EDF are administratively no different to the other members of the Power supply cabal/cartel, which also appears to include Politicians,where meaningful contact can not be made with the Organgrinders,and the quality of the foot-soldiers is,on most occasions,dysfunctional.Over the past six years I have engaged with four Suppliers and used the Ombudsman to achieve a dispute settlement with Scottish Power.Here again,I was less than impressed with the Ombudsman's performance,whose timbre was heavily weighted in favour of the Supply Company.

I find it surprising that the Media appears disinterested in the very recent huge increase in fuel charges by EDF,even though their tirades are treated with disdain.

That said,the notification of the increase of Gas & Electricity by EDF w.e.f.14th.July 2011 is :-

Electricity:-Old rate;7.31per Kwh. - New Rate:9.96p per Kwh. -Increase 36.25%

Gas :-Old rate:2.639 per Kwh -New Rate:3.141 per Kwh -increase 19.02%

There was an insignificant reduction of the Standing Charges.

I did receive the £100 'bribe', without too much 'aggro' but I suspect the swingeing increases are a supterfuge to recover the £100 !

Power Crazy!

Robin Gits:

What worries me is that EDF could have said 100% and I would have the choice to accept it or pay a penalty (or in other words breach the contract) to reject it; I find this unacceptable.

First of all well done for scr*wing a reluctant Edf for £100.

However, regarding the "100%", no that is not correct. Had Edf increased the s@ver rates to within 2% of the increased standard tariff, Edf would be in breach of contract, not you. Perhaps you are suggesting that EDF could have increased the standard tariff by 100%? Well yes but they would have killed their standard tariff customer base (and probably triggered regulatory intervention). The 29% hike is more a measure of how competitive the s@ver rate was initially (relative to the standard rate) than the scale of the standard rate increase.

I'm not 100% certain however whether or not a 29% increase (which leaves the s@ver rate more than 2% below the standard rate) permits penalty free cancellation or not, but you say you knew what you were entering into. Are you 100% confident you know the answer to my question because the Terms and Conditions clause on customer detriment is not clear on that specific issue (to a lay person at least).

If so please share it here. If not why not consult with Consumer Focus and update the Forum with their guidance.

Jalexa,

Firstly, thank you for the interest in my post about the extremely high tariff price hikes for gas and in particular electricity from EDF. I should add that I knew what I was entering into when I signed up with EDF. I knew that their Tariff was better than my existing tariff with NPOWER and I knew that I could get a £40 cash back from Themutual.net by signing up via their website and I knew that EDF were offering a £100 bonus for signing-up through EDF's own promotion, which may or may not have been called savetodaysavetomorrow. More importantly, I knew that the tariff was not fixed, capped or anything similar; it was variable. So on that basis, I signed up knowing what I was going to get and that I was likely to see increases within the term of the agreement. What I didn't expect to get was a whopping 29% tariff increase for electricity and 19% increase for gas. Why, well, I expected the increases to be in line with other increases so I expected 10% for both or perhaps 15%, not nearly 30%. What worries me is that EDF could have said 100% and I would have the choice to accept it or pay a penalty (or in other words breach the contract) to reject it; I find this unacceptable. Don’t get me wrong, I don't blame EDF because if I was heading up the company right now do you know what I would do. Here, I'll tell you:

I would design the cheapest tariff on the market, cheaper than anyone else. I would then state that the contract is for a fixed period of time 12-24 months then factor in a penalty (yes a punitive element to the contract) of say £300 for terminating early. I would then increase the cost of the tariff by 100% within the first 3 months to see what happens. I would do that because I would be allowed to do it. So it's not EDF that is defunct but rather those who are supposed to be seen to be protecting our interests. (All this is in my personal opinion).

Now for the £100 bonus. When I spoke to EDF in November or December, I asked if I was entitled to the £100 bonus as per their advertising campaign; they checked; they said yup.

6 months on, I received a tariff increase, which prompted me to call them for a chat. After I had finished berating the call agent for leavinign me waiting on the phone listening to a recorded message for 42 minutes and increasing my tariff by so much, I asked about my bonus. "What bonus" he asked and so the conversation began. Just like many other conversations with companies who are free to do anything they like once you are a customer of theirs. Anyway, we argued the toss about my entitlement to the bonus and his said, "I wasn’t entitled to it", I said "Yes I was", he asked me to send the sign-up email, which I did. He read it back to me then said "it doesn't mention the bonus" and blah blah blah the conversation continued. I explained to EDF that it was their promotion so they should check their promotion material and the dates when I signed up and the terms of signing up then if all the bits add up - I get my cash;end of the matter. EDF at this point, now referred to the bonus as an ex-gratia payment (doesn’t that mean favour) but to cut a long story short.... ...after I told them I was also recording the conversation for training and security purposes, claiming that I felt like I had been duped into signing-up with EDF, the call agent checked with his managers and said they had agreed to pay it.

I then found this link: http://www.uswitch.com/news/utilities/100-pounds-bonus-with-online-save-v7-tariff-from-edf-energy-293606/ but by this time, the matter was now resolved.

If I didn’t challenge EDF and stuck to my guns about getting my bonus, I may never have received it so I urge all customers who signed up between October 6 and November 2010 to check their accounts.

Robin Gits:

So, what is the purpose of my rant – well, I urge everyone to check ... whether they have received their £100 credit...

I respond (including to rants) to try to guide fellow Forum members through the minefield of energy supply.

I didn't mention your "missing £100 bonus" issue in my last post. Please consider informing your fellow Forum members where and how they can get a £100 bonus after 90 days. That appears to be incredibly generous and not obvious as a feature of your tariff. Was it a sign-up cashback offer?

On a more general point consumers should be alert to the "deferred discount gotcha", where discounts are only applied 12 months in arrears. Customers who switch "deferred discount" tariffs are liable to lose all their deferred discount. "Deferred discount" is a common feature of NPower and Atlantic tariffs.

EDF for all their faults suggested in your post have tariffs, including the one you are on, which pay pro-rated bonus and discounts in line with the billing frequency. Typically, Scottish Power and Eon feature tariffs which also pay discount in line with the billing frequency. Eon (specifically) does not pay discount on a final bill.

Whatever, I'm really interested in finding out (or exposing) the EDF explanation why they initially failed to credit the "£100 bonus" and then had a change of heart. If there is a systemic problem with their billing system that should be brought to Consumer Focus's attention.

Robin Gits:

...So, what is the purpose of my rant – well, I urge everyone to check the % of increase...

Well at least you are honest. I hope you will learn from my post which is mainly for the benefit of others.

I suspect you have been duped - and that is not a criticism of you - by being sold a "guaranteed discount tariff", in the case of Online S@ver V7 the "guarantee" is a minimum 2% cheaper than the standard tariff. The 2% should have been clear when you switched but the "worst case" implications of the "guarantee" may however not be clear to many customers. Whatever the "initial discount" (I'm guessing significantly more than 2%) you need to ask yourself, if the standard tariff is increased (or even not increased), by how much could the Online S@ver V7 tariff be increased by without failing the "guarantee"?

[Incidently, though academic in the current market, ask yourself if standard tariff prices decreased how much could standard tariff prices decrease by before there was any need to decrease a "guaranteed discount tariff"?]

That is probably what has ocurred. While the "guarantee" is promised until 31/12/2011, the guarantee is only 2%. For compliance with the guarantee, that is the number you need to check, not the 29%.

Be warned. A "guaranteed discount tariff" is neither "fixed" nor "capped".

Choose your tariff more wisely next time (from any supplier) if you do not want to be duped.

4/6/2011 I received a letter from EDF informing me of price increases. I'm on their Online S@ver V7 tariff - since Dec 2010. The letter only showed the increased rate, not the existing rate but I checked and noticed that the gas went up 19% and the electricity went up a whopping 29%.

10/6/2011 - Called EDF (waited 42 minutes for an answer) and I was initially told that my electricity increase was 15%. I referred the call agent to their own letter, asked him to do the maths, and he said "Mmm, your right, let me check". Agent checked then said the 15% increase "was an average" "Oh, I said". He said it depends on where you live! "Oh, I said". I asked how EDF could justify such a whopper of an increase and he said it's better than the standard tariff. "Oh, I said". I then asked where my £100 bonus, which should have been applied 90 days after the account was opened, was. The agent initially said that I wasn't entitled to it so I said I was and that EDF have conned me, duped me into buying something with the promise of treats and delights but then reneged on the deal. The agent said he would speak to his manager. We then started to talk about the rate increases to fill the time. After a short while, the agent confirmed that the £100 would be credited to my account – I was expected to be grateful.

So, what is the purpose of my rant – well, I urge everyone to check the % of increase and whether they have received their £100 credit (if such a bonus was due). I'd be interested to hear what increases others have paid because I'm not convinced that they have applied the right increase (in my personal opinion). There seems to be loads of reports about Scottish Power’s 19% gas hike and 10% electricity hike, yet nothing about EDF's 19% Gas Hike and 29% Electricity Hike - why?

Elec: Old rate: 7.19p per KWh -- New Rate 9.27p per KWh - ~29% increase

Gas: Old rate: 2.639p per KWh - New Rate 3.141p per KWh - ~19% increase

I should add (to be fair) that the standing charge has decreased 8.5% and 14% for electricity and gas respectively - wow!

That's it - nothing more to say