Symbio Energy feedback

niktheguru

drsquirrel said:

I'm having mine blocked due to "unpaid balance", which the value they give isn't correct until 31st July.

Problem is they have over estimated my bill twice now by 1000kWh the last two months.

I could pay them their £100+ for the next month, to allow the switch, then hope I get the balance (200-300+) back. Or hope they use the correct reading somehow, whilst I am now on 18p a unit instead of my previous 11p.

I do not see why they should be allowed to block the switches like this at all.

Contact them by phone, provide a reading with picture of the reading beforehand and then insist they unblock the switch request as according to you ACTUAL usage your bill is in credit. Say you are not willing to over pay and put your account in even more credit.

I did this and insisted I wouldn’t pay as improved my account was in credit and so they are not within their rights to block it. They unblocked the account immediately and my switch went through on time.

do not overpay as it will take you weeks to get the final balance back.

devondiver

niktheguru said:

Contact them by phone

Easy to say. Much harder to do according to multiple reports. Sadly, not everyone has the time, negotiating skills or luck to accomplish what you suggest. 

niktheguru

devondiver said:

niktheguru said:

Contact them by phone

Easy to say. Much harder to do according to multiple reports. Sadly, not everyone has the time, negotiating skills or luck to accomplish what you suggest. 

Only easy to say as I’ve actually done it. You’d be surprised what can be achieved if tried.
Nobody is that busy that they can’t take a bit of time out to sort out stuff. You can even put your phone on speaker and do something else. Either that or just pay up, switch and wait.

drsquirrel

I'm going to try to call them now, I was put off by a lot of the comments.

I was concerned about giving them credit, though a few weeks wouldn't be too bad, I was hearing stories of 6-18months (with the risk of them going bust etc). Lets see how this goes...

If it is unblocked, does the new companies process still go through/retry?

farmingisnt

drsquirrel said:

I'm having mine blocked due to "unpaid balance", which the value they give isn't correct until 31st July.

Problem is they have over estimated my bill twice now by 1000kWh the last two months.

I could pay them their £100+ for the next month, to allow the switch, then hope I get the balance (200-300+) back. Or hope they use the correct reading somehow, whilst I am now on 18p a unit instead of my previous 11p.

I do not see why they should be allowed to block the switches like this at all.

This is exactly, and I mean exactly the same issue I've had. I've just called them as per recommendation and asked for actual balance on account, and they won't give it to me unless I pay £10 to reconcile the account They have prevented my switch twice over the last two months, and I've paid the 'outstanding' balance even though it represents the estimated balance until the end of the month (2000kw in excess of what I have confirmed each month that they've ignored since beginning of contract). So they've now confirmed I don't have an outstnading balance anymore (no surprise seeing as I've had to pay them £900 inthe last two months) with what I calculate to be a credit balance of £800 on the account. God only knows if I ever will see that balance. I've written to my MP and called Consumer Advice who's advice is that they can't do anything, and suggest that Ofgem can't do anything either as they don't look into specific cases. The ombudsman doesn't want to do anything for 8 weeks from when this sorry saga began. Welcome to well and truly Rip Off Britain, would be better off living in Russia given the amount of scams in this country.

thelight

drsquirrel said:

I'm having mine blocked due to "unpaid balance", which the value they give isn't correct until 31st July.

Problem is they have over estimated my bill twice now by 1000kWh the last two months.

I could pay them their £100+ for the next month, to allow the switch, then hope I get the balance (200-300+) back. Or hope they use the correct reading somehow, whilst I am now on 18p a unit instead of my previous 11p.

I do not see why they should be allowed to block the switches like this at all.

They aren't allowed really, it's just as people want to leave in a reasonable period of time they are less inclined to take this issue through the ombudsman process

niktheguru

drsquirrel said:

I'm going to try to call them now, I was put off by a lot of the comments.

I was concerned about giving them credit, though a few weeks wouldn't be too bad, I was hearing stories of 6-18months (with the risk of them going bust etc). Lets see how this goes...

If it is unblocked, does the new companies process still go through/retry?

When they unblock it you’ll need to inform your new company to retry the switch, they should be able to put it in process again without the 14 day cooling off period so you shouldn’t be delayed.

drsquirrel

I managed to speak to them eventually, process took 60 minutes, luckily I work at home so can sit on hold/handsfree.

Wasn't sure what you do with the previous provider so called them anyway.

Is there some kind of grace period for price increases? They shouldn't be allowed to charge you for any period you cannot escape the contract.

I have just received an email that said...

"We understand you have asked for another supplier to take over your meter supply. You might have gotten an email with the subject line "Objection to Your Switch to Another Electricity Supplier." We respectfully request that you disregard the email since we sent it to you in error.

Please accept our apologies for any inconvenience this has caused you."

niktheguru

farmingisnt said:

This is exactly, and I mean exactly the same issue I've had. I've just called them as per recommendation and asked for actual balance on account, and they won't give it to me unless I pay £10 to reconcile the account They have prevented my switch twice over the last two months, and I've paid the 'outstanding' balance even though it represents the estimated balance until the end of the month (2000kw in excess of what I have confirmed each month that they've ignored since beginning of contract). So they've now confirmed I don't have an outstnading balance anymore (no surprise seeing as I've had to pay them £900 inthe last two months) with what I calculate to be a credit balance of £800 on the account. God only knows if I ever will see that balance. I've written to my MP and called Consumer Advice who's advice is that they can't do anything, and suggest that Ofgem can't do anything either as they don't look into specific cases. The ombudsman doesn't want to do anything for 8 weeks from when this sorry saga began. Welcome to well and truly Rip Off Britain, would be better off living in Russia given the amount of scams in this country.

NO!! Don’t ask them what your balance is.They’ll just bounce you off.

you need to go on the offensive. TELL THEM what your balance is. Tell them your opening reading was x, your current reading is y and that means the amount owed to symbio is z. You then tell them the exact amount  you’ve paid in direct debits since you’ve been with them and therefore as it stands you are __ pounds in credit, therefore they have no right to block your switch.

if the guy/girl you’re speaking to doesn’t understand this then ask to speak to the manager as you find this practice unacceptable. Be stern but not rude. (Nobody wants to help a rude person)

if you know all the facts they can’t argue with you. You tell them the exact state of your account and tell them according to ofgem they are not allowed to block you as you have paid for the energy you’ve used and you are not on debt and you will pay anything used from today to switch day in the final bill.

I did this and my block was reversed during the call and my switch went through without delay.

if you don’t know all your figures then you will just be blown off. Having to pay 900 pounds is outrageous, you won’t get it back for months.

drsquirrel

This whole mess we're getting into makes me glad I don't have to deal with it for gas (oil fired heating), I somehow wish there was a way I could avoid the electrical grid connection entirely.