Why are existing customers NOT appreciated

[#1]

Well I've just called in to renew my contracts and I was asked to pay more than the 'New Customer' rate. I brought this to the attention of the CSA and asked for it to be discounted which was done and appreciated. But I know that with what I am paying in comparison to a 'New Customer' I am in fact subsidising them to the tune of £3.61 pm, so not really impressed to be honest.

[#2]

We should anticipate this move resulting in more realistic service pricing.  If customer acquisition costs, service connection and router costs are taken into account, there is next to no profit in the new customer charges.  The whole pricing model has become skewed by customer greed and a chase for market share, where cost is more important that quality and customer service.

Sometime ago, EE sought to do things right - a proper price for joining customers (one which I guess reflected the acquisition costs) and then after the minimum term, a rate cheaper than that available to new customers if you stayed.  If a company seeks to acquire customers and then retain them, this is the only sane pricing model.

[#3]

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@MauriceC wrote:

Worth reading this OFCOM announcement on 25/9/2019 

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It will be interesting to see how this works out. My fixed price energy contract ran out a few months ago. True to form I was informed that there were new contract deals available and directed me to the appropriate web page highlighting the cheapest available new deal. I looked on a price comparison web site where I found an almost identical 'exclusive to the comparison site' deal that was £100 a year cheaper with the same company. I had no problems changing to it so it was not a new customer deal only. Caveat Emptor!

In terms of mobile telephone contracts used mainly for emergencies I use Giffgaff. This allows me to put money into my account. For the odd phone call or text I simply pay the quite expensive out of contract price. After each call I am advised of my remaining balance. If I need to increase usage for a short period I simply take a one month non recurring 'Goodybag' after which it reverts to the standard rate.

[#4]

@Baldrick1 

My energy company advises me on each bill (which is every time I send them a set of readings) whether or not I am on the cheapest tariff and if not what the cheapest is called. They allow you to move between their tariffs at any time at no cost and so you do not need to wait for the last 49 days of your current tariff. This cheapest may be a tariff available directly from them or one only available from one of their agents (price comparison sites usually). If the latter they do not tell you which agent and you have to find out for yourself which is about five minutes work visiting each comparison site in turn or a call to the energy company whose staff usually know where to look.

If you want to peruse the whole market, I found that the Citizens' Advice comparison site lists all tariffs available from energy companies and from comparison sites etc., (unlike the comparison websites themselves who, unsurprisingly, do not list their competitors' special deals). The Citizens Advice site does not itself provide a service to move you across to a new tariff and you have to go directly to the energy company or the relevant comparson website to do so.

Therefore the energy market does not, in general, differentiate between existing and new customer deals perhaps the telecommunications market will catch up sometime soon!?

[#5]

I have found that the elephant in the room now with energy companies is the "smart meter", as many state plainly we don't want you unless you agree to have a smart meter fitted.

[#6]

I have just seen this on Thinkbroadband.

[#7]

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@billnotben wrote:

I have found that the elephant in the room now with energy companies is the "smart meter", as many state plainly we don't want you unless you agree to have a smart meter fitted.

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That's true. I ignored emails requesting that I made an appointment to have one fitted. In the end it was pointed out that failure to respond would result in the cancellation of the fixed price contract and transfer to the very expensive standard rate.

I now have one. You can set your account so that data is only collected every month. The big brother companies suggest that you let them collect data every half hour! Will it enable me to save money? not a chance!

[#8]

I will be having smart meters fitted in the next couple of months so that I stay on the very good deal I am on for the next year or so. I previously refused them as they were then only fitting the "dumb" SMETS1 versions. They now must fit SMETS2 meters.

I too will set the reporting frequency to monthly which is the same interval that I now report meter readings to them. I do not expect to see any savings due to them either.

[#9]

You would think that this would come under "restrictive business practices" or should in some form or other.

[#10]

To be fair it does enable suppliers to measure customer's consumption without having tthe cost of sending out meter readers to physically do the job.

I always said that I would not have a smart meter until I also shared this financial advantage, this is the way that suppliers are doing this.

[#11]

You can set your account so that data is only collected every month. The big brother companies suggest that you let them collect data every half hour! Will it enable me to save money? not a chance!

It most certainly could!  See Bulb smart tariffs.

[#12]

I always said that I would not have a smart meter until I also shared this financial advantage, this is the way that suppliers are doing this.

Again see Bulb - substantially cheaper than the big names.

[#13]

Moderators Note

Please keep this topic on point regarding Plusnet, there are plenty of smart meter threads in Chat.

[#14]

@Townman 

When I said I do not expect any savings from a smart meter, what I should have said is I do not expect having a smart meter to reduce my energy usage as we do not waste energy at present and our bills are nearly always lower than the low usage figures that the energy provider quotes on our bills.

As for Bulb, when I looked a few weeks ago and decided to move on to the cheaper tariff with my current provider, the Bulb estimated annual cost for my usage was slightly more than my new fixed tariff with my current provider. However, I do agree that Bulb are generally likely to offer a good deal without the risk that some of the very small suppliers may pose vis a vis going out of business  with the hassle that invariably involves.

[#15]

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@jgb wrote:

@Baldrick1 

My energy company advises me on each bill (which is every time I send them a set of readings) whether or not I am on the cheapest tariff and if not what the cheapest is called.

Mine too. However the point I was trying to make earlier was that if you go onto a price comparison sites, you may find, as I did, that the very same company has a slightly different 'Exclusive' deal that is specific to the comparison site and not offered within your account that is cheaper than the 'cheapest deal' offered by logging into your account. In my case the difference was about £100 a year. The difference was that it finished a month earlier.

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