GB Energy Supply reviews: Give your feedback

victor2

geoffW wrote: »

Thinking of changing to GB ES but have two questions, 1) How do they work out what to charge you for the DDs, do they rely on your previous usage? 2) When and how often do they increase their prices as I'm thinking of going on their variable tariff.

Different companies have different ways of working out the DD amount. At least one loads it in the winter to cover themselves for higher usage. The best way is for you to check it yourself. Take your annual kWh usage for each fuel, cost it at the rate you're looking at, don't forget the standing charge for a year, allow any discounts, make sure you've used the published rates excluding VAT, then add 5% VAT to the annual total. Divide that by 12 and that is what your monthly cost should be assuming your usage remains the same and you are not clearing any existing debit balance.
As for variable tariff price adjustments, some companies state they will not have a price rise for a certain period of time. Market conditions affect when prices change though, and there isn't a hard and fast rule.

System

GB, like a lot of the smaller suppliers, takes money in advance of supply: in GB's case the first DD payment is taken 21 days after you initiated the switch. You may not even be on supply on this date. As far as variable tariffs are concerned, they are just that - variable at the supplier's discretion. Suppliers should inform you of any price changes on their variable tariffs.

From GB's website:

Variable tariffs reflect the wholesale prices of gas and electricity, which means the unit price of your energy could go up or down. If the price goes up GB Energy Supply will contact you in plenty of time so that you can switch to our fixed tariff instead.

Lakeviews

Switched fro Gb Energy on 29th September. As advised by this website I did not stop direct debit mandate. GB took a payment on19th October. I stopped the DD and rang GB. They were quite efficient repaying after I had given them bank details again. However they had sent me a final account which showed that they owed me £249.47. Getting that back took until 11th December, many phone calls and emails. Not a good experience.

Inflatable_Armadillo

I switched to GB (from the disaster that is Extra Energy) at the end of October. And I have to say, so far so good. I haven't had a reason to contact them at all and my bill arrived, via email, at the end of November.

I did get an email asking for my updated meter readings, which I ignored, because I have a very good handle on my annual usage and as I started my switch at the beginning of winter, I don't want them to increase my DD payment and indeed, on the bill, they have just made an assumption based on my annual usage.

Let's see where time takes us!

Inflatable_Armadillo

geoffW wrote: »

Thinking of changing to GB ES but have two questions, 1) How do they work out what to charge you for the DDs, do they rely on your previous usage? 2) When and how often do they increase their prices as I'm thinking of going on their variable tariff.

I just supplied them with my annual figures and on my first bill (end of November) they have just estimated my usage based on this. I do have a very good handle on my annual usage and I am making a habit of switching (or possibly not) in October every year now, so I don't intend to supply them with any update readings because I don't want them to increase my DD during/after the winter. By October next year it will have evened itself out.

Also, so far they have reduced their tariff twice since I joined and emailed me to inform me of such.

geoffW

Inflatable_Armadillo wrote: »

I just supplied them with my annual figures and on my first bill (end of November) they have just estimated my usage based on this. I do have a very good handle on my annual usage and I am making a habit of switching (or possibly not) in October every year now, so I don't intend to supply them with any update readings because I don't want them to increase my DD during/after the winter. By October next year it will have evened itself out.

Also, so far they have reduced their tariff twice since I joined and emailed me to inform me of such.

Sounds good. Thanks.

victor2

Inflatable_Armadillo wrote: »

I just supplied them with my annual figures and on my first bill (end of November) they have just estimated my usage based on this. I do have a very good handle on my annual usage and I am making a habit of switching (or possibly not) in October every year now, so I don't intend to supply them with any update readings because I don't want them to increase my DD during/after the winter. By October next year it will have evened itself out.

Also, so far they have reduced their tariff twice since I joined and emailed me to inform me of such.

Be very careful playing with estimated readings. You say you have a good handle on your usage, so presumably understand the seasonal variances in your own actual usage. Suppliers cannot be as realistic with their estimates. So often you see on here people complaining about a "catch-up" bill after they've gone along with unrealistic estimates for considerable time.

davidcomps

Just worked my way through the website answering all the questions and got a response that they couldn't find anything for me in my area - MK14 in Milton Keynes, no idea why, or why they needed more info after they'd been able to establish my address

stozzy84

Been with GB Since April. I moved into a new property and needed to get of Npower and Bristish Gas standard tariff ASAP

Since Joining - We have had two price falls since then.

When the fixed price tariff came out - I called them and they gave advice to stay on the variable tariff as they will give notice if they intend to raise the price and you can shift to the fixed price if that occurs but if i moved to the fixed price now - i would be locked in for 12 months.

Also when i initially signed up I set the direct debit up for £65 per month. which was still a hell of a saving. After a long discussion with GB my account is now 2 months in credit and I have reduced the direct debit to £45 per month (2 of us live in a 2 bedroom house with elec and gas). can't beleive how cheap it is. They also sent me a fuss free refund to the bank within 3 days.

For those who are scared to take the plunge:
Its money for nothing if you can save, Why pay more for the same gas and electric on the pipes been supplied to your property. Yes the website needs improving (but on-line billing is coming from January). If you can see a big saving - Go for it. GB all the way.

june47

From my limited experience, I suspect that although their prices may be competitive, this company’s customer service and systems aren’t yet up to speed.

They accidentally took over our gas supply from British Gas back in September (wrong gas meter transferred due to their misreading of the address database), but they have shown next to no interest in resolving the situation. In summary, they have:

• Fobbed me off, telling me to get my original supplier to sort things out
• Given bizarre excuses for not being able to do anything, such as: “we don’t have the contact details for the customer who tried to switch the account”
• Refused to let me speak to the erroneous transfers team to find out their take on the situation
• Refused to speak to British Gas by phone and then failed to respond to repeated emails from them

So, over three months later, British Gas still haven’t been able to get the gas supply transferred back from GB Energy.

Plus, despite my having pointed the situation out to GB Energy several times, they’ve clearly not done anything proactive about it their end – despite the fact it’s presumably also messed up the accounts of one of their own customers too.

My impression is that they are another Scottish Power in the making. Fine day-to-day when it’s all going well, but without the systems, experience or staffing resource to resolve problems when they do arise.