Anyone switched to Airtricity/Bord Gais?

Tim M-U

Found airtricity good...

have you switched? are you going to?
feelfree to leave comments and opinions!

dingding

No

Moved to Board Gais,

Apart from losing my account details, no problem.

Went fairly seamless.

I am in about 5 euro credit with the ESB also.

lucky-colm

Yes, Bord Gais

yes

KoolKid

No

Switched to Board Gais.
Cheeper so far.:D

.G.

No

Bord Gais,Cheaper no problems.Didn't do Direct Debit so they didn't have my bank details to lose either.Win Win

deelite

No

I changed to Bord Gais also. There's a saving of about 32 euro per 2 months.

Tim M-U

Yes, Bord Gais

congrats everyone who switched, yer now saven and so am I!!

some information:

Remember, airtricity give upto 13% cheaper (direct debit).

and bord gais give upto 14% cheaper, however, you must be an existing gas customer and pay directdebit.

Payton

No

Switched to Bord Gais, far cheaper

Joey the lips

No

Switch to board gas far cheaper me arse but cheaper! The way i figure is the adverage bill in winter is 250 and summer 130 so give 3 bills at 250 and 3 at 130 thats a total of 1140 a year a 12% saving on this is 130 euro over the year of roughly 20 euro per bill. Not a lot and only for one year reducing in the second and third.

But the way i figure is the ESB will accept me back if I am unhappy. I asked! and the 20 euro pays for my lotto! So board gas is giving me my lotto for free!

sohan

hmm, funny story:

was in Cork last year, applied online to switch to bord gais, no answer for 3 months (i kept waiting cos heard there was a huge backlog), nobody ever called me or emailed to say anything. eventually i ring them and they say there was a problem with getting my account number for the esb reading - they never bothered to ring or ask me, or let me know. not too keen for my business, i thought.

moved to limerick this year, said i'd try airtricity. met a door to door salesperson who took my details. letter comes in post with landlord's name still on bill (even though we agreed to change to mine). rang airtricity, agent no 1 says i can't do that, i will pass you on. no 2 says no sorry wrong dept i will pass you on. no 3 says no sorry i don't do that either. i say - all i want to do is change the name on the bill - it couldn't be that hard? he says wait while i find out who you were talking to earlier, that shouldn't have happened. i say, i don't wanna hold while you do that, he says ok i will ring you back.

a different guy (no 4) rings me back and asks do i have the docket the salesperson gave me. no i say, my wife has it and she's not here. ok. next day a 5th person rings to apologise for the inconvenience. that's ok i say, just change the name please. she says (surprise) oh sorry i can't do that, but i will get someone to ring you from another department in a half hour.

the frustration grows, no call appears for 4 hours. another guy (no 6 now) rings to apologise again. i know you are angry, he says. i am not angry, i say i just want the thing changed. it's really simple. he says fine - and at this stage i really couldn't believe it, but yes, he says that's ok i will pass you on to that dept now.

oh my god!

no ta, i am changing to bord gais (for all their sins)

Tim M-U

Yes, Bord Gais

dunno about bord gais and the security breach... although airtricity and esb had too...

Tim M-U

Yes, Bord Gais

sohan wrote: »

hmm, funny story:
moved to limerick this year, said i'd try airtricity. met a door to door salesperson who took my details. letter comes in post with landlord's name still on bill (even though we agreed to change to mine). rang airtricity, agent no 1 says i can't do that, i will pass you on. no 2 says no sorry wrong dept i will pass you on. no 3 says no sorry i don't do that either. i say - all i want to do is change the name on the bill - it couldn't be that hard? he says wait while i find out who you were talking to earlier, that shouldn't have happened. i say, i don't wanna hold while you do that, he says ok i will ring you back. quote]

Before you do, you may not be allowed to switch to Airtricity ever again...for free

Go onto your account online and edit your details section

PinkTulips

Yes, Bord Gais

Been with Airtricity a few months now and finding them good, definitely saving money too.

When i left ESB they sent me a solicitors letter as i was slow paying the last bill, got a letter from them a couple of weeks back saying 'We're so sorry that you were sent an solicitors letter, this was an error on our part. Apologies'... was in shock for days! They must be really suffering if they're actually trying their hand at being nice to people

Tim M-U

Yes, Bord Gais

It seam to be: Airtricity have 7, Bord Gais have 7 and esb have 5. We need someone else to have their say...

Congrats to all those who switched to airtricity (i did). and bord gais.

appoligies for cloggin yer mailbox

Tim M-U

Yes, Bord Gais

PinkTulips wrote: »

Been with Airtricity a few months now and finding them good, definitely saving money too.

When i left ESB they sent me a solicitors letter as i was slow paying the last bill, got a letter from them a couple of weeks back saying 'We're so sorry that you were sent an solicitors letter, this was an error on our part. Apologies'... was in shock for days! They must be really suffering if they're actually trying their hand at being nice to people

glad to hear you switched to Airtricity, ESB have worse electricty sourse(S). thats why i moved to airtricity.

blobert

Yes, Bord Gais

Switched to Airtricity, could in theory have saved 1% more with Bord Gais but seeing as there have been lots of problems with our gas bills, decided not to.

Airtricity have been absolutely flawless, everything accurate, on time, no problems whatsoever.

8ofSpades

I'm a new customer in a new build and I rang bord Gais today to connect. They advised that I would be better to connect to ESB first (power is on just not in anyones name) and when I get my first bill then switch.

Which is fine but I'm still deciding between bord gais and airtricity so he might lose my business. I see airtricity rateds are set until March 2010. I cant find how long Bord Gais rates are guaranteed for. Anyone know?

MayoForSam

Just after signing up to Airtricity. Their on-line application process was pretty painless (once I have found the right tool to open the meter box to get a reading).

Here's hoping for some nice winter savings.

kippy

No

Can I ask anyone who hasnt switched yet, why they havent switched?

Switched to Bord Gais a few months ago. Bills cheaper as you would logicilly expect.

viperlogic

board gais agent called to my door about 2 months ago, she took readings and all the necessary paper work and are we now on board gais?.......nope... as just got an ESB bill today!

oldyouth

No

Switched to Bord Gais. Far cheaper but I would have done it anyway 'cos I hate ineffecient monopolies.

I got a letter the other week saying I was entitled to a refund balance of €9.22 from ESB and to ring them to finalise the method of payment. My wife rang yesterday to sort it and they refused to talk to her because the account is in my name. She asked them to send out the cheque (payable to me) at the billing address that I have used for 23 yrs and was told I might have moved away, so they couldn't.

I appreciate that data protection is important but if my wife's running away fund is dependant on €9.22, she is stuck with me for a while yet. Anyway, after 23 minutes of 'option A' and 'your call is important to us', I can rest easy that a cheque, payable to me, is to be delivered to our home address. This cheque will be lodged by my wife to our joint account (the same joint account where the monthly direct debit came from) and promptly blown on a bag of spuds for the dinner

ESB, I have always hated you

.G.

No

Was it your final bill?

you will get a final one from ESB when they switch is about to happen.Also it took about 3 months for them to switch me over when I joined cos they had so many apps to deal with.

pjordan

No

Tim M-U wrote: »

... you must be an existing gas customer and pay directdebit.

I'm by no means a rep of Bord Gais but this is incorrect. There are discounts if you are an existing Gas customer and pay by direct debit BUT you are not obliged to do either which makes sense especially in the first case where only probabaly 30% of all urban areas in the country, apart entirely from rural areas, are connected to the Bord Gais Gas network.

I just bought a new old house in the countryside and have signed up with Bord Gais - Still awaiting my initial paperwork and first bill....

BadCharlie

Yes, Bord Gais

Went with Airtricity because they try their best to get renewable energy.

Went online one night and it took no more then 5mins. That was in may this year and so far so good, no problems at all.

baronflyguy

Yes, Bord Gais

I flicked over to Airtricity too. I get my gas from Bord Gais but was unhappy with my big bill last christmas eventhough my gas wasnt used much. I was away most of the time in Dec at parents house and my house mate was away in Cork so we had the gas off. If anything the bill should have been lower. When I questioned it I was told general stuff like 'oh people use the gas more around christmas' and 'maybe you left it on by mistake'. I told the rep that OFF means OFF and not on auto timer and also I'm not stupid and the excuses I was given was not satisfactory I felt I was over charged. I asked could my account be reviewed and didnt get a reply. So I'm tad bit bitter with bord gais. My gut feeling was I was over charged but I couldnt prove it. I sent them a bill amounts showing them the drastic price difference for december and said even if they upped the price by 25% it didnt make sense. They waffled me so much my customer care experience with was not good.

Anyhow because of all of the above I didn't flick to Bord Gais for my electricity. I will give Airtricity a go, plus I like the idea of supporting renewable energy.

irlrobins

No

8ofSpades wrote: »

I'm a new customer in a new build and I rang bord Gais today to connect. They advised that I would be better to connect to ESB first (power is on just not in anyones name) and when I get my first bill then switch.

Odd. I was in the same position (new build apt, connected to gas and esb, but no initial connection). Rang up Bord Gais, set up my gas account (all I needed was the meter number and reading, as well as bank details etc), then they transfered me to the Elec section and I set up my elec account. Done and dusted and got my first bills 8 weeks later. No issues at all.

alder

Bord Gais agent told me that Airtricity discount is only up to 31 March 2010.

baronflyguy

Yes, Bord Gais

alder wrote: »

Bord Gais agent told me that Airtricity discount is only up to 31 March 2010.

According to the Airtricity Website today it says

Terms and conditions apply. Discount on ESB unit rates until September 2010 only available to new customers. Future discounts will vary. Fuel mix comparison carried out annually by CER and is subject to change.

http://www.airtricity.com/ireland/for_your_home/


No matter what agent you talk too, best think about it and read the facts online before signing up to anything. An agent is on commission, its his/her objective to sway you his way no matter what company he represents.

alder

yes, you are right. however, he compared Bord Gais to Airtricity. BG gives discount for 3 years.

coincidence or not, i received today a newsletter from Airtricity saying they dropped the prices.

Johnjaysus

Yes, Bord Gais

I moved my mother and myself over to Airtricity early this summer (April and May).

Yesterday I got my first request for a meter reading, when I was submitting the reading I checked my a\c with Airtricity and it is showing as in credit by the full amount I have paid them via direct debit since May.

I checked my mother's too and there are no 'bills' on her a\c either, and only one DD payment is showing.

I logged a call with their customer service desk online but have heard nothing back from Airtricity.

Anybody having a similar experience?

douglashyde

Johnjaysus wrote: »

I moved my mother and myself over to Airtricity early this summer (April and May).

Yesterday I got my first request for a meter reading, when I was submitting the reading I checked my a\c with Airtricity and it is showing as in credit by the full amount I have paid them via direct debit since May.

I checked my mother's too and there are no 'bills' on her a\c either, and only one DD payment is showing.

I logged a call with their customer service desk online but have heard nothing back from Airtricity.

Anybody having a similar experience?

They bill over larger periods.

Also you do realise that if your mother was getting Eletricity allowances while she was with ESB, she will not get these with Airtricity

katana1

douglashyde wrote: »

They bill over larger periods.

Also you do realise that if your mother was getting Eletricity allowances while she was with ESB, she will not get these with Airtricity

An airtricity sales person called to me earlier today and was a bit pushy and didn't like the questions I asked him eg: Are you going to charge the same as esb after promotion is over in 2010.Also I get esb allowance as I have arthritis and cannot work,I then asked about my electric allowance and he read from a paper that he said was from the hse .This paper had no hse header on it and he kept easing it away when I tried to read it myself,:rolleyes:
.
He then was ready to read my esb meter without me agreeing to anything .
I told him I would check out online about airtricity and about my allowance .He then said "Look what I told you is correct,are you saying you don't want to save money".this was said in a fairy arrogant manner so I not so politely told him to take a hike.:mad:
He had me at the start as I am for green energy but his attitude lost him the account.
I haven't had anyone from board gas but I really want to get away from the robbing ESB.:)

Rev. BlueJeans

Ack, again with this.

The ESB (ESBCS) are not robbing anyone. They could and would drop the price by anything up to a third if the CER would just take the shackles off.

Many people with budget controllers (token meters) have been caught out, as the new suppliers do not support them, as well as the allowances in question.

Typical Irish approach to regulation, the energy sector is meddled with to within a gnats whisker of anarchy and confusion, while the financial sector is left alone with chaotic results.

Anyway, I'm getting well OT, apologies.

OLP

This really annoys me, the ESB aren't robbing anyone, they can't lower their prices because the Energy Regulator won't let them. This is because Bord Gais and Airtricity needed time to build a solid customer base, if the ESB had wanted and been allowed they could have destroyed Bord Gais and Airtricity before they even got started. The CER is trying to build up competition in the energy market which IMO is a bad move but that's an entirely different debate.

Rev. BlueJeans

There's talk of allowing a free market for all, but that's all it is, talk, and hearsay.

It would be a big win for consumers if they got the lead out.

katana1

OLP wrote: »

This really annoys me, the ESB aren't robbing anyone, they can't lower their prices because the Energy Regulator won't let them. This is because Bord Gais and Airtricity needed time to build a solid customer base, if the ESB had wanted and been allowed they could have destroyed Bord Gais and Airtricity before they even got started. The CER is trying to build up competition in the energy market which IMO is a bad move but that's an entirely different debate.

I was OTT here as I didn't mean to annoy anyone.
I was well annoyed with the salesmans attitude and forgot about the whole regulation thing--To be honest ,I posted in haste.
I am finding things (Like most people) tight at present and I was looking for advice more than anything but went about it ar**ways.
Sorry .:(

Rev. BlueJeans

Please don't apologise.

It's a common misconception, and easily corrected.

As things stand, it's certainly worth your while switching over, just watch your meter reading, and bear in mind the reduced rates are only guaranteed until easter so far

Rev. BlueJeans

There's so much wrong with the above, I don't know where to start.

Price freeze? What price freeze?

Who buys 43% of electricity from who?

Dey doo doh, don't dey doh?

OLP

scorpianking86 wrote: »

I tink ur wrong dere buddy! Wen esb come out of their price freeze dey still wnt be cheaper than airtricity! Dey buy 43% of eletricity off them! Dey will never be cheaper!!! Its so mch cheaper for airtricity to create dere power as det dnt pay carbon taxes like d esb!

Jst look at d commercial figures and tell me whos winning dere??

Excuse me? Please spell properly if you want to get a point across.

IMO once the regulator allows the ESB to set thir own prices they could still come out and put Airtricity out of business if they wanted, but they like to keep their image clean so they wouldn't.

The ESB only ever buy electricity in time when there's an unexpectedly high demand without the means to supply at that point in time.

And if you are with Airtricity I can guarantee you that you will still use some ESB generated electricity, if you were to rely on 100% Airtricity for your electricity you would be up **** creek come Christmas Day, the highest demand day of the year.

I have nothing against Airtricity, I think we all know that renewable energy is the only way forward, I'm just saying that they don't do anything that the ESB can't and don't already do.

veryangryman

Yes, Bord Gais

I did switch to Bord Gais, but moved again to Airtricity.

I see that after 2010, Airtricity go up.

Now, my question...

If i switched back to BG, would i get their savings again (as a new customer) for the 6 months. Is there anything to stop one doing this?

Fnergg

veryangryman wrote: »

I did switch to Bord Gais, but moved again to Airtricity. I see that after 2010, Airtricity go up. Now, my question...If i switched back to BG, would i get their savings again (as a new customer) for the 6 months. Is there anything to stop one doing this?

A very interesting question and I don't know the answer.

I doubt very much though if BGE would allow you the new customer discount all over again. I'd imagine it's a once-off offer.

Offering such a discount is a loss leader for BGE - and Airtricity - and is not sustainable in the long run.

I expect that we will see the cessation of the attractive first year discounts by BGE and Airtricity when the CER restrictions on ESB pricing are lifted later in 2010. At that stage both BGE and Airtricity will have a significant share of the domestic market and futher growth will be much harder to achieve once the price differential between themselves and ESB is significantly reduced (if not eliminated).

Regards,

Fnergg

PANADOL

just wondering if airtricity do new connections as esb are charging 1700 for a reconnection ,if you have been disconnected over 2 yrs , what do airtricity charge if they are allowed to given esb own the grid?

michaeltkelly

I signed up to airtricity in august gave my bank account details to rep at the door, problem is I haven't been signed up at all and can get no answers from airtricity. As you can imagine I am a little concerned, my account details are out there and can't get answers, anyone else have this porblem or how was it sorted, thanks.

paddy147

michaeltkelly wrote: »

I signed up to airtricity in august gave my bank account details to rep at the door, problem is I haven't been signed up at all and can get no answers from airtricity. As you can imagine I am a little concerned, my account details are out there and can't get answers, anyone else have this porblem or how was it sorted, thanks.

Why would you give anyone on your doorstep your bank accont details????

Especially in this day and age of fraud,theft and connmen.

You should have said "give me an airtricity phone number and I will call you guys,when Im ready to do so".