Mercury Energy - 2 year fixed price

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Ragnor

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#2338550 17-Oct-2019 01:20

driller2000:

We checked Powerswitch 6 months back which showed Meridian had the best deal for our use case - so we started the move from Mercury to Meridian.

Mercury's retention team kicked in - offered a $300 Credit and increased the discount to 22% - so they became the cheapest - so I stayed with them.

That's how Mercury operate.. can't offer you anything while a customer until suddenly they can when you are in the grace period between changing providers.

They rely on a one off credit to make them cheaper initially hoping you will forget to review after year or so when you'll be worse off then other providers who just have straight forward lower rates.

Why reward a provider that wastes your time like that.

jonathan18

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#2338552 17-Oct-2019 06:01

I believe the govt’s electricity reform package includes banning these enticements that only come out when a customer has stated they’re leaving. Nat Rad has an interview with the Minister earlier this week.

But back to the original question: as another poster has pointed out, without the OP’s specific details no particularly useful advice can be offered. There are already some decent enough tools out there, such as Powerswitch, that can crunch the numbers based on actual bills... However I’d always be wary of these types of offer, and agree there’s no assurance the fixed rates are actually competitive. Another reason to crunch the numbers...

zyo

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#2338568 17-Oct-2019 07:35

Ragnor:
driller2000:

We checked Powerswitch 6 months back which showed Meridian had the best deal for our use case - so we started the move from Mercury to Meridian.

Mercury's retention team kicked in - offered a $300 Credit and increased the discount to 22% - so they became the cheapest - so I stayed with them.

That's how Mercury operate.. can't offer you anything while a customer until suddenly they can when you are in the grace period between changing providers.

They rely on a one off credit to make them cheaper initially hoping you will forget to review after year or so when you'll be worse off then other providers who just have straight forward lower rates.

Why reward a provider that wastes your time like that.

Yeah agreed this is a terrible practice and makes any providers employing this tactics untrustworthy.
This is probably one of the only clause in the pending reform (which bans the practice) I whole heartedly support.

Dulouz

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#2338581 17-Oct-2019 08:12

OP Here. I crunched the numbers and discovered that I could make a small saving switching. Turns out there are a number of complicating variables.

1. If you don't have a smart meter some plans are not available. I don't and I can't get one due to proximity of gas meter.

2. Mercury has an EV discount which is not factored into the PS website.

3. Nova has a 15% prompt payment discount. Mercury has a 10% PPD. This is the most significant variable.

Amanon

driller2000

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#2338584 17-Oct-2019 08:19

Ragnor:

driller2000:

We checked Powerswitch 6 months back which showed Meridian had the best deal for our use case - so we started the move from Mercury to Meridian.

Mercury's retention team kicked in - offered a $300 Credit and increased the discount to 22% - so they became the cheapest - so I stayed with them.

That's how Mercury operate.. can't offer you anything while a customer until suddenly they can when you are in the grace period between changing providers.

They rely on a one off credit to make them cheaper initially hoping you will forget to review after year or so when you'll be worse off then other providers who just have straight forward lower rates.

Why reward a provider that wastes your time like that.

Understand what you are saying - but they are still cheaper with the extra 10% - and moreso once I factor in the annual Entrust dividend.

And I will review them again - and if they cease being the cheapest, off I go. So only upside for me.

BlinkyBill

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#2338586 17-Oct-2019 08:24

Who doesn’t have a prompt payment discount? I don’t think Flick, for example, does. But most others?

that ‘discount’ is really an inflated electricity price which penalises lower income people who manage week-to-week. Really it should be lower prices and a late-payment surcharge - that would make electricity pricing more transparent.

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Spyware

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#2338603 17-Oct-2019 09:00

Yes, I was offered 20%, no way was I rewarding Mercury and I made it clear what I thought of them. Total rort.

Yoban

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#2338625 17-Oct-2019 09:27

driller2000:

Understand what you are saying - but they are still cheaper with the extra 10% - and moreso once I factor in the annual Entrust dividend.

And I will review them again - and if they cease being the cheapest, off I go. So only upside for me.

The entrust dividend is from the lines company - Vector and it not related to your power retail company, other than the fact you can have this dividend credited to your power account with the electricty retailer. Thus you will get this regardless of retailer as long as you remain within the lines network https://www.entrustnz.co.nz/entrust-dividend/who-qualifies/

richms

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#2339609 17-Oct-2019 09:59

Dulouz:

OP Here. I crunched the numbers and discovered that I could make a small saving switching. Turns out there are a number of complicating variables.

3. Nova has a 15% prompt payment discount. Mercury has a 10% PPD. This is the most significant variable.

You can get 20% from them off their normal rates by asking. See if that is cheaper without going onto a contract.

Richard rich.ms

driller2000

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#2339945 17-Oct-2019 21:56

Yoban:

driller2000:

Understand what you are saying - but they are still cheaper with the extra 10% - and moreso once I factor in the annual Entrust dividend.

And I will review them again - and if they cease being the cheapest, off I go. So only upside for me.

The entrust dividend is from the lines company - Vector and it not related to your power retail company, other than the fact you can have this dividend credited to your power account with the electricty retailer. Thus you will get this regardless of retailer as long as you remain within the lines network https://www.entrustnz.co.nz/entrust-dividend/who-qualifies/

good point

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