Add your feedback on energy supplier Flow

Former_Flow_Energy

ColinB wrote: »

So, a couple of hours after posting my previous comment I got an email from Flow (coincidence ?). The gist of it is:

"... I can ... confirm that the exit fee mentioned on the first page was put in error on our part and as you can see on the following pages the exit fee is not mentioned.

As for your second point in your e-mail, we do mention that the exit fees are not applicable as you are no longer in the contracted period. This can be found in the purple banner at the bottom of the first page."

So they made a mistake, that's annoying but I suppose it's only human and at least they've admitted it. Re the second point, yes, they are right it is in the letter - in quite small font in a footnote location nowhere near where the fees are (incorrectly) specified - and I missed it

I've suggested they might like to re-issue the letter with the error corrected and the footnote more prominent (or omitted altogether, it's not needed).

Hello Colin B. Thank you for your suggestion regarding the layout of these type of letters. I am sure that this has been passed to Management to consider and make any changes they feel necessary. If you would like your own letter revised and resent, please email [EMAIL="customerexperience@flowenergy.uk.com"]customerexperience@flowenergy.uk.com[/EMAIL] with your account number and the request and we will ensure that this is done as soon as possible for you. Warm regards The Flow Team

polyphonic99

I am posting on this thread in an attempt to warn people of the abysmal customer service offered by Flow Energy. I am a quarter of the way through a 2 year fixed price contract, it can't end too soon!

My complaints with flow are the poor quality of their online systems and the way they treat you the customer with contempt.

Issues:
1) They provide no meter reading history.
2) Usually the previous reading shown is wrong as it is replaced by their own company estimate.
3) With Gas, they usually ignore your customer reading and replace it with their own "industry validated" estimate.
4) If you give a reading too long before the end of the month, eg when they send you an email to request a meter reading say around 5 or 6 days before the end of the month, they ignore the reading and estimate what it might be by the end of the month eg the 31st.
5) If you give a reading on the last day of the month eg the 31st to help them with their accuracy they ignore it because it wasn't given in time to be validated.

Because they provide no meter reading history, it is much harder than necessary to validate their bills. I have 15 years of meter reading usage and cost history that I have continually updated. This has enabled me to reduce my energy usage by almost 50% over that time. Because Flow Energy ignore your actual readings done on a monthly basis and replace them with their own estimates I have had to completely redesign my own spreadsheets.to record both the actual meter readings and their erroneous estimates that they replace them with. The Bills that they submit do not then tally with the reading that you have recorded and thus you cannot easily make valid comparisons

No other energy company I have used has offered such woeful service as Flow Energy.

No other energy company I have used in the last 15 years (EON, EDF, GB Energy, Coop Energy, NPOWER) has ever ignored my actual readings and replaced them with their own estimates.

By all means use Flow Energy if you don't want or need to monitor your energy usage, but if you want to be able monitor your usage so that it fits your budget, or because you want to be a bit greener then I suggest you go somewhere else because Flow Energy is not there to help you or the environment.

JJ_Egan

I certainly have NO Complaints and would recomend FLOW .

My Flow Meter readings opening and closing are on every statement.

Meter readings over the last twelve months are correct.
That includes GAS Industry validated comes when moving from Flow as per OFCOM rules .

All my readings have been used entered last day of month .

ColinB

Polyphonic99:
I've had my problems with Flow and wouldn't want to defend them, however with regard to the following I think you're being a little harsh.

polyphonic99 wrote: »

4) If you give a reading too long before the end of the month, eg when they send you an email to request a meter reading say around 5 or 6 days before the end of the month, they ignore the reading and estimate what it might be by the end of the month eg the 31st.

If their systems are working correctly, they don't ignore your readings: they have a fixed billing date at the end of each month so they have to extrapolate your readings to that date. They accept your accurate readings for the day you give them (subject of course to this mysterious "industry validation" process), and then estimate your usage for the remaining few days of the month. You can see this by looking at your bills, you'll see 3 readings firstly the estimate for the beginning of the month, then your actual reading on the date you gave it, then the estimate for the end of the month (which is used for the start of the next month, and is why that is always an estimate). This seems like a reasonable way to do it.

The problem many of us had last year was different, whereby bills were based on estimates over many months despite regular readings being submitted and ignored.

Former_Flow_Energy

JJ_Egan wrote: »

I certainly have NO Complaints and would recomend FLOW .

My Flow Meter readings opening and closing are on every statement.

Meter readings over the last twelve months are correct.
That includes GAS Industry validated comes when moving from Flow as per OFCOM rules .

All my readings have been used entered last day of month .

Thank you for your comment. Warm regards The Flow Team

Former_Flow_Energy

polyphonic99 wrote: »

I am posting on this thread in an attempt to warn people of the abysmal customer service offered by Flow Energy. I am a quarter of the way through a 2 year fixed price contract, it can't end too soon!

My complaints with flow are the poor quality of their online systems and the way they treat you the customer with contempt.

Issues:
1) They provide no meter reading history.
2) Usually the previous reading shown is wrong as it is replaced by their own company estimate.
3) With Gas, they usually ignore your customer reading and replace it with their own "industry validated" estimate.
4) If you give a reading too long before the end of the month, eg when they send you an email to request a meter reading say around 5 or 6 days before the end of the month, they ignore the reading and estimate what it might be by the end of the month eg the 31st.
5) If you give a reading on the last day of the month eg the 31st to help them with their accuracy they ignore it because it wasn't given in time to be validated.

Because they provide no meter reading history, it is much harder than necessary to validate their bills. I have 15 years of meter reading usage and cost history that I have continually updated. This has enabled me to reduce my energy usage by almost 50% over that time. Because Flow Energy ignore your actual readings done on a monthly basis and replace them with their own estimates I have had to completely redesign my own spreadsheets.to record both the actual meter readings and their erroneous estimates that they replace them with. The Bills that they submit do not then tally with the reading that you have recorded and thus you cannot easily make valid comparisons

No other energy company I have used has offered such woeful service as Flow Energy.

No other energy company I have used in the last 15 years (EON, EDF, GB Energy, Coop Energy, NPOWER) has ever ignored my actual readings and replaced them with their own estimates.

By all means use Flow Energy if you don't want or need to monitor your energy usage, but if you want to be able monitor your usage so that it fits your budget, or because you want to be a bit greener then I suggest you go somewhere else because Flow Energy is not there to help you or the environment.

Hello,

We are sorry to hear that you are not happy with the service you have received and we would like resolve this with you at your earliest convenience.

Would you be kind enough to provide us with your Flow account number (via facebook direct messagehttps://www.facebook.com/FlowEnergyUK/ or Twitter https://twitter.com/FlowEnergy_Help as we do not have a private message function on here) so we can look into this for you?

We will endeavour to contact you back as soon as possible.

Warm Regards,

The Flow team

gjs1701

I will add my support to Flow on this issue.
My meter reading is used. If I read my meter on the 25th, that reading is used and the gas/electricity for the last few days of the month is estimated.

This seems pretty reasonable to me.

Former_Flow_Energy

gjs1701 wrote: »

I will add my support to Flow on this issue.
My meter reading is used. If I read my meter on the 25th, that reading is used and the gas/electricity for the last few days of the month is estimated.

This seems pretty reasonable to me.

Hello, thank you for a wonderful review it is good to know that you are happy with the experience you have had with Flow. Warm regards, The Flow Team

ColinB

Looks like Flow is having a few problems:
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2018/04/10/cash-strapped-flow-energy-sells-co-op/

Wonder what this might mean for existing customers ?

Eagalitarian

Was also reported in Wednesday's "Times". (Which I've only just finished reading!) Seems shareholders will lose everything, but no announcement from Flow to customers like myself, which is disappointing. Am just going to sit tight and see what sort of deal CoOp offer, and compare it with others via Cheap Energy Club. (I'm a CoOp member, so would their energy bills count towards my didvidend I wonder?)