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Avro Energy reviews: Give your feedback

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  • 2010
    2010 Posts: 5,492 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    edited 29 March 2021 at 12:55PM
    I`m wondering how Avro will react now that Orbit have gone a lot cheaper than them on the switch sites.
    Can we expect yet another new tariff, afterall we haven`t had one for at least two whole weeks. :)
  • 2010
    2010 Posts: 5,492 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    Three new Avro tariffs today but all higher than Super12M.
    Although when you request a renewal quote online it only offers you one!
    Luckily it`s still Super12M.
  • Consumerist
    Consumerist Posts: 6,311 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper
    I think all quotes offer the cheapest available to you at the time.
    >:)Warning: In the kingdom of the blind, the one-eyed man is king.
  • I want to share a sorry tale we had with Avro on moving in to our new house on February 1st. They were the existing supplier for gas and electric and we decided to go with them as they had good reviews and we thought using the existing supplier would be simpler - how wrong we were.

    To cut a long story short we applied to open an account with them at the start of February via an emailed crude word doc. but had no acknowledgement from them nor to any follow up emails I sent them. Nor did we ever get told what the tariff would be. Having heard nothing by March we signed up with Octopus which triggered Avro to send us a ’sorry you are leaving us’ email and a signup/renewal pack. This latter indicated the tariff would be fixed rate at £230 a month, which they then took by direct debit 2 weeks later.

    From the meter readings submitted to Octopus I also calculated the actual usage for 42 days at only £111 - for one of the coldest months of the year - with the pro-rate monthly rate of c. £83 which matched the estimate Octopus had given us. We are now hoping that Avro will refund us soon - if not we will use Resolver or complain to the Ombudsman.

    Now the real points of this story are:

    • At no time did Avro tell me what the rate would be - they just put us on the same rate as the previous occupants
    • They had clearly been fleecing the previous occupants by nearly £150 a month
    • Avro’s customer service is appalling - they never respond to emails and don't want you to phone them - why they are often mentioned in the top suppliers defies belief
    • And on the basis of this experience no-one should EVER use the existing supplier when moving house. It seems these suppliers are only geared up to switching and leaving, never for someone moving in and wanting to keep the same supplier.
  • Gerry1
    Gerry1 Posts: 10,848 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper
    JCtisMe said:

    we applied to open an account with them at the start of February via an emailed crude word doc

    Welcome to the forum.
    Might have been better to have signed up from their website !
    JCtisMe said:

    we signed up with Octopus which triggered Avro to send us a ’sorry you are leaving us’ email and a signup/renewal pack. This latter indicated the tariff would be fixed rate at £230 a month, which they then took by direct debit 2 weeks later.

    Unfortunately, it seems you don't understand how fixed direct debits work.  Only the cost per kWh and the daily charge are fixed.  It's never All You Can Eat, if you use more than was estimated then you will pay more.  MSE DD advice
    JCtisMe said:
    • At no time did Avro tell me what the rate would be - they just put us on the same rate as the previous occupants
    Seems to be a contradiction there !  If you didn't know the rate, how did you know it was the same??
    JCtisMe said:
    • They had clearly been fleecing the previous occupants by nearly £150 a month
    No evidence for such a wild claim.  You don't know what the previous occupants consumed.  In any case, the Octopus DD isn't fixed in stone, it's only as good as the usage figure you gave them or what they guessed from the property size and number of people.
    You really need to check the facts carefully before making potentially libellous statements.
  • Telegraph_Sam
    Telegraph_Sam Posts: 2,552 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper
    Quote from the famous Direct Debit guarantee "offered by all banks and building societies that accept instructions to pay Direct Debits"
    "If there are any changes to the amount, date or frequency of your direct debit [...the supplier...] will notify you 10 days in advance of your account being debited or as otherwise agreed. If you request [...  the supplier...] to collect a payment, confirmation of the amount and date will be given to you at the time of the request.
    If an error is made in the payment of the Direct Debit by [.. the supplier..] .....you are entitled to a full and immediate refund of the amount paid from your Bank or Building Society"
    Might come in useful?
    My interest in Avro (or Orbit) as a possible supplier has suffered another blow.
    https://www.ombudsman-services.org/sectors/energy
    https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/consumer/energy/energy-supply/complain-about-an-energy-company/complain-to-the-energy-ombudsman/
    Telegraph Sam

    There are also unknown unknowns - the one's we don't know we don't know
  • Telegraph_Sam
    Telegraph_Sam Posts: 2,552 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper
    edited 30 March 2021 at 5:35PM
    Going by my interpretation I think the point is this: Regardless of what the "correct" monthly charge is or was, Avro (not Octopus) had no right to slap in a retrospective D/D for £230 without so much as by your leave (as per the "Guarantee") if Avro had been notified of the switch. Unless I have misunderstood.
    Putting my legal hat on awkwardly, was there ever a "contract" entered into between yourselves and Avro?? From what you say there would appear to be none which would destroy any claim.from their side. On the other hand someone must have given them your bank detsils at some point. The plot thickens ...



    Telegraph Sam

    There are also unknown unknowns - the one's we don't know we don't know
  • Consumerist
    Consumerist Posts: 6,311 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper
    edited 30 March 2021 at 4:19PM
    JCtisMe said:
    I want to share a sorry tale we had with Avro on moving in to our new house on February 1st. They were the existing supplier for gas and electric and we decided to go with them as they had good reviews and we thought using the existing supplier would be simpler - how wrong we were.
    Unfortunately, you went about this in entirely the wrong way. What on earth persuaded you to sign up to an unknown tariff?
    Standard refund procedure is for refunds to be given 10 working days after your final statement which will take Avro six weeks to produce. So you should have it in about two months from the switch date.
    Glad you decided to join us on the forum so please keep in touch so we can help you avoid the same mistake again.
    >:)Warning: In the kingdom of the blind, the one-eyed man is king.
  • polymaff
    polymaff Posts: 3,950 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper
    JCtisMe said:
    ... which triggered Avro to send us a ’sorry you are leaving us’ email and a signup/renewal pack. This latter indicated the tariff would be fixed rate at £230 a month
    Can you quote Avro on this?

  • Consumerist
    Consumerist Posts: 6,311 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper
    edited 30 March 2021 at 5:39PM
    polymaff said:
    Can you quote Avro on this?
    That probably means payment is by fixed DD, currently set at £230 pm. (Must look-up what "fixed" really means.)

    >:)Warning: In the kingdom of the blind, the one-eyed man is king.
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