Energy Suppliers

Associate
Joined
18 Jun 2020
Posts
267
Location
Warminster
Yeah, some issues with SMETS2 fittings early on (though they did a lot of investigation into SMETS2 problems and identified a cause with the method of QC testing! which they blogged about). Apparently some trials with some customers getting decent customer service and meter-related stuff sorted.

I've personally never had an issue, but I've never needed a smart meter or any meter-related work doing. Tariff I'm on is fine, no exit penalties on their fixed terms. I've heard of billing issues for some people who've moved (or moved out). I've also read about some issues with getting service at very new builds.

Customer service seems to be suffering during lockdown1&2, fortunately I've not needed to talk to a human. In the past they've been very responsive and added me and SO on to the account with our emails so we both get account related info.

CS during lockdown has been a million times better than any of the Big 6, as CS were taken fully remote rather than downsized
 
Soldato
Joined
17 Feb 2006
Posts
8,867
Location
Winchester
I've still had naf all from them but tried to switch last week and it got declined as, despite telling me I was all setup I clearly wasn't.
Scottish Power have no competitive tariffs for me so it's not worth switching to a better one of theirs either.

Have you, or anyone else who got moved from Tonik fro SP, had their final Tonik bill yet? I've not attempted to switch yet.

Still waiting for mine...
 
Associate
Joined
25 Oct 2006
Posts
1,628
Location
Skegness
I've just switched to Symbio

Unit rate 14.928
Standing charge 14.500

Locked in for 2 years with a £25 early exit fee.

Reviews don't look too promising regarding customer services and estimated bills but hopefully keeping on top of submitting meter reading everything will be fine
I've been with Symbio since August 2019. Your fixed rate is very poor. I'm on their variable and pay 10.7p per kw day and night.
Be aware that they bill a month in advance and even after submitting reads on the last day of the month as requested with photographic proof they will always overestimate the upcoming month.
If you submit a reading showing say 500 kw used this month they'll bill you in advance for 800+ kw next month. They still pull this one on me even though they have over a year of previous reads showing usage.
Get them to put you on a fixed DD or you'll have a nasty shock when you see what they want to charge on a variable DD.
I'd have left a long time ago but there's no one coming near their lowest rates.
 
Associate
Joined
12 Jan 2003
Posts
1,996
Have you, or anyone else who got moved from Tonik fro SP, had their final Tonik bill yet? I've not attempted to switch yet.

Still waiting for mine...
Yes I got mine on 9th Nov and my credit has already been added to SP account.
Still not got a finalised SP account with messages of 'we are in the process of setting your account up' for the last month but I've setup a switch so hopefully this one will go through.
 

LiE

LiE

Caporegime
Joined
2 Aug 2005
Posts
25,601
Location
Milton Keynes
Anyone have a smart meter installed care to share their experience? is it worth getting? When you google about there's a lot of tin foil hat stuff floating about.
 
Soldato
Joined
5 Mar 2010
Posts
12,305
I recently switched from Bulb to Green.Energy because I was fed up with Bulb constantly getting my statements wrong and trying to overcharge me despite my account being in credit.

I just got my first statement Green and they’ve used an estimated reading instead of the reading I submitted, and subsequently over-estimated my gas usage by 175 units.

Seriously, what the **** is wrong with these companies? How can they all be so ****ing useless?

I now have to waste another 10 minutes of my life dealing with this **** due to someone else’s incompetence.

It really shouldn’t be this difficult. :mad:

That's odd, i swapped to Green.Energy from Eon in early November and they used my exact readings. Must have just had someone who forgot to enter the readings and the system did an estimate instead.
 
Soldato
Joined
18 Oct 2002
Posts
14,662
That's odd, i swapped to Green.Energy from Eon in early November and they used my exact readings. Must have just had someone who forgot to enter the readings and the system did an estimate instead.
Could be.

I have a feeling it's partly Bulb's fault.

Bulb's estimated closing/opening reading was 36,000 odd when my actual readings are 19,000 odd. So I think Green took Bulb's figure instead of my own and then when I submitted the second reading in the 19,000 area, they must have assumed it was wrong and gone for an estimated reading on top of the 36,000 figure from Bulb.

It still annoying and, to make matters worse, it's been over a week and I haven't had a response from Green despite a chase on the ticket.

I'm really not impressed with them so far but I'm fixed for a year so I'm a bit stuck. I hope they get their act together.
 
Soldato
Joined
9 Apr 2007
Posts
13,453
For me the downside is a potential future where your billed more for peak time. I'm holding off as long as possible. Zero benefit to me.
 
Soldato
Joined
9 Apr 2007
Posts
13,453
Aren’t there already different rates depending on time of day? Irrespective of meter type.
No. Previously you could get Economy 7 metres that charged less at night.
But I can see what meters charging different per hour or even minute eventually.
 
Soldato
Joined
19 Oct 2002
Posts
6,824
Location
Bath
Im with Bulb, do you know if there’s any hidden costs or down sides ?
No cost to you at all, your provider is not allowed to charge you unless you request a specific change. From legacy to smart has to be free by mandate.

No down sides depending on your view.
 
Last edited:
Soldato
Joined
19 Oct 2002
Posts
6,824
Location
Bath
No. Previously you could get Economy 7 metres that charged less at night.
But I can see what meters charging different per hour or even minute eventually.

Honestly....

Variable rate tariffs are offered all over the world, in the UK we have some of the cheapest electricity prices during peak times. Look at France, peak hours are 3x more expensive than off peak and that's before and push for EV charging and the like (Frances tariffs are set by Government).

Variable tariffs are nothing new, business customers have had variable rate changes for years (both via AMR meeting and smart). For most people having. A higher charge during peak or daytime hours would work well for them at they are out working all day!
Remember YOU agree your tariff with your supplier, they cannot suddenly change terms over night and start charging different hourly rates, UNLESS YOU agree to it!

Smart metering is nothing new, it's existed in several forms since the late 80's initially for business and has only just moved main stream.
 
Soldato
Joined
5 Mar 2010
Posts
12,305
Could be.

I have a feeling it's partly Bulb's fault.

Bulb's estimated closing/opening reading was 36,000 odd when my actual readings are 19,000 odd. So I think Green took Bulb's figure instead of my own and then when I submitted the second reading in the 19,000 area, they must have assumed it was wrong and gone for an estimated reading on top of the 36,000 figure from Bulb.

It still annoying and, to make matters worse, it's been over a week and I haven't had a response from Green despite a chase on the ticket.

I'm really not impressed with them so far but I'm fixed for a year so I'm a bit stuck. I hope they get their act together.

Yeah once you're normally set up, you don't normally need to contact customer services again.
 
Soldato
Joined
5 Mar 2010
Posts
12,305
For me the downside is a potential future where your billed more for peak time. I'm holding off as long as possible. Zero benefit to me.

What about the flip side though? Where you can get significantly cheaper electricity during off-peak hours.

I think it's inevitable that in the future everyone will be on a variable tariff and will be expected to pay more for their consumption during peak hours.

Smart homes can help massively here, by starting/running your appliances at a time when electricity is cheap.
 
Soldato
Joined
5 Mar 2010
Posts
12,305
Does this future exist though? If everyone is charging electric cars will those off peak hours exist any more?

That's available now.

Yes i see your point that if everyone has an EV to charge then there may be less off-peak hours during the night. But that will likely shift off-peak hours to morning times when most peoples cars have charged. The variability coupled with smart homes is where people will save on energy costs.
 
Associate
Joined
27 Aug 2004
Posts
428
Location
Surrey
Better visibility and access to demand can only lead to better deployment and delivery of generation and therefore hopefully better value for consumers if the regulator/industry does their job properly (SMETS1 not a good example of this).

It’ll be a long time before fixed rate tariffs become a thing of the past.

Smart meters aren’t there to rip consumers off. They’re there for customer and suppliers to be better informed about their energy usage.
 
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