Energy News

Energy companies giving wrong advice on cheapest deals

Thursday 13 October, 2011

By Martin Fagan

Energy companies are giving inaccurate information and “dodgy advice” to people who ring up to switch to cheaper deals, says Which?

Consumers who phone energy companies in the hunt for the cheapest deal are being given conflicting and inaccurate advice, according to the findings of an undercover investigation by Which?

The consumer watchdog called each of the six major energy suppliers on 12 separate occasions over the course of one week. Despite being clearly asked for the cheapest deal, the firms failed to offer their cheapest tariff in nearly a third of the calls.

Staff also gave questionable advice about potential savings, cashback deals and fixed prices.

Which? found that Southern Electric telesales staff only mentioned its cheapest tariff in three of the 12 calls. Seven of the 12 EDF Energy salespeople recommended its more expensive fixed-rate deals instead of its cheaper online tariff.

Across all the energy companies, callers from Which? discovered that one third of the salespeople they spoke to did not mention relevant exit fees; Scottish Power failed to reveal its £51 exit fees in nine of the 12 calls.

As British Gas has recently joined EDF Energy and SSE (the new name for Scottish & Southern Energy) in suspending doorstep selling, consumers seeking a cheaper deal and baffled by the confusing array of tariff information on power companies’ websites now call their energy supplier in the hope they will be guided to the cheapest deal.

The irony is that the cheapest deals offered by energy companies are accessed online rather than by telephone.

"If you call an energy supplier asking for their cheapest deal, that's exactly what you should get,” said Richard Lloyd, executive director at Which?.

“It's unacceptable for sales staff to give information that's confusing or plain wrong. Giving the right advice to customers about switching matters more than ever when so many people are struggling with escalating fuel bills and colder weather is starting to bite.

The Which? callers found that British Gas staff offered its cheapest tariff in 10 of the 12 calls but offered wildly varying cashback deals alongside this tariff, ranging from zero to £175.

Offers varied significantly even within the same region - a caller from one London postcode was offered £125 cashback and another was offered nothing.

Lloyd added: "Our advice to customers is that if you are going to switch, make sure you insist on being told the cheapest possible deal. Check for exit fees and ask about paying by direct debit or managing your account online as this will usually get you a discount.

“Switching is actually much easier to do than you might think and can save you money."

Compare energy prices here [LINK: http://www.energychoices.co.uk/article.asp?id=index-v2]