ACCC, competition and costs Part II

I have used the same energy provider since moving to Sydney close to 5 years ago and this week I decided to shop around for another electricity re-seller.

Like most people today, Google was the first port of call, and after a few seconds, it got me an independent intermediary for energy who is reputed to be independent in providing price and costs comparison for consumers.

A phone call later and with my electricity bill in front of me, I was able to provide them with my current energy account details. They gave me a few option out of around 20 re-sellers in terms of the lowest costs (how else do you buy electricity as they're identical). My current provider was ranked around number 12 in terms of price from the lowest costs.

I chose one from the option provided and they informed that I was able to enjoy upto 10% discount on my existing bill with a two years contract with this new supplier in my next billing cycle. A confirmation was provided on the spot for them to switch supplier on the phone. As usual I had to go through the series of questions and answers to make sure I said "yes" to every question posed. After this so call interrogation, they confirmed that my account was ready to be moved to this new provider and with a final yes, the move started.

The next day, I decided to browse the website of this new provider and I was surprise to see that the best discount provided on line was 15% as compared to the 10% provided to me by the intermediary just yesterday. I then called the intermediary and asked why was I only provided with a 10% discount from this re-seller when the highest discount was 15%. They then rechecked their system and told me that there was no such discount rate in their system. I then told them that I'll call the energy re-seller to confirm why was this the case.

A phone call to the new energy re-seller confirmed that the new higher discount rate was only published yesterday and therefore the intermediary did not have it on their system yet. They did confirm to me that my account application has been received and they would provide me with the new higher discount rates of 15% as oppose to the 10% applied previously.

Moral of the story, check, check and re-check for the best deal and feel free to insist on the highest rates. My existing energy provider has taken me for a ride for 5 years, without offering me any discounts. Loyalty again does not pay.

The ACCC ensures that moving across service providers is easy and each and every consumer should endeavour to move where possible.