There are many options that companies may offer you to help you “save” money. They may market it under budget friendly or by having a set amount. Recently I received one such offer. I am going to share it with you, so that you can learn how to evaluate whether your offer is worthwhile. There may be some legitimate offers out there, but you should always read the fine print carefully.
The offer I received was for budget billing. The company offered a year long contract with a set monthly payment. They sent me the average monthly payment for this year which was about $130.00. They then explained that they were increasing this amount by about ten percent (their words) to cover any increase in usage or rates. The letter went on to state that my new bill would be about $170.00. This amount was more than ten dollars a month. As I further read the letter the contract does not offer refunds on energy not used, but if you end up using more energy you are not charged. In addition if you decide to break the contract during the year you are charged a cancellation fee. After you cancel the company keeps any money that you have already paid.
I have several problems with the offer. The first was that the rate increase was more than ten percent. The ten percent increase would have raised my bill to $143.00. I did not like the fact that I would not receive a refund for the amount of power I did not use. Assuming that my electric costs did raise the ten percent estimate, by signing up for budget billing I would be paying an extra $324.00 a year, simply so I would not have to guess what my bill would be every month. I can still enter that estimate into my budget and roll that amount forward when I do not have a bill that high. Essentially doing the same thing for free.
In fact I was so upset over the offer, because I believe that it takes advantage of poor uneducated people, that I called the company to complain. They explained that it is an unregulated service, and since it is unregulated there was no where that I could go to voice my complaint or my concerns with the billing service.
It is important that the buyer carefully read all the fine print associated with any similar offers. You should also do the math to see if you come out ahead or if you break out even in the deal. It is your responsibility to fully understand any contract you may enter into. If you do not understand something find someone who can explain it to you.
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