Electricity 10% cheaper with Bord Gais [Merged]

Esel

How could there be a cost?! If there was, it would have been mentioned on the site and in the news items.

wcarey1975

I dont think there is but I was just asking the question...something to do at 2:09am on a thursday i suppose :rolleyes:

absurdtrivia

There's definately no charge.

You're not actually leaving the ESB network. That is to say that after switching, the ESB will still operate the power network or "Grid", ESB will still read your meter and ESB will still handle any callouts to your home related to your electricity supply.

The only noticeable change you'll have is with your bills.

woodyg

do you loose the ESB deposit when you switch?

s_carnage

With regard to the ESB deposit. I moved house about 6 months ago and I rang ESB looking for my deposit back. They said they would send it out in a cheque to me so that was fine. After a few weeks I had heard nothing so I rang again and the person I was talking to this time informed me how after 6 months of paying your bill ESB refunds your deposit through your bill. I asked for the bills to be sent out to me and sure enough it was deducted off my bill.

This was a bit of a b*tch for me as I had paid the deposit on the ESB in the first place and hadn't realised it was taken off the bill so the other lads in the house got 2/3 of my deposit off their bill.

Sids Not

Only 3000 have changed so far....does'nt seem like a lot overall.....think people a a bit confused and suspicious....maybe they should have started advertising it a few weeks earlier...:rolleyes:

bennyob

if you are with bord gais already, will your electricity and gas be merged into one bi-monthly bill or will they still be considered 'seperate'

keith_d99

These rumours of a deposit are putting me off - can anybody clarify?

I will be a new Bord Gais customer if I make the switch.

Keith.

delly

Lads, i having a bit of bother with the site. I'm trying to remove some of Lucy's cloths, but the mouse isn't dragging the right way?


Wait, what? You mean its not that type of site? FFS.


/puts clothes back on

mickoneill30

Does this shed any light.

https://www.esb.ie/esbcustomersupply/residential/contact_us/our_credit_terms.jsp

"Provided your bills are paid in full and on time, your deposit will be credited to your account 14 months after payment, or credited against your closing bill if the account is closed before the 14 month period."

So if you've been an ESB customer longer than 14 months your deposit should be used against your bill anyway.

milltown

Sids Not wrote: »

Only 3000 have changed so far....does'nt seem like a lot overall.....think people a a bit confused and suspicious....maybe they should have started advertising it a few weeks earlier...:rolleyes:

3001 now

Piece of cáca milis. Less than 5 minutes filling the online form once you have a gas and leccy bill handy.

Sids Not

I'm expecting a lekky bill next week, if i change now will i get the discount on that bill do yas think..

TM

itisyeah wrote: »

Worked for me no problem in Firefox.
Are you on v3?

Yes. It works today. Maybe they fixed the problem since.

GhostInTheRuins

Sids Not wrote: »

I'm expecting a lekky bill next week, if i change now will i get the discount on that bill do yas think..

Why would they give you a discount on electricity that you bought from the ESB?

cormie

Sids Not wrote: »

I'm expecting a lekky bill next week, if i change now will i get the discount on that bill do yas think..

I wan't to know this too, as I said, it's the winter bill so 10% off would be nice

delly

The meter has to be read before you change over to Bord Gais billing. If you entered the reading when you signed up then thats what they'll bill you from.

So in theory if you had your last reading from your ESB bill, you could enter an amount after that and then the Bord Gais rates would apply.

mfox

TM wrote: »

Can't see any catch on the supply issue - it's the same network/infrastructure and supply. You just deal with a different provider. Customer charter issues should be covered by the CER rules.

www.cer.ie

I have just tried to switch electricity from ESB to Bord Gais and they are trying to charge me a €200 deposit for the privilage of switching suppliers (€100 because I am a tenant and not already a Bord Gais Customer and €100 if I dont choose to pay by direct debit). Based on my current bill I would save about €100 in my first year by switching my bill, however if I pay this €200 deposit I will loose €100. Even if I choose to set up a direct debit there is no benifit to be made.

This is complete false advertising to say that you will save 10%, when you have to pay at least 10% for the privilage of becoming thier customer. I live in Donegal and this completly discriminates against me because we dont have piped gas in this county therefore it would have been completely impossible for me to have been previously a Bord Gais Customer.

Their website also fails to let you know about the switching deposit untill you are half way through the online switiching process. There is also no information relating to how you get this deposit back if you choose to switch again in the future.

soc

I totally agree with you MFox...

When we signed up for ESB, we didn't have to provide any deposit if we used DD. I'm thinking this is a nice little way for Bord Gais to make a bit of dosh...

20,000 people sign up, each paying €100 deposit = €2,000,000.
Stick that into a deposit account, make money on it, before you return the 'deposit' back to the consumer after a while

This deposit probably wouldn't even cover most people's bill over a 2 month period - so it's a bit of a farce TBH.

itisyeah

mfox wrote: »

I have just tried to switch electricity from ESB to Bord Gais and they are trying to charge me a €200 deposit for the privilage of switching suppliers (€100 because I am a tenant and not already a Bord Gais Customer and €100 if I dont choose to pay by direct debit). Based on my current bill I would save about €100 in my first year by switching my bill, however if I pay this €200 deposit I will loose €100. Even if I choose to set up a direct debit there is no benifit to be made.

This is complete false advertising to say that you will save 10%, when you have to pay at least 10% for the privilage of becoming thier customer. I live in Donegal and this completly discriminates against me because we dont have piped gas in this county therefore it would have been completely impossible for me to have been previously a Bord Gais Customer.

Their website also fails to let you know about the switching deposit untill you are half way through the online switiching process. There is also no information relating to how you get this deposit back if you choose to switch again in the future.

Well those are the T&Cs, get over it.

I just switched and it cost me nothing.

mfox

itisyeah wrote: »

Well those are the T&Cs, get over it.

I just switched and it cost me nothing.

Well that is so easy for you to say! I am assuming you are living in an area that already has piped gas ie. Dublin (Therefore you are already a Bord Gais Customer) and you own your own home?

It is a totaly different story if you live in a more rural area without piped gas? The advertised 10% saving over a year is not really a saving as it is wiped out by the deposit you have to pay. This makes the advertising false.

delly

mfox wrote: »

Well that is so easy for you to say! I am assuming you are living in an area that already has piped gas ie. Dublin (Therefore you are already a Bord Gais Customer) and you own your own home?

It is a totaly different story if you live in a more rural area without piped gas? The advertised 10% saving over a year is not really a saving as it is wiped out by the deposit you have to pay. This makes the advertising false.

You get the deposit back, thats what a deposit is. Sorry you don't like it, but you will still get a 10% saving.

TM

Sids Not wrote: »

I'm expecting a lekky bill next week, if i change now will i get the discount on that bill do yas think..

You'll get a discount on any electricity that you use between whenever the switch to BGE takes effect and when you get billed. Obviously (as above) BGE will not discount charges for electricity used when you were with ESB.

Sids Not

:(....

bk

Sids Not wrote: »

Only 3000 have changed so far....does'nt seem like a lot overall.....think people a a bit confused and suspicious....maybe they should have started advertising it a few weeks earlier...:rolleyes:

Well if they keep signing up 3,000 people per day, that will add up to over 1 million customers within one year.

There goal is to sign up one million customers in the first year, so it looks like they are on target.

However I expect people signing up will die down as older people will be slower to change, assuming some catch and because of the whole deposit thing.

jArgHA

To get around the whole deposit thing could one not just sign up for a direct debit, complete account switch, then a week or so later call you bank and ask them to cancel the direct debit. Then notify Bord Gáis that you have cancelled your direct debit and will be paying your bills through Post Office etc. ?

zuroph

jArgHA wrote: »

To get around the whole deposit thing could one not just sign up for a direct debit, complete account switch, then a week or so later call you bank and ask them to cancel the direct debit. Then notify Bord Gáis that you have cancelled your direct debit and will be paying your bills through Post Office etc. ?

The deposit is required regardles of payment method, its a regulator thing out of their control.

Lumi

I'm going to hold of a while before switching over.
The small company I work for switched to airtricity 8 months ago and have received 'estimated' bills ever since. The ESB read the meter but according to Airtricity there is usually a six month delay in sending on the meter readings to them. We have to take our own readings now and send them on every month. It's so much hassle.
I reckon that it will be the same story with Bord Gáis! Hope I'm proven wrong though 'cos it looks like a good deal.:rolleyes:

wcarey1975

switched over today to BGE so thats that. Now for the ESB to offer gas at a 10% discount!

iggy

wcarey1975 wrote: »

switched over today to BGE so thats that. Now for the ESB to offer gas at a 10% discount!

switched over too online today..

total of 14% savings with direct debit and existing Bord Gais customer included....

Its a no brainer really

soc

Well, we switched to Airtricity - given that:
a) they don't require a deposit
b) you still save 10% on current ESB prices.

Overall (when you take into account paying of a deposit), in the first year we'll probably save more money with Airtricity than Bord Gais.