Not everyone who switches power providers is saving money.
Photo: RNZ
A family of six who switched power providers in search of a better deal say they’ve been caught out because they didn’t realise they were on a ‘legacy’ plan offering better rates than are currently available.
Rhett, who did not want to be identified, said he was now set to pay $150 more a month because Powerswitch had not recognised that he was on a retired plan from his previous provider when it told him switching would save him money.
He said he was told it was his fault for not checking the KwH charge was correct when he was going through the Powerswitch process.
“Which I suppose is correct, but seems like an easy mistake to make … this has made a pretty tough time for budgeting even more difficult.”
Earlier, Powerswitch general manager Paul Fuge said the number of households on older, legacy plans had been one of the things Powerswitch had noticed since an AI bill reader was added to the site a couple of months ago.
He said generally people were better to stay put if they were on that type of deal.
He said about 5 percent of prices being paid by site users did not align with the pricing in the Powerswitch database, either because people were on a legacy plan, a special offer or the data had not been updated.
He said in Rhett’s case, the issue arose because he confirmed that the information pulled into the Powerswitch calculator matched his bill when it did not.
“He has since acknowledged this, though he believes it wasn’t made clear enough. For context, we’ve had more than 50,000 successful bill uploads through the tool, and only two such cases have been raised with us. That said, I’ve asked our development team to review the wording in the tool to see if we can make the confirmation step even clearer.”
He said it was unlikely that Rhett’s bill would rise by $150 a month and he had been asked for an invoice to verify this.
“His figure appears to be based on his own forward calculation. Importantly, a Powerswitch result doesn’t automatically switch a consumer. The request goes to the retailer, who then provides a formal offer, meaning there’s a second chance to confirm the tariff details before any switch occurs.”
He said a comparison tool could only work with the information provided.
“In this case, a user error in confirming bill details led to an unfortunate outcome, but not one we could control. We’ve suggested he explore returning to his original provider or looking at other plans that could offer savings. However, he told he received a $200 joining credit from his new provider, which may indicate he’s entered into a fixed-term contract.”
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