Symbio Energy feedback

Talldave

CRISPIANNE3 said:

3.3.3 The electricity consumption in winter is significantly higher than in sum-mer. Therefore, payments in winter are based on winter estimates and summer bills will be in line with the summer us-age.unquote.

Really! Why then is my summer estimates higher than my winter ones them. 

Because they're incompetent idiots.

CRISPIANNE3

Talldave said:

CRISPIANNE3 said:

3.3.3 The electricity consumption in winter is significantly higher than in sum-mer. Therefore, payments in winter are based on winter estimates and summer bills will be in line with the summer us-age.unquote.

Really! Why then is my summer estimates higher than my winter ones them. 

Because they're incompetent idiots.

I've been with them since April 2019 so they have had enough meter reads to work out what  my usage would be.  

Talldave

Their incompetence continues unabated in their updated terms and conditions.  How any organisation manages to introduce spelling mistakes to words that were previously spelt correctly is beyond me.

If they think I would give them my landlord's details they can go **** themselves.  I have a good relationship with the landlord and I'm not having Symbio send any of their delinquent drivel to him!

Stratus

These were the changes that stood out to me:

Old you must give us an up-to-date meter reading for your energy at least every 90 days

New you must give us an up-to-date meter reading for your energy consumption by the last day of every month. If the customer provides a meter reading which is 10% below the expected profile or EAC, you will be requested to submit photographic evidence.

Old If you move supplier from Symbio Energy, you will be required to provide a final meter read to Symbio Energy from which a final energy bill will be calculated.

New If you switch supplier from Symbio Energy Limited, you will be required to provide a final meter reading with a meter picture.

Old Your automatic monthly payment amount will be based on the cost of the energy we think you’ll use during a year with Symbio Energy split into 12 equal monthly payments.

New Your automatic monthly payment amount will be based on the cost of the energy we think you will use during a year with Symbio Energy Limited split as per seasonal estimates.

Old When we intend to make any changes to your automatic payment, we will notify you by email (normally 10 working days) in advance of the payment being taken, 

New When we intend to make any changes to your automatic payment, we will notify you by email (normally 3 - 4 working days) in advance of the payment being taken,

Old Upon request, we can refund credit in your Symbio Energy account that exceeds your expected energy usage for the next month.

New To be eligible for refunds, the below criteria needs to be met: Direct Debit instruction on your account needs to be active. A meter photograph showing the meter reads needs to have been submitted 14 calendar days, preceding the request for refund. The minimum refund amount is £25 i.e. the credit balance in your account after adjusting for one Direct Debit payment (agreed in your quote) must exceed £25.

Old If you’re unhappy with our service, you can make a complaint by calling us or emailing us at customerservices@symbioenergy.co.uk. We will follow our complaints policy and revert to you within 21 days.

New If you are unhappy with our service, you can make a complaint by calling us or emailing us at customerservices@symbio.co.uk.  We will follow our complaints policy and revert to you within 28 working days

They're still cheap though.

lalna

Stratus said:

New To be eligible for refunds, the below criteria needs to be met: Direct Debit instruction on your account needs to be active. A meter photograph showing the meter reads needs to have been submitted 14 calendar days, preceding the request for refund. The minimum refund amount is £25 i.e. the credit balance in your account after adjusting for one Direct Debit payment (agreed in your quote) must exceed £25.

Does this mean they keep any amount under £25 if you switch or move out?

matelodave

I shouldn't think so - it's just that if you ramp up a decent amount in credit they will fight you if you want some of it back during your contract. They should reconcile your account when you leave and send back any credit or claim any debit in accordance with the final bill.

But as always it's a good idea to download your monthly bills/statements and save them as PDFs so you can also check yourself - it's too late once you've left as they might close the on-line account and if yours is anything like mine, the actual bills dont seem to be available on the account and the on-line data is a worse than useless in trying to fathom out what is going on.

brewerdave

Stratus said:

These were the changes that stood out to me:

Old If you move supplier from Symbio Energy, you will be required to provide a final meter read to Symbio Energy from which a final energy bill will be calculated.

New If you switch supplier from Symbio Energy Limited, you will be required to provide a final meter reading with a meter picture.

That's not the way that OFGEM say it should be done. The changeover meter reading should be given to the new supplier and will be passed to the old supplier via the verification process.
This Symbio process will likely lead to complaints/confusion when the mythical agency in the middle disagree with the photo!!!

Stratus

brewerdave said:

Stratus said:

These were the changes that stood out to me:

Old If you move supplier from Symbio Energy, you will be required to provide a final meter read to Symbio Energy from which a final energy bill will be calculated.

New If you switch supplier from Symbio Energy Limited, you will be required to provide a final meter reading with a meter picture.

That's not the way that OFGEM say it should be done. The changeover meter reading should be given to the new supplier and will be passed to the old supplier via the verification process.
This Symbio process will likely lead to complaints/confusion when the mythical agency in the middle disagree with the photo!!!

You're absolutely right. Confusingly, in another part of the terms and conditions they say:

If you are switching, you do not need to tell us yourself; your new supplier will contact us to cancel your relationship with us on your behalf.

This is in both old and new terms. It could only be Symbio.

Talldave

I had to laugh when I saw that they've removed the exception to not pay by direct debit for confused customers.  I guess they've got too many of them!!

I also find it weird that they can write an unsubstantiable fact ("The electricity consumption in winter is significantly higher than in summer") into terms and conditions!

In general it's the usual dose of Symbio irrelevant/delinquent drivel.  They don't appear to be able to differentiate their deemed contracts from their elbows either.

Swipe

Old you must give us an up-to-date meter reading for your energy at least every 90 days

New you must give us an up-to-date meter reading for your energy consumption by the last day of every month. If the customer provides a meter reading which is 10% below the expected profile or EAC, you will be requested to submit photographic evidence.

So does that mean I must submit a photo every month for the rest of summer and autumn?