Fixing electricity rate?

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nakedmolerat

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#980006 4-Feb-2014 11:39

joker97: can you tell me how you do powershop? buy lots of power when it's cheap is it? does it go up and down like the NZD?

I am new to this. I started a thread last month asking for opinion but there is no consensus. So far, I bought 'special' packs and this should last until March. My usage is somewhat similar throughout the year. It drops to $250 mark when we we go overseas for holiday (3 times a year).

sbaird

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#980010 4-Feb-2014 11:45

Shoes2468:
ahmad: When I was offered a fixed rate that was cheaper by another company I asked genesis what they could do to keep me as I didn't want to switch. They said nothing. Last night they called and asked if I wanted to fix for higher. Yeah.

Which company offered, you a lower fixed rate? if you don't mind me asking, and in what region are you in?

Contact, In Lower Hutt

nova

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#980081 4-Feb-2014 13:10

I got a letter from Genesis too. I thought it was a bit of a marketing fail. To take them up, I have to agree to an immediate increase of 9.5% on the per unit rate, and I have to pay $150 early cancellation fee. Apparently this gives me peace of mind...

Previously, when I joined, they locked in the current prices for 15 months, with no break fee. That actually worked out quite well, but in this case they are not being that generous. I was also unimpressed that they weren't very up front about the break fee.

Here in Canterbury, the distribution charges are going up, which is estimated to increase bills by about 4%. But, as others have commented, actual power demand and therefore prices are pretty flat at the moment. I suspect the biggest factor will be the plans by the government to sell Genesis. But if they put the prices up too much, the easiest option is to switch to someone else, rather than locking in a premium

Batman

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#980116 4-Feb-2014 14:16

Tell me

Who should switch to?

I use electricity the same all day and night. Moderate amount. Bill's around the 300 mark in winter and 200 mark in summer

Bee

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#980132 4-Feb-2014 14:30

Powershop prices go down in summer and UP in the winter so they even out supposedly... just beware of that - Make sure to sign up to their facebook page and buy ALL the specials...

I moved to contact energy over 6 months ago now... I took a week before signing to compare the prices they were offering against what I was averaging at Powershop... Prices are fixed now until 2017...

In the end they exaggerated the prices they offered because Powershop included GST and theirs excluded GST so I end up saving only $5 per month...

You may argue that prices are not going to go up hugely in the next few years but I cant see them dropping much either...

Doing your best is much more important than being the best.

nakedmolerat

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#980182 4-Feb-2014 15:36

joker97: Tell me

Who should switch to?

I use electricity the same all day and night. Moderate amount. Bill's around the 300 mark in winter and 200 mark in summer

This is what I did:

1. Powerswitch

2. Review all my bills and usage over the last 1 year only

3. Rough estimate based on the current price

4. Sign up to a new power company and ignore the phone calls from your current power company

It is very difficult to estimate Powershop prices due to 'specials', 'powerpack' and 'valuepack'. Based on my last year usage and estimate with pro-rata powershop price, I can still save at least $900. Trustpower gave out $400 rebate every year, therefore I still save at least $500 per year by changing provider. That my friend equals to another mobile phone from samsung

One more thing, powershop app lets you know every time there is a special pack available.

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vexxxboy

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#980183 4-Feb-2014 15:38

just had a call from Energy direct which is based in Wanganui and they were offering $100 credit and 13 months price freeze and it was the first one that was cheaper than contact online plan with %22 discount, by only $5 a month but still its tempting anyone using them.

Common sense is not as common as you think.

JimmyH

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#980250 4-Feb-2014 18:48

I had a very pushy chap from Genesis door knocking with a similar deal, especially if I signed up for gas as well. The catch was he would give me a verbal estimate of the savings but:
- I had to accept and sign up on the spot as it was a one day only special
- He wouldn't leave me any information on the package, I was allowed to skim it while he watched but not keep it.

I declined. I don't like being railroaded by unsolicited door to door sellers. Plus, the (somewhat incoherent) hard sell fact he wouldn't let me take a copy of the offer and compare it to other retailers and call them back tomorrow set me a fairly strong signal the the package wasn't that competitive. Otherwise, why would the be so concerned not to leave me a copy of the offer and give me 24 hours to consider it?

andrewNZ

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#980253 4-Feb-2014 18:57

JimmyH: I had a very pushy chap from Genesis door knocking with a similar deal, especially if I signed up for gas as well. The catch was he would give me a verbal estimate of the savings but:
- I had to accept and sign up on the spot as it was a one day only special
- He wouldn't leave me any information on the package, I was allowed to skim it while he watched but not keep it.

I declined. I don't like being railroaded by unsolicited door to door sellers. Plus, the (somewhat incoherent) hard sell fact he wouldn't let me take a copy of the offer and compare it to other retailers and call them back tomorrow set me a fairly strong signal the the package wasn't that competitive. Otherwise, why would the be so concerned not to leave me a copy of the offer and give me 24 hours to consider it?

Don't forget, if you sign with a door to door sales person, you have a 7 day cooling off period where you can cancel no questions asked. It's a month if you don't get all the required documentation.

http://m.consumeraffairs.govt.nz/for-consumers/shopping/where-you-buy/door-to-door-sales

ahmad

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#980265 4-Feb-2014 19:18

A polite non-pushy sales person goes a long way. I've twice REQUESTED electricity cold callers call me back at a later time to allow me to consider the pricing and get back to them (because it's sounds like a great deal but I wanted to make sure I wasn't miscalculating).

In both cases the telemarketers were very pleasant and in one case I actually didn't get back to her for several months when my situation had changed - I emailed her and asked if it was still possible to take advantage of the offer and got a reply to say that they had stopped offering it but because I was on record as having been offered it, they would be able to honour what was the best deal by far.

So the lesson here is that if you have a good product/price, it will sell itself and doesn't need an off-putting pushy salesperson.

insane

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#980437 5-Feb-2014 01:01

Sadly in my area Genesis are the cheapest for combined Power and Gas. Is it worth changing to another provider of a similar cost and expect Genesis to throw some $$$ my way to keep me, or am I just dreaming?

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JayADee

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#980443 5-Feb-2014 06:35

I've been reviewing all of our bills this month. Previously I was with the cheapest provider in the area according to https://www.powerswitch.org.nz/powerswitch but then Tiny Mighty power came to town about six months ago. Now they're cheaper for us. I rang our current provider and they gave us an even better rate than TMP plus took fifty dollars off our current bill.

It's going to save us a hundred to two hundred a year.

We're in the awkward position of being right on the edge of being low users so depending on if we get firewood this winter I may have to negotiate a standard rate price instead of a low user rate...I'm trying to get my hubby to get out there and get us some free wood.

ahmad

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#980475 5-Feb-2014 08:03

insane: Sadly in my area Genesis are the cheapest for combined Power and Gas. Is it worth changing to another provider of a similar cost and expect Genesis to throw some $$$ my way to keep me, or am I just dreaming?

What's wrong with Genesis?

JayADee

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#980855 5-Feb-2014 17:05

insane: Sadly in my area Genesis are the cheapest for combined Power and Gas. Is it worth changing to another provider of a similar cost and expect Genesis to throw some $$$ my way to keep me, or am I just dreaming?

If you try it, let us know the outcome. :)

With power prices changing all the time unfortunately I think it's going to be a case of checking frequently to make sure we're all getting the best deal.

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