Mumsnet users discuss their energy supplier

[JustineBMumsnet]

This activity has now closed

We’re very aware that energy bills are not the most exciting topic to discuss and that sorting them can be a pain, but they are a fact of life and we’d like to find out how you get on with your energy suppliers. The government has recently passed through some new legislation which will cap the total amount a supplier can charge, but do you think it will make a difference? Some of us are super organised and expert at searching for the best deals and negotiating costs each year whereas others me included overestimate our capacity to be organised enough to sort our energy bill in the least painful way.

We’re really interested in finding out how you get on with your current energy supplier and what you like and dislike about them? Is there something they particularly do that makes your life much easier? Or something you wish they’d start doing? Or even something that frustrates you about them?

Whatever your thoughts are on what makes a good energy supplier and creates a good or bad energy tariff, please share them below for your chance to be entered into a prize draw to win a £300 voucher of your choice (from a list).

Thanks

MNHQ

Insight Terms and Conditions apply

I have no strong feelings about our energy supplier one way or another. Unfortunately we are not loyal and when the contract comes to an end we always search to find the best deal.

Scottish power are beyond a joke. Worst service and organisation. Couldn't organise a piss up in a brewery. Caused so much stress for me they wre utterly useless ! Thankfully I'm swapping providers

We shop around but I don't really have any feelings to them. They are all much of a muchness to me. I would though give praise to Western Power for pro-actively clearing foliage/trees from near their powerlines at no cost to me which reduces the risk of falling debris/wind blowing into the cables and causing outages.

My supplier is excellent and using their app is so easy and simple

I'm happy with our deal and never had a problem.

ok - always change regularly - never had any issues

Reasonable, as far as energy suppliers go.
I use a smart meter, so can see what I am using

They charge to much like them all

I did a comparison and went with a small supplier. Never again. Terrible customer service, basic website, no way to easily track consumption and a bill at the end of the year.

We review and switch regularly. At the moment, we're liking our supplier because, as well as good prices, we have a window each month to input our meter readings, so our bills are always accurate and recalculated for the year on that basis - never that situation where your bill is showing you hundreds of pounds in debit after winter with you vaguely hoping you'll make it up in the summer months.

if utilities were free (i.e. paid from tax because it doesnt happen by unicorns) people would waste even more than they do now.

anyone on a variable tariff is pissing cash and that is 60% of the population. clearly times are not that hard given over 80% have a brickphone and hence the ability to switch.

EON are a disgrace - estimating bills (estimates all were paid) for a couple of years, then after a reading billing for £5,000. I believe there is an agreement between the providers that they will not bill residential further back than a given period of time, but despite their own technician looking at the meter and laughing at the ridiculous bill urging me to contest, EON stuck to their guns. An Ombudsman case said 'not enough evidence' to prove EON were in the wrong and a chap from EON actually laughed down the phone saying that they 'had a good relationship' with the Ombudsman - draw from that what you will. A one-month reading (not estimate) following this in early winter was around £70, only about £25 more than the regular estimates - so the figures do not add up, yet EON insist the overall meter reading was accurate and could not be wrong. If you want to avoid the risk of this happening to you, avoid EON like the plague.

been happy with mine, helpful customer services

I've been with British Gas a long time. I did swap a couple of times but always ended up coming back as the other energy companies lied about it being cheaper. I'm on a good deal at the moment which I found out about on MSE, one which wasn't advertised to existing customers but could only be applied for online. I was a bit annoyed with them though as they were supposed to provide me with a free smart meter which I never got & when I rang up recently I was told I'd cancelled it, which I hadn't & then found out they'd cancelled it because I was disabled & needed electrical medical equipment. I told them it was ridiculous as disabled people need the smart meters more than able bodied people as, if they're like me, they can't manage to read their own meters if they're too high up as they can't stand on step stools. I have to get a neighbour to come & read mine for me. I managed to persuade them to give me one eventually but I have to wait several months now for the next appointment.

We're with Octopus and have actually been quite impressed.... people keep trying to get us to switch to their energy supplier, when we tell them who we're with their faces drop and they reluctantly concede that they can't beat the tariff we're on!
They also use renewable energy sources, so that's another plus for me.

i think they are pretty much all the same really so i can not see any point in changing because they all seem to put their prices up in the end

We use EDF and have no issues with them. I've never really considered looking around for a cheaper supplier.

Energy bills are nightmare, im with EDF not happy at all:(

I move every year to get the best deal & cashback... The latest company I am with is Scottish Power who had the best deal when the current one ended... I have never had problems with any of the companies I have been with as I think they look after you for the first year.

I'm with First utility, swapped for a good price. Seem good enough, had no issues to speak of.

I dont like that its not simple to look at the tariffs. It should be an easy thing to do - I think the government should be doing more to make it far easier than it is. I really hate the thought of old people being on a high tariff and not putting their heating on in the depths of winter - because lets face it when you change there is too much faffing with direct debits etc - those who pay paper bills seem to pay through the nose.

I change suppliers each year. I hate them all. The customer service seems to be universally poor. It's like they know we all have to use it, so they can be as crap as they like. Most years after switching, there will be some error on their part which will involve many, many phone calls and much of my time to resolve.

The price cap is actually bad news for us. We switch regularly & take advantage of the best deals on the market. All companies will be offering poorer rates now to cover the cost on older tariffs & people not switching.

We enter our readings monthly because I like to know that we're not building up a big debit - some companies update your balance online to show the new reading, but some don't! Really annoying when you're putting regular readings in but still can't tell what your current balance is.

Switching is a (minor) hassle but it's the only way to get a reasonable deal. If only you could stay put with a decent company who gave consistently good rates.

Earlier this year I switched to one of the small, newer providers and I have to say I'm rather impressed. Octopus are very on-the-ball and send handy monthly reminders that it's time to read your meters if you don't want an estimated bill. I switched to them because my previous suppliers had been so absolutely useless. Emails you sent went unanswered, photographs of meter readings went astray. They just didn't seem to be on top of things at all. The last straw was FOUR MONTHS after leaving them they sent us a huge final bill. It was strongly queried and eventually slightly reduced. What a palava!