Switching Electricity suppliers

Cecie

I was looking some advice on switching electricity suppliers...had a sales rep call around to the house last night from airtricity and ended up signing up to switch as they do seem cheaper but now I am wondering have I made a mistake?? I see some old posts here complaining about their customer service but not so many the last few years. What are people's experience of them recently or any thoughts on switching suppliers?
Any advice appreciated.

L1011

Their customer service is still abysmal, as are their billing systems.

Use bonkers.ie and uswitch.ie to see if you've actually got the best deal (or if you'll even save a cent in the first place); you're within the cooling off period if not. You may be able to get a better deal online as the cold caller isn't getting commission that way, for instance.

Switching suppliers is extremely easy as there's zero break in service or any need to change any equipment, its advisable to do it as often as it makes sense - generally every 12 months to get whatever is the current best deal.

Cecie

quote="L1011;94140603"]Their customer service is still abysmal, as are their billing systems.

Use bonkers.ie and uswitch.ie to see if you've actually got the best deal (or if you'll even save a cent in the first place); you're within the cooling off period if not. You may be able to get a better deal online as the cold caller isn't getting commission that way, for instance.

Switching suppliers is extremely easy as there's zero break in service or any need to change any equipment, its advisable to do it as often as it makes sense - generally every 12 months to get whatever is the current best deal.[/quote]

Thanks for that ..the airtricity caller kind of caught me off guard to be honest. He caught me at a weak moment as I would never usually even engage with people who call to the house. But wanted to make sure I could do better before I just cancelled it outright. I'll check those websites and see what the best deal is and then cancel the switch to airtricity.

Many thanks for your reply.

Tzardine

Been with airtricity for a good few years. Never had any bother with their customer service and I have called them a few times.

Their billing system is fine. You need to do your meter readings and you will never have a problem. People who complain about the billing system and large bills out of nowhere are usually not sending in any meter readings. What do you expect. Did you not notice your previous bills were low ?

Their app is very good too for keeping track.

whiskeyman

I switched to Airtricity back in Nov as they had the best deal going at the time (for Elec and Gas).
No issues so far... as have said before, once you submit your reads on time, you're v unlikely to have any reason to contact them.

dudara

Moving to Accommodation & Property

dudara

KCross

Tzardine wrote: »

Been with airtricity for a good few years. Never had any bother with their customer service and I have called them a few times.

Their billing system is fine. You need to do your meter readings and you will never have a problem. People who complain about the billing system and large bills out of nowhere are usually not sending in any meter readings. What do you expect. Did you not notice your previous bills were low ?

Their app is very good too for keeping track.

Same experience. No issues with Airtricity bills or their customer service and have been with them over 10years now in 2 separate houses.

Would also agree that you need to submit meter readings if you want to avoid estimated billing which is irrespective of which provider you use.

Before deciding to change or not, check your usage(kWH) for the last 12 months and then do the math(via bonkers.ie, uswitch.ie etc) and just pick the cheapest.

Raytown Rocks

Moved to them a few months ago
Send in my bills every month
On monthly payment plan
No bother so far.

power101

Standing charge is higher and the electricity rates are higher. They try to fool people saying they are giving a 20% discount while other suppliers only give 15%, when in fact their rates are much higher to begin with. Airtricity are definitely not the cheapest.

Graces7

I stopped looking at alternative suppliers as they all want a large deposit and I dont have that kind of cash available

Tzardine

Graces7 wrote: »

I stopped looking at alternative suppliers as they all want a large deposit and I dont have that kind of cash available

This is only if you don't pay by direct debit as far as I am aware.

rocky

power101 wrote: »

Standing charge is higher and the electricity rates are higher. They try to fool people saying they are giving a 20% discount while other suppliers only give 15%, when in fact their rates are much higher to begin with. Airtricity are definitely not the cheapest.

Standing charge is around 50c a day (180 a year), and on bonkers.is Electric Ireland shows up with 191 + 130 for the 2 meters if I remember correctly. I just signed up for another year with airtricity to get an extra 10%, am I wrong? We're off for 7 months next year, no point paying higher standing charge...