Avro Energy reviews: Give your feedback

Consumerist

wrongplanet wrote: »

Something to watch out for with Avro then...

Good point.

If EE gets away with this kind of tactic to hide its liabilities then I can see other suppliers trying the same if they are in danger of going under.

The ball is in Ofgem's court - if they are serious about their stated intention of making switching easy.

Michael_Holme

I switched from Avro Energy at the end of my contract on 24th January. I had let myself get over £400.00 in credit - my fault I know, though they are VERY difficult to contact on the phone. I was under the impression that I needed to leave my Direct Debit open to facilitate refund of the credit balance so didn't cancel it - to my shock they took another £126.00 payment on 11th February. I eventually managed to get through on the phone on 20th February. No apology - just said I had been unlucky with the dates - and if the extra payment had caused any hardship or put me into overdraft then that was tough! They did e mail to say my final account was ready on 21st February, by which time my credit balance was £644.39, with a promise that the credit would be refunded by the end of that working week (Friday 22nd Feb) and would clear into my account within 10 working days. I finally received the money owed yesterday (19th March). Now I've got my money I will formally complain to Avro and see what they say.
It seems that the process of switching energy suppliers is now relatively easy, but the process of finalising an account and refunding credit balances is a shambles and not given any priority or resource by Avro. At best they are incompetent, at worst they have deliberately taken money they shouldn't have and then taken ages to give it back. And what happens if they go bust in the meantime? - is there any safeguard? This part of the energy switching needs urgently regulating with clear rules and (much quicker) timescales Avro and other companies must follow and they should be fined if they fail to follow the rules.
Mike

Consumerist

Michael_Holme wrote: »

. . . This part of the energy switching needs urgently regulating with clear rules and (much quicker) timescales Avro and other companies must follow and they should be fined if they fail to follow the rules.
Mike

Hi Mike and welcome to the forum - albeit belatedly.

There have been several posts regarding the issue of credit refunds from energy suppliers which you appear to have missed to your cost.

Ofgem, in it's inimitable way, has done too little too late on this matter by introducing AUTOMATIC compensation payments by energy suppliers failing to refund credit balances within 10 working days of producing the final bill. Naturally, it is still thinking about how long it should take to produce the final bill so there will be more delay in introducing the compensation payments - did we expect anything different from Ofgem ? :rotfl:

mr-b

I cancelled my DD and advised them of this as I can't afford for them to keep taking such inflated amounts, all while £800 in credit. The ombudsman resolution process may take another month as mentioned previously. Plus I have concerns about their co. health.

They emailed saying they'd noticed my DD was cancelled (not my email) and that I'd be subject to a late payment fee after 30d plus they'd move me onto their standard tariff after two weeks. Their T&Cs refer to the latter rather differently:
"If you consistently miss direct debit payments we may move you to another tariff that is not direct debit only."
So they are breaking their own T&Cs, plus no mention of my lack of affordabilty.
Can they really do this?



Urgh - really hating this co. even more now.

Chrishazle

This has got me worried - I've just started a switch from Affect to Avro as their projection is ~£150pa (8%) cheaper and Affect - who I've been with for 2 years and are excellent - don't price match.


I'm still in the 14 day cool-off period - wonder if I should change my mind!

Consumerist

mr-b wrote: »

I cancelled my DD and advised them of this as I can't afford for them to keep taking such inflated amounts, all while £800 in credit. . .

Ok. As I understand it, you have a credit balance refund due to you resulting from a complaint to the ombudsman. You don't, however, say how much rebate you are going to get.

If it is assumed you get a full rebate then your credit balance will be around zero once the refund is paid. At this time of year a zero balance would not be unreasonable so it's really a question of whether the DD, going forward, is reasonable.

You can, and should, ask Avro to justify the amount of its DD if you think it is unreasonable. You should set out your own argument for what you would consider reasonable, based on your tariff and estimated annual consumption, and indicate that you would accept it at that level.

If it was me, I would start another complaint (via resolver - for a record of proceedings) until a "fair and reasonable" DD has been agreed.

mr-b

Not sure what you mean by rebate. The OS ruled that I should get a full credit balance refund and a DD re-evaluation as the debits were consistently much higher than bills based on actual readings. (I'd first raised billing with AE in Sep-18). AE said they were going to do the DD re-eval but never did.
How is Resolver different from the ombudsman?

Consumerist

mr-b wrote: »

Not sure what you mean by rebate. The OS ruled that I should get a full credit balance refund and a DD re-evaluation as the debits were consistently much higher than bills based on actual readings. (I'd first raised billing with AE in Sep-18). AE said they were going to do the DD re-eval but never did.
How is Resolver different from the ombudsman?

Rebate = refund.

<Resolver> is MSE's complaints tool. It keeps a record of all emails sent via the tool (so there is no denying that messages were sent or received). Resolver will then send your complaint file (emails & attachments) to the ombudsman at your request if you cannot resolve the matter with the supplier.

mr-b

Ok, well ive already obtained a decision with the ombudsman covering all of the issues, well except the recent DD cancellation aspect so I dont wish to muddy the waters by raising another issue.
I know that id kick myself if I allowed another two Dds and then they went bust and I lost it all (I'm not convinced by the evidence so far of consumer protection). It really does feel a bit like the Wild West out there ...

Consumerist

mr-b wrote: »

. . . I know that id kick myself if I allowed another two Dds and then they went bust and I lost it all (I'm not convinced by the evidence so far of consumer protection). It really does feel a bit like the Wild West out there ...

I think you are missing the point.

After you get your refund, your account balance will, presumably, be very little if anything. How do you propose to pay for your energy consumption between now and the end of your contract ?

You'll probably kick yourself harder if Avro charge missed-payment fees and transfer you to their default tariff.

You still need to negotiate a fair and reasonable DD. I still recommend using resolver for that purpose. You don't have to go on to the ombudsman if Avro want to overcharge you but the option will be there if required.