Symbio Energy feedback

jbuchanangb

There is obviously the difference between amounts paid by DD and amounts due for electricity consumed. From 23 June when I joined Symbio to 30 September I made 4 of their "summer season" DD payments of £35.56 amounting to £142.24. In the same period I incurred electricity charges of £112.07 correctly billed by them by adding the bill amounts up to 1 September together and subtracting the rebate amount in the new October bill.

This means there is a credit in the account of £30.17. This could be depleted a little bit depending on the official changeover date. I cancelled my DD just in time to prevent a payment of £51.81 being their "winter season" payment amount. I will be expecting the £30.17 credit (or whatever slightly lower amount arises when the switchover date is confirmed) to be transferred to my account the SOLR or back to me somehow.

Symbio on the other hand currently record my account as being in debit by £21.73 because they have billed for estimated 31 days of consumption in October! Of course if the SOLR want to accept this fiction then I wouldn't mind almost 400 units of electricity at Symbio rates, instead of whatever the SOLR want to charge me!

spot1034

The SOLR team will probably need to go on a course to understand Symbio's billing systems before they start work, but I'm sure they'll get there in the end!

jbuchanangb

The record of the dumb meter readings when it was changed might be on a piece of card fixed somewhere near the new meter. It might even be on a Symbio bill!

As the night and day rates which you are being charged by Symbio are the same, then you can just add the two readings together which gives you 2507 units since it was installed. You can check which register is recording night and which one day by reading them both twice a day, say at 8pm and 8am and you will see which one has moved during the day, and which one during the night. Make sure you get this right for the new supplier when appointed. You must have reading(s) from your dumb meter for Feb 2021 when you signed up with Symbio and up to some point before the change to smart meter.

You bank records will show how much you have paid them. If you can find the closing readings for the dumb meter your calculations are quite easy.

No. of days with Symbio times daily standing charge PLUS

No of units consumed with dumb meter times unit rate PLUS

No of units consumed with smart meter times unit rate.

Subtract that from the amount you have paid them, and that tells you your credit/debit balance with them.

If you can't find the closing readings for the dumb meter, work out a daily average for the most recent period for which you have got readings, then add a multiple of that to the no. of units consumed from starting with Symbio to the last dumb meter reading which you have got, according to the number of days in the month for the dumb meter before it was changed.

Reed_Richards

spot1034 said:

The SOLR team will probably need to go on a course to understand Symbio's billing systems before they start work, but I'm sure they'll get there in the end!

Where it might get complicated is if you have switched tariffs with Symbio.  I have been on the one tariff for 11 and-a-bit months and it's really easy to add up all my payments and the cost of the electricity and standing charge then compare the one with the other.  There is no need whatsoever to understand Symbio's billing system. 

spot1034

Reed_Richards said:

spot1034 said:

The SOLR team will probably need to go on a course to understand Symbio's billing systems before they start work, but I'm sure they'll get there in the end!

Where it might get complicated is if you have switched tariffs with Symbio.  I have been on the one tariff for 11 and-a-bit months and it's really easy to add up all my payments and the cost of the electricity and standing charge then compare the one with the other.  There is no need whatsoever to understand Symbio's billing system. 

Yes I had that thought as well. Same situation, been with then since Feb, one tariff, never really understood their bills but it was easy to do the sums on a piece of paper and work out where I was. On the last day of August I had paid them within £1 of the correct figure!

molerat

CRISPIANNE3 said:

Interestingly I have requested the actual bill to be sent to my email address over 2 hours ago and nothing has arrived as yet.

Same here, still nothing 4 hours later.  I always found that button a bit flaky anyway.

CRISPIANNE3

molerat said:

CRISPIANNE3 said:

Interestingly I have requested the actual bill to be sent to my email address over 2 hours ago and nothing has arrived as yet.

Same here, still nothing 4 hours later.  I always found that button a bit flaky anyway.

I tried a couple of times but still no joy.

Inigo_Montoya

Symbio billing for the whole of October is going to make generation of the final bill more complicated as the adminstrators will have to cancel off the charges after the date the SoLR takes over & the new SoLR tariff comes into effect

I really hope Symbio dont take the p*ss & keep on illegally producing more invalid bills for the following months just so they can keep on taking more direct debits - it wouldnt surprise me though

I am sorely tempted to cancel the Symbio DD so they cannot take the October DD, however I dont want to jeopordise my transfer to Neon Reef which is scheduled for October 7th - cancelling the DD might cause them to block the transfer

Then theres also the potential hassle of penalty charges being applied & having to complain to get them refunded 

spot1034

Inigo_Montoya said:

Symbio billing for the whole of October is going to make generation of the final bill more complicated as the adminstrators will have to cancel off the charges after the date the SoLR takes over & the new SoLR tariff comes into effect

I really hope Symbio dont take the p*ss & keep on illegally producing more invalid bills for the following months just so they can keep on taking more direct debits - it wouldnt surprise me though

I am sorely tempted to cancel the Symbio DD so they cannot take the October DD, however I dont want to jeopordise my transfer to Neon Reef which is scheduled for October 7th - cancelling the DD might cause them to block the transfer

Then theres also the potential hassle of penalty charges being applied & having to complain to get them refunded 

If they tried to take one long after the SOLR had taken over you'd have very good grounds to get it back via the DD guarantee. There's this grey area where they're still wrapping up their affairs (and at this moment as far as we know they are still our supplier) but a month later would be a different matter altogether. 

Swipe

I moved house and Symbio sent me my final bill. As I was no longer a customer when they went bust can I assume that I will have to claim my final bill credit from the administrators rather than the SOLR? Will the administrators email me or will I have to make contact once I find out who they are? I did tell Symbio to add a note on my account with my new address in the case they went bust but as they didn't not acknowledge both request in their replies, I can only assume that they didn't bother.