i have been with Pulse for a year and are very happy, they are  cheap and i have an automatic weekly payment  set up and have never had a problem. I have had power companies ring me and they cant beat pulse in pricing , in fact i was with Meridian and saved $70-$80  a month by switching to pulse. The web site is basic but it works and your account shows you everything you need when you log in. Recommend them.

jamesrobert: You could pay by credit card but there is a fee (the Hour of Power would cover that)

What's wrong with direct debit? This is 2017.

I imagine OP wants more control? I see Pulse have a 1-15 per day for admin of arrears. Effectively a reverse discount, a nice wee revenue stream for those that forgot the bill

To me the bottom line is cost. Im 20% better off with EK than Genesis. 

jamesrobert: You could pay by credit card but there is a fee (the Hour of Power would cover that)

What's wrong with direct debit? This is 2017.

if you are fine with a company having control over your bank account , then go ahead and use it. Me, not so much

andrewNZ: There are multiple threads here about direct debit going rogue, usually in larger reputable companies.

The customer has absolutely no control over direct debit. You cant go to the bank and cancel it, you have to rely on the company to do it when requested. When it goes bad, you have to spend a lot of time and effort convincing them they have screwed up, while they continue to take your money. The company usually doesn't care because as far as they're concerned, they've been paid.

I'm not suggesting this has happened at Electric Kiwi yet, or that's necessarily how they'd act, but it has happened at other companies you'd expect a lot better from.

There is no way I'd let a utility company use direct debit either.

What about mortgages, insurances etc? Aren't they standard for D/D.

I wouldn't want any service that could have excess charges to come out, such as a Telco, but otherwise, if its a steady bill, I cant see the issue. If I moved off EK, and they mucked around not getting my D/D cancelled, well, they wont have a bill to deduct, so no issue there. If it was a small company, yes I would agree. yes, EK is small and new, but they seem to be customer focussed

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

OP could setup a new bank account, A/P a fixed amount into it, so that D/D can dip into that. If OP left, account is empty, no risk.

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

 

 

 

What are the rates for ChCh? I cant see rates you have too build it, and it got my ICP so I didn't want to continue in case it ended up being slammed as can happen with Telco's

My EK is 23c and 83c per day, plus free hour of power daily

JayADee: As above for why not direct debit- lots of stories of problems and why would I give access of my money to some company? I love my Mum and trust her more than anyone but wouldn't give her access to my bank account. Mistakes can be made.

Plus a personal experience when I was younger where the bank itself 'lost' (their words) my direct debit details causing missed payments. Also as mentioned if I want to delay a payment a day or two to correspond directly to a payday or to transfer some money around first, I can. I do that frequently if a bill falls a few days before a pay day, rather than not have a fund buffer left in the bank. I'm not paying a credit card surcharge, I have better uses for money.

I've never missed a 'prompt payment' discount so no worries there. On that topic Pulse's $1.15 a day is still a lot better than if you miss the 10-15% 'discount for prompt payment' that a lot of companies use including my current one. You lose that money the minute you're over the bill due date vs the $1.15 a day being over with Pulse, if my understanding is correct.

On the plus side for Pulse too is presently a 3 year price guarantee. Since I like to stick with a company long term that's appealing. I used to have to negotiate with Nova every year to price match when I was with them and finally switched when I got sick of it.

Plus based on our average kWh usage over two years ( not including free hour of power which wouldn't do much in our case) Pulse is a sliver cheaper than EK. If my maths is right.

One downside to Pulse is a 30 day requirement to advise before switching providers but I think I can live with that.
Also I can't get LPG with them but the company I can get duel fuel with builds their discount into the prices anyway and saves me nothing. I get a better deal having separate companies as I do now.

Anyone else had any good/bad experiences? Share either way please.

Fair enough.

With EK, we use the free hour of power, but not to the extent that many can. Washing isn't every day neither are dishes. We put both heatpumps on 25 in that hour then turn off, so additional saving there. My rates are 7% cheaper with EK, not a lot, but the hour of power is a 15% saving, so Im 20% better off, which is significant. Even in summer, when no HW (have solar HW), makes sense to cool the house 9pm to 10pm for free. 

But horses for courses, choice is a good thing

tdgeek:

 

OP could setup a new bank account, A/P a fixed amount into it, so that D/D can dip into that. If OP left, account is empty, no risk.

 

And risk absurd fees if they try to take more, which you will never get back from them as they have their terms to stop that.

Friend had sky try to take an entire motels worth of money once because of error at their end. At least with credit cards you can dispute it easy enough and its back on them to sort out. If NZ goes back to how the UK will be going with preventing card surcharges, will the power co's just start offering a discount for direct debit or something and jack the standard prices up?

richms:

 

Friend had sky try to take an entire motels worth of money once because of error at their end. At least with credit cards you can dispute it easy enough and its back on them to sort out. If NZ goes back to how the UK will be going with preventing card surcharges, will the power co's just start offering a discount for direct debit or something and jack the standard prices up?