Flow Energy - anyone switched?

behindthedoor

Decent fixed rate to Sept 2014. There were a couple of hiccups with the switch, but I'm a serial switcher and have seen it all before so I just let it ride out and kept a quiet watch over the situation.

So far so good. The set up is simple: everything done on line, monthly clearly set out statements. I did need to ring them once on their freefone no. and the young lady was very helpful.

Good to see these smaller suppliers coming into the business, competition is the only thing that is going to keep prices less high.

Also like the fact that I have to do a lot of the work: download statements, provide meter readings, use my brain. It means I am not paying for them to do it.:T

momist

behindthedoor wrote: »

Good to see these smaller suppliers coming into the business, competition is the only thing that is going to keep prices less high.

Also like the fact that I have to do a lot of the work: download statements, provide meter readings, use my brain. It means I am not paying for them to do it.:T

+1

They have recently improved the web site and are now asking (very nicely) for us to give them monthly meter readings to help them keep payments "on track". I sense that this is them getting on top of the business, as things settle down for this very new supplier.

Unfortunately, I didn't qualify for the free boiler replacement, I suspect because my house is unconventional and difficult to raise up to the required insulation requirements to achieve top level FIT payments. Nevertheless, so far so good, and I have no regrets yet about being a guinea pig with them. :beer:

Moneylessmonkey

I think "getting on top of the business" may be a bit previous, their shiny new website has been down for 18Hours +..

dazzapsj

I switched to Flow in May, they messed up my opening readings, they then messed up my payments, they only applied for my Electric not my Gas, we are nearly in December now and they still have not got my account active I do not what energy I am using I do not know what my balance is and still do not have an active account, and if you complain they just promise to call you back and don't. AVOID.

momist

dazzapsj wrote: »

I switched to Flow in May, they messed up my opening readings, they then messed up my payments, they only applied for my Electric not my Gas, we are nearly in December now and they still have not got my account active I do not what energy I am using I do not know what my balance is and still do not have an active account, and if you complain they just promise to call you back and don't. AVOID.

I do hope you have been keeping some meter readings at intervals?
As an aside, one way to establish evidence these days is to email things to yourself, as the email records are dated and could be checked for veracity. If you have an email account at work, that could be a good destination as they will be regularly backed up and gives third party confirmation of evidence. Just in case?

JSR

The front page of the website seems to have been down for over a week. But it seems you can still access your account here: https://your.flowenergy.uk.com

Inigo_Montoya

Ive had a mixed experience with my transfer

On the plus side I successfully managed to cancel my initial transfer (with a minor hiccup along the way) & then re-apply via topcashback to get my £30 cashback - this has successfully been paid out now too

the transfer proceeded relatively smoothly & its a bonus that the duel fuel tariff is fixed till next september so I avoid all the recent prices rises

However on the minus side Ive had a problem with flow energy not registering the gas transfer read from npower - probably due to npower not giving it then because of their broken new billing system

When I phoned up to sort this out I ended up with their system thinking I had 2 different gas meters because they created a new meter on my account rather than adding the reading to the existing one - also the transfer read I gave them over the phone was entered incorrectly & was out by 100 units in my favour

This would have been fine if my usage had managed to 'catch up' to this read but the meter man has now read my meter & taken a read which is lower than this incorrect transfer read - also he got quite confused as he was expecting to see 2 meters

lastly Ive also noticed that none of the reads given to them by either me or the meter man have actually been added to the system yet - one was about 3 weeks ago so either there is just a really long delay or their system is broken

Im actually hoping the meter mans gas read gets ignored so I can still get my 100 free units

tommymack

Switched to Flow last August. Based on my responses for the size and occupancy of the house, their systems generated a direct debit of £118/month for dual fuel (for two people in a two-bed terrace).

When I told them this was way higher than British Gas had charged us I was told that it was to smooth payments out over the year and that there would be a review in six months.

The surplus on our account grew and grew even based on their own estimated readings and when I started submitting accuarate readings via their website, it grew even further. In January of this year, the surplus topped £400 and I finally called Flow to ask for some of our money back and to reduce the DD which was clearly overestimated.

I was told that the account balance on the website may not be accurate and that they would run a check. Eventually, Flow agreed to refund £260 and reduce the monthly DD to £60. The DD was reduced but the refund never came.

Since then, the surplus on the account has reduced to £311 (plausible since we're at the end of winter) I have been told today that the promised refund of £260 was overestimated, the balance on my account is still 'based on estimates', the 'true' balance is only £260 in credit and that they'll be refunding only £200.

Their accounting and billing policies seem to be based entirely around keeping accurate information from the customer, charging as much as possible and keeping that money as long as possible. I will leave Flow Energy as soon as the contract ends and I will never, ever, use them again.

touchthesky

Interestingly I have a similar possible issue to the last post. For the first time ever, I have had an in-credit balance over winter for both gas and electricity and have been supplying meter readings to double check this as I thought I might be wrong.

I rang Flowenergy last Wednesday about my in-credit balance of £216 and asked for a refund after supplying a meter reading. The response I got was a bit un-nerving...usually companies just say "yeah we'll sort one out for you no problem" (usually massively in credit over summer with a modest amount of credit in winter)...but the chap I spoke to said "it will need to be reviewed and we will see if we are able to do this". To be sorted in 48 hours.

I don't know why but alarm bells are ringing. I will just have to see what happens and find out if my suspicions are warranted. I am not keen on the idea of them earning interest on my money if I have asked for a refund. Will see if I have to put in a complaint etc...

topicalcat

I am keen on Flowenergy, their CHP boiler and their business model, I watch their activity on a daily basis since I have Flowenergy shares in my ISA (which are doing very nicely). I wanted a CHP boiler years ago but when British Gas quoted me £8,000 for their Ecogen I laughed and walked away. The new Flowenergy boiler should go on the market later this year with only the installation costs to pay, have made enough profit on my shares to pay for the installation

Today they announced they are taking on new energy customers and the tariff is the same as last year so pretty competitive. I have signed up today, will save £100 compared with my Co op Energy deal.

I just hope that all the issues raised re their admin and not giving refunds are now sorted out! Ought to be, the reason they stopped taking on new customers last year was because they wanted to bed down their systems and staff and try not too expand too quickly.