anyone switched their gas supplier from Bord Gáis?

[Brendan Burgess]

We have a quotation from Energia to provide gas. We save €41 + VAT every 2 months.

This is for my office use, but I presume it is the same for Home Energy.

Is there any downside?

Brendan

 

[hizzy]

Hi Brendan

We've changed from Bord Gais to Flo gas, we got 15% discount on top of the 12% (I think thats what it is from Bord Gais)

Regards

Hizzy

 

[Kine]

Is there another thread about this? I would be very interested to have a look at the different companies available (in a similar way ESB/Airtricity/BG are in teh electricity market)

 

[suzie]

Any pioneers out there willing to provide us with feedback?

I know they are cheaper on price but what's their customer service like? How easy was the switch etc.

Thanks

S.

 

[cian8]

I switched to Flogas and I can report that the switchover went with out any hitches. We received our first bill (for €4!) and it was paid by direct debit as arranged. I also had to ring Flogas to get them to resend me a form and I had no issues with the customer service, and the form arrived the next day.

So far so good.

Glad I changed before this cold snap - the heating has been on almost continuously!

 

[Eithneangela]

Heard on a news bulletin recently that Bord Gais will be reducing their prices by about 11-12% early in the New Year. I wonder will the competing suppliers bring their prices down at that time, or will the market just be equalised?

 

[MANTO]

Hi,

Bord Gais have proposed a tariff decrease effective from 01st Feb 2010.

The decrease applies as follows:

Residential Rates:

8% for the following:

Standard Rate
Winter Saver Rate
No Standing Charge Tariff

12% for Large Residential Users

Business / SME Rates

Small Business Users: 8%
Medium Business Users: 12%

The reduction applies to kWh Usage & the standing charges remain the same.

M.

 

[MAJJ]

Just reading the Flogas site and they too will reduce and apply their discount to the reduced price. Anyone else notice the decreases always seem to come after/towards the end of the winter.

From http://www.flogasnaturalgas.ie/faq.php#

If Bord Gais anounce a price cut/rise, will you also be reducing/increasing your prices?
Yes any price decrease/increase announced by Bord Gais are approved by the Commission for Energy Regulator (C.E.R) all such price increase/decreases will affect all suppliers. However the % difference between suppliers will remain, hence Flogas will still be cheaper

 

[RSMike]

I switched to Flogas about 3 months back, its quick, easy and simple.

The whole operation of competition in supply is a virtual market, Bord Gais still operate the network that transports the gas to your house/premises.

So my dealings with Flogas have been minimal, basically all that in reality changes, is your billing comes from Flogas rather than Bord Gais, so if there is any risk, then its down to billing, and I have experienced no problems there.

IMHO its a no-brainer to switch, Like ESB on the electricity side, Bord Gais have one hand tied behind their backs at the moment and cannot compete with Flogas on price, the only reason for this is to carve up the pie before real competition starts.

One way of looking at it is, that while we wait for true competition, ESB and Bord Gais customers are subsidising the carve up, why pay ESB / Bord Gais ~10% more for excatly the same Electricity / Gas delivered over excatly the same networks?

 

[theresa1]

If your on the winter saver tariff with Bord Gais and you leave to go to Flogas or Airtricity should you be due some credit? All the time you would be paying a higher standing charge - see below:-

With this tariff you will be charged a standing charge of €209.76 (€184.81 excluding VAT) per annum. This equates to 57.47 cent per day. This entitles you to 3420 bundled units allocated over the winter period at no extra charge. This helps to even out the costs of your gas usage during the year, helping with the larger bills during the winter months. There is also a single unit rate of 4.463 cent (3.932 cent excluding VAT) per kWh of gas used.

The standard tariff standing charge is 18.7 cent per day. Surely they would have to re-calculate your final closing bill?

 

[theresa1]

Bord Gais will not re-calculate your bill's and the regulator will not help you. Please bear this in mind and certainly dont switch just before the winter if on winter saver tariff rate.