British Gas

Seconded. Very greedy Gasman.

Usually can't be bothered. Did it yesterday for the first time ever.......just waiting for it all to be cocked up.....???!!!

a pleasing thread

Ended up with a company called Bulge.............wish I could get one in my pants had our second email. All seems to be easy so far tbh I couldn't give a fxxk if I didn't save anything. It's the principle mind you it been estimated that we will save £322 for the year which is a chunk off our car insurances which I do check and swap on a regular basis. It's not like the old days, there's no discount for loyalty anymore

Same old.  Same old.

We have supposed regulators who do nothing about the dire situation.

Gas and electric typical of the trend towards complicating simple products and commodities to baffle the customer.

You want some gas down the pipe to  your house to fire your central heating and you have to choose between a dozen different tariffs.  Standard, fixed, dual fuel, discount fix, exclusive, online only tariffs, pre-payment tariffs, green energy tariffs, economy 7, economy 10, exit penalties....All feckin BS.  All designed purely for market segmentation and to confuse the hell out of the customer.

Be very careful when they tell you how much you will 'save'. Concentrate on the estimated new price against what you pay now.

The sneaky buggers quote savings against the price you would pay if you went on standard tariff with your current firm.. If you are on a decent fixed rate deal at present the saving will be nothing like the amount quoted.
My headline saving was £240, ended up being £40.

As I said saddo I couldn't give a fxxk if I save or not, it's the principle of it. If enough people swap they'll soon get the message and I agree with Jack they do try to confuse the hell out of you. Electric is electric and gas is gas so why so many different prices for the same product. Imagine if Jeremy got his way, we'd all be caught by the short and curly's

Don't believe any company.  You need to know your usage in units and apply it to a prospective tariff.

Move to an agreed one year Fixed tariff( renewable each year) , rather than a Standard Tariff, will save £ hundreds.

That's what I'm on facts, but if you go on a comparison site they will assume you are going to revert to standard tariff at the end of your fixed rate and will quote savings against standard tariff prices. Very underhand imo, they should quote savings against what you are currently paying, they do not.

There is always a reason for a price rise, what they dont tell you is the return that some investors demand (around 5%).
I remember seeing the energy sector reps infront of the select committee the other year say it.

What other sector allows investors to dictate what return they want?
Energy is a necessity; they have the customers over a barrel.

It's time for a campaign for everybody to move
to one supplier putting all the others out of business

look at your bill...

it says.... British Gas , looking after your world.

What is means is British Gas, looking after your cash.


i turned it off - i just pay the £22 quarterly minimum. These guys are nasty,
they send a bill out and within five days another bill arrives with threats?
WTF let me get the cash together? You surprised me.
they mention debt collectors. So now i just deal with Scottish power.
pay it up in easy installments. no problems. even if i lag behind they know
i'll catch up  - they are chilled. Fk brit Gas.

Well done zorro ! For a moment I thought you were going to blame the devil ! Mind you are they one in the same

https://www.lrb.co.uk/v34/n17/james-meek/how-we-happened-to-sell-off-our-electricity

It's a long read but worth it..i.m.o.

Not that I want to rush to defend British Gas but they were the only one of the big 6 not to raise their prices earlier this year so it is just catching up. Of course, that would mean much more if they held off increasing prices before the Winter rather than summer.

They said privatization would result in competition and cheaper energy ,it looks like the opposite to me.

Look at the advances in technology. LED lights, LED tvs, insulation, more efficient white goods etc. Added to that, milder winter weather generally. We're using less energy so the suppliers have to raise the cost of supply to maintain or increase profits.

Of course it's important to be switching often and paying the lowest rates and standing orders, but people would save more by concentrating on installing LED lights and swapping over to more efficient appliances.

When I moved into my flat in 1999 I was paying £2.00 a week for electric I now pay £10.

Best get started installing those LEDs

The standard rate is just the result of data analysis.
It's 'tease and squeeze' mentality that encourages new customers and profits on the laziness of the masses.
I can't remember the exact figure but I think it's around 70% who don't switch and are therefore being over charged by default.
It's rampant opportunism and insidious, but that the very nature of human greed nowadays.
The exact same template can be seen in insurance, in banking and even in telecommunications.

What we see is enterprise costing people's time.
The floor is always moving and they force you to work for them by having to calculate an opaque set of figures to locate the cheapest version, while not doing so is just a rip off.
So you have to work year in and year out.
It's a vile mechanism, and some person with capital was its inventor....just like compound interest.
Humans are scum.

There's no helping some people, db. These are fun tasks for me, but I love crunching numbers.

if SCIENCE was so feckin wonderful, we would be past burning stuff like Victorians.
If they were truly capable, then we would invest billions into FUSION.
with fusion working - everyone could have electric radiators in their house blazing away 24 hours a day. free travel? with electric vehicles would happen within a decade. with infrastructure upgrades. All energy problems solved? no more wars over petrol?

But - is it possible or is it a dream?

I was told about fusion when I was at high school in 1982?
where is it? the atheists say - where is God?
where is FUSION?

they found all the exotic particles in Cern? they applaud themselves for
the impracticalities of science. This one project could save humanity.
If you believe from the scientific perspective?
I'm sure something else will provoke violence, there's no end of quibbling.

Someone came up with a great analogy of the Energy market likening the best cheapest  deal
to a supermarket till that is the cheapest but every time you queue to pay you find the till
has been moved.

oil is cheaper - but the bills go up?

can someone explain that to me?

Oil price in 2008 at highest was $139.05

today its $49.20

We are getting what they call - the shaft.

Cider,I bought a dozen LED bulbs last year at nearly £3 each, 7 have failed within 12 months. No receipt no refund. They are far from perfect yet.

Not as economical as you are LED to believe..

saddo

Did you purchase a reputable brand such as Philips? Seems unlikely for that price. None of mine have gone, expected to last 10 years or more.

Good brand, bad batch. My electrician says he gets quite a lot, he has to go and change them which is a time killer.

Bleedingmad...."They said privatization would result in competition and cheaper energy ,it looks like the opposite to me"

Then this ....belter "When I moved into my flat in 1999 I was paying £2.00 a week for electric I now pay £10"

No that I'm defending the odious British Gas but there's loads of stuff the same price or less now than it was in 1999 you complete dullard.

It's really simple...if people are to lazy to shop around and get the best deal, that's their problem.

I'm talking about the cost of energy for domestic consumers not baloney like you are talking
name one necessity that's cheaper than 1999 e.g. water, gas ,electric e.t.c.
Complete Dullard Pray what qualification do you have to call me that Sir?

It's really simple...if people are to lazy to shop around and get the best deal, that's their problem.

wow.

What about all those JAM's who dont have the time to have to play the same game for everything the buy and simply dont have the time and therefore pay over the odds for everything where those with money, and time therefore dont?

Wow...your inane ramblings have me confused.

What I think you are trying to say is that you don't believe in personal responsibility? Don't have the time brilliant.

Bleedingmad, i'd suggest it's bleedingobvious

Like I have outlined, this model is everywhere now, your tv package your phone contract, mobile, bank accounts etc etc etc

People have to work all the given time just to keep their heads above the rising water line.

If you cant see that it benefits those with capital at the cost of those without then you are daft.

Personal responsibility so everyone must have a computer and be online and check regularly that they are on the cheapest
deal then switch maybe as often as a couple of times yearly ,oh so simple for everyone and of course this doesn't waste time,
energy,paperwork,phone calls e.t.c. It then becomes a game for the companies to extract your money ,all of it is unnecessary
and is the result of bullcrap politicians who have no interest except rewarding business.


.

Usually local library has computer and online access for free so no reason everyone shouldn't be able to check and l have found library staff to be particularly helpful if you have a problem.

No access to Betfair btw.

those lightbulbs were outed in the paper a few years back,
the light hey emit hurts your eyes. you actually need real
sunshine to repair the damage they do?
slow to come on? so if you walk into a room to find a screwdriver
it'll take a while? it deters reading. it's a con.
i just buy 100w bulbs, fk it. this is a way to make you feel
drained? yellow light ? it's like those neon tubes in offices?
flickering on and off. seriously bogus lighting.
poundshop bulbs. one purchase a year? there's your saving.
buy a philips bulb and you are out of pocket by quite a margin.

Hardly surprising you aren't investing in long-life lightbulbs, zorro.

Zorro is on about the previous generation of energy saving bulbs I think. We were charged a fortune for those and they were going to last forever as well, but as he says, they are rubbish and you can't see owt.

Fluorescent and CFL bulbs contain a small amount of mercury. Very small doses of
mercury can cause severe respiratory tract damage, brain damage, kidney damage,
central nervous system damage, and many other serious medical conditions

News today British Gas has lost 1.4 million customers..............me being one of them. Good Fxxk em ! Sadly 4,000 cannon fodder jobs to go while no doubt the kn0bs at the top who came up with the idea of imposing the massive rises will keep their jobs