ShopAround free Energy Winner announced!

Published: September 16, 2008 - 09:33 PM

Free electricity and petrol is “a blessing” for winners.

By Lesley Coombes

Bride to be, Julie Booth of Preston Victoria is the lucky major prize winner of ShopAround’s Free Energy for a Year competition winning $2000 free electricity and gas for a year.

The competition ran from 19th March to 31st July 2008 and was open to any Victorian resident over 18 who switched to a new Victorian electricity company and/or Victorian gas supplier using ShopAround.

Winning the major prize is an early wedding present and big money saver for Julie who will be tying the knot next week. “We’re about to get married so this has come at a great time,” she said.

Frustrated by ongoing administration problems with her original Victorian electicity supplier, Julie decided to shop around and compare electricity prices and gas prices from other Victorian energy providers.

“There are so many of these comparison sites for health insurance so I thought there must be some out there for cheap electricity and cheap gas. It turned out that Shoparound.com.au had the best electricity deal available,” Julie said.

Denise Ng and Trevor Williams are the lucky second prize winners, receiving a $500 petrol card each.

Denise from Dandenong Victoria, a newcomer to Australia was “surprised” at the news of winning.

“I never win anything,” she laughed.

Winning has been a welcoming surprise for Denise and her family having all recently migrated to Australia. “This is a good start for us, especially as we just arrived in Australia in April from Malaysia. This prize is a blessing.”

Being new to Australia, Denise wasn’t sure how to register for electricity and gas so she simply typed ‘electricity’ and ‘gas’ into google. “Shoparound.com.au popped up saying ‘compare cheap electricity and cheap gas.’ "ShopAround was very good because it had a comparison table,” she said.

Denise was shocked to see the high level of competition in Australia amongst Victorian gas companies and Victorian electricity suppliers.

“Back in my country, there is no competition. One supplier dominated. There is no-where else you can go. The competition is much better in Australia with so many to choose from. It is very good.” Denise found the ShopAround site “very straightforward to use with a step by step process. Even for someone who might not be very good at computers should be able to understand it easily” she said.

Trevor from Narre Warren Victoria, a stay at home dad of three can definitely find the use of the $500 fuel voucher.

“We drive a fair bit” he said. “I own a 1967 mustang and it’s a pretty thirsty car.” Trevor is planning to use the fuel voucher for when the family go away on holiday.

Using Shoparound.com.au was “too easy” for Trevor. “I didn’t like the electricity and gas company I was with so I thought I could save some money and switch.”

When asked if Trevor would recommend the site to others, he replied confidently, “Already have.”

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