Symbio Energy feedback

UnclaimedEnergy

fewkeste said:

I've been following this thread for ages and feeling sympathy for Symbio customers. They are always at the top of the comparison tables but given the grief that so many customers seem to suffer, I would not consider moving to them. There are however a couple of things I can't understand:

1. Given how cheap their tariffs are, how come other 'decent' companies are not able to offer tariffs comparable to those offered by Symbio? I state 'decent' because I am discounting the likes of Neo, Neon Reef and Ecotricity because of their poor feedback.

2. How come OFGEM allow them to continue operating given how they routinely overcharge their customers? (even though they correct the following month)

I'm currently a refugee from Yorkshire Energy presently with Scottish Power (so I know all about poor customer service.) and I'm looking to move as soon as possible (probably Bulb or green.) but sadly I'm not going to get anything like as good a deal as I had with YE.

1. No idea why Ecotricity would have been included anyway as they're the most expensive supplier in the market. The main reason is that Symbio, Neo, Neon Reef are all pricing their tariffs way below cost. EDFs GoElectric by comparison is £80 more expensive at TDCV, however this is likely priced at £0 margin. 

These suppliers carry on by over charging/estimating customers and then by delaying refunds for as long as they can. Energy Supply has massive revenues. Bulb managed a £1.5b revenue in 19/20 just by supplying Elec and Gas. Greedy directors see the money, offer cheap deals to win customers, then try to cheat the system to keep the cash-flows going.

2. Ofgem have recently added in new 'milestone audits' that require suppliers to be audited by Ofgem when they reach certain customer milestones. If Ofgem deem them not up to scratch then they'll likely stop them taking on new customers until they've improved.

m0bov

Symbio now doing a double DD charge at the end of the month, they are changing their billing dates. Could this be another way of clawing back more cash?

Boohoo

m0bov said:

Symbio now doing a double DD charge at the end of the month, they are changing their billing dates. Could this be another way of clawing back more cash?

Where is this info posted?
Can you put up a link for me/others to see this info please.

niktheguru

After calling symbio again today regarding my switch, they again asked if I could pay the fictitious £20 balance to meet their estimated advanced monthly use. I carefully explained that my current balance is £19 credit according to yesterday’s meter reading and that if I switch in 2 weeks I’d likely use £15 of that and still be in credit so why should I pay him 20 and wait 3 months for it back.
After speaking with his “manager” he said they will “accept” the switch now and to resubmit it.....I will believe it when I see it. Expecting more twists and turns with this.

devondiver

m0bov said:

Symbio now doing a double DD charge at the end of the month, they are changing their billing dates. Could this be another way of clawing back more cash?

Hardly "clawing back". More like stealing. Clawing back is left to their customers! Good luck with that!

m0bov

From an e-maik:
Your Direct Debit amount will remain the same, except that there will be two collections for the end of this month.

1. The first payment will be collected on the scheduled date, as mentioned in your contract.
2. As we follow an Advance Billing System, the second collection will be scheduled for the 1st of April 2021.

Kindly note, moving forward, all collections will be effective from the 1st of each month.

UnclaimedEnergy

So does that mean they won't be collecting money on the 1st May if they've already taken an extra month from anyone?

I have a feeling they will be changing banks every month, requiring them to take 2 DDs a month going forward all the time.

spot1034

I have only been with them a few weeks. My first DD was taken on Feb 5th after I had submitted opening readings and the second, notified a few days in advance, was taken on March 1st. So although I only really have one month's experience as an ongoing customer, the 1st of each month already seems to be in place as the normal collection date for me and I have not had any communication from them in the past couple of weeks. 

thelight

One day after submitting my case to the Ombudsman for none payment of automatic compensation I received a call from Symbio Quality department where they agreed that they do owe me £60 and stating they will pay it within 10 working days. They also asked if I would withdraw my complaint from the Ombudsman once payment was received, which i declined to do. They sounded surprisingly competent on the phone, compared to the communication I have received by email. Will be interesting to see if they actually pay it.

On a related note, does anyone who has gone through the Ombudsman process know how to submit further evidence once a case has been submitted? I am sure this was possible on their old system, but on the new one I can't see a way to add anything extra to the case.

fewkeste

Good luck with your case. Do I remember correctly that it costs the energy company something like £400 every time a complaint is submitted to the Ombudsman?  Incidentally, what is the likely outcome? Do you just get the £60 they owe you or is there an additional payment on top?