Symbio Energy feedback

Talldave

June 2020

Symbio estimation: 35% above EAC/12
Actual usage: 22% below EAC/12

I had a reply to my second attempt at asking why they estimate 35% over EAC/12 during summer and whether in year 2 they will use figures from year 1 as estimates.  This time their reply is even more surreal, telling me that I switched to them on 31st May 2020 (wrong, it was August 2019), quoting an opening reading of 18801 (wrong, it was 49862), and then working out the total apparent cost of electricity so far, which is course is also totally wrong.

I've tried again for a third time, but this time giving clues to assist these incompetent muppets:

talldave said: to Symbio

You really are unbelievable. Twice you have NOT ANSWERED the questions I have asked. Let's try again:

QUESTION 1: Please explain to me how you can still be using estimates GREATER than EAC/12 during summer.

CLUE - The answer requires you to explain your warped estimating scheme to me.

QUESTION 2: Can you confirm that you will use ACTUAL CONSUMPTION FIGURES from my first year as a customer as the basis for your future estimates as we move into the second year of me being a customer.

CLUE - The answer to this question is "Yes" or "No".

Regards

rags58

I tried to pin them down on their over-estimation. All I got was the usual 
" We are the cheapest,  we reconcile so you are never overcharged, we are great and don't understand why you complain so much."...etc etc
They have used so many excuses I eventually decided to refer it to the ombudsman and initiated a switch at the first opportunity, which was last week. 
I gave my reading today and the overestimation is just under 130 units

tk47

rags58 said:

I tried to pin them down on their over-estimation. All I got was the usual 
" We are the cheapest,  we reconcile so you are never overcharged, we are great and don't understand why you complain so much."...etc etc
They have used so many excuses I eventually decided to refer it to the ombudsman and initiated a switch at the first opportunity, which was last week. 
I gave my reading today and the overestimation is just under 130 units

Somone previously suggested in this thread that the best way to interact with Symbio Energy was avoid doing so as much as possible. I think that was sound advice. I've been doing so for quite some time now and the lack of interaction (both ways) has reduced my stress levels enormously.

I did send them a request for my June bill when I found others have received theirs, but I'm still waiting....

In regards to escalating a complaint to the ombudsman, that would probably breach the advice to avoid interaction with the supplier as much as possible. (even with the ombudsman acting as an intermediary)

But as you have decided to, I hope you have followed Symbio's complaint procedure to the letter; it's "mandatory" according to their latest terms.
- and I hope you have managed to keep up with all their changes to their complaints procedure that appear to change almost by the day!
(To be fair, the ombudsman may also request evidence that you have at least tried to follow the supplier's complaint procedure first, but I'm not sure what they will make of a supplier that changes it so frequently)
- have you, for example, emailed the soil solutions company based in Surrey (an entirely different company), that they invite you to if you have any complaints about Symbio Energy.
- I'm not going to use that email address at all, it would be unfair to the innocent 3rd party, and anyway Symbio Energy already complain I send my emails to too many of their email addresses (well perhaps they shouldn't keep offering up different ones, or using different ones in reply?)

e.g. I was going to ask if you have a complaint reference number. But their latest version seems to have done away with complaint reference numbers, which may explain their lack of a resolution to my complaints. When aboslutely necessary to interact with them, I just refer them to one of the complaint reference numbers they have provided me in the past, and then it all goes silent again. I suspect they've dumped the reference numbers log, so have no idea what the complaint the number I give refers to.

Mind you, their latest terms are a joke and do show their true colours.

e.g. I now see reference at least on five separate occassions where, under their new terms, they "may encourage you to find another provider if you are unhappy with [their] services" or words to that effect.
See terms 3.13, 3.20.5, 15.3, 16.3.1, & 16.3.2

In fact , some of those terms even suggest Symbio Energy reserve the right to continue to supply you at all or put you on their default tariff if you don't agree to their demands or dare to raise the matter on social media let alone with the ombudsman service.
- I wonder what the ombudsman would have to say say about that if they ever tried?

As far as I'm concerned, they entered into a 12m fixed contract, and I'm holding them to it.
(under the terms we both accepted at the time)

As for the future (as the contract ends within the next couple of months), well their latest tariffs are at least 10% higher for us than several other offerings available on the open market.
(anyone remember the promise when we joined that,
 "These prices will be fixed for a year, and on the anniversary date this will be reviewed against the prices in the market and the above discount of 5-10 % for supply Tariff will be applied thus providing you with the cheapest supply Tariff that no other electricity supplier can offer.

If you come across any other quote in the market which is cheaper than the tariffs that we have provided please get back to us within 5 working days and we will beat those prices by applying our guaranteed discounted policy. "

I won't be trying to enforce that promise, but things looked so promising back then, didn't they?
What do they say about when things look too good to be true???

What do we have now?
Try this classic from their latest terms and conditions:
"15.2 In certain cases, when you raise a complaint, we may request you to provide us, with further information to fully investigate and resolve the matter. However, should we not receive any communication from you and as a result, there is a delay in resolving the complaint, we reserve our right to issue a deadlock letter until we hear from you. You should then provide us the requested time frame to resolve the issue internally."

Anyway, I'll leave you all now with this latest gem:
"4.2.2 Customers are encouraged to download the Symbio App, in the future our cheaper tariffs may be accessible only via the mobile app."

Don't say you haven't been warned!

rags58

They were very good when I 1st joined and I had no complaints. Everything went downhill in Dec and it's been on a downward trajectory since then. 

I have no idea if they are still the cheapest in the UK, but for me I couldn't commit to another year of uncertainty with a supplier who is unable to honour a contract and has continuously proven to be unreasonable and fair minded when dealing with complaints. Their new t&c appear to make it even harder to pin them down if you do have any issues with them. 

They seem to have adopted a new approach on a well known review website where they state:

"The name Symbio is a contraction of 'Symbiosis'. Symbiosis is where two parts work for the mutual benefit of each party. We are sorry we have evidently let you down but equally, we are disappointed that as a valuable partner you should feel the need to use this platform in the first instance. We hope we can remedy our relationship. We cannot and do not countenance corporate cyberbullying which is an increasingly unpleasant social phenomenon"

I always assumed it was "take it or leave it kinda approach"  Who knew it was mutually beneficial partnership!

tk47

"The name Symbio is a contraction of 'Symbiosis'. Symbiosis is where two parts work for the mutual benefit of each party....

You gotta laugh, haven't ya? The more they write, the more ridiculous they sound.

When I went to school, I learnt there were many forms of symbiosis. Presumably Symbio Energy fell asleep after hearing the first form

There is mutualism, where both parties do benefit from a relationship.
e.g. a dog and a human. The dog provides companionship and/or protection to the human who in return provides food and shelter for the dog.

But there are other types of symbiosis too including:
Commensalism is a type of relationship where one side benefits greatly from the symbiosis, whilst the other is not harmed. In other words, this is a one-sided symbiotic relationship.
e.g. Birds may live in hollows of trees. The birds generally cause no harm to the tree, but the tree provides shelter to the birds.

Then there is also parasitism. This is where one party of the symbiotic relationship benefits at the expense of the other.
e.g. Fleas, leeches or mosquitoes that may feed on the blood of it's symbiotic host,
or tapeworms that eat partially digested food and that deprives the symbiotic host of some food and nourishment.

There's even predation, where one party feeds upon the other killing them.

Some even suggest that neutralism is a form of a symbiotic relationship, where neither party benefits from the other.

I wonder what type of symbosis most customers would describe their relationship with Symbio Energy as?

Talldave

I'd go for interest-free-loan-ism 

pokora

I have been following this thread for long, as this company was always 1 of the cheapest options. I almost switched to this company for their prices a couple of times, but some complaints and posts put me off. 
You could understand some mistakes when you are a new provider but this kind of behaviour in a company is a joke. 

Swipe

If you are on a fixed direct debit, it's good entertainment while enjoying cheap electricity

matelodave

Swipe said:

If you are on a fixed direct debit, it's good entertainment while enjoying cheap electricity

I fully agree with that - it should sort itself out at the end of the fix and if they are still the cheapest then I'll probably renew. You just need to be diligent about your own record keeping and make sure that you save each and every bill ready for the day of reckoning 

Qyburn

One little nugget from my correspondence, we had a fairly heavy consumption in May due to running heat lamps.  As a result our May consumption was higher than previous months, but still 200 kWh below their "estimate".   However Symbio have cited that May consumption as a reason for increasing the future estimates.  I think that fully confirms that their "estimate" is in no way a good faith estimate of what they expect you to be using.    How else can they be complaining that 200 kWh below their figure is higher than expected?