edwards:

When I rang up I was told that it takes two weeks to bring the online saver into action and that this was all in the legal pack which, when I signed up on the phone...

There is no need to take anything said by an adviser as true unless it is contained in a "final response" letter following a complaint, at which point you would be entitled to ask the Energy Ombudsman to consider the complaint. That would cost you nothing but cost the energy company a hefty case fee. A good question to ask when confronted with that type of customer adviser assertion is to ask "which Clause?". Then independently verify the answer, though in my experience "dunno" is a common answer when pressed.

If you feel aggrieved on any aspect of EDF's handling of the transfer consider submitting a complaint strictly in accordance with EDF's complaints procedure.

The issue you highlight I have never experienced following a Consumer Focus accredited comparison website switch to an online tariff (though I have never been an EDF customer).

Unfortunately there are other "gotchas" for the unwary.

Be very careful when signing up to edf with their online tariffs. I signed up for online saver 5 and today recieved my first quaterly bill. What a suprise, the first two weeks was charged at their standard tariff, about double what I signed for and they had estimated my usage as 520 units, the next three months were 1991, so my first two weeks cost £55 and the next three months only £195. When I rang up I was told that it takes two weeks to bring the online saver into action and that this was all in the legal pack which, when I signed up on the phone, was rattled off at such a pace that it was impossible to take in, interestingly this was not followed up by post. So once the fixed period is over I will leave.

NOTE when money supermarket compare prices they do not take this into account, so that at the end of the fixed term with EDF my electricity bill will be higher than if I had stayed with EON. Why o why are these energy companies so underhanded, can anybody recommend a copy that "plays it straight"!!!