FloGas - increased standing charge ??

glenn

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Joined Aug 23, 2011 at 14:54

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started Aug 23, 2011 at 14:56

hello ;

on my bill I see I am being charged 3.341cent per unit and 23.01 cent per day.

However I dont see that 23.01 charge listed here

http://www.flogasnaturalgas.ie/comparerates.php

Should it not be 16.44 cent daily charge ?

I dont recall receiving any leaflet regarding price increases ?!? Anyone else have this problem

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Simon Moynihan

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Joined Jun 10, 2010 at 16:46

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comment by Simon Moynihan Aug 29, 2011 at 16:45

 

Hi Glenn,
 
We've asked Flogas about this and they have have told us that the 16.44 cent per day standing charge is an introductory standing charge for a minimum period of 12 months.
 
Once a customer has been with Flogas for more than 12 months, their standing charge goes up to 23.01 cents per day. These prices exclude VAT which is currently charged at 13.5%.
 
Flogas have informed us that they sent notification to all customers that would be affected by this standing charge increase by post in April.
 
The standing charge increase equates to about €2.00 per month without VAT or approximately €2.25 per month when VAT is included.
 
As things stand currently, Flogas still represents the cheapest piped domestic gas supplier for an average household consuming 13,800 kW/h of gas per year.
 
Has anyone else seen this rate on their bill or received the Flogas price increase notice?

David

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Joined Oct 18, 2011 at 12:36

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comment by David Oct 18, 2011 at 12:57

We joined Flogas in November 2010. At that point they charged us 16.44 c/day (supply charge) and 3.341 c/kWh (unit rate).

Having examined our bills since then, I have discovered that in May 2011 (6 months in, not 12 months) they started charging us 23.01 c/day (supply charge) and 3.341 c/kWh (unit rate).

Our latest bill says that from this month (October 2011) they will be charging us 19.73 c/day (supply charge) and 4.688 c/kWh (unit rate).

According to their website customers like us (direct debit) should be charged 19.72 c/day (supply charge) and 4.068 c/kWh (unit rate).

All the figures above exclude VAT. What this means is that our annual gas usage would cost around €463 with our original tariff, around €490 with the tariff introduced in May, around €624 with our current tariff, and around €556 with the new tariff published on their website. This compares to around €604 with ESB's current rates, around €611 with Airtricity's current rates, and around €635 with Bord Gáis' current rates. All the figures in this paragraph include VAT.

It's therefore not automatic that you're getting the best rate just by being with Flogas. I don't recall getting any notification of the May increases (I only spotted them yesterday!). October's bill had a "notification" leaflet enclosed about price rises, however not once do they mention what the new rates are on the actual leaflet. Instead the new rates are included as an easily unseen footnote on the bill itself. They appear to have behaved quite sneakily in jacking up rates for existing customers but publishing different rates on their website. As it stands they are second most expensive gas supplier for existing customers like ourselves who are being subjected to the sneaky extra price rises being hidden by the widely publicised lower price rises offered to new customers.

Suffuce to say that we are not accepting this and are going to move supplier if they don't offer us the same discounts offered to new customers. I won't accept anything less from them. Perhaps bonkers.ie should include the current tariff imposed on existing customers in their price comparison as it currently implies that Flogas are the cheapest supplier no matter what tariff you're on, when in actual fact they're not currently the cheapest for us (and I suspect thousands of other customers too who haven't spotted these prices yet).