The penalty period for leaving Websaver 4 has now passed (28th Feb) but when I try to move to Websaver 6 online it is still coming up with a box that I must tick to say I am willing to pay a £60 cancellation fee or it wont let me proceed. Starting to get rather cheesed off with BG and their annoying cancellation charges for THEIR OWN customers to move to another one of their tariffs !

Not all suppliers do this, although many can but chose not to. You'll find in many of the terms and conditions there are stipulations relating to the change of tarriff within the supplier, allowing them to charge you - however if you speak with them you can usually find that in soemc ases they choose not to act on this contractual right.

My supplier is one such example of this, I have skipped through various versions of their tarriff without paying the penalty dispite it being clearly written that they can.

Hey Jalexa, they love a challenge! ;-)

Tids - Kate is taking a look at the article and clarifying a few things with British Gas and others. Thanks again for bringing it to my attention.

Graeme Delap:

Ha. Beat you by a minute but was editing when you got in. Now there is a difficult problem for the website developers to solve.

Thanks for the reply tids. Humph - I'll take a look. More digging required, clearly.

As for whether "all companies do this", I'm sure Jalexa and Mynewt can share their thoughts and shed some light on it, but take a look at our energy provider reviews too. They're a snapshot, obviously, but it would suggest you're not alone in being unhappy with how customers are treated, in general.

tids:

websaver 6 customers are not just tied to BG until August but they are also tied to this product as well.

Indeed but that's how these "fixed", "capped" or "discounted" tariffs work.

"Cancellation fee of £30 gas and £30 electricity should you wish to cancel prior to the 1st August 2010"

In return for the benefits of the "fixed", "capped" or "discounted" rates against market trends (usually up, but just at the moment unusually down), the customer agrees to remain on the tariff until the end date (or pay whatever "release fee" was agreed).

I think that's clear. It is the specific tariff which is being signed up to, not just the supplier. Forget the article (for the moment) and look at the comparison website tariff small print.

Graeme I think it's probably worth also noting in your article that websaver 6 customers are not just tied to BG until August but they are also tied to this product as well. As and when BG roll out websaver 7 in the next couple of months which I am sure they will, websaver 6 customers will have to pay £60 if they move before August. It seems that recently you have to skip a websaver if you don't want to pay the penalty ( ie it has never been worth websaver 4 customers moving to websaver 5 - people like me and Bushey ). I feel BG are not being fair to their "loyal" customers in this respect. Makes me feel like ragging them off - or do all companies do this ?

couldn't agree more, I think energy supplier's are playing quite the crafty game. They know prices will have to fall in the short term, before the near-unavoidable increases will need to kick in. They're trying to lock people into a higher price than what is likely to be available in the near-future only for that plan to then end before the larger icnreases take effect. (all personal opinion).

Mynewt:

This seems to be BG's version of a Gotcha

Possibly, although it pains me to say it, unlike most other suppliers who do not allow same supplier switches via a comparison website, BG does. I guess they "finance" the commission through the penalty payment.

Regarding your last point, too true. I note slightly caustically that only one or two of the current top ten or so deals are "fixed" price. The rest are mostly "guaranteed minimum discount" against (future variable) standard prices. At worst the 2% guarantee of some suppliers may become just that. Not a good return for an extended lock-in. Again it pains me but at least BG is 6%.

This seems to be BG's version of a Gotcha. Npower is famous for them, all supplier's have them in some form, some are easily negated other not so. This example however highlights the importance of understanding excactly what you are signing up for -- beisdes the potential cost benefit.

Hi bushey, Hi tids.

Thanks for the feedback – we’ve updated the article ‘Review of the week: British Gas Websaver 6’ to make it much clearer.

Obviously, there’s are a huge number tariffs which people could be looking to transfer from – not just British Gas tariffs. Each tariff has its own terms and conditions and may have penalty or termination fees for early release and it would be impossible to highlight the transfer requirements for each one in detail. We do frequently explain in our articles – not just about energy – the importance of checking the terms and conditions carefully so you know what you are signing up for. However, we're happy to update it. Thanks again for the feedback – it’s very much appreciated.

Bushey – If you’d like me to look into your cashback issue, please don’t hesitate to drop me a line at the email below. I’ll be happy to look into it for you.

Thanks for confirming that for me, I was beginning to think I was being fobbed off by a lazy advisor who didnt want to bother doing the change.

It was bad enough transferring to Brit gas via this site, Moneysupermarket, only to find they reneged on the £30 cashback as I apparently clicked on a link on or within their site which somehow allowed me to sign up for British Gas through a link which wasnt their link ?? fiddled out of £30 i'll say.

I'll check again 28th Feb, (on my To Do list), thanks again.

I have had the same problem Bushey. I am also on websaver 4 and when BG launched websaver 5 a while ago I went on their website to upgrade but at the end of the process was told that I would have to pay £60 cancellation fee if I wanted to do this. Obviously this would immediately negate any financial benefit in switching. ( I have since found out that this tie in to websaver 4 lasts until 28th Feb after which we can switch for free - I guess you will be the same ). What I find incredible is that Moneysupermarket does not mention this anywhere when it is discussing these new BG tariffs. People on websaver 5 beware! If I remember rightly I think you are tied in until the end of June before you can switch otherwise you will be liable for the £60 fee as well.

you noted in your article................"Existing British Gas customers can transfer onto this deal".............. ......................and..................................."You will also be penalised if you look to move away from British Gas before August this year. There is a £30 termination fee per fuel if you leave before then".

I rang British Gas as an existing websaver 4 customer and they say I will still pay the £30 penalty on each fuel if I wished to change Tarriff even if the new tarriff is their own tarriff.

How about getting it Clarified for all our Benefit??