Bulb Energy Reviews: Give your feedback on the energy supplier

thfc2020

Gerry1 said:

Telegraph_Sam said:

I made a note previously for such situations to contact the Citizens Advice Extra Help Unit on 0800 458 2245  complaints@ehu.org.uk.  Failing which the local Trading Standards Office.  If the problem is deep seated then the Resolver tool as listed on this screen.  I have heard mixed (mostly negative) reports about the success and hassle people have had when going to the Ombudsman. Many solicitors offer a time-limited free advice service.

Not sure that Bulb have done anything wrong, so complaining may well be a dead end and a waste of time.

More likely to be down to the widespread problem of estimated bills because the meter hasn't been read, and similarly that the Bulb DD has been set too low, in this case by a greedy neighbour's guesstimate.

The problem hasnt arisen from the meter not being read.

Talldave

Switching away to another supplier would solve the problem. 

waamo

thfc2020 said:

Gerry1 said:

Telegraph_Sam said:

I made a note previously for such situations to contact the Citizens Advice Extra Help Unit on 0800 458 2245  complaints@ehu.org.uk.  Failing which the local Trading Standards Office.  If the problem is deep seated then the Resolver tool as listed on this screen.  I have heard mixed (mostly negative) reports about the success and hassle people have had when going to the Ombudsman. Many solicitors offer a time-limited free advice service.

Not sure that Bulb have done anything wrong, so complaining may well be a dead end and a waste of time.

More likely to be down to the widespread problem of estimated bills because the meter hasn't been read, and similarly that the Bulb DD has been set too low, in this case by a greedy neighbour's guesstimate.

The problem hasnt arisen from the meter not being read.

What has it arisen from then?

MWT

thfc2020 said:

The problem hasnt arisen from the meter not being read.

Not too many ways to get into debt with the energy provider when on a DD plan with meter readings being provided monthly, unless the DD is way too low and nobody was paying attention to the gap as it built up, but that wouldn't usually give you any scope for a complaint...

So how has the problem arisen if it is not a lack of meter readings... ?

bristolleedsfan

Many Bulb customers get estimated statement even after submitting a meter reading  they ( and probably others) had/have a minus balance threshold which the system regards as being on track, thus requirement to pay xxxxx and a new monthly payment of xxxx only kicks in when minus balance reaches a certain level.

Bulb amended its T+C early June part of which states "made it clearer that we expect members  to not be in debt", this may be the reason why a lot of Bulb members have subsequently had monthly payment increases, not clear if Bulb still has a minus balance threshold that it regards as being on track as I would regard any statement with minus closing balance  as being in debt.

De8ra

I switched to Bulb last year.  All went well with the switch and I provided them with accurate usage figures from my previous year.  They quoted £29 per month, After my first 2 months I wasn’t happy with their estimate and independently increased my DD to £37 per month as I felt this would better cover my usage.  Just this month they have said they need to increase my DD to £46 per month! I a, now switching.  This seems to be a problem with all the energy companies, all of them quote a misleading estimate, whether you provide accurate previous usage or not.  Other than that I’ve been happy with them.

MWT

De8ra said:

This seems to be a problem with all the energy companies, all of them quote a misleading estimate, whether you provide accurate previous usage or not.  Other than that I’ve been happy with them.

If you have been otherwise happy, and you have accurate usage figures for the last year then work out what your annual cost is on your current tariff and determine what the monthly DD should actually be...

Do the same for anyone you plan to switch to... Don't go by the estimates.

Robin9

Have you been keeping track of your actual consumption and the costs.
You do generalise too much -  all of them quote a misleading estimate - that's not true.  I've been with Zog, GNE, Flow, Octopus - all have been absolutely fine - their estimate tied in with my sums.

Talldave

I'm with @Robin9. I've never had a quote that wasn't equal to a year's consumption at the given figures, divided by 12. And the only time things have gone off track is when a cold winter cranked up gas consumption. 

Dakota_2

Knowing my annual consumption I've generally found that to be true. I was with one supplier and out of the blue I got an email saying that they were raising my DD by £30 and implying I had lied about my consumption. I was suspicious, and they could not be contacted by any means. I concluded they were going bust and stopped the DD and got out 4 weeks before they went bust. They still owe me £2.50!