Avro Energy reviews: Give your feedback

suevel

Been with Avro 2-3 years. Really good dashboard and cust service when needed. Near cheapest still. Nothing to complain about.  

[Deleted User]

2010 said:

if you actively manage your account by putting in monthly accurate readings and checking your bills, there shouldn`t be a large excess amount in credit on your account.

Excess credit is caused by the energy supplier having to estimate your usage (because you haven`t bothered to) for billing and then adjusting your monthly DD to cover what they believe to be your annual usage.

Anyone actively managing their accounts should never have a £300 credit.

I agree.  I always submit meter readings on my statement date (7th of the month) and never get estimated bills.  On 12th May this year I had a credit balance of 1 month's DD (£83) and requested a refund of this on the basis that over the next 3 Summer months this credit was only going to increase - just 3 days later, on 15th May, Avro agreed and refunded this amount.  Over the last few months my account has, predictably, remained in credit and this had grown to another 1 month's DD by 7th September, however, my latest bill on 7th October shows this credit has been completely erased by my first month's Winter usage.
"Actively managing" your account with Avro is key.  I would never allow my credit balance to go into three figures without challenging it - why would I want my money to be in my utility provider's account instead of mine?

[Deleted User]

suevel said:

Been with Avro 2-3 years. Really good dashboard and cust service when needed. Near cheapest still. Nothing to complain about.  

I've had the same experience.  They've been the cheapest supplier for my dual-fuel account since February 2018 and on the rare occasions I've had to contact them, they've responded well.  I do, however, find their practise of issuing estimated bills if you don't submit your meter reading on your exact statement date rather bizarre (particularly when they send you reminders three days in advance!) but once I became aware of that over a year ago and started submitting my readings on the precise date, I haven't had an estimated bill since.  I just hope they continue to be my cheapest provider though, because there seem to be far too many horror stories about trying to switch away from them!

polymaff

2010 said:

if you actively manage your account by putting in monthly accurate readings and checking your bills, there shouldn`t be a large excess amount in credit on your account.

Excess credit is caused by the energy supplier having to estimate your usage (because you haven`t bothered to) for billing and then adjusting your monthly DD to cover what they believe to be your annual usage.

Anyone actively managing their accounts should never have a £300 credit.

Excess credit of hundreds of pounds is a natural result of fixed monthly payments and different usage throughout the year.  I last recontracted with Avro in the spring - so, naturally, I'm pushing a bow-wave of close on £300 ahead of me. It'll all be gone by the end of the year's contract.  I could badger AVRO to return some of that right now - and have in the past - but it would be only a short-term victory.

shaggy

Just started switch over today. is there a phone app for managing online account? I can't seem to find anything on Google or Apple Store?

2010

polymaff said:

2010 said:

if you actively manage your account by putting in monthly accurate readings and checking your bills, there shouldn`t be a large excess amount in credit on your account.

Excess credit is caused by the energy supplier having to estimate your usage (because you haven`t bothered to) for billing and then adjusting your monthly DD to cover what they believe to be your annual usage.

Anyone actively managing their accounts should never have a £300 credit.

Excess credit of hundreds of pounds is a natural result of fixed monthly payments and different usage throughout the year.  I last recontracted with Avro in the spring - so, naturally, I'm pushing a bow-wave of close on £300 ahead of me. It'll all be gone by the end of the year's contract.  I could badger AVRO to return some of that right now - and have in the past - but it would be only a short-term victory.

Anyone actively managing their accounts should never have a £300 credit.
Maybe I should have added, as in your case, unless you want to have.

victor2

2010 said:

...
Excess credit is caused by the energy supplier having to estimate your usage (because you haven`t bothered to) for billing and then adjusting your monthly DD to cover what they believe to be your annual usage.
...

Not necessarily.

I manage an account with Avro, which has been with them since early 2017 and has always provided monthly readings on the day required or the day before. Since the start, Avro have used the annual gas kWh provided when the account was opened and have never adjusted it to reflect the actual readings they have been given. The electricity estimated annual usage changes on every statement, but again does not reflect the readings they have been given.

In March this year when I switched tariff, Avro used 24605 kWh of gas and 1811kWh of electricity to fix the DD amount, where the previous 12 month's usage had actually been 23887 and 2312 kWh respectively. That made the DD a bit lower than I calculated it should be, but given that Avro take the payments up front, it still looks like there will be a small credit at the end of the current tariff.

Where Avro get the estimated electricity usage from is a mystery to me. It varies every month and never reflects the actual annual usage, ever!

Telegraph_Sam

"Anyone actively managing their accounts should never have a £300 credit.
Maybe I should have added, as in your case, unless you want to have."

Having left Tonik, who went to great lengths to keep as much of their customers' cash as they could get away with, I seem to have come to a logical pragmatic agreement now with Octopus, whose bills have up to now agreed with my own calculations based on my monthly (non-smart) readings:  We have agreed a baseline monthly D/D amount based on my average consumption, and each month I top it up manually so that the balance reverts to +/- £0.  They seem happy, I seem happy and as long as it lasts this avoids needless correspondence. I don't see why all suppliers should not offer a similar deal - unless their business model is based on getting a free loan from all their customers.

Smodlet

I think the reason Avro manage to be so cheap is that they watch every penny like a hawk.  I, too, received an estimated bill the first month because I sent the readings on the day they requested them rather than three days later, on the one month "anniversary" of the switch date.  Now I make them wait until the 26th and have had accurate bills since.

They are also the only provider I have come across who resort to using fractions of a KwH.  I don't think they have sufficient cash flow to mop up that 0.3 next month so have to charge for the 0.7 you used this month.  You really do get what you pay for, don't you?

shaggy

Smodlet said:

I think the reason Avro manage to be so cheap is that they watch every penny like a hawk.  I, too, received an estimated bill the first month because I sent the readings on the day they requested them rather than three days later, on the one month "anniversary" of the switch date.  Now I make them wait until the 26th and have had accurate bills since.

They are also the only provider I have come across who resort to using fractions of a KwH.  I don't think they have sufficient cash flow to mop up that 0.3 next month so have to charge for the 0.7 you used this month.  You really do get what you pay for, don't you?

if it results in cheaper rates for the cosumer, then i'm not complaining!