Symbio Energy feedback

niktheguru

Direct debit has gone up here too by £8, i'm willing to donate that to them for them to stay in business a little longer to be fair. Don't be so outraged at direct debits being increased, as the alternative is you paying that "extra" amount to the other companies in "actual" charges, given most symbio customers are getting their electricity for less than half the going rate at the moment.

Mr_K

niktheguru said:

Direct debit has gone up here too by £8, i'm willing to donate that to them for them to stay in business a little longer to be fair. Don't be so outraged at direct debits being increased, as the alternative is you paying that "extra" amount to the other companies in "actual" charges, given most symbio customers are getting their electricity for less than half the going rate at the moment.

You should have ignored your own advice and gone for variable DD . That way outrageous credits aren't built up and things are squared up the following month. True, they over estimate for the month ahead but that can compensated for by adjusted readings. 

niktheguru

Mr_K said:

niktheguru said:

Direct debit has gone up here too by £8, i'm willing to donate that to them for them to stay in business a little longer to be fair. Don't be so outraged at direct debits being increased, as the alternative is you paying that "extra" amount to the other companies in "actual" charges, given most symbio customers are getting their electricity for less than half the going rate at the moment.

You should have ignored your own advice and gone for variable DD . That way outrageous credits aren't built up and things are squared up the following month. True, they over estimate for the month ahead but that can compensated for by adjusted readings. 

Not really, the account in question is in a slight debit as i'm fully seasoned with symbios practices.  The increase by £8 is fine by me as it helps settle the account. Fixed direct debit has been the better option with symbio in my opinion as long as you are on the ball, provide meter readings at the end of the month and keep an eye on things. Maybe in the current climate with symbio being less responsive to emails/phone given the current situation it may be more difficult than the variable method like you say. But bear in mind with variable you will always be 1 month in credit by whatever they randomly guestimated for the following month. (but it will only be one month if you're giving regular meter readings) Saying that, either method is fine for the on the ball customer.....variable becomes a mess for those that don't give regular meter readings and ignore their bills. (which appears to be a high percentage of people who originally moved to symbio, then months later are outraged they are hundreds in credit.)

Regardless of the payment method the main factor is ensuring your EAC is "accurate" or slightly lower than its true value.....and that you keep an eye on things.

jaynewcastle

Hi, I've just joined the forum this evening to ask for advice.

I switched to Symbio in May 2021, & they installed a Smart Meter in June, the display unit they sent out has always shown as Not Commissioned, therefore I am no longer able to obtain meter readings anymore. As I can't provide meter readings anymore, I don't think I can change supplier 

I have sent 3 complaint emails to Symbio about this problem since mid-July, & had no response. I'm wondering whether to contact the Ombudsman, or cancel my direct debit, until they reply to my complaints ?.

Appreciate any advice

Thank you

Mister_G

See mine and "thozza's" post on the previous two pages.

You are not alone!

Gerry1

jaynewcastle said:

As I can't provide meter readings anymore, I don't think I can change supplier

Welcome to the forum.

It's not a problem.  You can always give an estimated amount or look back at your historic meter readings if you have them.  Forget the portable toy, read the meter on the wall.

However, at this time your best bet may be to do nothing.

If Symbio stay in business then you'll be getting the cheapest rates by far.  If Symbio go bust then you're likely to end up on the default tariff of the Supplier of Last Resort.  That tariff will be capped, and is likely to be cheaper than anything else you'll be able to find.

Of course, things may change in April.  Normality may have returned and you may be able to shop around in the usual way.  Or most small suppliers will have gone bust, the cap will rocket or have been abolished, and fixed rates and exit fees will be astronomically expensive.  Interesting times.

jaynewcastle

Thank you Gerry1,  I had assumed that having a Smart meter would give the supplier my meter readings automatically, but obviously this is not the case.

Supplying an estimated meter reading (based on previous usage) is probably the best way to go right now, in order to reduce the proposed much-inflated new monthly direct debit to a more accurate monthly payment.

I'd also decided that changing suppliers currently was not the best idea

Unfortunately, the actual Smart meter itself doesn't have a display to take a manual reading from, therefore I'm unable to take any manual readings at all currently

KenMavor

Just reading all the gumpf re Symbio.

They have taken £240 and £212 from me over the last 2 months when usage was minimal..we were away 3 weeks of August 2021.  Going to contact them tomorrow and see what is going on.  Don't hold any hope of getting any of the money back after reading this thread, and others.

They have no idea what usage we have as they have not actually used ANY of the meter readings I have submitted over the last 7 months.  They are just making it up.  They aren't actually using the tarriffs quoted to me for Kwh and standing charges.

I suspect they will fold soon as no business can keep going like this for any length of time.

Just got asked for a meter reading this morning, which I have submitted and shows that they owe me about £220.

Just complete and utter bandits.

How do I complain through ombudsman etc.?

niktheguru

KenMavor said:

Just reading all the gumpf re Symbio.

They have taken £240 and £212 from me over the last 2 months when usage was minimal..we were away 3 weeks of August 2021.  Going to contact them tomorrow and see what is going on.  Don't hold any hope of getting any of the money back after reading this thread, and others.

They have no idea what usage we have as they have not actually used ANY of the meter readings I have submitted over the last 7 months.  They are just making it up.  They aren't actually using the tarriffs quoted to me for Kwh and standing charges.

I suspect they will fold soon as no business can keep going like this for any length of time.

Just got asked for a meter reading this morning, which I have submitted and shows that they owe me about £220.

Just complete and utter bandits.

How do I complain through ombudsman etc.?

Are you actually reading your bills correctly?
the symbio bills are complicated affairs. Are you submitting meter readings on the last day of every month or at random points in the month.

symbio bills at the end of every month. If you supply a meter reading for the 30th or,31st them that is the reading they use, if you supply it on a different date then they will estimate a reading for the end of the month.

symbio do advanced billing so they pluck a figure very loosely based on the eac you provided at the start + 20-30% extra and say that’s what they estimate you’ll use in the next month and bill you for that. Then the following month so long as you provide a meter reading if that reading is less than their estimate they will subtract that number of units from that bill to balance it, but they will also then estimate the following months usage and add that on…..and so on and so on……so you will always be paying them one month worth of their overestimated payment in advance.

most often the people who complain about symbio are those who haven’t grasped their very unique over complicated way of billing, or those that don’t give regular meter readings at the right time.have a look at your bills again, are your meter reading nowhere to be seen? (It will have a C for customer reading next to it)

if you want to make a complaint through the ombudsman you need to make a formal complaint to symbio first and then wait 8 weeks.

thozza

KenMavor said:

Just reading all the gumpf re Symbio.

They have taken £240 and £212 from me over the last 2 months when usage was minimal..we were away 3 weeks of August 2021.  Going to contact them tomorrow and see what is going on.  Don't hold any hope of getting any of the money back after reading this thread, and others.

They have no idea what usage we have as they have not actually used ANY of the meter readings I have submitted over the last 7 months.  They are just making it up.  They aren't actually using the tarriffs quoted to me for Kwh and standing charges.

I suspect they will fold soon as no business can keep going like this for any length of time.

Just got asked for a meter reading this morning, which I have submitted and shows that they owe me about £220.

Just complete and utter bandits.

How do I complain through ombudsman etc.?

Don't bother giving a meter reading on anything but the last day of the month, if you do, they just ignore it.

Tomorrow is the only day of the month that all happy Symbio customers get up and take a reading before they do anything else!