Just had a visit from a representative of Southern Electricity.

Along with various graphs and diagrams he basically said that Southern could 'see' that my tarriff was high (I am with British Gas for both gas and electricity).

I had no reason to doubt the guy was a genuine representative. My concern is the obfuscation these people seem to go through. I am well aware that there are competing services but my feeling is that in the end the market pulls their prices together, and based on previous experiences the hassle of changing billing etc. isn't worth a saving I can never accurately quantify anyway.

His goal was to get me to move supplier. He knew it, I knew it. Had he been honest about this rather than trying to imply that Southern were already responsible for my supplies and BG were just some kind of middleman I would respect that approach more. Probably still wouldn't have switched though!

Southern have been round my place a few times suggesting they're cheaper, although I'm never really sure, if that's the case, why they're not listed as such on comparison sites as cheaper than my current supplier.

I think the key thing is to get both gas and electric from the same supplier, pay by monthly fixed direct debit, have online billing, and make sure you've got the cheapest available online tarif.

I agree with you Billlham, that there's not a great deal of difference between the five or six suppliers that actually own all the energy companies.

But there's a huge difference between tarifs *within* any of the companies.

Depending on how I feel I either politely say that i'm not interested or alternately say something like

"Oh I'm glad you have called. I was thinking of changing suppliers and thought what shall I do. Do lots of research, compare prices, different tariffs, customer service reports etc. No I know, wait for someone to call round and tell me what to do"

Works just as well with cold calls for double glazing etc

Southern are obviously targeting this area at the moment. I had a visit from one of their representatives one evening last week, courtesy of another resident who let them into our block of flats otherwise energy/phone/tv suppliers don't usually get past my entry phone. I was a little surprised how much information they had on me considering I have never been a customer of theirs. They also told me that I was overpaying but like nevermodern I have never come across them whenever I've checked my usage on comparison websites. In the end I told them I don't agree with doorstep selling and I wasn't interested in discussing any further!

I had a visit from one of them - he obviously wanted me to let him in and was still talking at me through the door after I had closed it

These poor people only trying to earn a living. If they have correct ID should be OK and you always get a cooling off period.
Maybe they do have a good deal.