Enmax or Direct Energy? - Page 2 - Calgarypuck Forums - The Unofficial Calgary Flames Fan Community

sevenarms · 06-24-2010, 11:10 AM

Bump.

I'm buying a home and am trying to set up my gas/electricity. I was hoping to get CalgaryPuck's opinions on the topic. Direct Energy or EnMax/EasyMax? Fixed or floating? I'm a lil' fresh to this so any experiences or opinions would definately help. Thanks!

worth · 06-24-2010, 11:13 AM

Hire a minority to pedal a bicycle hooked up to a generator. Much cheaper than either Enmax or DE.

Shazam · 06-24-2010, 11:14 AM

Go with Enmax. NEVER EVER DEAL WITH DIRECT ENERGY, THEY ARE A BUNCH OF SCAMMERS.

Looks like floating is the way to go for both gas and electricity right now, but that could change.

Jimmy Stang · 06-24-2010, 11:22 AM

Switched a few years ago from Direct Energy and never looked back. Having everything (gas, electricity, water, etc.) on one bill is convenient, and I have never had an issue with Enmax.

Also - while we're on the topic, be wary of Direct Energy's door-to-door tactics once you become an Enmax customer. They show up, say that they can save you money if they can have a look at one of your bills. They record your info and account number, and before you know it, you're a Direct Energy customer. Hasn't happened to me because I ignore and/or decline anyone who comes to my door soliciting. There was a story on the news about this a few years ago, and since then I have still had them come around a couple of times asking to see a bill.

JustAnotherGuy · 06-24-2010, 11:25 AM

Slam the door when Direct Energy shows up.

Do not do the budget thing because you just end paying catchup in one big payment later if the budget amount is not right. I once had a bill for over $800 in July. Which was $500 more than my monthly amount. Kinda defeated the purpose of doing the budget thing.

Now I just know that for 2 or 3 months in the winter my bill will be higher.

algernon · 06-24-2010, 11:49 AM

Go with Enmax Brah.
Get both gas and electricity through them (Easymax) and save a guaranteed $100 bones a year. That's like half of the ol' Hookers & Blow combo.

I think.

Jimmy Stang · 06-24-2010, 11:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JustAnotherGuy

Slam the door when Direct Energy shows up.

Do not do the budget thing because you just end paying catchup in one big payment later if the budget amount is not right. I once had a bill for over $800 in July. Which was $500 more than my monthly amount. Kinda defeated the purpose of doing the budget thing.

Now I just know that for 2 or 3 months in the winter my bill will be higher.

I used to do the budget thing many moons ago, and it never really worked out as well as it should have. You either overpay or underpay, and quite honestly, the winter months aren't that bad.

In the summer, I probably pay about $200 for everything (gas, electricity, water), and in the winter for 3 or 4 months it creeps up to around $300. The rest of the time it is somewhere in between. Definitely not worth the hassle of equal but often inaccurate payments.

Keep in mind that I'm a bit of a thermostat nazi. My in-laws, on the other hand, have the thermostat cranked to 25 over the winter and see a bit more of a hit.

Finny61 · 06-24-2010, 12:47 PM

Geothermal

Mr.Coffee · 06-24-2010, 12:58 PM

I used to be one of the reptile scum door to door guys for Direct Energy. What an absolute gem of a job too... so many good stories. People are so weird.

Anyway, we had a decent deal at the beginning of summer (this was... 2005 I think) and then as summer went on kept jacking up the rates and it was literally a horrible deal. By summer's end I basically had made my money for university already so I would tell people it's a pretty high rate, probably not a good idea to lock in and they'd invite me in for some lemonade / tv watching which was nice. It really wasn't a big deal one way or the other though, you only end up losing or saving like $100-$200 bucks (as far as that summer was concerned) over the course of the year. I think you can eliminate some of the admin fees if you lock in but other than that I failed to see the big upside...

Geothermal is a good idea in theory but good luck with that... were you going to drill the well in your house / yard? This isn't Iceland. It'll take you like 50 years to claw back that money. Of course........ you could always hit oil..... hmmmmmmm...........

edn88 · 06-24-2010, 01:45 PM

Enmax - for me it is the single bill and Easymax.

Rerun · 06-24-2010, 02:55 PM

I used to like Enmax... they are my gas and electricity supplier.

....but ever since I moved last August the Enmax billing has been so f***ked up it been unbelievable.

They have screwed up my invoicing so badly with credits and debits I don't have a clue whether I'm being over charged or what. They invoiced me for 5 months for electricity for my old house (after I moved out)... plus the charges for my new house too.

They supposedly fixed my billing but up till this last bill they were still making changes going back months ..... and they double charged me too (they sent me 2 almost identical bills in the same month). What a clusterf**ck!!!

Apparently they changed their billing system and its a total disaster now. I'm so pissed off with them I'm seriously thinking of cancelling my account with them and going with Direct Energy and Epcor

sevenarms · 06-24-2010, 03:55 PM

Thanks to all for the advice! I truly appreciate it.

worth · 06-25-2010, 07:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sevenarms

Thanks to all for the advice! I truly appreciate it.

We truly appreciate you, Seven Arms.

VladtheImpaler · 12-27-2013, 12:43 PM

I will bump this just because. Direct is offering 8,000 Aeroplan points to switch. Is there any reason not to? Presumably, it's all the same, so why not take the points? They want you to switch to the 3-year Super Flex Plus Dual Fuel Price Plan. Any comments? Thanks.

Resolute 14 · 12-27-2013, 01:50 PM

The reason not to switch is that DE is the fact that they are basically scam artists. They seem to use every dirty trick in the book to keep sucking your money, even after your contract expires. A co-worker of mine signed up with DE a few years ago on a three-year contract. When it was up and he planned to switch, they told him it was actually a four-year contract. When he disputed that, they "accidentally" confused his request to cancel as a request to extend on another three-year contract. Then told him it would cost $800 to cancel the newly renewed contract that he never signed. They didn't relent until he threatened to get his lawyer involved.

And that is not an isolated incident. Stay away from them. The hassle and cost you will endure isn't worth the Aeroplan points.

HerbalTesla · 12-27-2013, 06:48 PM

Compare their fixed gas price to the historical prices and you'll see that they charge quite a mark up. They also have a cancellation fee for you to deal with when you figure this out.
Enmax offers $100 a year for getting gas with them. Is 8000 aero points over 3 years worth $300?

Cheese · 12-27-2013, 06:56 PM

There is NEVER a reason to go with Direct Energy...none.

Brannigans Law · 12-27-2013, 07:21 PM

keep it local and calgarian and deal with enmax. direct energy also have a very scuzzy record.

Resolute 14 · 12-27-2013, 11:01 PM

Yup. I know several people who have been screwed over by them. I know few to none who are actually happy with DE.

ken0042 · 12-29-2013, 09:54 AM

I switched from DE to Enmax after they pulled a scam on me. One summer gas was $7 per GJ, and then by fall it had dropped to $3. (Or something like that.) In November they went and "re-adjusted" my bills so that instead of using 1 GJ per month in July and August, they figured it was 4 GJ for each of those months. And also 4 GJ for a cold November instead of the 7 I actually used.