Symbio Energy feedback

niktheguru

fewkeste said:

@niktheguru - even though I wouldn't consider switching to Symbio, I thought your post was a very logical, well argued and balanced appraisal of the situation. The problems come when people sign up without knowing what to expect.

Thanks fewkeste. 
I was with green a couple of years ago. Had no problems and were a good company to deal with. (Until their price became too high!)

I've recently switched away from symbio as the saving wasn't big enough anymore given I have an EV. Saying that tho for 10 months out of the 12 I had no problems whatsoever, had a blip with them at the start and a blip with them when trying to switch. Customer services are offshore and you don't always speak with someone who knows what they are doing,once you put your foot down things happened in my experience. Would I go with them again? If the savings were decent then yes I would, there was no one who came close at 10p per unit. On renewal the best they could do was 13p so it was no longer worth putting up with, so I moved elsewhere.

It's all good and well showing all the trust pilot reviews, they dont help themselves with their generic irritating replies and shambolic cyberbullying excuses, but a lot of companies trust pilot are bad.....look at John Lewis!

Reed_Richards

I signed-up with Symbio because they had the cheapest price for electricity I could find and I was going to be spending a lot more per year on electricity after my heat pump was installed.  I knew about the advance billing.  I knew about the bad reputation.  The worst case scenario I could think of would be that they would go bust, I would be transferred to another supplier and might be out-of-pocket for a while.  But I figured that any problems that arose would ultimately be sorted-out.  And so far, after about 6 months, I haven't had any issues that work to my disadvantage. 

devondiver

niktheguru - Broader. Bad people do bad things; good people suffer.

fewkeste said: The problems come when people sign up without knowing what to expect.

Exactly! These guys will continue, until stopped, to exploit a situation which enables them to entice, trap and then steal from ordinary people who have neither the time nor wherewithal to analyse, understand and combat (and write essays on) what is undoubtedly a complex, evolving and yet obviously flawed system of energy company management and control.

niktheguru

I mean it's hardly stealing is it. Direct debits have been notified by email before they're taken, bills are emailed monthly and although slightly complex do have all the information. They clearly ask for meter readings monthly to reconcile actual usage.

I agree it's nothing like what other companies do, so is new. I don't think its a good system, but stealing is a bit far fetched.

You can slag them off as much as you like, and to a great extent you have a point but look at these other energy companies of varying sizes refusing to speak to customers blaming the "pandemic", (which is fair enough for first few months, but now nearly a year on the pandemic is not an excuse not to be able to speak to customer services) avro, British gas etc. Look at these companies refusing to come out to fix broken meters or display meters then just sending out multiple exagerated estimated bills.....I would suggest that is more stealing.

The whole energy industry needs a shakedown

JudgeDekker

Something to note: I never cared whether an energy company was honest or not, because as long as I kept records the energy ombudsman will always see you right and ensure you don't lose out. But I've just learnt from the Yorkshire energy case that the Energy Ombudsman will drop any complaints against a company that goes bust, and won't accept any new ones. So if, say, Symbio were to go under and rip you off through issuing a dodgy final bill, there's not really anything you can do.

JudgeDekker

Hasbeen said:

JudgeDekker said:

Also I notice that Symbio's tariff Low Fair and Green Variable SE02 V13 isn't on the Cheap Energy club list of Tariffs. If anyone powerful at MSE is reading this, coudl that be added please? Thanks.

Perhaps because Symbio do not offer it anymore?

"Symbio Energy

23.02.2021

23.02.2021

Electricity

Removal of Low Fair and Green Variable SE02 v13"

Sorry, I meant it's not on the list of tariffs for the user to choose as their existing tariff. The fact that it's no longer available doesn't affect the fact that people might still be on it.

thelight

JudgeDekker said:

Something to note: I never cared whether an energy company was honest or not, because as long as I kept records the energy ombudsman will always see you right and ensure you don't lose out. But I've just learnt from the Yorkshire energy case that the Energy Ombudsman will drop any complaints against a company that goes bust, and won't accept any new ones. So if, say, Symbio were to go under and rip you off through issuing a dodgy final bill, there's not really anything you can do.

which Yorkshire Energy case?

JudgeDekker

thelight said:

JudgeDekker said:

Something to note: I never cared whether an energy company was honest or not, because as long as I kept records the energy ombudsman will always see you right and ensure you don't lose out. But I've just learnt from the Yorkshire energy case that the Energy Ombudsman will drop any complaints against a company that goes bust, and won't accept any new ones. So if, say, Symbio were to go under and rip you off through issuing a dodgy final bill, there's not really anything you can do.

which Yorkshire Energy case?

https://www.ombudsman-services.org/news/yorkshire-energy-advice-for-customers-and-update-on-complaints

This is pretty unbelievable, if you ask me. Bankruptcy law is obviously a different kettle of fish, but when the plans for the energy ombudsman were being drawn up, the idea that obtainable consumer protection stops when a company goes bankrupt seems like a problem that should have been solved. Let's hope Symbio customers never have to rue that.

devondiver

niktheguru said:

I mean it's hardly stealing is it. 

Perhaps all the Trustpilot victims (probably tip of the iceberg) are liars.

niktheguru said:

 to a great extent you have a point

Thank you. 

niktheguru said:

The whole energy industry needs a shakedown

Agreed. But I can't take them all on. I have a life (I think). 🤔

devondiver

JudgeDekker said:

Something to note: I never cared whether an energy company was honest or not, because as long as I kept records the energy ombudsman will always see you right and ensure you don't lose out. But I've just learnt from the Yorkshire energy case that the Energy Ombudsman will drop any complaints against a company that goes bust, and won't accept any new ones. So if, say, Symbio were to go under and rip you off through issuing a dodgy final bill, there's not really anything you can do.

If accurate, this goes some way to explaining Symbio's increasingly reckless and outrageous behaviour. Rather worrying - especially for the poor souls I describe above (ordinary people who have neither the time nor wherewithal to analyse, understand and combat etc.).

Absolutely shocking.