Avro Energy reviews: Give your feedback

Anyanka1

I need to confess that I have not cancelled my DD.  I slept on it for a few nights and decided I would not give Awful Vile Recidivist Offal any excuse to change my tariff or to block a switch so they will, no doubt, increase my DD this month.  The day I get to annual review, I will request all the credit back which, according to Ofgem's website, they cannot refuse to refund.

It is stupid and short-sighted; I would much rather leave the credit where it is and reduce the DD but, if AVRO will not play ball, I will play hard ball.  We should be able to expect better than this from any supplier, imho.

Telegraph_Sam

I believe that they are obliged to give you advance notice of any imminent D/D at which point you can cancel it and/or "negotiate"  a more reasonable amount.

Anyanka1

Yeah, Telegraph_Sam, you can when you can actually contact them!  This is the point!  Avro's customer service is non-existent:  They do not answer the phone; they do not respond to emails and I refuse to swim in the sewage that is social media just for the privilege of communicating with a supplier; why should I?  My private business is not the subject of gossip.

I have already illustrated my reasons above.

Telegraph_Sam

May be other Avro-Forumites can pass on their experience better than I can.If things get tough the Citizens Advice Bureau / Trading Standards people should be able to help rather than wait for Ofgem's wheels to turn.

Anyanka1

Believe it or not (and I hardly do myself) I received a call, an actual phone call, from Avro at 15:59 today, literally one minute before they stop answering the phone.  As Sod's Law would have it, I was engaged in the Little Nuns' Room so was unable to answer it before it went to voice mail.  When I called back, I got yet another robot telling me they were all done for the day...

I have, to be fair, also received an email stating they have reverted my DD back to its former level although this month's will be at the inflated amount.  I have responded that I will request the whole of the credit amount be refunded unless they reduce it by a further measly £3, which I deem more than enough to cover my usage.  If it proves insufficient, that can be addressed at a time that suits me... I did not say that last bit but, hey.

Telegraph_Sam

I was inclined not to believe you myself 

To me any supplier has to justify and explain the level of  D/D i.e. projected usage plus any  backlog less any credit, otherwise the customer has the right to contest it. I have always argued that there is (normally) no obligation to maintain a large credit balance any more than to avoid going heavily into debt,

wizbongre

Looks like I'm experiencing a similar tale of woe as many others are in relation to switching away from Avro.
Long story short, after initiating a switch to another supplier, I've been told that Avro have blocked the electricity component. My new supplier are offering to move me to a gas only tariff for now (which is bonkers in itself...)
Given its impossible to speak with anyone at Avro, I've spent most of today going round in circles via Twitter direct messages... Apparently, they've blocked it as I have an outstanding balance that needs to be cleared.
Surely this is the case of most switches? I'd expect anyone who pays by regular DD to have a balance on their account that could either be positive or negative depending on the time of year. Avro's position is:

• I have to clear the balance on my account - they can't give me an accurate figure for that until ~5 days time for the next statement to calculate
• At that point, I should clear the amount if one remains
• Then they'll unblock me

This is all insane in my mind as what happens to energy I've used since the last meter reading; energy I use whilst the switch completes; etc.?! Surely the whole point of switching is that the new supplier gets the final meter readings and I owe them from that point on, and anything prior to that point is settled with a final payment either through DD or refund depending on the final position when I exit Avro?

Avro aren't budging - I'm convinced its a cynical tactic to keep people on their tariffs after the deal period has ended.

What room do I have to complain to OFGEM or similar to get it sorted, as I'm not prepared to sit stuck in switch limbo with 2 suppliers - no doubt that will just create further complex problems in the long run?

Customer service from Avro is a joke - no phone, livechat is permanently offline - only way to communicate is either email or Twitter...

Telegraph_Sam

So you have an outstanding  balance (debit?) on your account, but neither they nor you can tell what it is?!!   Alice in Wonderland if you ask me.  Otherwise a quick manual top up would sort the issue out (in a sane world). Case for twitter-publicity, CAB & co. If enough consumers kick up about their behaviour someone with clout will take note.

If you or others are anywhere near Hinckley LE10 I'm sure they would appreciate a personal visit to explain!

Anyanka1

You are right, wizbongre, it is a joke; a sick joke.

Y'all will really not believe this bit:  I had another call from Avro; yes, an actual call, which I answered, in response to my last email telling them what I thought of their customer service and the DD (not for this month) will be reduced to £60 from the £70 they were proposing.

According to "Jaime-Louise", I cannot raise a complaint unless I email their dedicated complaints dept.  Wrong!  Any expression of dissatisfaction constitutes a complaint and therefore should be logged.  Jaime-Louise would not have that but, at least, she bothered to call me, after they stop taking phone calls at 4 p.m!  I feel so honoured!

Is there really anything more to say about Avro's woeful apology for customer service?

wizbongre

Telegraph_Sam said:

So you have an outstanding  balance (debit?) on your account, but neither they nor you can tell what it is?!!   Alice in Wonderland if you ask me.  Otherwise a quick manual top up would sort the issue out (in a sane world). Case for twitter-publicity, CAB & co. If enough consumers kick up about their behaviour someone with clout will take note.

If you or others are anywhere near Hinckley LE10 I'm sure they would appreciate a personal visit to explain!

To be clear, I can see an amount in my online account but that was different to the figure given over Twitter conversation today. Further, the CS agent recommended I wait for 5days for the next statement to get the most accurate figure, and then make a payment.

It's all **** as far as I'm concerned as unless I magically manage to submit a meter reading, make a payment AND have the switch complete all at the exact same point in time, there will ALWAYS be a balance (credit or debit) on the account during a switching process. Whatever appears once their billing engine runs and churns out a new statement in ~5days will still be wrong, as it won't reflect any further consumption since the last meter reading. It also won't reflect any further usage up to the point the switch occurs.

Given we're not long out of the winter period, its also fair to assume the account would have more chance of being in debit than credit, especially with the pandemic driving more home working and hence increased energy consumption for a lot of people.

And as for a manual payment - I object to this on the principle its just not necessary and over-complicating what should be a straight-forward process. I'm on a DD plan paying a regular amount each month. At the point I switch out to a new supplier Avro should run a final billing assessment based on the usage passed from the new supplier and either take any outstanding monies or refund me.

Anyway, regardless of all the above, the most annoying, frustrating thing in all of this is my apparent utter lack of ability to do anything about it, in any meaningful timeframe, to resolve the issue and move forward. I (obviously wrongly!) assumed all of this cowboy rubbish had long since been resolved with improved switching mechanisms across the industry, as all previous switches (of which I've completed countless over the years) have just happened with no interjection other than a meter reading from me.