Symbio Energy feedback

brewerdave

devondiver said:

Stratus said:

devondiver said:
So any savings made by going with a cheap supplier are ultimately wiped out when they fold 

This is definitely not the case. I must have saved many hundreds if not thousands of pounds over the years by going with cheap suppliers. The point I was making was that when a company collapses and a SOLR is called in there are additional costs placed on the consumer through higher tariff costs and a closed switching window.

Thank you. I understand what you are saying but the situation seems to have worsened significantly so that what you say about substantial extra costs when a company folds, which is happening with increasing frequency, needs to be taken into account.

I've been thru 4 supplier failures since summer 2018. Three suppliers I was in credit with, one I owed. Took quite a lot of effort and time to get the accounts sorted - but overall I've ended "up" in cash terms on final billing due to their errors various.
 By going with the best deals since ~ 2010 , I reckon  I've saved over £5k vs standard variable rates - so worth the hassle in my eyes!!

matelodave

AS BD above, although I've only had three go bust and it was only the transfer from Eversmart to Utilita that took an inordinate amount of time to get my £30 credit back. but like him I reckon I'd saved £2-300 a year for the past ten years going with the cheapest. The only one that actually cost was when Octopus took over - their tariff was a lot higher so I ended up paying around £25 more for the six weeks it took for the transfer from Iresa - Octopus - Eversmart. 

arley

My Symbio Debit has gone out today rather than the 9-Nov that they stated in their recent bill and email. I queried the bill earlier this week  (was approximately £60 more than they estimated last year!) and told them I would be cancelling my direct debit today if the inflated bill wasn't reduced by today but seems like they've just taken it early. Luckily, I've been in contact with my bank (Santander) via chat and they've refunded me straight away. 

I'm just awaiting my transfer to PFP energy fixed tariff now (16-Nov): we have a Heat Pump so p per KWH is absolutely crucial!

devondiver

arley said:

My Symbio Debit has gone out today rather than the 9-Nov that they stated in their recent bill and email. I queried the bill earlier this week  (was approximately £60 more than they estimated last year!) and told them I would be cancelling my direct debit today if the inflated bill wasn't reduced by today but seems like they've just taken it early. Luckily, I've been in contact with my bank (Santander) via chat and they've refunded me straight away. 

I'm just awaiting my transfer to PFP energy fixed tariff now (16-Nov): we have a Heat Pump so p per KWH is absolutely crucial!

Way to go! Arley. But have you checked PFP reviews lately? Fat to fire?
I too have saved loads in past years and not been caught out so far, always switching long before company folds. For some reason I have stuck with SE maybe through misplaced loyalty, and maybe - well, if it sounds to good to be true - etc.
The point is that the whole market is getting increasingly chaotic; and the ultimate losers will be consumers. Apart from the few who are canny/lucky enough to stay ahead. Rather like stock markets. (Or the gee-gees?)

arley

devondiver said:

Way to go! Arley. But have you checked PFP reviews lately? Fat to fire?

The PFP thread has been fairly quiet recently so I'm hoping that is a sign of satisfied customers (unless I'm looking in the wrong place!!). I've been quite happy with Symbio over the last 18 months or so and never had problems with billing or the like but have been wanting to move to a fixed tariff (we use around 10,000KWH / year). Symbio are nothing compared to the trouble I've had with Calor Gas however, but that's a whole other story!!

Keeping my fingers crossed for the switch!

devondiver

arley said:

devondiver said:

Way to go! Arley. But have you checked PFP reviews lately? Fat to fire?

The PFP thread has been fairly quiet recently so I'm hoping that is a sign of satisfied customers (unless I'm looking in the wrong place!!). I've been quite happy with Symbio over the last 18 months or so and never had problems with billing or the like but have been wanting to move to a fixed tariff (we use around 10,000KWH / year). Symbio are nothing compared to the trouble I've had with Calor Gas however, but that's a whole other story!!

Keeping my fingers crossed for the switch!

Good luck. Thinking I might join you actually. It seems to be Hobson's Choice at the moment for anyone looking for a decent deal. I've just been dithering a bit over recent TP reviews (negative one's that is, I don't bother with the glowing ones!)

razord

I've been trying to call and have emailed many times for the last 4 days now. No replies, no answers. Cancelled the DD yesterday and told them I wanted to make a payment of ~66% of what they wanted - and justified the amount with a full calculation. Their website doesn't let you make a partial payment - only what their bill says you should pay.

Got an automated "you cancelled your DD" email today asking me to re-set it up or call/email them to explain the dispute which obviously I already have. I replied asking them to call me to make a payment. Hopefully they won't try and hold up my switch away because of this, but I still haven't actually been able to speak to anyone human.

Simoncello

razord said:

I've been trying to call and have emailed many times for the last 4 days now. No replies, no answers. Cancelled the DD yesterday and told them I wanted to make a payment of ~66% of what they wanted - and justified the amount with a full calculation. Their website doesn't let you make a partial payment - only what their bill says you should pay.

Got an automated "you cancelled your DD" email today asking me to re-set it up or call/email them to explain the dispute which obviously I already have. I replied asking them to call me to make a payment. Hopefully they won't try and hold up my switch away because of this, but I still haven't actually been able to speak to anyone human.

That's exactly my story today too. Cancelled my DD 2 days ago, got an email from Symbio today "You cancelled your DD" email today. The email asks me to reinstate the DD and they'll collect the (more than double from last month) amount from me... well, that's why I cancelled the DD in the first place.. Duh!

They don't answer calls.

They don't reply to emails.

Ive attempted on 5 occasions to contact them now. 

I think Symbio is going under... 

CRISPIANNE3

Simoncello said:

razord said:

I've been trying to call and have emailed many times for the last 4 days now. No replies, no answers. Cancelled the DD yesterday and told them I wanted to make a payment of ~66% of what they wanted - and justified the amount with a full calculation. Their website doesn't let you make a partial payment - only what their bill says you should pay.

Got an automated "you cancelled your DD" email today asking me to re-set it up or call/email them to explain the dispute which obviously I already have. I replied asking them to call me to make a payment. Hopefully they won't try and hold up my switch away because of this, but I still haven't actually been able to speak to anyone human.

That's exactly my story today too. Cancelled my DD 2 days ago, got an email from Symbio today "You cancelled your DD" email today. The email asks me to reinstate the DD and they'll collect the (more than double from last month) amount from me... well, that's why I cancelled the DD in the first place.. Duh!

They don't answer calls.

They don't reply to emails.

Ive attempted on 5 occasions to contact them now. 

I think Symbio is going under... 

Welcome to the world of Symbio. I have been with them since April 2019 and have had many a challenge with this company. The worst time for me was in the Winter period when they more than doubled my charges.  I too like you cancelled the dd and tried to reason with them but I got no where and in the end confusion reigned on both sides. Eventually it was sorted out but even then it was wrong and I was about £90 up in my favour so I just left it.  Now I pay by dd variable amounts and to be fair it is normally reconciled the following month.  

Simoncello

If I don't pay my bill can Symbio disconnect our electricity?

I've tried contacting them 8 times now (calls/emails/voicemails) and STILL NO response.

I've started the search for other suppliers, but OTOH I'm curious to see how this plays out. I just don't want for us to get cut off. 

Any chance of that happening?