Symbio Energy feedback

QrizB

cannugec5 said:

I have just consented to the change and am now worried what I have agreed to. With hindsight I realise there was no mention in the email, of prices! ( ie pence per KWH ). My direct debit to date was £65 per month. Fixed and more than enough to cover usage. As you will see above, if I am reading this correctly it will increase to £94 for the remainder of the summer, then £114 for the winter. But I don’t know if my actual rate has changed .. or rather by how much.

Is 7100kWh/yr a realistic estimate of your usage? If so I can't see how £65/mo (£780/yr) can cover it, that's a rate of 11p/kWh even if there's zero standing charge.

Their estimate of £964.09 seems more reasonable, which would be £80/mo.

spot1034

cannugec5 said:

I have just consented to the change and am now worried what I have agreed to. With hindsight I realise there was no mention in the email, of prices! ( ie pence per KWH ). My direct debit to date was £65 per month. Fixed and more than enough to cover usage. As you will see above, if I am reading this correctly it will increase to £94 for the remainder of the summer, then £114 for the winter. But I don’t know if my actual rate has changed .. or rather by how much. 

As it says in the screenshot the bill in July will reflect the breakdown of charges. 

For those who have not yet pressed the click here button, it simply takes you to a page that says accept or reject. No further detail is given. 

The above is a screenshot of the email received AFTER I pressed accept. 

This, I guess is why the first email was not personalised with detail. 

You should be able to work out whether it reflects your present tariff. It would be roughly right for me with a unit price of just over 12.5p and daily standing charge of 22p. 

The 'expected monies on account' figure is 30% more than your annual cost. The winter payment seems to be this inflated figure divided by 12 with 10% added, and the summer payment is the figure divided by 12 with 10% deducted.

niktheguru

The question you got to ask yourself before accepting this new billing is.....
1. Are you on fixed direct debit already, if so then that is better (if you are on variable direct debit then the new billing may be better)
2. Do you trust that they'll be in business by the end of your contract so that you can be paid the extra "interest", if they aren't you can wave that interest goodbye
3. Do you trust that they will pay that excess in a timely fashion when you leave......i very much doubt it!!

Better to have a fixed direct debit and stay as close to break even as you can in my book.

CRISPIANNE3

cannugec5 said:

I have just consented to the change and am now worried what I have agreed to. With hindsight I realise there was no mention in the email, of prices! ( ie pence per KWH ). My direct debit to date was £65 per month. Fixed and more than enough to cover usage. As you will see above, if I am reading this correctly it will increase to £94 for the remainder of the summer, then £114 for the winter. But I don’t know if my actual rate has changed .. or rather by how much. 

As it says in the screenshot the bill in July will reflect the breakdown of charges. 

For those who have not yet pressed the click here button, it simply takes you to a page that says accept or reject. No further detail is given. 

The above is a screenshot of the email received AFTER I pressed accept. 

This, I guess is why the first email was not personalised with detail. 

This is why I rejected their very kind offer. I knew they would be using their outdated EAC that they use for me.

Reed_Richards

Can you find out what your Assumed Annual Consumption  is before deciding whether or not to accept?

QrizB

In the specific case of @cannugec5 they posted earlier in the year saying that they use around 7000kWh per year. Symbio's Assumed Annual Consumption is consistent with that.

shinytop

I wonder if this method will be compulsory for new customers?

niktheguru

Symbio are probably thinking that paying 5% on the extra income is cheaper than all the compensation payments they're paying out....assuming they get their act together

Reed_Richards

Some years ago I was with another energy company that paid interest on a credit balance; can't remember their name, probably long gone.

thelight

Reed_Richards said:

Some years ago I was with another energy company that paid interest on a credit balance; can't remember their name, probably long gone.

Iresa used to do this. They had a similar feel to Symbio, and eventually closed after OFGEM banned them from taking on new customers.