Avro Energy reviews: Give your feedback

Consumerist

Bendo said:

. . . Now awaiting deadlock letter and looking into how to complain to Ofgem about the breach of SLC . . .

You can't complain directly to Ofgem; you have to do it through the Ombudsman.

You can, however, 'report' a breach of licence conditions directly to Ofgem at

consumeraffairs@ofgem.gov.uk

They don't respond to individual complaints but may take action if there are persistent complaints.

[Deleted User]

Bendo said:

Like Avros price. Their customer service / backend systems are rubbish though.

My SMETS 1 meter has been adopted by the DCC and I know this as I can get readings from the en3rgy website.

 Based on that I asked Avro to start taking automated reads and set the tarriff correctly in my IHD. They replied claiming its not been adopted to which I again pointed out that it clearly has since en3rgy can read it.

I've pointed out that the Ofgem standard licence conditions oblige them to take automated readings and provide proper tarriff information on IHDs where an adopted SMETS 1 meter or SMETS 2 meter is installed.

Now awaiting deadlock letter and looking into how to complain to Ofgem about the breach of SLC

If they are fobbing anyone else off with not being able to take automated reads because their backend systems don't support it, quote the SLC at them.

Trust me, you will be wasting your time. Ofgem requires all suppliers to be DCC Users but it recognises that a number of suppliers still have technical issues which are preventing them from pulling smart meter readings. To do this, suppliers have to use a secure piece of software - known as an Adaptor. The Adaptor has to go through extensive testing before it can be ‘connected’ to the DCC network. Some suppliers are building their Adaptors in house and others, such as Octopus, are using a third-party Adaptor. The Adaptor software then has to be integrated into the supplier’s billing system. 

darren_uk

Totally PATHETIC, stay away.

Bought the house from family member who stayed with us in April.  Wrote to them on day we moved in with meter readings, ready to move the account in to our name.  Emails, phone calls, going nowhere.  Old owner (living with us) still paying the direct debits.

No option left to us but force their hand and instigate a switch away:

1.Family member (paying the bills) tried to instigate ending the contract, going nowhere, crickets!
2.We decided to open an account with a different vendor.  The date comes around for the switchover and we get an email from Avro suggesting we owe them almost £700 and cannot authorise the switch until that is paid.  As stated above, the previous owner who lives with us has maintained the direct debit and been paying them.

I have sent a follow up email asking for someone superior to call me and cc'd Jake Brown as the MD, not that the email will ever reach him.

Everyone looks at price first but make sure you also look at customer service before signing up.

gwapenut

Mse tips this week will list Avro as a cheap "good service" fix.

This seems a little negligent on mse's part, that they can't be bothered to read their own feedback thread before recommending a gang of cowboys who don't abide by the rules when blocking switches.

Consumerist

gwapenut said:

Mse tips this week will list Avro as a cheap "good service" fix.
This seems a little negligent on mse's part, that they can't be bothered to read their own feedback thread before recommending a gang of cowboys who don't abide by the rules when blocking switches.

It seems likely MSE relies on its own periodic surveys to get a more general picture of a supplier's customer service.

The prudent customer will refer to threads like this before finally deciding whether or not to switch.

I think you should bear in mind that many will use threads like this to 'let off steam' but many more, such as myself, don't experience serious difficulties or have learned how to live with them.

oldagetraveller1

"They also continue to take direct debits during the switch period. As of my last statement I'm £170 in credit with them, yet they still took payment the day before my switch."

I made a post similar to this some days ago. They took a Direct Debit AFTER my switch away with my account being £119 in credit, now £183 in credit with recent monthly bills of about £45. My final bill will be even less for the days from billing date to switch date.

gwapenut

Consumerist said:

gwapenut said:

Mse tips this week will list Avro as a cheap "good service" fix.
This seems a little negligent on mse's part, that they can't be bothered to read their own feedback thread before recommending a gang of cowboys who don't abide by the rules when blocking switches.

It seems likely MSE relies on its own periodic surveys to get a more general picture of a supplier's customer service.

The prudent customer will refer to threads like this before finally deciding whether or not to switch.

I think you should bear in mind that many will use threads like this to 'let off steam' but many more, such as myself, don't experience serious difficulties or have learned how to live with them.

That's not quite the case though any more, is it? They're trying to take all the legwork away from consumers, even to the point of introducing auto-switching for energy. less prudent consumers think they're being prudent by signing up for that. If I'd specified "good" service I'd be highly upset to end up with a provider who ignore various rules of the industry, and become ever harder to get hold of.

I do agree that it tends to be unhappy customers who go public but I also think there's been a marked deterioration in Avro's responsiveness over the last 12 months.

Consumerist

oldagetraveller1 said:

"They also continue to take direct debits during the switch period. As of my last statement I'm £170 in credit with them, yet they still took payment the day before my switch."

I made a post similar to this some days ago. They took a Direct Debit AFTER my switch away with my account being £119 in credit, now £183 in credit with recent monthly bills of about £45. My final bill will be even less for the days from billing date to switch date.

Have you contacted your bank? They may be able to get your last DD payment back for you.

[Deleted User]

Consumerist said:

.....but many more, such as myself, don't experience serious difficulties or have learned how to live with them.

I suspect that all energy companies have customer services issues which manifest themselves when they are thrown a curve ball.  Having now been with Breeze (went bust), British Gas (SOLR for Breeze)), Torkshire Energy (went bust), Scottish Power (SOLR for YE) and finally to where I am now @Avro,  I can honestly say that all of them have had issues with their customer services.  Often they reflect the seemingly haphazard way the industry runs itself (esp with the 3rd party meter verification) to the extent that CS employees can and do muddy the waters (whatever the method of contact).

WRT to Avro, things have now settled down for me after a bumpy start caused by unconfirmed meter technical details.  This led to a delay in initial bill generation but since then Avro have billed me on time (4 working days after submitting meter reads on the same monthly day).  Their bills have been accurate using the actual reads supplied to them by myself.  Avro also provided the WHD payment very swiftly which I really wasn't expecting as we were classified as being in the broader group.  I have requested a partial refund (specifically for the WHD payment) and have had responses via email although the refund process needs to be way easier than it currently is for many it seems.  Email reponses do take place although I have nudged them via Twitter if they slip their reply timescales.  This is not for everyone for sure.  So long as you are pro-active, are realistic and accurate in providing emergy consumption sign-up details, don't need to contact CS and have straightforward needs then Avro are possibly OK for some/many  

I am still of a mind to join Avro when I move house (hopefully before end of September) because I have learned how to live with them and they are still as cheap as anyone for dual fuel for my usage.  Of course my views of Avro may change on how efficient they are in issuing the final bill refund but again my expectations are that they will use the Ofgem timescales.

yelias

gwapenut said:

Consumerist said:

gwapenut said:

Mse tips this week will list Avro as a cheap "good service" fix.
This seems a little negligent on mse's part, that they can't be bothered to read their own feedback thread before recommending a gang of cowboys who don't abide by the rules when blocking switches.

It seems likely MSE relies on its own periodic surveys to get a more general picture of a supplier's customer service.

The prudent customer will refer to threads like this before finally deciding whether or not to switch.

I think you should bear in mind that many will use threads like this to 'let off steam' but many more, such as myself, don't experience serious difficulties or have learned how to live with them.

That's not quite the case though any more, is it? They're trying to take all the legwork away from consumers, even to the point of introducing auto-switching for energy. less prudent consumers think they're being prudent by signing up for that. If I'd specified "good" service I'd be highly upset to end up with a provider who ignore various rules of the industry, and become ever harder to get hold of.

I do agree that it tends to be unhappy customers who go public but I also think there's been a marked deterioration in Avro's responsiveness over the last 12 months.

MSE has not introduced auto-switching, but rather a one click switching service. The customer still has to review the option and actively accept it.

There is a link on every supplier/tariff to the supplier's feedback thread on this forum (where one exists)

Otherwise, this article explains how MSE calculates the customer service ratings.
https://help.cheapenergyclub.com/hc/en-us/articles/360000333247-How-do-we-calculate-the-MSE-Customer-Service-rating-

"We update the scores three times a year, to keep the ratings as relevant as possible.

While nothing is perfect when it comes to measuring customer service, we think this gives you a pretty good idea of what to expect."