Hi all,

We've just received notice from British Gas that they've pulled their Click Energy 4 tariff with immediate effect.

The advice from our experts is not to apply for this tariff, even if you see it available on websites this weekend, as it is no longer the cheapest available. Our understanding is British Gas will not honour any Click Energy 4 tariff applications from now on.

You may see some press over the weekend as it's so very late on a Friday, but rest assured, we'll have an update for you first thing Monday morning.

moneysupermarket.com will contact any of our customers who attempt to apply for this tariff over the weekend.

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Community

Typical underhand behaviour. An announcement like this on a Friday afternoon, they should make this kind of announcement with a future date as the cut off for applications. they will be aware that many will spend time over the weekend on-line looking for the best deal available with all the rest rate increases that have been announced.

DD

This is very disturbing news especially as it was pushed so very strongly by MS. The really important question is for how long the price of this tariff will stay at its current level. If I was a cynic I would suggest having got a bandwaggon going to change ,they will hike the price of the tariff to match or be close to their existing products.

I did warn that I thought it was too good to be true and in fact for many customers it wasn't the best option anyway.

Question is, what happens to people like me, who applied for it on Wednesday!?!

Effin typical

ALL

This is extremely disappointing to say the least and comes as a real shock.

Other providers have been generous enough to keep existing customers on the old rates i.e. npower with SOL8 and more recently E.ON with Energy Online Extra Saver 4.

Unfortunately, we hear about these things only minutes before we inform the customer and for this bomb-shell to be dropped so late on a Friday evening means we are unable to change our website as a result. However, we will ensure that all applications made between now and Monday morning are not processed and all customers will be contacted by a member of our call centre team.

I regret to say that the price hike to Click Energy 4 will affect all customers who have applied for this product. If you have recently applied for it then you still have a cooling-off period to decide whether or not you want to proceed.

To refer back to backfoots comment, this product was the best for the majority of UK customers at the time and so we stick to that. We had no idea whatsoever that this was going to happen and believe me when I say how shocked I am that this has happened.

We will do everything we can to contact each and every customer who has applied for this product over the weekend.

If you have any questions please don't hesitate to contact me.

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Regards,



Scott Byrom

Utilities Manager

moneysupermarket.com

Thanks Scott,

Can you confirm one thing for me? Am I right in thinking that there is no minimum contract time for CE4?

If so, I'll probably keep hold till cashback arrives and then change again.

Ta.

mooreaz,

There is no contract in place on the CE4 tariff and so you only need to serve the usual 28-days (notice period).

Scott

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Regards,



Scott Byrom

Utilities Manager

moneysupermarket.com

Transferring to Click Energy 4 was simple. However getting out of it has been painful and has left me exposed to all the ongoing hikes. I have now in the process of returning to my existing supplier via an erroneous agreement.

I was not informed of BG's move from Energy 4 to 5 whilst I was waiting for my contract to swap and was therefore left outside my cooling off period. This I believe was a marketing con to look good on the automated price comparison sites and by leaving this for a few extra days hooked in many unsuspecting new customers.

I suggested they honour the contract for 2 months so I can decide whether it's worth staying. They simply replied we'll offer you £20. The point is I have been unable to seek a new suppliers whilst in transition and therefore a better rate.

I only blame my self for getting greedy and wanting more for my money and realise why I left BG in the 1st place. I am happy to have left as a matter of principle. This is a horrendous thing to do in the coldest months of the year and BG should be investigated or at the very least ticked off. Tinkering with the cost of energy on a monthly if not daily basis is not the way a developed country should be heating itself.

Given BG's track record of appalling customer service and disdain for their competitive postion on price,I did warn here that I thought MS backing and promotion of BG was ill advised.I fully respect Scott et al and their knowledge of this market but I feel they made a howler on this one.

BG are the real culprits though and your experience just goes to illustrate it.Not raising the price on this tariff was just totally cynical and once again is an abuse of the so called competitve market.

My experience with British Gas has been really turgid. Here in rural Wales we have no gas but I was, until they ceased operation, with Zest 4 for electricity with whom I had no complaints. When Zest 4 folded, by default I was moved to British Gas and, accepting that I'd have to take complete charge of things, I opted in due course for Click Energy. By sheer accident I learned later that the 'new' Click Energy 4 was a better option so I switched to that. I read recently that the 15% BG increase didn't apply to Click Energy 4 so was happy enough until a periodic check with Simply Switch revealed an unannounced 18% increase but now with yet another version called Click Energy 5 which was cheaper so, as a stop-gap measure, I've transferred to that. By far the cheapest option at present seems to be E-On but for how long? As things are, increases are coming thick and fast so, whilst switching for a better deal is usually sensible, we seem at present to be chasing our tails and true comparisons are virtually impossible. For instance it's obvious that E-On and Atlantic will have to announce an increase very shortly. I'm afraid confusion reigns supreme in the energy markets at present.