If you have a year-old bill available, find your annual gas and electric
usage in kWh and feed that plus your address into

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/cheapenergyclub

^^^^^^^^^^ This ^^^^^^^^^^

--
F

In article , Jeff Layman
writes
As I long-time EDF customer, I reckoned it's time I had a look at other
suppliers. I'd read somewhere that uSwitch and similar sites weren't
quite as independent as they seemed (is that right or wrong?), so went
to MoneySuperMarket to have a look, although I'm not sure that's much
better.

I eventually found myself at
http://www.moneysupermarket.com/utilities/gas-electricity-prices.aspx
to have a look at available tariffs, and couldn't believe what I was
seeing. Is that what a deregulated market is supposed to be doing?
There are over *2000* tariffs on that page!

How can anyone work their way through this insanity of tariffs? I know
there are apps and webpages designed to help you through the maze, but
should Ofgem be allowing this in the first place?

Input your usage figures and the comparison web site will sort them for
you but beware that
a there comparison is with your current suppliers variable tariff not
the one you are currently on
b all these sites take commission so will list those who pay them first.
Look for the small print to click on to show all suppliers
c not all suppliers appear on these web sites.

If you think this is a mess think what it would be like if you didn't
have internet access.
--
bert

On 13/04/2017 13:25, Chris J Dixon wrote:


If the utilities were somehow constrained to limit their tariffs,
or automatically give everybody the best deal, simple maths
suggests that those of us who have been busily changing deals
would actually be worse off, since they would still strive to
maintain the same overall profit levels.



Yews that is what I fear.


--
Michael Chare

On 13/04/17 08:45, Andy Burns wrote:

If you have a year-old bill available, find your annual gas and electric
usage in kWh and feed that plus your address into

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/cheapenergyclub

if you tell it your existing tariff it will compare differences with
that, but if you don't know then tell it whatever supplier you like, but
disregard whatever comparative "saving" it tells you back in return.

You can choose whether to look at all deals (including those from new or
tiny suppliers you've never heard of) or only to pick from more well
known names.

I've never had the slightest bit of spam from them, and they're honest
about how much kickback they get, and they share some of it with you.

I guess could always use a "disposable" email address I can create.

But there are a couple of other things I don't like about the Cheap
Energy Club process. Why do they need my *full* address? As far as I can
see, uSwitch only need a postcode (which is all the energy suppliers
need to give you a quote). If I live at No 55, surely it's not going to
make any difference at 54 and 56. The popup box actually states "We need
your address to be able to find your cheapest deal as it differs from
area to area". Since when did "area to area" become a specific address?

And then I can't opt out of getting email alerts for price savings. I
could set it at the maximum of £250, and probably never get any alert,
but that shouldn't be necessary. There should be a "no thanks" option.

--

Jeff

Jeff Layman wrote:

Andy Burns wrote:

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/cheapenergyclub

I guess could always use a "disposable" email address I can create.

I use tailored email addresses for everything, the energyclub one has
only ever received relevant messages from them (progress of switch,
notification of cashback, reminders about end of tariff, triggered
savings limits) never spam.

But there are a couple of other things I don't like about the Cheap
Energy Club process. Why do they need my *full* address?

If you use them to switch to a new supplier, they need accurate details
to pass on, if you're just using them for comparison, give them the
address and postcode of the local chippy :-)

And then I can't opt out of getting email alerts for price savings. I
could set it at the maximum of £250, and probably never get any alert,
but that shouldn't be necessary. There should be a "no thanks" option.

Hadn't noticed there wasn't an opt-out, but as you say just push it to a
silly high saving.

On Thu, 13 Apr 2017 08:24:15 +0100, Jeff Layman
wrote:

As I long-time EDF customer, I reckoned it's time I had a look at other
suppliers. I'd read somewhere that uSwitch and similar sites weren't
quite as independent as they seemed (is that right or wrong?), so went
to MoneySuperMarket to have a look, although I'm not sure that's much
better.

I eventually found myself at
http://www.moneysupermarket.com/utilities/gas-electricity-prices.aspx
to have a look at available tariffs, and couldn't believe what I was
seeing. Is that what a deregulated market is supposed to be doing? There
are over *2000* tariffs on that page!

How can anyone work their way through this insanity of tariffs? I know
there are apps and webpages designed to help you through the maze, but
should Ofgem be allowing this in the first place?

It is worth noting that as soon as you provide your personal details
to these comparison sites they run a credit check on you.
- Mike

On 13/04/2017 19:00, Chris J Dixon wrote:
Jeff Layman wrote:

Yes, I often see larger packs costing proportionally more than smaller
pack as a result of those offers. I wonder if it's due to stupidity or a
deliberate ploy. No I don't - we both know the answer!

I challenged Sainsbury's last year:

"I am puzzled about the way you organise your multibuy pricing,
when there are larger or multipacks also available. To look at
particular examples from my regular shopping list:

For quite a while you have had an offer on Sainsbury's Meusli
Fruit and Nut 750g "Buy any 2 for £4.00", which still works out
2p more expensive than the 1.5kg pack, making your on line flash
"Save Money" impossible to justify.

It is called confusion marketing.

So many people are innumerate that they buy the same sized pack every
time even when the price for a multibuy of smaller packs is cheaper!

It is clearly not always best to accept the offer, nor always to
go for the bigger pack.

Is this just some strange marketing ploy taking advantage of the
fact that not everybody has the time or inclination to do the
maths? "

Confusion marketing. Bulk buy to pay more and people fall for it.

After a few unsatisfactory emails, their final response was:

"Some of our customers prefer to purchase smaller pack items
whereas other customers prefer multibuys. By having various
offers available this allows our customers to make an informed
choice when shopping."

I contend that those lacking time, inclination or ability to do
the maths will certainly not be able to make an informed choice.

Another voluntary tax on the innumerate. Like the National Lottery.

--
Regards,
Martin Brown

In article , Jeff Layman
writes
On 13/04/17 08:45, Andy Burns wrote:

If you have a year-old bill available, find your annual gas and electric
usage in kWh and feed that plus your address into

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/cheapenergyclub

if you tell it your existing tariff it will compare differences with
that, but if you don't know then tell it whatever supplier you like, but
disregard whatever comparative "saving" it tells you back in return.

You can choose whether to look at all deals (including those from new or
tiny suppliers you've never heard of) or only to pick from more well
known names.

I've never had the slightest bit of spam from them, and they're honest
about how much kickback they get, and they share some of it with you.

I guess could always use a "disposable" email address I can create.

But there are a couple of other things I don't like about the Cheap
Energy Club process. Why do they need my *full* address? As far as I
can see, uSwitch only need a postcode (which is all the energy
suppliers need to give you a quote). If I live at No 55, surely it's
not going to make any difference at 54 and 56. The popup box actually
states "We need your address to be able to find your cheapest deal as
it differs from area to area". Since when did "area to area" become a
specific address?

And then I can't opt out of getting email alerts for price savings. I
could set it at the maximum of £250, and probably never get any alert,
but that shouldn't be necessary. There should be a "no thanks" option.

You could complain to Ofgen about that one.
--
bert