Ebico energy reviews: Give your feedback

trickytree1963

Anthorn wrote: »

Wow you are so benevolent. So we should tolerate inaccurate billing for a year and then we can complain about it? Wouldn't do for me: I want accurate billing from the outset and if I don't I'll complain about it and pass it to Ofgem if necessary.

Your so-called "teething problems" are the fault of the supplier whichever supplier that is and the problem is either inefficiency or the deliberate inflation of bills. If we allow them such leeway we are playing into their hands and the situation can only get worse

I bet Ebico got your address right though :rotfl:

Anthorn

trickytree1963 wrote: »

I bet Ebico got your address right though :rotfl:

They had it correct when it was SSE which was my previous address but I didn't move on to RHE so I wouldn't know.

Overall, if Ebico returned to its principles of the same price for all regardless of payment method AND partnered with a supplier which provides Warm Home Discount I would likely return to Ebico.

EachPenny

Anthorn wrote: »

Your so-called "teething problems" are the fault of the supplier whichever supplier that is and the problem is either inefficiency or the deliberate inflation of bills. If we allow them such leeway we are playing into their hands and the situation can only get worse

If the supplier issues an incorrect bill and the customer demands a replacement correct one then it will cost the supplier money, potentially a lot more than they could 'gain' by "deliberate inflation" of bills.

Customers need to take responsibility to check their bills are accurate and complain if not. How many times is that said to people posting on this board about inaccurate bills causing problems?

Anthorn wrote: »

Overall, if Ebico returned to its principles of the same price for all regardless of payment method AND partnered with a supplier which provides Warm Home Discount I would likely return to Ebico.

But as we now know as fact, those principles couldn't be continued for reasons beyond Ebico's control. It was unfortunate for those people affected - but what exactly did you expect Ebico to do, go bankrupt trying to keep things as they were?

Xbigman

Anthorn wrote: »

Overall, if Ebico returned to its principles of the same price for all regardless of payment method AND partnered with a supplier which provides Warm Home Discount I would likely return to Ebico.

Which is now illegal as there is a pre payment price cap.

And no, I am not benevolent I am realistic. Customer service takes time to sort out system issues and I am willing to give them that time.



Darren

silverwhistle

Thanks for reminding me that I received a letter yesterday from Ebico requesting my readings. I've just submitted them and note that the last bill was estimated but pretty accurate as I'm a low user.

I've just calculated my gas bill should be £14.33 unless something really funny has happened to the calorific values! I pay on receipt of bill and find that does away with lots of the problems that get highlighted on these boards, whoever the supplier.

Anthorn

Xbigman wrote: »

Which is now illegal as there is a pre payment price cap.

And no, I am not benevolent I am realistic. Customer service takes time to sort out system issues and I am willing to give them that time.



Darren

Looks like I need to get back to basics to further illustrate my previous post: Users on the Ebico Zero tariff get a discount if they pay by direct debit but users who don't pay by direct debit don't get the discount. Conversely those who pay by direct debit get their energy cheaper and that represents an abandonment of Ebico's principle that customers pay the same regardless of payment method.

And so it's not the fault of the supplier that they do not have efficient processes in place to deal with billing? So who's fault is it then? All I can say in reply is that Ebico / RHE are lucky that I'm not a customer because as soon as they told me they would not / could not sort it out I would go to complaint!

Anthorn

EachPenny wrote: »

But as we now know as fact, those principles couldn't be continued for reasons beyond Ebico's control. It was unfortunate for those people affected - but what exactly did you expect Ebico to do, go bankrupt trying to keep things as they were?

You have possibly hit the nail on the head: It is a matter of documented history that Ebico changed its partner from SSE to RHE without first notifying SSE nor its customers. The question that remains is, "Why?"

As I remember it Ebico's reason was that RHE had a similar outlook in caring for those who were in fuel poverty. We know now that is hogwash, pure and simple. I would suggest that the reason for the change to RHE was that Ebico were chasing the money and they got more of it from the partnership with RHE.

EachPenny

Anthorn wrote: »

Looks like I need to get back to basics to further illustrate my previous post: Users on the Ebico Zero tariff get a discount if they pay by direct debit but users who don't pay by direct debit don't get the discount. Conversely those who pay by direct debit get their energy cheaper and that represents an abandonment of Ebico's principle that customers pay the same regardless of payment method.

But when this 'abandonment' happened it was coupled with a price decrease - so customers on non-DD tariffs got a price reduction, those who agreed to pay by DD got a bit more of a price reduction.

If Ebico had raised prices for non-DD customers then your point might have some validity.

It is a well established principle that the payments of customers paying by DD cost less to process than payments by other methods - encouraging customers to pay by DD saves processing costs which means Ebico can offer some of that saving as an incentive to DD customers, and perhaps (we don't know) also use the reduced cost to help keep prices down for everybody.

Anthorn

EachPenny wrote: »

But when this 'abandonment' happened it was coupled with a price decrease - so customers on non-DD tariffs got a price reduction, those who agreed to pay by DD got a bit more of a price reduction.

If Ebico had raised prices for non-DD customers then your point might have some validity.

It is a well established principle that the payments of customers paying by DD cost less to process than payments by other methods - encouraging customers to pay by DD saves processing costs which means Ebico can offer some of that saving as an incentive to DD customers, and perhaps (we don't know) also use the reduced cost to help keep prices down for everybody.

The FACT remains that those who pay by direct debit get their energy cheaper than those who don't pay by direct debit and that represents an abandonment of Ebico's principle that everyone pays the same regardless of payment method. It's a fact which is well documented by Ebico itself!

Snakey

Stuart_W wrote: »

I am expecting a price rise on Zero any week now. It was only guaranteed at the advertised price to the end of 2017.

Check the inbox in your online account - in mine was a letter dated yesterday, advising a price increase from 1 March.
Elec - from 16.15 to 17.12
Gas - from 4.91 to 5.16
(all including VAT)

I'm reviewing alternatives, but as a very low user unless there's another "no standing charge" tariff out there I expect I'll be better off staying put.