Airtricity, pushy or what?!!

Sponge Bob

You would have some chance of speaing the Scots Gaelic ( slowly) in Donegal and being understood, further south likely not.

Thank you for your post on the accreditation of door to door salespeople, I would be entirely supportive of such a move here given the scumbags that have been let loose at this time.

That our energy regulator learnt absolutely nothing from what the UK regulator evidently sorted out 10 years ago is entirely unsurprising. Regulation in Ireland is a complete joke

jack presley

Richard, people let you into their house...????

Zero chance of that with me, or with a lot of people over here I'd imagine. Will you also try to 'trick' people into giving you their account number or MPRN number?

Boskowski

Seems a lot of people rather stick 'on principle' with ESB instead of saving a few Euro 'cos they're so much better and 'they're Irish'.

Only they're screwing the customers for decades now being state protected in their cosy little money making racket. The average wage in that place is beyond believe btw.

But as long as you're happy paying for that "cos' they're Irish" don't be complaining on some other issue how we're being ripped off when you're effectively declining competitive advantages which is the only way of ESB ever reducing their own prices.

<sigh>

djrichard

jack presley wrote: »

Richard, people let you into their house...????

Zero chance of that with me, or with a lot of people over here I'd imagine. Will you also try to 'trick' people into giving you their account number or MPRN number?

Of course they let me into their house, Im a very charming individual dont you know! hahaha

All the tricks these rogues are doing is exactly the reason why Energysure was setup.

http://www.energy-retail.org.uk/thecode/energysurescheme.html

I have some rather unbelievable stories of what some got up to. One time, in a Dundee shopping centre, a stand was setup for people to give basic personal details and a signature to show their support for Save The Whales. This was actually some energy advisors who had kept the Whales publicity display from a previous job, and were using the details not for the whales, but in fact for filling out application forms. Nothing like this can happen in the UK anymore. In fact, if you work for Hydro Electric (Airtricity owners) or any of the agencies they use, you have to phone a service centre number whilst in the customers house and then pass the phone onto the customer. They will then be asked to confirm that they are aware that they are indeed changing supplier from whoever to Hydro Electric, and to confirm that they are happy with the process and that everything, including the 7 day cooling off period, has been explained cleary to them. Only after this confirmation has been given over the phone, will the sales agent be given a verification number to write on the application form. As you can imagine, this virtually stops all misselling.

When given our sheets for the area we were working, we would have the customers name and address, their current supplier, payment method, meter point reference number, electric serial number, and often the account number when they were with us before they changed.

Honestly, It sounds a little like stepping back in time when I hear the stories on here. Im amazed that all the issues in the UK have not been take into consideration, especially as Airtricity, who seem to be at the front of these complaints, are owned by Scottish & Southern and they have consistantly been at the forefront of customer satisfaction. It was the most difficult company to switch people from, such was the loyalty of their customers.

The one thing in the favour of Bord Gais is their Irish roots, I cant tell you how many sales I completed simply due to pointing out the address of "Scottish Gas" as no longer being in Edinburgh, but as coming from Basingstoke. The Irish I guess, would be very loyal the same as the Scots.

Maybe I should apply for a job with Bord Gais then, I see that a company called CPM are recruiting on their behalf. Does anyone have any experience with them? Im always wary of agencies, they tend to have a ridiculous churn with staff, like a revolving door!

Adyx

I'm not sure why you quoted my post - I thought it was quite moderate compared to some other posts in this thread. For the record: I have nothing against Airtricity as company, nor would I advocate staying with the ESB (We're with Bord Gais actually for gas and electricity). I also have nothing against sales people - as long as they are polite, honest and know their place, i.e. leave when requested/no interest is shown.

Whilst my own experience with the sales people used by Airtricity pales in comparison to some, I did find them extremely pushy and impolite. If I was to switch (and this goes for all companies), I would cut out the middleman and contact them directly.

If you do decide to move to Ireland, then I wish you all the best.

Padraig Mor

Boskowski wrote: »

Seems a lot of people rather stick 'on principle' with ESB instead of saving a few Euro 'cos they're so much better and 'they're Irish'. >

I haven't seen anyone saying anyhting like that here. People are saying they won't switch to Airtricity because they're a shower of lying scammers.

djrichard

Adyx wrote: »

I'm not sure why you quoted my post - I thought it was quite moderate compared to some other posts in this thread.

Only because it was the strongest post on the final page, saved me having to load up another page to get a quote. Nothing personal I assure you, just my laziness .

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

Boskowski wrote: »

Seems a lot of people rather stick 'on principle' with ESB instead of saving a few Euro 'cos they're so much better and 'they're Irish'. ...Only they're screwing the customers for decades now being state protected in their cosy little money making racket...declining competitive advantages which is the only way of ESB ever reducing their own prices.

You need to look at some facts rather than just letting rip on a rant.

Firstly, people are not sticking with ESB Customer Supply out of principle at all. They are switching elsewhere in droves. Secondly, ESB Customer Supply are not allowed compete in the Domestic market at present. Only when they have less than 60% of the market (later this year probably) will they be allowed compete. They have wanted to reduce charges but the regulator won't allow it in case it drives out the competitors.

Maybe, deal in facts in future.

Matt Bauer

What do you have against saving 13% on your electricity and saving the environment at the same time?

bungler

Matt Bauer wrote: »

What do you have against saving 13% on your electricity and saving the environment at the same time?

Because the OP said he would read up on Airtricity so i presume he didnt know much about them and with all the people trying to flog dodgy offers i think thats fair. I think the mian point from most of the post is that its not the savings its their attitude and they way they try force the sale.

Also why not go with Bord Gais and save 14%? they also produce nearly as much green electricity as Airtricity.

Do you by any chance work for Airtricity?

AMCCORK

My OH was getting pushed big time by an airtricity rep she even called on New Years Eve to say their offer was finishing so to sign up that day. I refused to even consider the 12 month contract and was told that you could switch without a contract and get 10% off Electricity and 10% off gas. As I am with Bord Gais for both there was no saving on the electricity and I looked at a recent bill and calculated it at the Airtricity rates and because of their standing charge it would actually have been 48c dearer. So I was proven right in my conviction that they were so pushy that it gave me a bad feeling.

Matt Bauer

I'm just somebody who has saved €200 so far since switching to Airtricity. At the time I considered Bord Gais as well, but their 14% offer only applied if I also got gas from them, and that's not available where I live. I don't know if that has changed now.

bmarley

So fed up with airtricity, i am sorry i switched over to them last year. Couple of times bills were higher than average and when I rang was told that I had been under charged during first few months and that they were now spacing it out over next few months. On Decembers bill, I noticed that the amount was much higher than usual, when I rang up I was informed this was an estimate so I took a reading from meter and gave it to them. They amount they were planning to take out of my account was 100 euro in excess of what I owed and this in December of all months.

My 20 year old daughter had an account with them for couple of months last year. When she moved out of her accommodation, a bill came through to her for an outstanding amount of 400 euro. My daughter and myself spoke with them and it was agreed that account would be closed, a final bill sent to my name and address and that the account could be settled in full (daughter moving abroad). A final reading was done in early August and I settled the bill in full end August. Lo and Behold a bill arrives in December for outstanding amount still due of 70 euro, It had my daughters name on it care of my name as address. I rang up to query the bill. They needed to speak to my daughter. Abroad. They still needed to talk to her. Handed phone to hubby. He didn't bother disguising his voice but confirmed he was the daughter and guessed her passwords etc and confirmed that mum could voice her query.

So, to cut a long story short, when new tenants changed supplier and got their first bill they disputed the amount they owed - (they had actually been living on free electricity from June to August, when daughter finally got it taken off her name). So it turned out my daughters account was not fully paid, something to do with the night charges had been underestimated! Airtricity said that if I wanted to dispute this I should go over and talk to new tenants in flat and see if we could come to an agreement between ourselves. Too funny really, but I will not be paying...Sorry I actually paid any of it..what could they have done...turned off the supply!

Meeoow

Got duped into switching to Airtricity before Christmas.
After signing up, I compared their rates to my previous ESB and Bord Gais bills.
Turns out, I would only have saved 1 Euro on gas and 3 Euros on electric if I had to have been billed by Airtricity.
Taking into account that you have to sign up to direct debits for a year, and can be charged interest and charges by the bank if you havn't the money in your account, I realised that i would be better off with ESB and Bord Gais.
The contract states that you have to pay 100 euros if you get out of the Airtricity contract early.
I contacted the consumer association, who were very helpful.
Turns out that the contract is void anyway, because uninvited doorstep callers have to inform you that you have a 7 day cooling off period and they should also give you a cancellation form.
So anyone who has signed up and is regretting it should be aware that the contract is void if they weren't made aware of the cooling off period. It worked for me.

Kalimah

I'm in the same boat and wasn't told about the coolong off period either or the 100 euro charge to break the contract. I'm due a bill soon:mad: and if it's enormous I'll ask them to split it in two. I have gas and electricity from Airtricity.