Budgie vs Powershop

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BDFL - Memuneh
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#1055684 29-May-2014 10:00

timtam007: Budgie Power is run by a young man named Andrew and Budgie Power is owned by Bosco Connect also managed by Andrew, it is a small on-seller based in Auckland mainly on-selling electricity to Auckland CBD apartments. They have recently started promotions through an online competition using film makers to make 30 second ads in the belief there is a total prize pool of 15k. which is currently being investigated due to the changing rules and inconsistencies. The promotion/ competition is their main way of signing up new customers so there appears to be no major financial backing to support conventional marketing practices, they offer no contracts, no real customer support, and seem to be running it all from the Bosco office which operates Monday to Friday until 4.30pm unless they go home early or the office lady takes off to go to the bank and then it is impossible to get through to speak to anyone after 3.50pm

I think you will find "lean" companies can and will perform well. Powershop is an example. And a Steve points out Budgie is owned by MRP, so it's not exactly without backing.

Perhaps you could explain the reasons for your post? Do you have a specific problem, need some help or is this just some rant?

Lostja

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#1055728 29-May-2014 10:34

We switched to Budgie a few months ago, very easy process. I have had no issues with them and they appear to be cheaper than the others.

sbiddle

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#1056222 29-May-2014 20:45

timtam007: Budgie Power is run by a young man named Andrew and Budgie Power is owned by Bosco Connect also managed by Andrew, it is a small on-seller based in Auckland mainly on-selling electricity to Auckland CBD apartments. They have recently started promotions through an online competition using film makers to make 30 second ads in the belief there is a total prize pool of 15k. which is currently being investigated due to the changing rules and inconsistencies. The promotion/ competition is their main way of signing up new customers so there appears to be no major financial backing to support conventional marketing practices, they offer no contracts, no real customer support, and seem to be running it all from the Bosco office which operates Monday to Friday until 4.30pm unless they go home early or the office lady takes off to go to the bank and then it is impossible to get through to speak to anyone after 3.50pm

Bosco connect is a fully owned subsidiary of MRP who have 100% ownership of the company. The 3 directors of Budgie are also directors of MRP.

Clearly the information you're posting isn't quite as accurate as you'd have us think..

timtam007

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#1056939 31-May-2014 07:48

Bosco is a stand alone company and is it's own legal entity and micro managed budgie to date hasn't been registered as such and it appears that budgie is being put under the bosco entity, if either bosco or budgie get into trouble through mismanagement or unethical practices it allows the parent company to either bail it out or shut it out, the parent company has shareholders to answer to, budgie has bosco to answer to if both are being looked after by the same person and that person stuffs up somewhere which might run against ethical and professional standards governing bodies I am sure the share holders of the parent company wouldnt be overly impressed if a bail out was opted for, didn't mean for it to sound like a rant just personal experience I have found it differcult to speak to someone within their advertised hours of business on several occasions and also know of the groups who are charging along with chants of unethical practices and their reasons which could spell out more trouble than what the parent company will want to have their name associated with, but I will watch with interest over the next 6 months and see what transpires

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#1057036 31-May-2014 12:28

timtam007: Bosco is a stand alone company and is it's own legal entity and micro managed budgie to date hasn't been registered as such and it appears that budgie is being put under the bosco entity, if either bosco or budgie get into trouble through mismanagement or unethical practices it allows the parent company to either bail it out or shut it out, the parent company has shareholders to answer to, budgie has bosco to answer to if both are being looked after by the same person and that person stuffs up somewhere which might run against ethical and professional standards governing bodies I am sure the share holders of the parent company wouldnt be overly impressed if a bail out was opted for, didn't mean for it to sound like a rant just personal experience I have found it differcult to speak to someone within their advertised hours of business on several occasions and also know of the groups who are charging along with chants of unethical practices and their reasons which could spell out more trouble than what the parent company will want to have their name associated with, but I will watch with interest over the next 6 months and see what transpires

You, good sir, are clearly misinformed. The major shareholder in said parent company, Mighty River Power, is "Her Majesty the Queen in Right of New Zealand Acting by and Through Her Minister of State Owned Enterprises" - i.e. the Government (and as we know, this particular entity is rather fond of bail outs). And your statement that Bosco is "micro managed" (that word, I don't think it means what you think it means) is incorrect as well, as the manager of the company is answerable to the Board of Directors of Bosco Connect, none of whom are this Andrew person you refer to. Clearly a proper governance structure is in place. Your new post doesn't actually make your original post sound anything less like a rant. In fact it makes it sound even more like one.

JamesL

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#1302039 11-May-2015 15:52

Looks like Budgie are closing down. Some customers are reporting being phoned and advised this, though there's been no official communication on either Facebook or otherwise.

Looks like I'll be switching power companies, I did go from Powershop to Budgie so not sure if I'll go back to Powershop..

Chrizvi

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#1302054 11-May-2015 16:06

Q: Im currently with Genesis and they installed smartmeter 2 years ago (Brooklyn Wellington), now If I move to another provider say powershop or budgie, are they going to use my existing powermeter (smartmeter)? or they are going to use different one?

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nakedmolerat

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#1302058 11-May-2015 16:08

Same meter

kiwitrc

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#1302060 11-May-2015 16:09

Have a look at Flick. https://www.flickelectric.co.nz/

http://www.geekzone.co.nz/forums.asp?topicid=153480

JamesL

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#1302063 11-May-2015 16:11

I'd say they'd use the existing one. There's no point going with Budgie when they're closing.

I can't even use powerswitch because Budgie aren't listed as a supplier so I can't enter my usage details..

You could try looking at https://www.flickelectric.co.nz/ which only deal with people that have smart meters

JamesL

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#1302172 11-May-2015 18:26

FWIW I just switched to Energy Direct http://www.energydirectnz.co.nz/ - they're owned by Trustpower

Their website is terrible but the pricing works out to be $3 more expensive than Budgie on my last power bill.

I just need fuss free power with gets paid by direct debit every month. I don't care for scheduling power use or buying power in advance which is what made Budgie appealing in the first place.

Aredwood

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#1302200 11-May-2015 19:09

Geektastic:
freitasm: Just noticed today a new power company in Wellington and Hamilton only: Budgie. Throwing some numbers from my previous Powershop invoices it seems it could be up to $30 cheaper per month.

Anyone ready to report any experience with them?

The most I have ever managed to save on a power bill that averages around $3500 a year is about $170 and frankly it's just not worth the hassle for less than I spend in New World in a week!

Until the companies are forced by legislation to all alter their charges on the same date each year, it will remain a bugger's muddle because what may be cheaper this month might not have gone up for 11 months and might then become more expensive than your old provider the following month because their charges rose 6 months ago.

The amounts involved simply are not big enough to waste the time required to keep checking it and making calls etc etc.

Having lots of different power companies is silly considering they are all selling the exact same thing. Which they have no control over the quality of. The only things that are different between the company's. Are not even related to power delivery.

Will switching power companies reduce the number of power cuts you get - no. Will switching make the voltage supplied to your house more stable - no.

Bring back the power boards. As the deregulated electricity market has not worked.

Lurch

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#1302238 11-May-2015 19:57

Energy Online http://www.energyonline.co.nz/ 6 month price promise and the customer service is good :-) Flick couldn't sign us up as they don't support our smart meter.

nakedmolerat

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#1302506 12-May-2015 09:38

Geektastic: The most I have ever managed to save on a power bill that averages around $3500 a year is about $170 and frankly it's just not worth the hassle for less than I spend in New World in a week!

I spend about $300 a month (higher in winter - one time up to $400), which equate to your average for a year. I did save about $80 a month by moving to Powershop. I remember had a call from the power company - we talk through about my calculation and he conceded that I do have better deal with powershop.

What I like about powershop is no daily fixed charge. I spend time holiday overseas up to 2 months in a year. With powershop, this equates to good savings.

kiwitrc

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#1302508 12-May-2015 09:41

nakedmolerat:
Geektastic: The most I have ever managed to save on a power bill that averages around $3500 a year is about $170 and frankly it's just not worth the hassle for less than I spend in New World in a week!

I spend about $300 a month (higher in winter - one time up to $400), which equate to your average for a year. I did save about $80 a month by moving to Powershop. I remember had a call from the power company - we talk through about my calculation and he conceded that I do have better deal with powershop.

What I like about powershop is no daily fixed charge. I spend time holiday overseas up to 2 months in a year. With powershop, this equates to good savings.

What do you pay/kWh on average at Powershop?

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