Avro Energy reviews: Give your feedback

Telegraph_Sam

Gas is a separate issue. I have moved from Octopus to SO Energy Cherry (fixed).

bristolleedsfan

Telegraph_Sam said:

Gas is a separate issue. I have moved from Octopus to SO Energy Cherry (fixed).

Avro Gas S/C is £32.00 a year cheaper, kwh rate is cheaper as well

Telegraph_Sam

I was put off approaching Avro by what I read in the posts..

Nocturn68

Nocturn68 said:

Nocturn68 said:

Nocturn68 said:

Avro Energy blocked my transfer as I had a debit balance of £78.92 on 19/05, due to the seasonal nature of the monthly payments scheme. My monthly DD is £82.86 and will be paid on 25/05.
It is unlawful for an energy supplier to bock a transfer if the debt is less than 28 days old, but they did anyway. Search Citizens Advice for transferring to a new energy supplier (I can't post links) 
They have not contacted me, they do not respond to email and the phone and webchat service is closed.
They did, however advise me via twitter that the objection has now been cleared, after I paid the amount by debit card. They also advised that I now have to restart the transfer and if it is not done before the next bill, the transfer may be blocked again as there will be a debt. Avro Energy - The Hotel California of Energy suppliers

Update:
I have managed to transfer to another supplier and raised a formal complaint, based on the fact that they illegally blocked the initial transfer. I received a response from 'Jasmine' in the complaints department stating that the debt was over 28 days old as it was in the red in February. Despite being in credit in March, April and May, they are using the February debit balance to argue that it is over 28 days old. I have asked for a deadlock letter but this has been refused.

.....

I shall be escalating this matter to the energy ombudsman on 16/07/2021 (8 weeks from raising the complaint with Avro Energy ON 21/05/2021), with or without the deadlock letter that you are refusing to issue (despite the matter clearly being in deadlock)

Deadlock letter never received. Complaint has now been escalated to the ombudsman (I have also notified Avro). I will provide copy of ruling, win or lose, when I get it.

Update: AVRO have queried the validity of the complaint and have requested the Ombudsman to close the matter before any investigation has been undertaken. I am unable to establish their reasons for this request.

wrongplanet

Nocturn68 said:

Update: AVRO have queried the validity of the complaint and have requested the Ombudsman to close the matter before any investigation has been undertaken. I am unable to establish their reasons for this request.

'Jasmine' would be Jasmine Devoss, who back in 2018 was unable to grasp that they hadn't notified me of an increase in DD hence my repeatedly claiming repayment under the DD Guarantee.

Consumerist

Nocturn68 said:

Update: AVRO have queried the validity of the complaint and have requested the Ombudsman to close the matter before any investigation has been undertaken. I am unable to establish their reasons for this request.

It has historically been Avro's stance that they interpret their licence conditions differently. Accordingly, they don't understand that they have breached any licence conditions and have thus requested the complaint to be dismissed.

Avro always seem to want to prolong any procedure so this move doesn't seem out of character for them.

Hang on in there. Make your point to the Ombudsman.

yelias

Nocturn68 said:

Nocturn68 said:

Nocturn68 said:

Nocturn68 said:

Avro Energy blocked my transfer as I had a debit balance of £78.92 on 19/05, due to the seasonal nature of the monthly payments scheme. My monthly DD is £82.86 and will be paid on 25/05.
It is unlawful for an energy supplier to bock a transfer if the debt is less than 28 days old, but they did anyway. Search Citizens Advice for transferring to a new energy supplier (I can't post links) 
They have not contacted me, they do not respond to email and the phone and webchat service is closed.
They did, however advise me via twitter that the objection has now been cleared, after I paid the amount by debit card. They also advised that I now have to restart the transfer and if it is not done before the next bill, the transfer may be blocked again as there will be a debt. Avro Energy - The Hotel California of Energy suppliers

Update:
I have managed to transfer to another supplier and raised a formal complaint, based on the fact that they illegally blocked the initial transfer. I received a response from 'Jasmine' in the complaints department stating that the debt was over 28 days old as it was in the red in February. Despite being in credit in March, April and May, they are using the February debit balance to argue that it is over 28 days old. I have asked for a deadlock letter but this has been refused.

.....

I shall be escalating this matter to the energy ombudsman on 16/07/2021 (8 weeks from raising the complaint with Avro Energy ON 21/05/2021), with or without the deadlock letter that you are refusing to issue (despite the matter clearly being in deadlock)

Deadlock letter never received. Complaint has now been escalated to the ombudsman (I have also notified Avro). I will provide copy of ruling, win or lose, when I get it.

Update: AVRO have queried the validity of the complaint and have requested the Ombudsman to close the matter before any investigation has been undertaken. I am unable to establish their reasons for this request.

The supplier can make any request they feel is appropriate, as can you.

But if you have filed a complaint with the ombudsman service, the OS will first look themselves to see if the complaint meets their acceptance criteria.

e.g. without a deadlock letter or equivilent you must allow 8 weeks after a formal complaint direct to the supplier in order to escalate the complaint, does the complaint relate to a licensed energy supplier, etc

If, as it would appear in your case, the OS has accepted the complaint in principle, then it usually take several months at present before it is investigated by the OS. (the last time I used them it was about 3 months, but I suspect in these current times it could be even longer)

The OS will eventually look at any evidence you have provided to justify your claim, and usually invite you to submit more evidence if appropriate.
At the same time, the OS will notify the supplier and invite them to submit any evidence they hold relating to the complaint (including, for example, when they were first notified by you of the original complaint)

The OS will then look at all the evidence submitted by both parties and make a judgement (usually after a bit of negotiation with both parties) based on the evidence they have received.

If, as you state, "AVRO have queried the validity of the complaint", the OS will of course use that any further supporting evidence the supplier provides in relationship to that query, but it will not in itself allow the OS to close the complaint; it still needs to be investigated and will only be closed if the invalidity of the complaint is proven.

You will be provided with an outcome of your complaint filed with the ombudsman setting out all it's findings; that outcome will be in writing (e.g. email)

Consumerist

I'm afraid I don't agree with the above.

Standard Licence Conditions define outstanding charges as "the amount of any Charges for the Supply of Gas which are due to the licensee from a Domestic Customer, have been demanded of that Domestic Customer by the licensee in Writing at least 28 days previously and remain unpaid;" (my bold emphasis).

A monthly statement does not constitute a demand for payment.

The harm (the objection) had already been done to the customer who had made a manual payment in order to minimise losses.

Telegraph_Sam

As an interested layman observer of the chain of events I could very easily see myself in the situation that faced Nocturn68 on 19/5. Considering that consumption is ongoing and that with the passage of time one's indebtedness will inevitably increase until the next payment, Nocturn68's actions seem to have been quite reasonable and (to me) there were few grounds to block the initial switch request.  Question: What else should Nocturn68 have done in order to avoid the logjam if not deadlock??? 
Similar situations must face very many switchers and one gets the impression that the vast majority of suppliers do not put up obstacles in the way that Avro have done.  Otherwise the whole switching process would come to a grinding halt.

Consumerist

yelias said:

It's nice to see that you have since managed to open up a successful form of communication with your supplier.

If you don't mind discussing your private affairs in public, that is.