Lewes Forum thread

Go on, tell 'em what you think

Lewes Forum New message

Collective Switching

On 2 Nov 2012 at 8:46am Pete wrote:

A few forums ago, I promised to try and find out a bit more about the above, well, sadly, I didn't get very far and only managed the response below, seems to me that collective switching isn't quite past the "beta" stage yet...
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Dear Sir/Madam
Thank you for your emails.
Consumer Focus is a research and advocacy body and only deals directly with vulnerable consumers who have energy or postal complaints.
You can contact the Citizens Advice Consumer Service who is the government�??s advisory service responsible for providing help and advice. Please contact the Citizen Advice Consumer Service on 08454 04 05 06 or visit their website h++p://www.adviceguide.org.uk.
However, I did look up some information on the Website. Please try these links which will hopefully answer your question.
h++p://www.decc.gov.uk/en/content/cms/funding/collectpurch/collectpurch.aspx
h++p://www.consumerfocus.org.uk/topic/collective-switching
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On 2 Nov 2012 at 10:15pm the old mayor wrote:

Well Done Pete - But with respect, as I see it, it's a 1000+ consumers who contact the utility companies collectively and tell them they are all prepared to switch to them and what rate is their best offer !
Simple! All 'someone' has to do is collect names and addresses, probably with consumer account numbers. It is obviously not encouraged by any major utility company, it is all about 'people power'! Asking namby pamby questions won't get us anywhere !! We could even team up with Totnes !!

On 3 Nov 2012 at 8:13am Pete wrote:

You're right Old Mayor, not as easy to implement as it seems....hey ho...

On 3 Nov 2012 at 9:10am Brussel Sprout wrote:

I've been interested in this too....
Perhaps a website where one could join up and enter the necessary details and then once a significant number of people are signed up (not really sure how many?) an email is sent out to everyone to notify them that the target has been reached and action commences..... I don't personally have the know how to set this up but surely someone out there has? This is a fairly basic idea! I'm sure it could be bettered........

On 3 Nov 2012 at 10:13am buzz aldrin wrote:

How about a Facebook Group?

On 3 Nov 2012 at 10:40am Southover Queen wrote:

The consumer group Which? and 38 Degrees got together to do exactly this. I'd assumed that the opportunity had passed, but it seems that they had so much interest that there is a second initiative/group under way. I've put a link to the website.

Check it out here »

On 3 Nov 2012 at 12:36pm Brussel Sprout wrote:

Super, thanks.

On 3 Nov 2012 at 9:10pm the old mayor wrote:

Well Done SQ. Also a Facebook page is a good idea too. However applicants can come from nationwide area not just locally, isn't the internet marvellous !!
If anyone takes further steps, please keep us informed. This could be a good thing for us consumers.

On 4 Nov 2012 at 3:50pm Sceptic wrote:

Well done Pete, Well done SQ, Super thanks, Your right old Mare. God! talk about patronising. Still it's nice even if you don't mean it. By the way thankyou God for putting us on this planet.