Pulse Electricity supplier? Yay or nay?

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#1833531 29-Jul-2017 19:56

jamesrobert: Been using direct debit (rates, telco, power, Sky) for ever (30-plus years). Never had a problem. Cheques? Different story.

I do everything online with online banking. Get all my bills via email. Payees are all saved at the bank site so it's easy, automatic payment ( not to be confused with direct debit) set up for rates fortnightly after pay day. We pay everybody that way... tradies, our mechanic, IRD, ISP etc. Very convenient, very easy to track. I haven't had a chequebook since Lord knows when but some people still use them.

You can pay your insurance with online banking. Or via credit card. You can even pay your traffic ticket, car licenses etc. online. Mortgages I don't know.

tdgeek

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#1833534 29-Jul-2017 20:00

JayADee:
jamesrobert: Been using direct debit (rates, telco, power, Sky) for ever (30-plus years). Never had a problem. Cheques? Different story.

I do everything online with online banking. Get all my bills via email. Payees are all saved at the bank site so it's easy, automatic payment ( not to be confused with direct debit) set up for rates fortnightly after pay day. We pay everybody that way... tradies, our mechanic, IRD, ISP etc. Very convenient, very easy to track. I haven't had a chequebook since Lord knows when but some people still use them.

LOL I got sent a cheque maybe 3 years ago. Went to the bank, no lines. ??? No deposit slips??? I had to ask, was pointed to a TV screen to scan the cheque, insert my EFTPOS card and deposit it!

clive100

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#1833536 29-Jul-2017 20:06

half1:

I have Pulse too no problems at all I was with meridian and pulse shaved 15% off my bill when I did the comparison Ansd if you are with Grey Power it is better

I was with Grey power via Pulse Energy & I have saved approx $30 on most months by moving to EK. They are great to deal with plus you can save $50 by using a friends referral .

JayADee

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#1833537 29-Jul-2017 20:07

tdgeek:
JayADee:
jamesrobert: Been using direct debit (rates, telco, power, Sky) for ever (30-plus years). Never had a problem. Cheques? Different story.

I do everything online with online banking. Get all my bills via email. Payees are all saved at the bank site so it's easy, automatic payment ( not to be confused with direct debit) set up for rates fortnightly after pay day. We pay everybody that way... tradies, our mechanic, IRD, ISP etc. Very convenient, very easy to track. I haven't had a chequebook since Lord knows when but some people still use them.

LOL I got sent a cheque maybe 3 years ago. Went to the bank, no lines. ??? No deposit slips??? I had to ask, was pointed to a TV screen to scan the cheque, insert my EFTPOS card and deposit it!

I still get given them. Drives me crazy, it's the only time I ever physically have go into the bank but I know a lot of the staff so it's alright from a sociable perspective, lol.

JayADee

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#1833540 29-Jul-2017 20:10

clive100:
half1:

I have Pulse too no problems at all I was with meridian and pulse shaved 15% off my bill when I did the comparison Ansd if you are with Grey Power it is better

I was with Grey power via Pulse Energy & I have saved approx $30 on most months by moving to EK. They are great to deal with plus you can save $50 by using a friends referral .

Yeah, probably boils down to how much power you use and when etc. It pays to crunch the numbers as everybody is different. Plus rates vary with where you live.

I'm asking more about experiences dealing with them like any muck ups with them not sending bills or incorrect billing or that kind of stuff. I'd rather not find out the hard way they're no good to deal with.

vexxxboy

4243 posts

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#1833557 29-Jul-2017 20:59

JayADee:
clive100:

half1:

I have Pulse too no problems at all I was with meridian and pulse shaved 15% off my bill when I did the comparison Ansd if you are with Grey Power it is better

I was with Grey power via Pulse Energy & I have saved approx $30 on most months by moving to EK. They are great to deal with plus you can save $50 by using a friends referral .

Yeah, probably boils down to how much power you use and when etc. It pays to crunch the numbers as everybody is different. Plus rates vary with where you live.

I'm asking more about experiences dealing with them like any muck ups with them not sending bills or incorrect billing or that kind of stuff. I'd rather not find out the hard way they're no good to deal with.

as i have said i have been with them a year and i have yet to ring them about anything, so they must be doing ok. I get my bills by email and pay by AP once a week . hassle free.

Common sense is not as common as you think.

clive100

236 posts

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Inactive user

#1833575 29-Jul-2017 21:44

@JayADee

Grey Power was fine to deal with but their billing system was a little hard to follow with the following list of charges on each invoice

Energy

Item
- units used controlled
- units used uncontrolled
- Total Energy

Delivery

- Billing & administration
- Direct debit discount
- Metering
- Network services fixed daily
- Electrical Authority Levy
- Invoice delivery
- Network services variable - controlled
- Network services variable - uncontrolled
- Online bill discount

- Total Delivery
- GST
- Current Electrical Charges Including GST.... $$$$$

By the time you add all this up are you saving as much as you thought ? A lot of little extra charges that all add up.

Also I had 2 price rises within 12 months with Pulse Energy as a Grey Power customer

However with Electric Kiwi. the invoice is very simple.
Electricity charges
Hour of power savings
Supply charges
Total New power charges.

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vexxxboy

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#1833586 29-Jul-2017 22:34

that pulse bill is what every other power company charges, but in Pulses bill they show every charge that you pay. Other companies just lump it into one charge and you never know what you are charged for . I prefer Pulse.

Common sense is not as common as you think.

michaelmurfy

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#1833599 30-Jul-2017 00:19

@clive100 There are a few power companies that do this (including players like Flick Electric). Your power bill is made up of a few charges:

- Generation
- Network charges (daily + per kWh)
- Metering charges
- Margin to supplier

This is then lumped together to create the "cost per kWh of power" with companies like EK. Personally, when I switched to EK I started to miss the transperency that Flick offered with its billing and it appears this sort of transperency goes across to Pulse also. EK is not fit for everyone so I would recommend toning down on trying to sell it. It comes down to personal preference.

Price rises happen with all providers based on the forecast rates. I've seen a few of them with EK - it has to happen too.

@JayADee as I work for a bank I'd like to give a few tips when it comes to direct debits.

1) You do have the right to cancel the direct debit authority. This can be done via the bank (normally over the phone or in a branch) however as per your direct debit agreement with the other party (it is a 2 way contract) you have to give notification of you doing such an action. People often don't, but it is the right thing to do. Some companies will charge a fee if they're not informed as it is work for them to re-establish the authority.
2) When you cancel a direct debit agreement the other party has the right to re-establish it if the contract is still valid and if there is money still owing. Most of the time however they're needing your approval and signature to do such an action.
3) Direct debits do give them access to withdraw funds from your account but this is more a convenience to you in most cases. Most companies will often still allow you to put your account in a credit if you ask them to avoid direct debits from going out.

For example. With Voyager you have to pay via direct debit. They also have a bank account allowing you to pay manually so you can put your account in a credit if you decide to (I do so via an automatic payment). EK allows the same however charge a surcharge for this pleasure but I know this payment comes out fortnightly 2 days after my bill hits my inbox. Flick was every Thursday.

If you look at most direct debit forms you'll note that the company must provide ample notification to you before they take funds out and how much they're taking (normally 2-3 days). This is to give you time to stop the payment with them if you need to (if you don't have funds in that account for example to prevent it going into an unarranged overdraft). I personally don't have any issues with my power provider taking funds directly from my account (since I know the day they're doing it) but I do also understand how you feel about it. I personally manually pay most bills as then I know they're paid. It is your own choice at the end of the day with what you do with your money.

Most companies often don't care how you pay the bill as long as it is paid. Many companies will cater for you in order to get your business if it isn't too silly - you're best to just ask them.

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JayADee

2148 posts

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#1833611 30-Jul-2017 06:38

Thanks Michaelmurfy, I didn't know that. :) I'll stick to manually.

clive100, when I compared I included all that. You just get the company to tell you the kWh charge and daily charge for whatever plan you're interested in inc or excluding GST and do the math. Or use a current bill, tell them the kWh and number of days and ask them to do the math for you. Or both, which is what I did to check their numbers against each other. Then if you know how much power you use in kWh per year you can calculate how much each company will charge you over the average year which is more useful than a single bill for comparison.

I'd consider going with EK if it weren't for the direct debit thing. For me they were in the top 3 price wise (not inc free hour of power) With pricing similar between 3 companies it's coming down to other things.

jamesrobert

90 posts

Master Geek

#1833620 30-Jul-2017 08:12

Our lines company Unison upped their charges in May. Electric Kiwi chose not to pass them on. Nice one EK.

Aredwood

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#1834021 31-Jul-2017 08:25

I can beat that. I'm on a lines company plan with Flick Electric that received a small drop in lines fees last April. So it is a good thing that Flick pass through lines fees without any markup. Otherwise I would not have received that price cut.

Sure the price cut only added up to approx $2.50 per year. But hey, a small price cut is still a cut.

sbiddle

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#1834023 31-Jul-2017 08:29

It wouldn't surprise me if we see another shakedown in the retail electricity market again soon. A lot of players (both big and small) will have lost money with the peak time pricing this winter.

There are some players out there trying to drive customer numbers and survive with low margins. As we know from the ISP space that isn't necessarily a successful strategy.

littlehead

214 posts

Master Geek

#1834031 31-Jul-2017 08:42

I recently moved to Pulse from Flick. Considered going to Electric Kiwi but comparing prices I am paying ever so slightly more per kWh with Pulse but zero daily fees. So in winter it works out the same or slightly cheaper, but in Summer much cheaper.

This doesn't take into account the free hour, but after being on Powershop with the Christchurch weekend rebate and Flick spot pricing, not having to worry about Peak, Winter Peak, Weekend or spot pricing is such a nice feeling change.

Only downside to Pulse is they don't publish their pricing on their website and you have to "join" them to find out. I aborted the sign up process and they then contacted me with prices. Also, you have to give them 30 days notice of switching providers or they charge you $150. Just something to keep in the back of your mind when shopping for power next time.

tdgeek

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#1834036 31-Jul-2017 08:56

sbiddle:

It wouldn't surprise me if we see another shakedown in the retail electricity market again soon. A lot of players (both big and small) will have lost money with the peak time pricing this winter.

There are some players out there trying to drive customer numbers and survive with low margins. As we know from the ISP space that isn't necessarily a successful strategy.

True, but take Flick and EK as two small examples, they are small, and online only, and they don't have to support large staff numbers and brick and mortar. F;lick are immune from spot pricing as they pass it on, although they will have lost some subscribers. This spot issue this year is normal, and its not the biggest. You would expect these players to either wear the effect by accruing the anticipated higher cost, or by insuring via hedging, which is also a cost, spread out over the year.

Given the power businesses seem to sprout up, I'm not so sure.

EK is not much cheaper than Genesis, about 6%. So they are probably earning a better margin as lower variable costs per subscriber. The free hour of power does make it cheaper again, 15% for me, but that is also encouraging customers to shift from peak to offpeak, which is a good benefit for EK itself. The bigger ones, they just do what they always do every winter I assume

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