My energy company told me there was a better tariff for me than the one I was on. So, as you do, I decided to change. When I phoned them they offered me three different tariffs, all better than the one I was on. “Take your pick,” they said.
The catch with the first, and cheapest, on offer was that I had to have a smart meter fitted. Oh aye? I rejected that because a smart meter can make moving to a new supplier very difficult. The company is the smart one here, not the meter. Get the meter and they’ve got you over a barrel of crude.
The next best thing on offer came with an even more sinister catch – you had to have an Amazon account. Yep, you heard right, an Amazon account. So, not content with wrecking the high-street, the big tax dodging internet giant is onto our energy supplies too. “Where’s that going?” one asks.
Third, and perhaps the weirdest offer of all, was a tariff that saved me £300 a year. But, wait for it... my energy company couldn’t put me on to this tariff. To go on to this cash saving phenomena I had to hang up, then phone U-switch and ask them to put me on to it. Yep that’s right, to switch from one tariff to another within the same company I had to get in touch with a price-comparison site and ask them to do it. Crazy?
Well, of course, it’s crazy from my point of view. But there are obviously all kinds of money making scams going on behind the scenes. Amazon is in on the deal and U-switch doesn’t employ staff and function for fun.
So along with all these energy price hikes taking place we, the customers, are financing a lot more fun and games than is wholesome. And winter is a-coming.
