Are Energy companies playing fair?
This article from the Daily Wail was actually interesting. It’s a bit long, but to summerise, it would seem that energy companies are not only using customers money ( for those in credit) to balance the books, but increasing the direct debit payments unneccessarily of customers already well in credit.
Why? What are they using your money for?
It would seem that they are using customers money like an interest free bank loan, to cover bad debt. Naughty!
One supplier, Octopus, has actually said it uses the money to cover for customers in arrears, but is quick to say that any customer can arrange an overpayment refund.
A customer, with another company, remarked in the comments section, that she had been informed by email she would not be allowed to go under £400 in credit. When she rang customer services to ask on what legal basis they could make this demand, the advisor admitted that they had none.
What’s the Watchdog doing about it? Snarling toothlessly, as usual.
Nominated by : Jeezum Priest
Global wholesale Prices for Energy ( combined ) have reduced by 14% over the last 4 weeks. I see no relief in the Charges to consumers who continue to fund the “Great Reset”. Mr Warwick Hunt ( Chancellor ) needs fucking with the rough end of a Rag Mans Trumpet.
Energy should be Nationalised and in Public ownership. Paying from the arse to some Spanish Dayglo Bastard who owns shares really pisses me off
18
I share your hatred of the energy companies defrauding the consumer but as for nationalising the various utility companies, I can only repeat the phrase; “Be careful what you wish for”. Many cunters are old enough (like me) to remember when they were nationalised and we do not hanker after going back there. Consider they would have a cast iron, legally enforced monopoly. No alternative suppliers, if you didn’t like their prices you had the option of sitting in the dark with your overcoat and gloves on. Imagine Starmer was in number ten. He would fucking love it but I doubt that we would!
Morning Ferrars, morning all.
15
Quite true Arfur. I worked for CEGB in the 70s at the SE HQ at Bankside on the computing, analysis and Stats team. It was grossly overmanned, extremely inefficient and wasteful. I still have my utility bills and pro rata were as expensive as they are now.
The problem now is that foreign ownership is funnelling money to subsidise their home markets, plus that slimy cunt Hunt with his fucking “windfall taxes” are making it far worse, as who ultimately pays those taxes, us the mugged consumer.
True, I’ve had some “support” from the government, but that “support” wouldn’t be necessary if we didn’t have the NetZeroGrossStupidity bollocks and the innefficient, unreliable, intermittent tax subsidized “renewables” sucking investment from reliable generation.
We’re sitting on a sea of gas whose “carbon footprint” to use it is under half that of shipping it halfway round the fucking planet while being ripped off by dodgy regimes suck as Qatar or Cuntar as it should be called.
16
Thanks for the information Sheikh. You are obviously well informed having been on the inside. I can only report my experience of being on the receiving end.
2
Ofgem are a bunch of hopeless cunts.
Totally unaccountable pencil neck cunts.
Under the guise of increased competition they allowed a circus of energy middle men to set up companies that weren’t fit for purpose and when they all collapsed due to expensive gas prices their failure was simply added to every household’s bills by way of an increased Standing Charge.
Nobody apart from the billpayer seems to give a fuck.
The energy market is a shambles and at a time of crisis such as the present one those profiteering should be held to account.
Find the smug cunts for oven.
17
Most of the energy companies, including the taxpayer subsidised green motherfuckers, are owned by foreign bastards so they are here to screw us don’t worry about that. And you can expect any government to do precisely fuck all about it. Big brown envelopes.
20
Not forgetting the big fat subsidies paid to the “renewables” when their input isn’t required, plus further subsidies to landowners hosting said bird manglers. Meanwhile Hinckley C is behind schedule and over budget, quelle fucking surprise, and the same EDF is threatening to close Heysham and Hartlepool Nukes (that produce 7% of our power, because of that Odious Cunt Hunt’s “WINDFALL TAX” yet Nukes are ostensibly “carbon neutral”. Proof that the “WINDFALL TAX” is fuck all to do with being “green” and “sustainable”, it’s THEFT pure and simple. What if the utilities simply refused to pay it? Too big and essential to close down. We’re run by ignoramus cunts, unfortunately the opposition are even gigger ignoramus cunts.
14
‘Opposition’ ?
0
This has been the case for many years.
I’ve lost count of the number of times I have contacted EDF and told them what monthly debit I am prepared to pay – the last time was 7 days ago! I am invariably right with my calculations – so fuck ’em. They ain’t using me as an interest free loan. Anybody can do this – just tell them.
You must of course be prepared to make good any debt at bill presenation.
11
EDF………Electricite De France, a good example. They screw us up the arse and send us filthy immo vermin in return. Should have left them to the Krauts.
19
Trouble is, at this moment we would be fucked without them.
Many of us are celebrating the two new nuclear stations given the go-ahead, but I wonder how many people realise that both of them are being built 80% EDF and 20% fucking Chinese!!!!!!!!!
WTF has happened to Britain???
17
Fortunately, I have a wood-burning stove. The soot comes in handy.
24
I should imagine it does, Sam, now Kiwi have announced their intentions to stop selling their products in the UK.
11
Where you a chimney child ?
3
Some of the problem is the government interference, yes the ‘price guarantee’ is welcome and the £400 for everyone but with the Ofgem price caps being over the the price guarantee the energy firms have their work cut out trying to navigate the pricing structure and customer payments.
Added to that are the big 6 (is it still 6) having to pick up the 20 to 30 cowboys who went bust with the debt.
The direct debit is by far the best and cheapest way to pay, if you have history with the energy provider they can estimate future use based on previous usage and then factor in the ever changing costs, the price guarantee is going up to 3000 in April.
I am with shell and have no issues, they constantly recommend changes to direct debit but unless you payments are way out they don’t enforce changes, my direct debit is set By Me and at the moment they take that amount less the 66/67 ponds from the government (400) input.
It is obvious to a blind man with a stick that if you are paying a fixed direct debit payment then in summer the pot will build up ready for the winter when the pot drops like a stone.
If anyone does think they have to much money in the energy provider bank they are entitled to ask for it to be refunded.
Maybe Rishi is right about maths, perhaps teaching cunts to understand bills and budgeting wouldn’t be a bad thing.
I am sure there are cunts out there who just assume they can use as much energy as they want and it will never go above the price guarantee and then get upset when they are hit with a fucking great bill
15
Agree completely SoI about the teaching of maths. Like myself you may have heard apparently intelligent middle class folks make the throwaway remark; “Oh, I can’t do maths!” with a smile. I once asked a woman who said such; “Oh dear, can you read and write?” It didn’t go down well. A neighbour’s daughter has a car loan and savings in excess of the outstanding balance on the loan. He has tried to explain to her that she should use her savings to clear the loan but he cannot get through to her. He said he has had more rewarding conversations with the cat.
11
It is strange how many people say they can’t do maths, not actually maths but simple arithmetic, you would think that with Martin Lewis being so popular and constantly saying pay this or that off rather than sitting on money that is earning fuck all interest, the penny would drop.
Mind you the exact opposite is true on student loans, must be confusing for the mathematically challenged, Lewis has explained it several times in his show.
5
Yes, thanks for the reminder about student loans SoI. According to the government’s own figures they only expect 20% of them to be repaid. This is of course why practically every student takes out such a loan whether they need it or not. After all, if you gain a first in the development of knitting in early Mesopotamia odds are you’ll never earn enough to pay anything back.
3
Ovo Energy, my supplier, who we already know are a bunch of cunts, back in October, put my monthly direct debit payment up from £100 to £138, telling me this was effectively ‘their projected forcast’ on the cost of how much energy I ‘might use,’ throughout this year. I went on line & tried to revert it back to £100 as I was (& still am) some £100 in credit, but It wouldn’t let me. Interestingly though, it would happily let me put up the monthly payment to some £2200, if I wanted to! I made a phone call, & 40 or so minutes later got nowhere with some useless customer services tosser. (It was never like this with S.S.E.) Going back on line I noticed that there is a section “Are you struggling to pay?” I am not, but fuck it, I said yes. It then let me reduce my monthly D.D. to £103 Job done. Not prepaired to pay them facist bullyboys in advance. Cunts!
12
Why shouldn’t they?? The overpaid quangocunts who are supposed to deal with these problems couldn’t give a fuck…..
7
Quangos such as ofgem are totally useless in protecting customer interests.
One suspects the energy companies, and in particular the large established ones are probably profiteering while the going is good. Increases in energy have jumped by huge amounts over the last 18 months, but I suspect any falls will be in the single figures.
7
I’m not sure a nationalised industry is the best thing in this country as it seems to gravitate to union power, overmanning and inefficiency.
But the current model is a joke. Random companies setting up and getting underwritten by the government (I.e. us), subsidies for so called green energy, lack of investment in nuclear, denial of fracking, net zero bollocks and finally a few quid given back to us. What a farce
11
The managing agent of my flat wants £2,000 off each of us incase something needs urgent repairs and the money is in their account ready to go. How thoughtful of them .
They can get to fuck…
Seems all these corporations want to sit on our money
10
I was some big titted hottie to sit on my face.
1
This fucks me right off. We are £700 in credit and I’ve tried twice last year to get MY money back but they say they can’t as were in administration (Bulb).
I don’t ever recall signing an agreement that allows me to be used as a bank to pay for some cunt who can’t pay their own bill – this is a lot of cash sitting in my account, earning no interest so why should it be in their account, and not mine!
8
There is a Radio 4 consumer programme for this sort of misbehaviour C.M. It’s either Money Box Live, or You & Yours.
2
We’re with British Gas.
Submit meter readings every quarter and pay whatever’s due.
No way would I sign up to Direct Debit.
Despite them saying we could save over £120 pa.
Don’t trust them.
Only DD we have is with Denplan.
Watch them like an eagle.
7
These energy cunts are like the police. Answerable to no one, they do what they want and don’r care what damage and misery they cause..
Well, like the old police anyway. The modern constabulary answer to Twitter and the Guardian…
6
It’s an oligopoly. Every one of the dozen energy companies has gas and electricity at EXACTLY the same prices. How is this?
3
Lord C.
I think it’s called a conspiracy, either that or the big dozen are actually the big one!
I have my energy through Octopus, they do still have variably tariffs, where they will pass savings on.
For example, in the hours between 3am and 6:30 yesterday, I ran the dishwasher, did a full load dark wash, ran the tumble dryer for 2 hours, had a shower, got dried in front of the fan heater, all for free.
They even thoughtfully emailed me, ahead of time, so I could take advantage.
1
There has been quite a few reports recently, along similar lines, especially regarding the drop in gas prices, which are not coming our way, anytime soon.
The reason for this is the energy companies behave like futures stock markets, where they gamble on price fluctuations on just about anything.
I’m waiting for energy companies to announce, with considerable fanfare, that they are reducing their prices, sometime in the middle of a climate change heatwave, around July.
2
Fuck the lot of em, I might do a pickey and wire into the lamppost outside, nick a couple of gennys or some such cuntery. Are we in the 21st century? Bloody Romans better organised.
4