Airtricity - Charge for cancelling contract

snypers12

I have been with airtricity for the last year and a half. All my bills have been payed on time. However, recently I have been struggling. I have missed my last 3 direct debits. Even though the bill was always payed a few days after when pay day arrived the standing order was automatically cancelled. Thats not my problem though. My problem is that now airtricity have added the €300 deposit onto my account that any new customer would have to pay.
I have been with them for the last 18 months and they have always been payed so they no im not going to mess them around. Im just really annoyed over this. Something similar happened to a neighbour of mine who was with electric ireland. She was only with them 4 months when her direct debit was stopped but she never got charged the deposit.
My question is, does anyone know how much airtricity charge to cancel a contract with 6 months remaining on it? I am just sick of them at this stage and want to move to that new prepay power. Lots of people i know have moved to them and have nothing but good things to say about them

JustAddWater

snypers12 wrote: »

I have been with airtricity for the last year and a half. All my bills have been payed on time. However, recently I have been struggling. I have missed my last 3 direct debits. Even though the bill was always payed a few days after when pay day arrived the standing order was automatically cancelled. Thats not my problem though. My problem is that now airtricity have added the €300 deposit onto my account that any new customer would have to pay.
I have been with them for the last 18 months and they have always been payed so they no im not going to mess them around. Im just really annoyed over this. Something similar happened to a neighbour of mine who was with electric ireland. She was only with them 4 months when her direct debit was stopped but she never got charged the deposit.
My question is, does anyone know how much airtricity charge to cancel a contract with 6 months remaining on it? I am just sick of them at this stage and want to move to that new prepay power. Lots of people i know have moved to them and have nothing but good things to say about them

Prepay power charge an additional 37.5c a day which is €136 a year in additional fees. Plus they only match EI's standard rate (the highest one!) so before you go off to them, do your homework and decide if it suits. Signing up for another provider in anger at your current provider might cost you more in the long run in terms of cancellation fees and signing up for something that might not suit your needs

Airtricity want €300 from you now? Best bet is to ring and come to an agreement with them.

We also charge the PrePayPower prepayment service charge of 37.5 cent per day

snypers12

JustAddWater wrote: »

Prepay power charge an additional 37.5c a day which is €136 a year in additional fees. Plus they only match EI's standard rate (the highest one!) so before you go off to them, do your homework and decide if it suits. Signing up for another provider in anger at your current provider might cost you more in the long run in terms of cancellation fees and signing up for something that might not suit your needs

Airtricity want €300 from you now? Best bet is to ring and come to an agreement with them.

Ya I understand about the extra 37.5 c but from what i gather this is basically just the standing charge that you will pay on any bill which is about €40 on my bills. Ya i plan on ringing airtricity tomorrow to see what they say. I came back from holidays today to find two letters from airtricity threatening to disconnect me over this

emeldc

How come you have a 2 year contract with them. Is it not just a year.
I think you can switch to pre-pay even if you are in arrears. A tenant of mine did!
Just to clarify, the 37.5cent is on top of the regular standing charge, and if you can switch, you will still have to pay off what you owe Airtricity so it might be easier and cheaper to work out a deal with them. But check out that 2 year contract.

Edit; If you ring Airtricity, be sure to take the name of the person you speak with and take notes on what they say. My experience with them is, the next day you ring you'll get a whole different set of rules from another operator. Notes, Notes, Notes !

snypers12

emeldc wrote: »

How come you have a 2 year contract with them. Is it not just a year.
I think you can switch to pre-pay even if you are in arrears. A tenant of mine did!
Just to clarify, the 37.5cent is on top of the regular standing charge, and if you can switch, you will still have to pay off what you owe Airtricity so it might be easier and cheaper to work out a deal with them. But check out that 2 year contract.

O i didnt realise that it was on top of the standing charge. Either way thought from what everyone is saying it works out cheaper in the long run because you are actually watching what you are spending. And not having a regular bill to pay would help things alot.
My contract is definately a 2 year one as they offered me a great rate for the first year if i signed up for 2 years.
I am living in rented accomadation so im just wondering did your tenants have to get your permission to get the meter installed? I know my landlord would probably object if i asked her permission. She really likes to make things difficult!

snypers12

emeldc wrote: »

Edit; If you ring Airtricity, be sure to take the name of the person you speak with and take notes on what they say. My experience with them is, the next day you ring you'll get a whole different set of rules from another operator. Notes, Notes, Notes !

Thanks

emeldc

"My contract is definately a 2 year one as they offered me a great rate for the first year if i signed up for 2 years."

A great rate for the first year and roast you for the second year (sorry). Airtricity will try anything. It would be impossible to enforce a 2 year contract on a rental tenant if your lease was for less than 2 years which I imagine is the case. You probably should get permission from your landlord for your meter although my tenants didn't :rolleyes: but you might find she will be more agreeable than you think as tenants that pay their rent are hard to find these days.

wmpdd3

Pre pay power ask the person living in the house to state in writing that they have the permission of the owner to install a meter, also its a 12 month contract so if you own lease ends before the 12 months, your landlord might be stuck with it.

Le_Dieux

OP

Sorry to be a spoiler, but in Your first message you said: However, recently I have been struggling. I have missed my last 3 direct debits.

Then in Your 2nd message, You say the following: I came back from holidays today to find two letters from airtricity threatening to disconnect me over this

Something just doesn't add up here. If You are so struggling, then how come You were able to take a holiday? :rolleyes:

snypers12

Le_Dieux wrote: »

OP

Sorry to be a spoiler, but in Your first message you said: However, recently I have been struggling. I have missed my last 3 direct debits.

Then in Your 2nd message, You say the following: I came back from holidays today to find two letters from airtricity threatening to disconnect me over this

Something just doesn't add up here. If You are so struggling, then how come You were able to take a holiday? :rolleyes:

Im sorry but how is this any of your business??? I dont me to sound harsh but it has nothing to do with you. If you must know, it was my birthday last month and all my family chipped in to pay for me to go all the way to......London. So no it wasnt a big expensive sun holiday. Infact at the age of 25, the furtherest i have ever been is the UK as I could never afford something else

foggy_lad

snypers12 wrote: »

O i didnt realise that it was on top of the standing charge. Either way thought from what everyone is saying it works out cheaper in the long run because you are actually watching what you are spending. And not having a regular bill to pay would help things alot.
My contract is definately a 2 year one as they offered me a great rate for the first year if i signed up for 2 years.
I am living in rented accomadation so im just wondering did your tenants have to get your permission to get the meter installed? I know my landlord would probably object if i asked her permission. She really likes to make things difficult!

That prepay power thing works out at about €12.50 extra per month on top of the full rate for the electricity and also the standing charges etc so it is the most expensive option going!

It only looks cheaper because you pay smaller amounts on a more regular basis. You are better off going to the Money advice peole who will open an account in your local credit union which pays your bills when due then they calculate how much you need to deposit into the account weekly or monthly to cover the bills. There are no hidden charges with this way and Airtricity are more likely to waive the deposit if they know they are guaranteed all or most of the bill each month. M.A.B.S. will contact Airtricity on your behalf if necessary.

snypers12

foggy_lad wrote: »

That prepay power thing works out at about €12.50 extra per month on top of the full rate for the electricity and also the standing charges etc so it is the most expensive option going!

It only looks cheaper because you pay smaller amounts on a more regular basis. You are better off going to the Money advice peole who will open an account in your local credit union which pays your bills when due then they calculate how much you need to deposit into the account weekly or monthly to cover the bills. There are no hidden charges with this way and Airtricity are more likely to waive the deposit if they know they are guaranteed all or most of the bill each month. M.A.B.S. will contact Airtricity on your behalf if necessary.

Thanks for the advice. That's really helpful. Im gonna look into this

Le_Dieux

snypers12 wrote: »

Im sorry but how is this any of your business??? I dont me to sound harsh but it has nothing to do with you. If you must know, it was my birthday last month and all my family chipped in to pay for me to go all the way to......London. So no it wasnt a big expensive sun holiday. Infact at the age of 25, the furtherest i have ever been is the UK as I could never afford something else

Where did I say it was a big expensive sun holiday?

You came on here seeking advice, and said You are struggling ( and I am sorry to hear this...but believe me, there are millions like you here) and then say You are just back from a holiday. I honestly think conflicting messages are being sent here.

Good luck with Airtricitythough, as if you search threads on them here there are a LOT.

shagal

JustAddWater wrote: »

Prepay power charge an additional 37.5c a day which is €136 a year in additional fees. Plus they only match EI's standard rate (the highest one!) so before you go off to them, do your homework and decide if it suits. Signing up for another provider in anger at your current provider might cost you more in the long run in terms of cancellation fees and signing up for something that might not suit your needs

Airtricity want €300 from you now? Best bet is to ring and come to an agreement with them.

hi i am with airtricity for a while now and the same thing happened with me with the 300 deposit when the direct debit didnt go through
we just gave them a ring and they explained everything to us why that went( on the 300 E ) it is just a standard thing that happens when a dd is missed
and the dd was cancelled automatic so they just set up a new dd with same details and we then cam to an arrangment to pay the out standing at the post office by a certain date
sorted no probs and no need to worry
as far a prepay goes i would steer clear as you pay 136E a year just for the meter and a higher price for the electricity so it is a lot to pay just to have the privalage of paying them in advance

Grumpypants

Can you put a direct debit in place to come out after your payday. This will remove the 300 deposit and keep you in track.

I would avoid pre pay really you will lose in the long run.

Vologda69

I'm on the 2 year contract too. I have the original terms and conditions. It states the exit charge is €70 for each year (or part thereof). Mine is due to end in March, when I'm going to switch to Bord Gais.

snypers12

mines out of april. im definately leaving them when its up. my bill has been going up and up all year. with any other company my bill came down during the summer. i dread to think how high it will be this xmas.
Anyway after 3 phonecalls i finally got sorted with them. just had to give them the direct debit details again. So all should be sorted. fingers crossed

TheChizler

Have airtricity not given you a wireless meter for inside the house? You get the ppp benefit of being able to easily see what you're using and the airtricity rates.

snypers12

TheChizler wrote: »

Have airtricity not given you a wireless meter for inside the house? You get the ppp benefit of being able to easily see what you're using and the airtricity rates.

Yes but i cant get it to work. Followed the instructions on connecting it but no joy. Haad one of my mates out whos an electrician and he couldnt get it set up either:(

Vologda69

I checked on Bonkers.ie and I would save about €300 per annum if I switched from Airtricity. One of their reps knocked at my door last week. He told me to switch to Bord Gais in order to avail of new customer discounted rates with Airtricity in the future. Crazy!

TheChizler

snypers12 wrote: »

Yes but i cant get it to work. Followed the instructions on connecting it but no joy. Haad one of my mates out whos an electrician and he couldnt get it set up either:(

If the one they supplied you with is faulty they should replace it. Give them a call maybe?