Victorian Energy Compare

Just received an email from Victoria Energy Compare where it stated to 'Beat the heat this summer with our energy saver checklist - ✅ I set my air conditioner to between 23 - 26 degrees on hot days and use eco mode (plus extra energy savings with an efficient reverse-cycle air conditioner)' ... tested this and it's a hard NO! I'll set my ac to 18-20 degrees thanks and feel cool when it's hot. This is crazy advice, may as well not have the ac on.

Energy quotes are invalid – Quotes are provided on the site but when you call the retailer(s), you are advised the quote(s) are no longer valid. Under Consumer Law a quote is supposed to valid for a number of days but retailers advise the quote is either invalid (no information is given regarding how long the quote is valid for) or the retailers advise the quote(s) are… Read more

inaccurate and have tried to inform the site owners. Solution - 1) On the site, advise the quote is valid for how many days from when to when so retailers cannot avoid their legal obligation and 2) On the site, advise the information is accurate as of xxxxx. If required, copy of emails regarding this can be provided.

Completely useless website – All the information is wrong. When you compare, then call the actual company the figures quoted are much much higher. I rang 3 different companies and all of their prices weee much higher than on this website. Its a govt website that is completely wrong

Useless. Won't acknowledge any correspondence – I put in for the previous round of the power saving bonus on the 15th of March, which is BEFORE the 24th March for the current round. Then I put the second one in on the 24th March for the current round. The idiots denied the 15th of March application payment saying there is already an application in for the current round! Countless emails to… Read more

them have been ignored and complaints filed from their website have gone nowhere. Typical government scheme which is as useless as they themselves. I wouldn't bother dealing with these monkeys if you value your sanity.

Poor website and false ads – I have search compare and when you click on energy provider website from the compare vic website link, the information is completely different from the actual company website. Very misleading.

Poor customer service - incredibly slow – I initially applied July 14 I then had to supply more information. No acknowledgement is made and no email to tell you what's happen. I was told every time.you.contact them you start your 20.days again

Plans not found on retailer web site, error when trying to send email to Vic energy compare – Plans not found on retailer web site, error when trying to send email to Vic energy compare

Full of delays – I have applied for this bonus and after the 10 days quoted, I made contact to check the progress of my application. I was told it needed further investigation and another 20 business days required for that. Today, at day 17 of those 20 days, another email advising more investigation needed and another 20 business days needed for that. Now, it us… Read more

spruiked, and written on pamphlets distributed by local government ministers that every Victorian household is eligible for this. What further investigation can be needed to allow 40 business days of investigation. I uploaded a copy of my bill when I applied as was required. Why promise what is not delivered?

Takes too long for approval – Applied over 4 weeks ago. Called them last week and was told they would raise an enquiry for my application & will take another 7-10 business days for an outcome. Disappointing on how long it's taking

Don't bother! – I've used this site three times over the past year. When ringing the new recommended electricity retailer, they can't match the offer that Vic Energy comparison recommends. The standard reply is that my meter is not configured correctly, e.g you are configured for on and off peak, you are configured for a flat rate etc. I always get an option that… Read more

is much more expensive than the suggested plan.

I worked in IT 10 year ago when the smart meter role out was happening in Victoria. What a waste of billions of dollars when today, a power company or supplier can't accept or make a change of how my electricity is billed. e.g peak/off peak/ shoulder rates or to a flat rate.

This website is a crock of TISH!

Doesn't Work – Can't submit my application past the Payment details section. Just get the spinning wheel of death. Wouldn't be like the Victorian labour government to create a scheme that doesn't actually work, would it! Fix it Dan!

Questionable accuracy of estimates and offers based on your yearly NMI data – I did my own calculations of the expected yearly cost based on a year's downloaded NMI data and the various offers/tariffs. On the site, the 'best' offer showed an estimated yearly cost of $1800 (inc solar credit). My calculation showed an estimated yearly cost of $2433 (inc solar credit). Since the site and I supposedly used the same yearly data… Read more

(to June 1) I wonder how the result could be so different? Perhaps the site could provide more information about how their estimates are calculated, but as things stand I would not have much confidence in it.

We recently changed to an AGL Seniors plan, and (even though AGL changed the tariff structure and increased the rates within 3 days of going on the plan.. thanks for asking?, AGL), the yearly estimate based on our NMI data is around $1600 (not around $1100 as suggested by AGL).

So the moral of the story.. don't take a lot of notice of the 'estimates' and best offers produced by the site, even when they have the data to do the estimate, and certainly take no notice of the estimates provided by the retailers. It really is a jungle out there!

Worked Well For Me – I've previously used this site to identify the best electricty plan for our useage because it's a government site so unlikely to give skewed results based on which energy retailer pays the highest commission that commercial comparison sites might be influenced by. Used it again just now to help identify the best electricity plan after my current… Read more

retailer jacked up rates by heaps. I found the site really quite good.

If you have a history of electricity useage you simply provide your NMI (off a recent invoice from your current retailer) and it identifies what it believes is your best plan based on your actual historical useage.

I did a few sanity checks based on average useage to make sure it was giving sensible numbers. It all checked out so I made the change to another retailer. Very straightforward.

Don’t bother comparing because the price can change as soon as you sign up – I have been using this site to get a good electricity deal until I found out that Retailers can change their rates anytime after you sign. Yes they have to notify you of a rate change so then what do you do - compare and change to another Retailer only to have them increase their rate once you sign!! Another government initiative not well thought through…maybe we could sign at a rate for 12 months so we don’t get price hikes?

Typical bureaucratic junk – This has the facility for you to enter smart meter number and the site automatically your usage data. You can then manually enter data for gas usage for 12 months to obtain quotes for both electricity and gas at the same time. Great. Tried 3 times today and "the wheel" jus kept spinning ad infinitum until I exited the site. Sent them a message and… Read more

received automated response from someone which said that they would look at the problem when back in the office in 9 days. So tried gas separate to electricity. Obtained offer ID's which don't exist according to providers website

I have found this website quite helpful – I have found this website quite helpful, but I also found that I needed to do my own research, by asking around, reading choice magazines, and reading online reviews here, face book, and also on glass door. I find that you can get a rough idea of which companies are cheaper by looking at this site. Victorian energy compare site can miss hidden… Read more

fees and hidden charges in energy companies in their assessment of the quotes prices.

Also, the amount of power you use affects which company is the lowest cost.

Some companies do unethical, sneaky, underhanded things to give you a massive bill shock, such as not informing you that your plan has ended, as they promised, also being vague about what plan you need to go on to get the lowest price, hiking up the daily charge rate, not sending your bill, or sending your bill very late, so that you get a giant late fee.

With energy companies, you need to put into your calendar and dairy the day that your plan ends and the days that your bills are due, to avoid being ripped off.

Does not save you money, it costs you A LOT more! Do your own research! – Recommended I switch to Globird energy. My rates went up by 5c a kwh and daily charge doubled. Switching back to the retailer I was with and I'm now on a better deal than I was before. This whole exercise has cost me hundreds in the space of two months. The $50 cheque has been spent on this disaster 4 times.

Terrible website... doesn't do what it says on the tin! – The website does not recognise the data files it instructs one to use from the smart meter companies to give an accurate account of your energy/gas usage. The information the site takes from a bill you upload is erroneous, and doesn't allow manual override once a bill has been uploaded. You have to start again if you want to do a manual input,… Read more

which also defeats the purpose of having the option to use an existing bill, if it doesn't actually use the right information.

Misleading energy offers – Simply Energy was recommended by victorian energy compare web site. This web site included bigger pay on time discount/offers for people who were current members of RACV (or some Football club etc with other electricity suppliers). In other words a customer looking for reduced or less expensive power supply would have to spend more money by paying… Read more

membership with another company like RACV or a Football Club in order to get an offer with bigger pay on time discount. This is so poor of the victorian state government to mislead us like this.

Am I sorry now. As a new customer of SE i was given an One Eight Hundred number for queries and further information so I dial this number and told this is a number for cancellations and to ring One three number - this doesn't form a good impression for easy communication with this company. I wasn't calling for a cancelation. So when I'm connected to credit management team my call went to someone in the Philippines - however their advertising said that their customer service is in Australia. Philippines is not in Australia. They couldn't help with payments anyway. This is an awful and disappointing start for a new customer like myself. Get your contact numbers and your advertising correct. I wasn't calling for a cancelation but maybe after such a fiasco I should've cancelled my account with SE.

Please do not mislead victorian people nor your new customers.

No $50, no customer service – My $50 was meant to be sent in August. Now November, no cheque. Was told in October it was sent but had to wait 2 weeks in case it turned up. Waited 2 weeks and emailed back. Online chat said it will be at least 2 weeks before they get time to reply to my email. The initial email said I will need to fill out paperwork if it doesn't arrive, so at… Read more

this rate, I will either never get $50 or it will be months into the future. How ridiculous that in this day and age the Victorian government cannot cancel and reissue cheques, and takes weeks and months to respond to emails.

Brilliant Website – I used the Victorian Energy Compare website last week and found it to be an excellent site. I was able to feed in the XL file of electricity use (smart meter data) from my distributor (Jemena). It quickly crunched the numbers for me and came up with the best price to suit electricity usage at my house. I found I was being, in my view, heavily… Read more

overcharged (excuse the pun) by my present electricity retailer. I'm moving to a new retailer and I expect to save at least two thousand dollars a year (we're an all electric house with 4 adults). To top this off, the Victorian government will pay $50 for using the site.