Avro Energy reviews: Give your feedback

Biggus_Dickus

I switched from Avro’s Simple&Superflow to the latest (and cheapest!) Simple&Supefixed tariff on the 9th of Feb.

Avro’s Simple&Supefixed tariff appears on the Citizens advice comparison website,...it’s also on the Energylinx comparison site,...it’s even listed on Quotezone comparison site;... however, it still does not appear on MSE’s CEC (Cheap Energy Club) comparison site.

MSE’s Cheap Energy Club purports to list the “Full Market Comparison”,...which it patently does not!,...there have been many examples of ‘cheap’ tariffs being excluded (for extended periods) from the CEC in recent times. 

I know MSE (CEC) blame the energy companies for not passing on the tariff info (how true that is I’ve no idea) but nonetheless “Full Market Comparison” should mean just that.

Not good enough Mr Lewis;...it really isn’t;;...I have no faith whatsoever in the integrity of your CEC website. It’s seriously flawed!!!

wrongplanet

Biggus_Dickus said:

Not good enough Mr Lewis;...it really isn’t;;...I have no faith whatsoever in the integrity of your CEC website. It’s seriously flawed!!!

 I think it was established above that it looks like MSE/CEC (and therefore MoneySupermarket) have been given duff postcode availability info by Avro. If they had any sense they'd be reading this forum but it seems they're not.

Biggus_Dickus

wrongplanet said:

Biggus_Dickus said:

Not good enough Mr Lewis;...it really isn’t;;...I have no faith whatsoever in the integrity of your CEC website. It’s seriously flawed!!!

 I think it was established above that it looks like MSE/CEC (and therefore MoneySupermarket) have been given duff postcode availability info by Avro. If they had any sense they'd be reading this forum but it seems they're not.

If I insert the post code KT8 9JJ (Arnison road, East molesey) and use a random house number the CEC still does not list Simple&Superfixed in the tariff list when compared to the Simple&Superflow tariff;...Citizens Advice & Energylinx both show a considerable saving (Simple&Superfixed) for KT8 9JJ.  

Last week the CEC was showing Simple&Superflow as Avro’s cheapest tariff, even though it had been superceded by the cheaper Simple&Superfixed tariff. However, using my own post-code, or KT8 9JJ, Simple&Superflow has now disappeared completely !...but the cheaper Simple&Superfixed has still yet to emerge.  

Missing tariffs are a recurring theme on the CEC,...it used to be my first port of call but not these days.

wrongplanet

Looks like it's not a postcode issue after all .

If I put in some other supplier, say BG, at my real GU4 address then Avro is listed and a single BG tariff is given if 'Tariffs From: My Current Supplier' is ticked.

However with Avro as the current supplier then Avro isn't listed and with 'Tariffs From: My Current Supplier' ticked it returns "We were unable to find any tariffs of this type..." as was reported somewhere higher up this thread

Gerry1

I can no longer get accurate price comparisons because the CEC's website won't allow me even to tell it that my electricity supplier is Neon Reef.  As far as the CEC is concerned, they don't exist.  MSE claims to be ethical, holier-than-thou, the consumer's friend etc, but it really needs to walk the talk.

w0z

I smell a rat...
The  cec website appears to be programmed to exclude Avro tariffs if you are with Avro. (theory not extensively tested there could be other factors at play?)
This appears to tie in beautifully with Avro's strategy of never informing customers when there is a cheaper tariff available, (and worse still when challenged claiming it isn't possible).
Fortunately by creating another cec account and choosing a different supplier it is possible to get round this, but it's irritating and if deliberate not at all transparent. I've emailed  cec for an explanation of why Avro isn't showing on one account but tariffs are available.
I strongly suspect the reason is that cashback can't be claimed if switching to a different tariff with the same supplier (rightly so) and in order to avoid any confusion they just don't list them. I may be wrong.

Gerry1

What happens with your 'real' account if you edit your details to say you're on BG's most expensive tariff?

Consumerist

Gerry1 said:

What happens with your 'real' account if you edit your details to say you're on BG's most expensive tariff?

There is no connection between your CEC details and your energy account - if that's what you mean.

It will only affect the "savings" shown in the CEC tariffs list. If you change your consumption numbers, however, that could affect the info passed to any supplier you switch to using CEC when it comes to setting the direct debit.

Gerry1

I'll rephrase my question.  If you (temporarily) edit your details to say you're with someone other than Avro, does the latest Avro tariff magically appear when you search again?  That would confirm or disprove w0z's theory.

Consumerist

Gerry1 said:

I'll rephrase my question.  If you (temporarily) edit your details to say you're with someone other than Avro, does the latest Avro tariff magically appear when you search again?  That would confirm or disprove w0z's theory.

In theory, your present supplier should have no effect on the list of tariffs available to you. Only your postcode, and possibly tariff type (e.g. E7), should have any effect on the suppliers and tariffs listed.