When you agree to stay with your electricity provider for fixed term, you are gambling. And you are letting your retailer off the hook. If they are good, why would you leave?
The two big gambles with contracts:
1. That electricity prices are going to go up before your contract expires:
We have one of the most hotly contested electricity markets in the world. There is a war going on for customers that Kiwi families can benefit from if they are free to switch. The moment you are contracted your retailer doesn’t need to meet the market to keep you, and it’s their job to know more about electricity prices than you. In fact, as generators, many of them set the underlying wholesale cost- do you really think they are going to offer you a deal that makes you better off and them worse off? Of course not! They are betting against you with a loaded deck!
2. That your retailer will continue to offer you good service:
As an electricity consumer, your biggest leverage is to actually leave your retailer if you’re not happy. Once you give up that right, there’s really no reason for your retailer to look after you until you leave (see our blog about winbacks), which they know you can’t do anyway!
At Electric Kiwi, we back ourselves to always do two things:
1. Be competitively priced
We have to be because if we’re not, you can leave!
2. Offer awesome service so you’ll never have a reason to give us the flick!
That’s why we offer no contracts, but we’ll still reward loyalty on a handshake with our Loyal Kiwi plan!
Our advice?
If your retailer expects you to sign a contract to get their best deal, ask them why your word isn’t enough, after all its all they are giving you about the service levels you might enjoy. It’s always worth checking Facebook reviews to see how retailers are rated, if they don’t allow reviews you can only guess why!
