‘I’ll shop around for everything’
Businesswoman Eilish Quinlan said she has saved around €1,000 after switching her electricity provider. Ms Quinlan said that she was with the same supplier, Electric Ireland (ESB), for 20 years.
But after her office manager at her company, Quinlan Accountants in Naas, Co Kildare, pointed out that she felt the bill was too high, Ms Quinlan went online to shop around.
“We have storage heaters and they were set up on a night and day rate,” Ms Quinlan, a company principal, said.
“I was told they were very efficient but I believe the night rate isn’t really available any more and I’d been paying over the odds needlessly.
“I’d been with the company for 20 years. It was ESB originally and then it became Electric Ireland.
“I phoned the company up and they said they could get me discounts, that they could give me a better rate — but it was too little, too late.
“I couldn’t believe how much I’d been paying when I shopped round.
“Electric Ireland said I was on a wrong rate and should have changed, but no one offered me anything different.
“They let me trundle on. I’m raging to think I could’ve saved €1,000 a year previously.
“But I didn’t know there could be so big a price difference. I don’t think it’s fair there’s such huge price differences between companies.
“I have customers in my own business and I advise people how to save money, as that’s good practice.
“It’s a way to keep custom and, frankly, it’s only fair. I prefer people spending money with me for services they value.
“Everyone does say ‘shop around’ and I didn’t, so it’s a lesson. Now I’ll shop around for everything.”
Ms Quinlan said she settled on Airtricity after realising the firm had much “cheaper rates”.
She found the company on a utility comparison website and a “better deal” jumped out very quickly.
“It’s all thanks to my brilliant office manager really,” the mother of three said. “I can’t really even take the credit for this.
“We’ll have a party when the pandemic ends and I’ll invest the savings in the business.
“I am going to buy online phones and I’ve bought new laptops for my staff already. There’s always something to spend money on and I’ve made a great saving.
“Between the lower electricity bills and business being out of the door, I feel very lucky.
“It’s been such a tough time for a lot of people and I’m very grateful. But I do feel Electric Ireland should’ve got in touch with me to tell me that I was on a bad deal.
“If they had and if they’d got me a better deal, I’d probably still be a customer of theirs.”
An Electric Ireland spokeswoman said the company “works with approximately 90,000 small to medium businesses across the ROI market, and is Ireland’s largest energy provider.
“Recognising that each business is different, we have a number of price and energy plans in place to suit the individual needs of our business customers.
“We offer a free SME Premium Insights tool to customers whereby they can monitor their energy usage, get peer-to-peer comparison and receive tips on how to reduce their usage and bill.
“We also run regular integrated campaigns to highlight our various competitive offerings for business customers, and encourage customers to contact us to avail of these offers.
“While we’re disappointed this customer has moved energy supplier, we continue to provide innovative and competitive offerings to existing and new customers.”