Changing energy supplier

I have in the last few days been recommended to contact Sainsbury's energy but haven't had time yet. Will report back when I have.

Switching is usually straightforward. If you get the quote online you usually get some sort of customer rating for the company, so if it has a low customer satisfaction rating you can move on to the next supplier on the list. It's worthwhile comparing results from a couple of sites.

Several times. Usually quite simple, although this year I found that these sites all assume you want to pay by monthly direct debit and I do not, I pay by quarterly direct debit, so it was a bit more complicated.

Funny this should be brought up now, just when we've decided to try to change our gas supplier.
The trouble is, ours is propane gas, from a buried tank. There's no town gas where we live. And if we do change there could be a major upheaval, the tank belongs to them, still 70% full etc.
Heating etc with propane has become very expensive here, (France) and I wish we'd never started.
I daren't tell you how much we pay each month .

I usually switch about once a year or so, you only save the big bucks the first time, but if you don't keep switching regularly the price will start creeping back up again.

I'm not clear why you're phoning them, you can do a search online with Moneysupermarket, Uswitch, etc. Beware that you need to untick the box that says something like "Only list products that we can switch you to via this site" otherwise you'll just get the companies that pay commission to the search engine. You also need to watch out for penalty clauses if you're looking for fixed price contracts. I usually double check the tariff on the suppliers website and then phone to switch.

It's not usually any aggro, I've only had problems once, and that was just because there had been a meter change at the same time by coincidence.

I switched within the same company and saved £20 a month for combined gas and electricity- well worth it. If I could be bothered, I should read the meters monthly and that would really keep my bills in check and I would not receive any nasty surprises.

Being in the supposed "vulnerable" group I have my meters read x2 a year.

Thank you for your comments, much appreciated. Looked on line and once you have your accurate readings or spend, these excellent comparison sites do the work for you, so I for one will be changing in the New Year.

We've just changed saving £16 per month from EE to Scottish. I agree they think that once you're with them you will stay hooked and the prices creep. DH so exasperated one company that the poor soul on the phone said tell me what you want to pay.so he did and we did.

I change regularly every time the special offer fixed rate is up. I use the comparison websites and they do most of the work for you.
You will need to provide meter readings and confirm direct debits etc. The hardest bit is maybe having to nag old supplier if they owe you any money.