Symbio Energy feedback

CRISPIANNE3

I phoned Symbio yesterday and spoke to their billing dept. They explained they go by the figures from the National Grid and as such the estimates are accurate. 

jbuchanangb

Having just switched to Symbio, I have little evidence to go on. I have had two bills both estimates. June 23 to June 30. Their estimate 167kWh. Actual was 61kWh. July 1 to July 31. Their estimate 447. My estimate 330. I have made 2 direct debit payments, each one reverse calculated to equate to 264.3kWh. So I have paid for 528.6 kWh to cover a period where my estimated consumption is 391. But this is no different than what went on when I switched to other energy suppliers. They took DD payments up front also. My current situation with SSE for gas that I have paid a lot more in DD than I have consumed since switching to them in April, and the only bill I have had from them is an excessive overestimate. In general forums like this are full of negative feedback, because the happy customers don't come here to share their experiences.

farmingisnt

It’s easier to fool people than to convince them that they have been fooled.

jbuchanangb

I have spreadsheets covering my energy supplies since 1983, i.e. for 38 years. No energy supplier is going to fool me.

LessImpecunious

jbuchanangb said:

...So I have paid for 528.6 kWh to cover a period where my estimated consumption is 391. But this is no different than what went on when I switched to other energy suppliers. They took DD payments up front also. My current situation with SSE for gas that I have paid a lot more in DD than I have consumed since switching to them in April, and the only bill I have had from them is an excessive overestimate. In general forums like this are full of negative feedback, because the happy customers don't come here to share their experiences.

Agreed - the business model used by Symbio is essentially the same as that of other energy companies, or there would be no need, for example, for Martin Lewis's blog on reclaiming credit from your electricity supplier... (https://blog.moneysavingexpert.com/2019/03/martin-lewis--how-to-reclaim-p100s-of-credit-from-your-energy-fi/)

MWT

LessImpecunious said:

Agreed - the business model used by Symbio is essentially the same as that of other energy companies, or there would be no need, for example, for Martin Lewis's blog on reclaiming credit from your electricity supplier...

There is a huge yawning chasm between what Symbio are doing with their crazy inflated monthly estimates, what most other energy suppliers are doing with DD payments based on your predicted usage over a 12 month period...

CRISPIANNE3 said:

I phoned Symbio yesterday and spoke to their billing dept. They explained they go by the figures from the National Grid and as such the estimates are accurate. 

There is so much wrong with that explanation I am surprised the employee managed to get that sentence out without laughing...

You only have to look at your own bills to know the 'estimates' are not accurate, and the 'National Grid' are certainly not supplying the data to them either...

MoneySavingNovice

CRISPIANNE3 said:

I phoned Symbio yesterday and spoke to their billing dept. They explained they go by the figures from the National Grid and as such the estimates are accurate. 

Sorry but to put it frankly this is another example of Symbio lying to its customers.   

The National Grid does not make estimates of consumption on a property to property basis.....the National Grid does not even own the local loops to individual properties,   this is owned and managed by the local distribution network operators.

Overall this claim from Symibio is both too ridiculous and demonstrates how utterly incompetent and dishonest they are.

devondiver

MoneySavingNovice said:

CRISPIANNE3 said:

I phoned Symbio yesterday and spoke to their billing dept. They explained they go by the figures from the National Grid and as such the estimates are accurate. 

Sorry but to put it frankly this is another example of Symbio lying to its customers. . . . . .

. . . . . . Overall this claim from Symibio is both too ridiculous and demonstrates how utterly incompetent and dishonest they are.

Surely not! I don't believe it!  

CRISPIANNE3

There was a lot more to the conversation but all he kept repeating about the National Grid. I did say if it was so accurate why  are refunding my account each month only to more than double the estimates. He then said I will speak to the accounts dept and see whether we can adjust the estimates and would call back later that day. Obviously nothing happened and no phone call. 

wendel17

Hi everyone,

Recently moved into a house only supplied by electricity, with storage heaters and on Eon's standard variable Economy 7 tariff. There's a smart meter in the property and the display device seems to be a SMETS2 one from what I can tell, which Symbio say they can read.

Symbio are coming up as the cheapest provider (actually, PFP Energy were until yesterday, but annoyingly they seem to have changed their tariff this morning before I got round to switching!).

I've read through (some) of this thread and my gut is telling me dealing with Symbio would be a nightmare, even though I'm good at keeping track of my energy usage/bills and chasing companies, etc.

I'll probably follow my instinct and go elsewhere... but if I was to switch to Symbio with a fixed same-payment-every-month direct debit and provide them with a lower estimated annual usage than I think we'll have (a complete guess given we were on dual fuel in our last house anyway), do you think they'd still make it a nightmare?

The only thing tempting me to go with them for their cheap price is that if we have a smart meter surely they have to take the readings from it automatically and won't have a leg to stand on if they try to rip us off. But is that wishful thinking?

Like I say, even as a I type this I'm realising I'd be going into this with very little trust of them, so I'll probably just pay more with someone else instead!

Thanks!