Avro Energy reviews: Give your feedback

yelias

ABullWithYogurts said:

Consumerist said:

Having a debit balance is not the same as being in debt.

It is the very nature of the paying for energy by DD that your balance, at any given time, could go negative.

Avro's financial antics are their way of staying competitive. In this respect Avro have been quite successful.

They are likely to be in real trouble next summer when the regulator intends to penalise suppliers holding 'excessive' credit balances and requiring them refund all credit balances on the anniversary of account.

Traditionally, Avro has disagreed with Ofgem's interpretation of their licence conditions so I have no doubt they will find a way to 'disagree' again.

It has to be said that Avro have got away with kind of behaviour because we, their customers, have not formally complained.

Just for the purposes of accuracy, if you hold an account with a counterparty (i.e. payment is not required prior to supply of goods or services) then having a debit balance is by definition being in debt to them. They have supplied products or services to you for which payment in full has not been made. You are legally a debtor.

...

If you order say a piece of furniture for say an agreed sum of say £1999.00, payment of which is agreed is not due until the item is delivered, then you only owe the money after the item is delivered.

But with energy supply, then you do not know how much you will consume so you do not know what it will cost and so cannot agree in advance how much you have to pay.
Generally, most people agree to pay £x per month (which may be changed to £y per month upon agreed notice). If you don't pay that, then you may be classed as in debt as you have failed to pay what you have agreed.

But if your monthly payment does not meet the cost of consumption, you are not automatically in debt until 28 days after that amount is formally demanded, such as by a bill.
Without a bill, you have no idea what you may still need to pay. It would be preposterous to suggest anyone was in debt when they have not been informed of what they are required to pay and by when.

A statement of account is by definition not a bill. Indeed some suppliers (such as Utility Point) specifically state on their monthly statements:

"Remember

As you are making regular direct debit payments this statement is for information only and does not require payment"

Avro themselves state even on what they classify as a "bill" (but then refers to a statement number, a statement date and a statement period) :
"You are on our Direct Debit scheme so you do not need to take any further action unless we require you to do so"




Edit:
According to Avro's Terms and Conditions:

"Payment Method

means one of the following methods of payment of charges due from you to us under the Contract: (i) payment through a Prepayment Meter; or (ii) your bank has been authorised by you, under the Direct Debit Scheme, permitting us to collect charges due from you to us under the Contract directly from your bank;"

So if your agreement is to pay by Direct Debit, and Avro have not collected (or at least attempted to collect) what they claim is due to them under the Contract, then surely it's their own fault.

Biggus_Dickus

I’ve been on Simple & Superglow since August last year and I now have to move to Simple & Flow 12M from August 10th.

It means an increase in overall cost of 33% and given my usual annual usage I’ll need to up my £100 D/D to £133 to ensure I don’t go into debt with Avro.

I could move to Symbio (12 months fixed, £0 exit fees) for my leccy and Zog (12 months fixed, £30 exit fee) for my gas and that would save me about £170/yr compared to Simple & Flow 12M.

I’ve never had separate suppliers before and I’ve always favoured ‘fixed’ tariffs.

I’m in two minds whether to make the leap to Symbio/Zog.  Any suggestions/comments?

yelias

Biggus_Dickus said:

I’ve been on Simple & Superglow since August last year and I now have to move to Simple & Flow 12M from August 10th.

It means an increase in overall cost of 33% and given my usual annual usage I’ll need to up my £100 D/D to £133 to ensure I don’t go into debt with Avro.

I could move to Symbio (12 months fixed, £0 exit fees) for my leccy and Zog (12 months fixed, £30 exit fee) for my gas and that would save me about £170/yr compared to Simple & Flow 12M.

I’ve never had separate suppliers before and I’ve always favoured ‘fixed’ tariffs.

I’m in two minds whether to make the leap to Symbio/Zog.  Any suggestions/comments?

You may want to double check the Symbio terms, as all the fixed rate tariffs I can see they offer are subject to a £30 early exit fee.
Lots more feedback on Symbio here:
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5960285/symbio-energy-feedback

Looking at the Avro Simple & Flow 12M tariff, for an average user (based in say the Eastern Region) using 12000kWh pa., it is cheaper for gas than anything Zog are currently offering (less than 1/100th penny more expensive per kWh, but over 6ppd cheaper on standing charge) ... but Avro don't offer Simple & Flow 12M as a gas only tariff.

So you may wish to ask yourself how any supplier can supply you electricity at over £170 per year cheaper than Avro, who themselves operate at the lower end of the cost spectrum. You'll find some answers in the feedback thead I linked to above.

Edit:
Consult a comparison site to find the best deal(s) for you.
Remember the old adage,
"If it sounds too good to be true it probably is"

2010

Biggus_Dickus said:

I’ve been on Simple & Superglow since August last year and I now have to move to Simple & Flow 12M from August 10th.

It means an increase in overall cost of 33% and given my usual annual usage I’ll need to up my £100 D/D to £133 to ensure I don’t go into debt with Avro.

I could move to Symbio (12 months fixed, £0 exit fees) for my leccy and Zog (12 months fixed, £30 exit fee) for my gas and that would save me about £170/yr compared to Simple & Flow 12M.

I’ve never had separate suppliers before and I’ve always favoured ‘fixed’ tariffs.

I’m in two minds whether to make the leap to Symbio/Zog.  Any suggestions/comments?

I would of thought that if you`re saving as much as £170 a year, it`s a no brainer.

Agree about going for fixed.

Alpha_5

Biggus_Dickus said:

I’ve been on Simple & Superglow since August last year and I now have to move to Simple & Flow 12M from August 10th.

It means an increase in overall cost of 33% and given my usual annual usage I’ll need to up my £100 D/D to £133 to ensure I don’t go into debt with Avro.

I could move to Symbio (12 months fixed, £0 exit fees) for my leccy and Zog (12 months fixed, £30 exit fee) for my gas and that would save me about £170/yr compared to Simple & Flow 12M.

I’ve never had separate suppliers before and I’ve always favoured ‘fixed’ tariffs.

I’m in two minds whether to make the leap to Symbio/Zog.  Any suggestions/comments?

I was in exactly the same boat as you earlier this month and looked at Symbio, but the reviews are horrendous. There are claims they increase direct debit amounts without merit and have truly atrocious customer service. In the end I decided their prices were too good to be true! 

Alpha_5

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.

I've just received the regular request to submit a monthly meter reading, despite switching to my new provider last Friday. It could be that their email data was selected before I switched. I'm starting to thing they might take the DD next month too now. 

Gerry1

Biggus_Dickus said:

I’ve never had separate suppliers before and I’ve always favoured ‘fixed’ tariffs.

I’m in two minds whether to make the leap to Symbio/Zog.  Any suggestions/comments?

Zog seem good so they seem a no brainer if the price is right, whereas we all know that Symbio move in mysterious ways, to say the least.

Basically it depends on two things, (i) whether you're sufficiently savvy / streetwise to tackle any problems (and are prepared to do so), and (ii) whether any overcharging / delayed refunds would cause you financial difficulties.

As a forumite you're obviously good to go with (i) because you know the risks and will know what to do should Symbio go bust or cause you grief.  If you can stay afloat financially should (ii) occur, then switching to Symbio could be a risk worth taking.

FWIW I joined Symbio (electricity at only 12.977p/kWh plus 10p/day fixed for 13 months) when Neon Reef's ultra cheap tariff came to end, and I'll probably go for Zog when my ultra cheap BG tariff (2.0265p/kWh plus 28.497p/day, pseudo-SoLR for Robin Hood) ends in August.  So far everything is fine.

Don't forget to tell us how you get on !

Consumerist

Alpha_5 said:

I've just received the regular request to submit a monthly meter reading, despite switching to my new provider last Friday. It could be that their email data was selected before I switched. I'm starting to thing they might take the DD next month too now. 

If your switch has been confirmed (both fuels) then you can cancel the DD at your bank. Avro will still be able to refund to your bank account but won't be able to take more.

Consumerist

Gerry1 said:

Don't forget to tell us how you get on !

But not on this Avro feedback thread, please.

Biggus_Dickus

Ref my earlier post about a possible switch away from Avro ‘Simple&Flow12M’;...I based my £170 saving on figures (Symbio & Zog) from the Citizens Advice comparison site. However, it’s complete bollox because the cheapest three Symbio leccy tariffs on CAB don’t actually exist when you access the Symbio website directly.

The cheapest 12month/fixed tariff that Symbio actually offer is over £100 more expensive than the cheapest Symbio tariff listed on the CAB comparison site,...what’s that all about?

CAB was always my initial go-to site but I haven’t used it for a while. By that measure, as a comparison site, it’s apparently now as much use as the ‘Cheap Energy Club’!...which is disappointing.

I guess the upshot is that if I do move from Avro Simple&Flow12M to Symbio for leccy and Zog for gas I’ll only be about £65/yr better off. Hardly seems worth the hassle.