Switching electric/gas providers (see first post for links)

worlds goodest teecher

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118990658#Comment_118990658

Electric Ireland used to do an electrical vehicle day/night rate with a very low night rate. Any of the suppliers doing an ev rate right now?

sully123

I've been tickering with the price comparisons sites for a few weeks now.

This time flo gas are showing up as the cheapest option

masterboy123

I am with electric Ireland for the past 7 months. I got their cashback reward deal and on a 12 months contract.

If I switch now and pay the early break fee of €50, would I have to return the cashback reward?

Thanks

zell12

yes

corks finest

No

masterboy123

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118999406#Comment_118999406

Is that to my query?

masterboy123

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118996231#Comment_118996231

Thanks.

I will stay with them in that case.

Cape Clear

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118999626#Comment_118999626

Claw back of cash back is in the t&c I believe. No idea if anyone has tested it.

corks finest

sorry yes it is

Nigzcurran

We are with prepay power as the wife prefers that to getting a bill, we rang up and said we were thinking of leaving and they offered a measly €30 credit to sign a new 12 month contract. We then went through the change over with bonkers and prepay power rang back and offered €240 credit to sign a 12 month contract

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118940027#Comment_118940027

I don't know where you go to for reviews but I use TrustPilot every time. Iberdrola.ie get a rating of 4.7 out of 5. https://ie.trustpilot.com/review/iberdrola.ie To me that's brilliant! If you're in doubt have a read of the actual reviews left by consumers and customers.

As a comparison have a read of reviews left for Airtricity(1.2 out of 5stars) Electric Ireland (1.3 out of 5 stars) and Bord Gais (1.6 out of 5 stars) ! (sorry for using bold letters, cannot "undo" them on the above section)

I moved to Iberdrola a few months ago. The best bit is their customer service is 2nd to none. You get an actual person to speak to every single time, within about 1 minute of making the call. An actual person picks up the phone and you can speak to them without pressing 76 different options! YAY. (and they also give €200 cashback).

I was thrilled to get away from the BIG 4 cartel and give Iberdrola a go, absolutely no complaints!

****be careful when getting quote of unit pricing that the price you get is not excluding VAT as VAT will be added on anyway. Iberdrola quote unit price including VAT***

zell12

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119000342#Comment_119000342

That's only €20 credit per month. Is that worth the extra higher standing charge, higher unit price, etc?

Cape Clear

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119000548#Comment_119000548

Good for you. I have linked reviews in an earlier post.

Gooser14

Surely prepay is the most expensive way of getting your electricity.

Cape Clear

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119001039#Comment_119001039

I believe so but people don't always have a choice if they are renting a property. In theory given you are paying in advance you would think it should be cheaper and more attractive for the provider to have as many users as possible not defaulting or taking longer to pay bills.

Nigzcurran

Yep I’m pretty sure prepay is the most expensive but having no nasty bills arrive in the door the week before Christmas is what keeps the wife happy so who am I to argue!

Muahahaha

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119003352#Comment_119003352

There is a way around this with most of the big providers, you ask to be put on level pay so your electricity use is averaged throughout the year and you get the same euro amount bill every month. That way you know what is coming every month and you can plan and budget for it. It also takes the fear out of a monster bill in Jan/Feb becasue the bill is always the same.

You would be better off getting away from Prepay if you can becasue its simply going to be the most expensive option out there. Its bad enough paying through the nose for electricity but Prepay is another level up price wise, they have higher standing charges,higher unit costs and then they slap on a fee of 130 a year to have a keypad in your house. Anyone on Prepay is spending between 400 and 600 euro more a year than those with a regular electricity company. Unless you want to throw money away Prepay should be avoided at all costs.

padyjoe

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119003352#Comment_119003352

Nasty bills?

If you are worried about the bills, it's easy to keep track of them and pay them in advance bit by bit.

As for pre-pay you are paying extra for constrain yourself. Why can't you do that on bill pay and the money stays in your pocket. This is my twocents though.

SnuggyBear

The bills are pretty much the same all the time, no surprises. Prepay is much more expensive.

Nigzcurran

Yep think it works out around €400 a year more expensive but the boss prefers prepay to bills so I stay out of it! We got €240 free credit which works out we are paying an extra €160 a year to stay prepay which isn’t the end of the world

SnuggyBear

Fair enough, makes no sense though lol

Donnie2020

Flogas coming in dirt cheap. Like 20 euro a month for me

But the reviews of them are awful..............................anyone recommend or not

Donnie2020

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118993883#Comment_118993883

Yeah same for me. But their reviews don't look too good so IDK

eeepaulo

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119006218#Comment_119006218

Just in terms of customer service how often do you actually need to call them? I never speak to any of them other than to say im going to switch and ask what the best deal is every year.

What i would say is take pictures of your meter, its the only thing they can really mess up, they are just billing companies they dont actually do anything. When you switch take a picture everyday until the switch over. If there is a price change take a picture the day before / on the day.

Donnie2020

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119006592#Comment_119006592

never need to make calls to them, based on my previous suppliers anyway so that won't be an issue

yeah those other things are my main concerns. like not returning credit or bumping up rates significantly later on in the contract to make up for the lower reductions at the beginning

eeepaulo

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119006623#Comment_119006623

you are right those should be the main concern, if you go for a cashback offer you are effectively tied to them for the year. And i imagine all the companies are going to up the rates this year again, multiple times.

They have it in the T&Cs that if you break the contract you are liable for 50 quid + the cashback amount, in practice i had a friend who moved in with someone about halfway through a contract they just asked for half the cashback back + 50 quid (heard that online as well). But you could end up in a situation where they say you are liable to pay it all back.

Can i ask how many khw you use a year? rural or urban? 24 hour meter?

Donnie2020

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119006665#Comment_119006665

587kw so far this year. urban and 24 hours. paperless direct debit all that craic

eeepaulo

fairplay with that low usage you have to go for cashback, silly not to. SSE are about 15 quid more than Flogas if you arent sure about them but yeah, just put up with the fact that they are all going to rise the prices

Donnie2020

you would go flogas anyway despite the reviews???

im also carrying over the government credit as well

eeepaulo

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119006838#Comment_119006838

I would go with sse (im with them now)

all of the companies are required to credit you the money if you switch in credit