MSE News: iSupplyEnergy to stop making it difficult for customers to switch

A question about : MSE News: iSupplyEnergy to stop making it difficult for customers to switch

Customers of iSupplyEnergy will no longer be blocked from switching if they don't tell it they're moving elsewhere...

Read the full story:

iSupplyEnergy to stop making it difficult for customers to switch

Click reply below to discuss. If you haven’t already, join the forum to reply. If you aren’t sure how it all works, read our New to Forum? Intro Guide.

Best answers:

• Good news ........... if ( a big "IF" ) iSupply stick to that promise of not now needing to be informed by the customer of intention to switch supplier.
  From the past experience of many (on this & other forums) I personally doubt that iSupply will just agree to a switch without SOME problem developing!
  Time will tell.
• The customer is in debt to the losing supplier.
  Hmm partial credit. To the best of my knowledge it has to be a slightly aged debt, eg it can't be from a bill that has just arrived that you haven't had chance to pay. It would need to be from the prior quarterly bill from example.
  Also they cannot block the transfer if the debt is disputed or there is a complaint ongoing (bit of a loophole there). Finally there is an amount below which they have to let you switch. I believe this is five hundred pounds for someone on a prepayment meter.
  This changed a couple of years ago.
  I'm sure someone can clarify the relevant rules and timescales.
  Now what about Spark Energy who did the same thing but worse? They used to object to the transfer and say the customer MUST give them a reading in order that they could bill the account.
  This is the wrong way around and as far as I am aware nothing has been done about it.
• I'm actually with iSupplyEnergy on this one, since I think the original policy was intended to protect the consumer. Accounts by default are "locked" to their supplier, unless the customer expresses a wish to leave.
  That policy is infinitely preferable to my recent experience with EDF - where an unknown third party switched my supplier without my knowledge or consent. The first I heard of it was when EDF sent me a "sorry you're leaving" email - when I phoned them to query it, they said the process had progressed too far to reverse it, and I'd just have to go with the new supplier for 6-12 weeks then switch back!!
• I don't know anything about this company in particular but I'd be glad if my energy company were proactive about verifying my intentions of moving away from them, providing this could be done in a non-intrusive way.
  After having tried to switch through MSE's comparison site, the provider mistakenly then switched our neighbour instead and have since been unable to revert things and sort it out for over a year (including initially charging me for their energy use, and taking Ј700 for a bill we didn't owe without notice - because the bill went to the neighbour), I'm put off ever trying to switch energy provider again.
  More than once when I've tried to switch provider or moved house there has been some problem or other, so although I agree with the ethos of MSE in practice I wished I'd never bothered, and would have paid the Ј200-300 a year extra to save hours of time on the phone, involving the ombudsman, etc. There's no way I'd recommend switching at the moment until better systems are in place to avoid and rectify errors, and if I did it would be dealing directly with the companies involved where there are as few parties and opportunities for mistakes as possible. I would avoid third party switching sites like MSE's even though I applaud the work Martin and team are doing and think it *should* be the way to do things in order to keep the process as simple as possible and avoid additional parties needing to be involved.
  In the case above, the company involved admitted the erroneous transfer was their fault, and are trying to fix it, but either theirs or the original supplier's computer systems 'aren't working together' and they are unable to address the problem. They have committed to providing 28 day updates, which they have mostly done, but these are simply 'sorry we haven't fixed it yet'.
• I did the MSE collective switch to Eon a couple of months ago but when I didn't hear anything from the new supplier, I contacted them and was told they hadn't received my instruction. I had put the blame with eon's poor management, but it now transpires that the fault probably lay with isupplyenergy, with whom my contract had just ended. At no point did I receive an email from isupplyenergy telling me that they had received an instruction to change supplier so I think some one there is telling porky pies. The annoying thing is that their ploy worked because I got fed up with trying to sort things out with eon and decided to stick with isupply for another year and have renewed my contract.
• Got my final statement on Thursday 8 Jan 2015, on Sunday 11 Jan 2015 at 4am they sent me an email saying payment is over due and threatening court action if it is not paid.
  Is this another tactic, sending inflated bills and not giving you time to think about them?
• I would not trust anything isupply say. They are the worst company I have ever dealt with. They blocked my transfer leading me to lose out on a good deal. Then 30 days after my contract with isupply had ended they took another direct debit payment. My bank then cancelled the DD for which isupply have charged me a Ј10 DD 'cancellation fee'. 10 weeks later I am still waiting for a credit refund of over Ј300. I have received lame excuse after lame excuse. There needs to be a statutory obligation on energy suppliers to refund customers within a reasonable time frame. If not, customers should be entitled to interest on late refunds.
• I switched away from iSupply on December 2nd, and they are still sitting on Ј240. They take weeks to answer messages and while they are friendly when you call, they are also pretty clueless. Their message system is designed to stop proper 2-way communication and you can only call them in office hours.They also took money out after I switched which I had to get back through my bank (on Isupply advice...not sure if i got charged but i'll check). This hassle is not worth the quid a month I saved and my recommendation to anyone else is to avoid iSupply energy at all costs.