My family is currently with Australian Power and Gas, Smart Saver 12 with a little under a year left for the contract. Our family has little experience with energy rates etc. A representative came knocking and convinced my mother to put her name down for their company. They persuaded her saying their rates was 24c while APG was 26c (no idea what they were referring to) and a 20% discount if she paid her bills on time. They also gave her a $50 gift card that will be activated after the cooling period. I did a little research and there seems to be some negative reviews claiming late arriving bills, incorrect reading etc… So we decided to save that trouble and cancel our sign up. The lady at the end of the line gave us a further offer of 28% that will last for the whole 2 year contract. It will cost us about $40 to cancel our current contracts.
Am I being blinded by the large discount rate and $50 offer? What are your opinions and advice. Should I be looking at other companies as well? We have very little experience with these things. We live in south-eastern suburbs of Melbourne.
I'm not in VIC but you should check out
http://yourchoice.vic.gov.au/
EDIT
Read Simply as Click for some reason.
I did a quick input of a random VIC post code and assumed you are being charged a flat rate and the rep is being very sneaky, she pulled the same trick as when a Red Energy Rep came to my door.
APG charges 26.8600 ¢/kWh (exc gst and EXC discount) all hours So she/he is correct
HOWEVER I saw on the site that Simply charges First 1020 kWh 29.5300 ¢/kWh and all other at 30.8500 ¢/kWh, so where did the rep get 24 from?!?!
The rep calculated the 24c rate by already including the discount into the rate to **make you think* you got a better deal same as what a rep did to me.
29.53 X 0.80 = 23.624c
Also after you use the first 1020 kWh you get charged a higher rate.
Supply charge is 100.53c vs APGs 95.34c a day so you pay more as well.
The $50 rebate may seem tempting at first but in the long run it probably will cost you more, the first Quarter you'll save due to the rebate then there after you will pay more hence cancelling out the benefit.
The 28% discount the person offered makes the deal slightly better though I have to say
29.5 X 0.72 = 21.2616
After 1020
30.8500 X 0.72= 22.212
BUT it come down to how much energy you use, as if you don't use a lot you could be ahead with Simply or if you use a lot you will marginally be better off with another supplier.