PRICE comparison sites are ‘lying’ to customers about the cheapest deals to boost their own profits, investigations by a consumer collective claims.
The Big Deal has published research, including audio recordings, claim the big five price comparison websites – uSwitch, Go Compare, MoneySupermarket, Compare the Market and Confused – have all ‘lied’ over the phone to consumers about what the cheapest energy deals are to earn themselves more money.
The organisation claims phone advisers lied and claimed more expensive deals were the cheapest
These companies claim to be independent and impartial but when asked what the cheapest deal was, phone advisers failed to mention deals that didn’t pay them a commission. Consumers are losing out as a result.
In the case of uSwitch, the biggest energy switching company, the difference between what they claimed was the cheapest deal and The Big Deal’s own research was £60. The organisation claims phone advisers lied and claimed more expensive deals were the cheapest, even when asked repeatedly.
These findings come in the wake of a scandal in October last year when The Big Deal published research claiming that all of the big five price comparison websites hid online the cheapest deal from users, often for weeks on end, because they did not earn commission from them. This was while the websites’ companies’ post tax profits have more than quadrupled from £30M in 2005 to £170M in 2013.
MPs on the House of Commons Energy Select Committee are now investigating the sites’ practices and lack of transparency over commission. They are holding an oral hearing with the CEOs of the big five price comparison sites tomorrow (Tuesday 3rd February) in the House of Commons.
Will Hodson, co-founder of The Big Deal, said: “After being caught out for misleading customers on their websites, you might expect comparison sites to have cleaned up their act.
“Instead we see even dirtier tricks. Telling outright lies to society’s most vulnerable is as bad as the dark days of doorstep selling.
“Trust has been broken. Far from being consumer champions, switching sites are letting people down. We deserve answers – honest advice should not be too much to ask.”
