[meldrewreborn]

My bill/statement arrived this morning dated 3 Dec 2024. So far so good.

on the electricity side, under "could you save money and pay less?" I'm told that your cheapest tariff for electricity is Next Reward Days fixed 12m V2, and I could save £40.47 by switching.

Except I can't switch to that tariff because V2 has been replaced by V3. And V3 can't save me anything at all because the unit rate is higher than my current Next Fixed 12m v28 by 1.34p per kWh (vat inc) while the standing charge is exactly the same!!

Now if I were on say Next Flex it might save me money, but that's academic because I'm not on that tariff. The statement claims that I could save £40.47 a year, but on the v3 rates it would not be possible to save that amount at my level of consumption, nor in fact would it be possible to save anything at all ( i can't see V2 tariff rates only V3).

While I appreciate that this is meant to assist customers it clearly doesn't in this case.

Could I suggest that advertised switching options remain valid for 1 week from date of statement, and that more care is taken to compare the advertised option with the customers actual tarrif details.

Interestingly, the claimed reduction was only for electricity, for gas I'm apparently on your cheapest tariff, but can i trust that?

[Mailman]

@meldrewreborn

I got my statement on 2nd Dec and I too got this v2 tariff you are referring to. I did some number crunching on this and it was marginally cheaper but not enough to jump ship. I'll check on my spreadsheet in the morning and also run the v3 tariff numbers and get back to you. I agree with your general principal though and would have assumed that the 'offer' was good for at least 1 day.

[Andy65]

@meldrewreborn

I always take those 'could save' with a pinch of salt because of the consumption figures they use to calculate it, but you are spot on that whatever tariff is being suggested should at least be current and available for several days.

I can't check my latest bill because they haven't pulled meter readings for November or sent me a bill, I could submit my own readings but that would defeat the object of having smart meters!

[geoffers]

Originally Posted by meldrewreborn

....Interestingly, the claimed reduction was only for electricity, for gas I'm apparently on your cheapest tariff, but can i trust that?

I very nearly switched from Drive V3 to Drive V4 as the electricity savings were genuinely good, but they'd sneakily upped the gas tariff & s/c so overall it would have cost a lot more ... grrrr🤬

Will wait until the spring to switch to V4, when the c/h is off 👍

I rarely pay any attention to the suggested tariff savings: Previously when I was with BG I would get an email saying which tariff would save me money, but when I logged in to change that tariff often no longer existed, so it's not only EOn who are misleading.

[Mailman]

Originally Posted by meldrewreborn

Except I can't switch to that tariff because V2 has been replaced by V3.

Under the search through our tariffs 'current' I still see v2 listed as well as v3

What stands out for me is that the SC on V2 are drastically lower for electricity in my region (39.9p/day on v2 and 72.1p/day on v3). Overall v2 for my usage would work out circa £4 cheaper/annum compared to my current tariff and v3 works out £44 more expensive. However my 24m current tariff will run out in April 2026 whereas these tariffs would run out 4 months earlier. So still not swopping methinks.

[meldrewreborn]

@Mailman
I’ll give that a try ! thank you.

[WizzyWigg]

@meldrewreborn
Nowadays we are bombarded by 'You can save ' adverts.
Why suggest it and who benefits 🤔?
Best to treat them with a degree of cynicism and do your own research. 😉

[meldrewreborn]

@WizzyWigg

I think there is a directive to advise customers when there are better prices available, which is fine if it’s properly implemented. My example suggests it’s not and that’s a shame.

there can be good reasons why a customer might not want to take up a cheaper price - exit fees , length of contract etc, but if it’s claimed to be cheaper (the amount will depend upon units consumed) at least it should be able to be cheaper which v3 wasn’t, although I’ll try for v2, just for electricity following the suggestion from @Mailman!

[WizzyWigg]

@meldrewreborn Information on tariff changes is fine and should be shown, but leave the 'You Can Save ' bit out. May be change it to 'This New Tariff Might be of Interest '.
It's really up to the customer to see if they benefit or not. Pen, paper, and a dash of arithmetic. 😁

[meldrewreborn]

@WizzyWigg @Mailman

So acting on @Mailman's advice that V2 was shown somewhere (I couldn't find it but that's another topic I think!) I phoned up and after a few minutes I got through to Lily and I explained the issue. Yes we can do that said she, and I'm now benefitting from much lower electricity standing charge which is a real saving. Plus I get free Energy on 3 days at Christmas.

Lily Also reduced my DD from £112 to £100 -just like that - with no quibble whatsoever. I had though queried why it was that her quote was for it to stay the same despite the lower priced tariff.

A good day all round.

Next reward days Fixed 12m V2 is a good deal - don't delay though I fear it will not be around for long.