Symbio Energy feedback

Stratus

My understanding is you are only charged for the additional units you have used so vat is only added to those.

You are only billed once for the units consumed.

Some are billed and paid before their use, some later.

Tallerdave

BW1990 said:

Someone has posted on Trustpilot that when Symbio reconcile energy estimated and energy actually used during each billing period, when they process the inevitable 'refund of units' they are not refunding the VAT already paid, is this true? Comment below:

"Has anyone else noticed that when Symbio reconcile the bill they only refund the unused units at the tariff rate and do not refund the associated Vat that was collected when they estimated the bill. I am assuming that they should also refund the Vat element."

There would only be VAT to refund if the bill was negative.

However, the genuine error is that they refund at the unit rate on the current bill and not the rate they were actually charged at. This causes errors when the tariff has changed.

Bacman

Any refund has to include the associated VAT as charged, it has to. If they took £100 + 5% VAT (for example) then they'd be taking £105 from your account, if they refund the £100 (pre VAT) then they have to refund the £5 refund too (as the VAT element) so you get the total value of £105. Otherwise it is charging for vapourware and also incorrect; in effect charging you £5 for nothing.

Tallerdave

The refund is done by deducting the previous month's excess units from the estimated units for the month ahead. So you effectively don't pay for some of the estimated units because you've paid for them already. You only pay VAT on the units you're paying for. The units you're not paying for, you don't pay VAT on - you paid that when you paid for the units the previous month.

rp1974

For those living in caves,and Symbio customers who live under bridges,some info:https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/news/2021/05/Symbio-rapped-over-response-to-negative-reviews/.
That'll learn them for sure.

rceebear

Despite giving regular meter readings Symbio have apparently under charged me so much so that they've tripled my direct debit! They also blocked me switching. I find their billing extremely difficult to understand and just want to leave as soon as I can.

niktheguru

rceebear said:

Despite giving regular meter readings Symbio have apparently under charged me so much so that they've tripled my direct debit! They also blocked me switching. I find their billing extremely difficult to understand and just want to leave as soon as I can.

The billing can be very confusing. But a quick test to see where you’re at is to do the following......

1. Take a meter reading today
2. Find your opening reading (when you moved to symbio will be on bill, or on final bill from previous supplier)
3. Multiply the difference of above two values by the unit rate
4. Add on standing charge multiplied by number of days you’ve been with symbio

This will give you the exact value of electricity you’ve used. Then compare this with the direct debits you’ve paid (which you can find on your symbio account or by looking at your bank statements)

this will give you an accurate reflection of whether you have over or underpaid, without having to get confused by all their estimated usage calculations.

you can then use these figures with customer services to argue your case, and either pay what you owe or argue that you can switch without them blocking you. 

robbo2003

I have been with symbio for 6 months now & all i can say is that, so far, they have been pretty damn good & my electric costs have reduced by an average of £12 per month so quids in for me & i guess i am one of the lucky ones. I send my readings in on the last day of each month, i get an emailed receipt & 2/3 days later i get notice of the amount plus the day it will be requested via the direct debit. I can only speak as i find & they rate at 10/10 for me. I get that people can get frustrated when starting out with them but, if you show patience when changing & do not try to sort out an account until the day, or day after you are on the books with them, you should not have a problem. I tried early, it didn't work but was fine when i was officially swapped. I cannot comment on the trust pilot problem, nor would i, but from personal experience, i have found them to be perfect since i joined them in November 20

coupleuk

Symbio are by far the cheapest Electric supplier for me.

However, my 18 month contract was due to end in April so I compared providers (using actual unit / day rates rather than misleading comparison site results).

Symbio were still the cheapest even after a 30% price rise.

As you know, Symbio charge upfront for the month and then correct it when you send a meter reading (about time they used the smart meters we have).

Because our new tariff started in May, they have used the higher tariff to update our April use.

Basically, across 4 properties theyve overcharged us by £160 in total.

We have emailed them.

The other thing is they off a split DD option of 6 months at the same summer rate and 6 months at the same winter rate - with a balancing payment once a year. We opted for that but they have not actioned it.

So, they are great for cheapest electric BUT not good as you have to manually supply reads, check accuracy and chase them.
 

DragonQ

coupleuk said:

As you know, Symbio charge upfront for the month and then correct it when you send a meter reading (about time they used the smart meters we have).

Because our new tariff started in May, they have used the higher tariff to update our April use.

Basically, across 4 properties theyve overcharged us by £160 in total.

We have emailed them.

I would call them. They always over-estimate my usage even when I give monthly readings and then when my tariff went down in January they tried to refund me unused units at the new lower rate! I complained and they said they'd fix it but after 2 months nothing happened. I had to call them to get them to do anything and now all of my bills make far less sense since they've had to re-issue 4 of them instead of just the 1 if they had corrected it promptly.

They are also blocked a friend of mine from switching away because they are in debit by £40. £40! That's less than a month's usage! Outrageous to block based on that and then not answer the phones when he tries to pay the outstanding amount. Even the website won't let him pay any amount other than what his latest bill says, so right now he's stuck with them.

They are a useless company that happens to be by far the cheapest provider right now. It's also a joke that they still don't offer smart meters despite legally being obliged to and being rapped by Ofgem for it multiple times. They even sent an email out about 5-6 months ago saying a new web portal was about to launch including the ability to order a smart meter. Hide nor hair of that!