Ever used a prices comparison website yourself? What a great way to find your cheapest product/service! I always thought they were such a wonder of the internet era. The first I used was Uswitch for my electricity and gas supplier about 4 years ago. I found the idea so brilliant: finally an impartial source to which every consumer can turn for help in moment of struggle. Since of course changing utility supplier or finding a cheaper car insurance can be a truly daunting experience: having to choose between ten or twenty companies with consequent comparison of all their different prices, benefits and promotions...I challenge even the most economically aware buyer not to pull his hair. But nothing like that any longer. In a couple of minutes there I was: a full list of providers ordered by prices and customers service, with detail of the saving I would make by joining one or the other company: marvellous. "How cool is this?I thought excitedly when I first discovered it. I was on top of the moon, my entire switching process took less than 10 minutes and in a few simple clicks I went on choosing what I thought it was the cheapest supplier. A year or so later I used another comparison website (moneysupermarket.com) to find the cheapest car insurance and anybody I know was doing exactly the same: all of us living the progress, all of us proud in our new awareness, probably looking at anyone not yet accustomed to it with an awe of disappointment. A few months ago I was having trouble with BT and after my last half hour spent with Mr Patel on the phone- superintendent of India's customer service - I decided I had enough: I wrote a letter of complain directly to the CEO asking for a cancellation of my contract without further charges. Naturally enough, the CEO responded the day after and everything was sorted at incredible speed: after a couple of days I was discharged from my contract and all my charges were cancelled. I was a free woman again! The only downside was that my broadband and telephone service was shot down as well without delay and I needed to sort out my new provider as quickly as I could if I was to avoid huge disruption in my work routine. So here I was again, after years of being convinced of doing the right thing, I turned again to my useful friends (comparison websites) for help: the only thing that has changed from a few years ago was the number of helpful friends I could choose from. Once upon a time I used to have only two friends (Uswitch and Supermarket.com); then I found Compare.com, Confused.com, Moneyexpert and then Simplyswitch arrived and TheEnergyShop, EnergyLink and more and more, all gathering for different services (energy, phone& broadband, insurance, credit cards), featuring different companies and - how strange is that?- providing different results. "What are you doing my friend? I trusted you with my life and blood and you betrayed me like this?" Just have a try: choose any service/product and compare the result you obtain from different comparison websites. Are they the same? If yes this could be quite a rare event (write the date on your dairy and play it on the lottery) and mistakenly encouraging. In some rare occasion the top companies featured in different comparison websites will be the same, but this means only that they can afford to pay top prices for being on the top of the list on every single comparison website. And in most case this top prices they are paying are transferred in the price/tariff that... (guess who?) the consumer will pay! This system of paid referrals work extremely well to make comparison websites very rich indeed (and this is why they are spreading like mushrooms these days; ever wonder why?) and the illusion works especially well for some services -such as gas and electricity - where tariffs are incredibly difficult (or let's say impossible) to work out in advance (let alone understanding them when you get them on your bill!), as they depend on a variety of factors such as your usage, area code, economic or standard tariff, lower/higher user and the pyjama's colour you 're wearing in the morning (not entirely sure about the last one). "So what is to do now?" I thought in dismay. My useful impartial friends turned out to be a bunch of mercenaries and I was to deal with my anger in a constructive way, so I found the ultimate solution: a comparison website comparing comparison websites? I searched and searched, but there was nothing as such, I had to console myself with some impartial reviews about the topic in Thisismoney.co.uk and Moneysavingexper.com; anyway it was too late: by then I reached a state of complete paranoia and couldn't believe any source, no matter how credible it seemed! The saviour arrived just by luck by overhearing a conversation of a true friend on the phone (no, I don't usually do this, his voice was just very loud), who just discovered a "new" company, which was saving him around £500 a year between electricity, gas and phone/broadband. Same company, same bill for all services (as honourable member of the "messy club" I found the idea quite appealing I must admit), offering apparently an outstanding customer service (Which? Award 2007) and a written guarantee on contract to always maintain their tariffs cheaper than BT and the biggest 6 gas/electricity providers. What an incredible peace of mind! And how this company wasn't appearing in any comparison website (or even worse appearing at the bottom of the list)? I thought it was a real disgrace for hundred of thousand of genuine, well-paying, deserving costumers trusting the impartiality of comparison websites. Ironically the reason behind their cheapest prices is also the reason why nobody heard of them before. The company simply avoid any form of advertising spending, relying exclusively on the work of indipendent agents or the word of mouth referral of their happy customers. This is why I am paying cheaper prices than anybody I know for my utilities. And this is why I will never trust a comparison website with my life again!
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