GB Energy Supply reviews: Give your feedback
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I got an email to submit reading last night so have logged in to do so and found that the previous readings listed are not the ones I previously submitted. They also say they were submitted on 6 april which is not possible as I submitted them late march like they asked. The problem here is that the gas reading they have on record is higher than mine is just now. It's just me here so there's no one else. Should I just put in a gas reading 1 digit higher and put it down to an error or phone them up as I'm not sure what's going on? The one they have is 2 digits higher than the actual reading right now as I'm typing this.0
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The electric one is wrong as well though it's below what it is just now but only by a few digits. There's no way I entered the wrong readings as I write them down and keep a list of them on the computer. One would be suspicious that I'd made an error but not both and they're not even close.0
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When you do eventually get to enter your readings, take a screenshot of them, plus any on-screen acknowledgement that you've entered them. Then you can have no doubt about what you entered, and can reproduce them if necessary.
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Yes that's what I'll do, thanks. Since it's only slightly out I'll play along this time as it's just a few digits so will be higher anyway next month though it makes it look like I've been away on holiday for most of the past month.0
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The electric one is wrong as well though it's below what it is just now but only by a few digits. There's no way I entered the wrong readings as I write them down and keep a list of them on the computer. One would be suspicious that I'd made an error but not both and they're not even close.
As I have posted before, GBEnergy asks for meter readings 7 days before your billing date. If you respond immediately, then they will estimate your bill. I transferred my electricity supply to GB on the 10th of the month, so I give them a meter reading on the 10th. My statement is ALWAYS based on the readings that I provide and I receive it about 3 days after the 10th of each month.
I accept that GB could make this more clear on their website.0 -
As Hengus says, most energy companies will ask you for a reading several days before the actual bill date and will estimate your consumption between your submission date and the actual bill date so it's best to give them the reading on the last day before the bill is issued as their estimates can be miles out.
In fact, if I'm going to be away on my billing date, I still send in my own estimated reading as it's usually significantly more accurate than any guess made by the energy company.
I always, record my own meter readings and check the bills/statement on line myself rather than just waiting for a bill or statement to appear either by e-mail or snail-mail. I also do my own sums so that I know how much I should pay and by how much I'm in credit or debit so there are no surprises and I can make sure that my DD's are about right.
It's also a good idea to download and save your monthly statements so you've got a check, just in case their system falls over.Never under estimate the power of stupid people in large numbers0 -
I switched to GBEnergy at the start of Feb 2016.
1) My previous supplier said they never received notification of change of a supplier from GBEnergy. GBEnergy said they sent the info. I have no idea where the error lay.
2) I didn't know, before I switched, that GBEnergy wanted a meter reading every month. My electricity meter is in an outdoor communal locked shed, and my gas meter is outside around the back of the block of flats and I have a cross an often wet lawn to get to it. If I'd known this was required of me it would have been a deal breaker.
I am normally OK with estimated bills, but given GBEnergy's poor accounting system (see below) I wouldn't want to risk missing a monthly reading.
3) I have now had 7 bills for the Feb/Mar period. None of them are right. It seems that once they've created a incorrect bill for you, all they can do is add additional credits and debits to it - they can't go back to the very beginning and start again. Most of my bills show an opening balance on the day I started with them of several hundred pounds. I want to have a "clean" bill for an insurance claim (flood). I don't have any confidence that I will be able to get one.
4) On the plus side, the last time I looked, GBEnergy and I did agree on the amount I owe them. One positive. I hope I haven't jinxed that by mentioning it!
5) I had difficulty entering my meter readings on GBEnergy's web site.
The starting gas meter reading they started with was 1 unit higher than the last reading I gave them. I've used no gas at all, and entering the original reading again gave a meter usage of -1. I was able to confirm this and move on, but it seems to me to be a pretty odd way to do things. (I wonder if I'll get a credit?!)
My electricity usage was higher than they expected and the website just wouldn't accept my figure, and I had to phone them up to get it updated on their system.
When I logged on yesterday there was no sign of the electricity reading I'd phoned in on the meter page at all.
6) I wish I'd read this forum before I signed up with GBEnergy, it would have made me much more wary about moving to them.
7) I wanted to give them a chance, but now I've reached my limit and have initiated a move to another company. I've chosen one with a very high approval rating from MSE folk.
8) Thanks MSE for giving us punters a chance to share our experiences. :T
9) Is there an ongoing MSE poll re: energy companies? I'd like to register my disappointment with GBEnergy0 -
I switched to GBEnergy at the start of Feb 2016.
1) My previous supplier said they never received notification of change of a supplier from GBEnergy. GBEnergy said they sent the info. I have no idea where the error lay.
2) I didn't know, before I switched, that GBEnergy wanted a meter reading every month. My electricity meter is in an outdoor communal locked shed, and my gas meter is outside around the back of the block of flats and I have a cross an often wet lawn to get to it. If I'd known this was required of me it would have been a deal breaker.
I am normally OK with estimated bills, but given GBEnergy's poor accounting system (see below) I wouldn't want to risk missing a monthly reading.
3) I have now had 7 bills for the Feb/Mar period. None of them are right. It seems that once they've created a incorrect bill for you, all they can do is add additional credits and debits to it - they can't go back to the very beginning and start again. Most of my bills show an opening balance on the day I started with them of several hundred pounds. I want to have a "clean" bill for an insurance claim (flood). I don't have any confidence that I will be able to get one.
4) On the plus side, the last time I looked, GBEnergy and I did agree on the amount I owe them. One positive. I hope I haven't jinxed that by mentioning it!
5) I had difficulty entering my meter readings on GBEnergy's web site.
The starting gas meter reading they started with was 1 unit higher than the last reading I gave them. I've used no gas at all, and entering the original reading again gave a meter usage of -1. I was able to confirm this and move on, but it seems to me to be a pretty odd way to do things. (I wonder if I'll get a credit?!)
My electricity usage was higher than they expected and the website just wouldn't accept my figure, and I had to phone them up to get it updated on their system.
When I logged on yesterday there was no sign of the electricity reading I'd phoned in on the meter page at all.
6) I wish I'd read this forum before I signed up with GBEnergy, it would have made me much more wary about moving to them.
7) I wanted to give them a chance, but now I've reached my limit and have initiated a move to another company. I've chosen one with a very high approval rating from MSE folk.
8) Thanks MSE for giving us punters a chance to share our experiences. :T
9) Is there an ongoing MSE poll re: energy companies? I'd like to register my disappointment with GBEnergy
Interesting feedback and extremely negative.
Just to clarify some of your comments:
1. How can the switch have gone through if your previous supplier was not notified ?
2. Ideally providing regular meter readings keeps your account accurate and up to date. GB Energy like many Supplier's will provide a monthly bill/statement to advise you what is happening. If you don't give them a reading they will estimate your consumption. That , of course introduces the chances of a difference from the actual.I don't think it is a contractual requirement to submit a monthly reading. You can't blame them for the position of your meter boxes in relation to the frequency of billing.
3. I actually prefer the concept of an amended bill to a reissued one. Other customers may prefer the latter. To me it makes more sense to adjust the initial estimate by the difference rather than start again.
On the basis that they bill monthly, I personally would leave any estimate as it is and submit a real reading the following month. Hengus has explained many times in the thread what the best timing of meter readings is.
I can't comment why they produced seven wrong bills for one month. It seems extraordinary and unnecessary.
You later say that you now agree the current balance, so it hard relate to the comment that you have an incorrect opening balance of several hundred pounds ?
Is this a credit balance for the payments made prior to your first billing? GB Energy take a month's payment in advance so do you have two payments being credited?
4. Good news.
Despite the above.
5. I think worrying about one unit has caused more trouble than it's worth.Most suppliers operate some sort of validity checking on submitted readings. It is there to prevent spurious or incorrect readings. The reading finally used should have been recorded.
My experience with GB, my current electricity supplier hasn't encountered any problems. Fingers crossed.0 -
Interesting feedback and extremely negative.
Just to clarify some of your comments:
1. How can the switch have gone through if your previous supplier was not notified ?
2. Ideally providing regular meter readings keeps your account accurate and up to date. GB Energy like many Supplier's will provide a monthly bill/statement to advise you what is happening. If you don't give them a reading they will estimate your consumption. That , of course introduces the chances of a difference from the actual.I don't think it is a contractual requirement to submit a monthly reading. You can't blame them for the position of your meter boxes in relation to the frequency of billing.
3. I actually prefer the concept of an amended bill to a reissued one. Other customers may prefer the latter. To me it makes more sense to adjust the initial estimate by the difference rather than start again.
On the basis that they bill monthly, I personally would leave any estimate as it is and submit a real reading the following month. Hengus has explained many times in the thread what the best timing of meter readings is.
I can't comment why they produced seven wrong bills for one month. It seems extraordinary and unnecessary.
You later say that you now agree the current balance, so it hard relate to the comment that you have an incorrect opening balance of several hundred pounds ?
Is this a credit balance for the payments made prior to your first billing? GB Energy take a month's payment in advance so do you have two payments being credited?
4. Good news. Despite the above.
5. I think worrying about one unit has caused more trouble than it's worth.Most suppliers operate some sort of validity checking on submitted readings. It is there to prevent spurious or incorrect readings. The reading finally used should have been recorded.
My experience with GB, my current electricity supplier hasn't encountered any problems. Fingers crossed.
Hi Backfoot,
Responses to your queries ...
1) My old supplier was still billing their usual monthly amount two months after the change over. After I made several calls to them (they said they'd not been told about the change) and to GBEnergy (who said they had) it was resolved.
2) I have no issue with the estimates that GBEnergy have made about my meter readings, and in the past have always been fine with suppliers making estimates.
My issue is with the charges shown on the bills. In attempts on GBEnergy's part to provide me with an accurate bill, I have 5 different bills all with a start date of 1 Feb 2016, the date I started with GBEnergy, with a variety of starting balances: £0.00 (the correct value), superseded by other bills showing an incorrect start balance variously of £557.23, £538.64, £362.06 and £508.62.
If I didn't supply monthly readings which are, in effect, a "correction" I feared that the billing situation would become even more complicated. I like simple!
3) I agree with the the end balance, but not with the numerous credits and debits of hundreds of pounds that they've used on various statements to get to the correct final balance. I find it over-complicated and confusing.
5) I understand that there may be checks on figures entered for meter readings, but it would have been much more helpful to me as a customer to be told on the web page what the problem was, and what I should do to resolve it. The web site just refused to take the reading, and gave no message to indicate why, or what I should do.
Attention to detail and a well designed and user friendly web site interface are things that make the difference for me between a company I consider to be customer focused and one that isn't.
I prefer a hassle free life so am moving to another supplier!0 -
sillygoose wrote: »The website is a bit hit and miss!
I have a dual rate meter but I am on a single rate tariff. Reading 1 is the day usage and is large, Reading 2 is the night usage and relatively small - as to be expected.
When I enter readings in the 'Night' and 'Day' boxes its apparently going to the right place, I have spoken to their customer services twice and they confirm the correct value are showing under readings 1 and 2 on their system.
But on the meter reading webpage it say 'Day' next to the small 2 reading and 'Night' next to the large 1 reading.
Its really hard to explain this on the phone so I tried contacting them via their Facebook page as I could include a screenshot but they ignored me!
AND now....
OMG! what is it with this company?? its only been a month and I am already looking to leave.. just logged into the website and now its showing this nonsense instead of that above, 2 night rates? obviously the day reading twice over which is hugely bigger than the night value - they better not try charging it!!!
European for 3 weeks in August, the rest of the year only British and proud.0
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