Sneaky tactics used by energy retailers to lure customers

SIX months ago I signed up to a good energy deal but now I’m about to be hit by price hikes and the need to find a new retailer.

JUST when you think you’re on a good wicket you get the rug pulled out from underneath you.

That’s exactly what’s happened to me.

I was proud of punch about six months ago when I ditched my old energy retailer, shifted to a new one and blabbed to everyone how I was getting a great deal.

Win, win.

Well, I’ve quickly had the wind taken out of my sails by my new energy retailer.

I was told by a fellow colleague and an energy contact of mine that my retailer had jacked up their charges.

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I was none the wiser, I am still yet to receive any formal notification from my provider.

But the retailer sneakily didn’t tell the customer in the letter they sent him what he was currently paying.

He had to dig up old paperwork to find out what the price rises would be.

I decided to phone them up and ask if my rates were going up too.

“Yes they are,” the woman at the call centre told me.

But only after I asked — she wasn’t going to divulge this information.

It annoyed me.
Just six months in and I’m about to stung with higher charges.

Suck me in on low rates and then jack them up.

I joined up with this smaller retailer and got a handful of friends and family to sign up too — they got $50 off their next bill for signing up and I too got $50 off for getting them another customer.

Consumers need to review their energy deals to make sure they are getting the best rates possible.

But now I’m left with egg on my face.

These friends and family are now coming back to me demanding answers.

In Victoria, price rises jump on January 1, so nearly every year without fail prices go up.

But it just goes to show you have to constantly be watching prices because I’ve now being told I will no longer be on the best deal.

Hopping from retailer to retailer is time consuming and mind numbing for consumers and this plays into retailers’ hands.

Politicians have put the heat on energy retailers of late and there’s no doubt they are feeling it.

In my home state of Victoria the government has put forward a proposal to ban doorknocking by energy retailers to get new customers to sign up.

Doorknocking remains legal in other states.

“Winbacks” have also come under intense scrutiny at both state and Federal levels and will also be banned in Victoria.

A winback is when retailers are given a 10-day window of knowing one of their customers is shifting to another retailer.

Under the Federal changes they will only know once a customer has moved on the actual date of transfer.

This gives them less time to try and win back the customer.

And federally the Morrison Government has moved to standardise comparison rates for customers.

From July 1 next year a default market offer will be rolled out which means it will be easier for customers to compare apples with apples.

The industry needs to clean up its act and help consumers. For too long had it too good.

Confuse consumers and they’ll tune out.

This is exactly what the energy retailers deserve receive a gold medal for.

Supply and usage charges, off-peak and peak, heavy discounting, daily charges, the list goes on and on.

It’s a dog’s breakfast.

@sophieelsworth

Originally published as Sneaky tactics used by energy retailers to lure customers