Symbio Energy feedback

molerat

re my Santander complaint

molerat wrote: »

Received the same letter today. I have now raised a formal complaint as they are already paying cashback on my two current suppliers that use third party billing.

After a few to-ing and fro-ing secure messages arguing the toss over third party billing today I received a phone call from Santander cs. The actual reason they do not give cashback is because Symbio use a shared OIN with the third party biller, if they used an individual OIN, which is a more expensive contract, they would pay the cashback. The outcome of this, because they did not answer my query adequately in the first instance, is that they will pay me £25 to compensate me for the lost cashback for the year (my monthly cash back would be 81p !) and £25 goodwill (and the money was in my bank account 10 minutes after hanging up).

griffb

molerat wrote: »

. The actual reason they do not give cashback is because Symbio use a shared OIN with the third party biller, if they used an individual OIN, which is a more expensive contract, they would pay the cashback.

I assume that is the same excuse I received from NatWest:

As the direct debit is made via a 3rd party (GoCardless) we are unable to identify which payments paid to GoCardless are specifically for Symbio Energy

I have pointed out to them that I can easily identify them, as my statement says "Symbio Energy"

Tafrock

I'm getting nowhere with my persistent emails to natwest either. It's a poor excuse for not paying cashback

Talldave

Tafrock wrote: »

I'm getting nowhere with my persistent emails to natwest either. It's a poor excuse for not paying cashback

Surely they're on dodgy ground if they haven't made it clear in adverts that they exclude 3rd party payment organisations? Is it worth raising with one or more of ASA, financial ombudsman or trading standards?

Benight

molerat wrote: »

re my Santander complaintAfter a few to-ing and fro-ing secure messages arguing the toss over third party billing today I received a phone call from Santander cs. The actual reason they do not give cashback is because Symbio use a shared OIN with the third party biller, if they used an individual OIN, which is a more expensive contract, they would pay the cashback. The outcome of this, because they did not answer my query adequately in the first instance, is that they will pay me £25 to compensate me for the lost cashback for the year (my monthly cash back would be 81p !) and £25 goodwill (and the money was in my bank account 10 minutes after hanging up).

That is incorrect.

To start with, the Direct Debit System no longer even refers to OIN (Originator Identification Number), but now refers to SUN (Service User Number)

Secondly, GoCardless offer 3 levels of service offering.

i.e.
Standard - this charges a simple percentage on each transaction, and shares the GoCardless SUN

Plus - this charges a simple percentage on each transaction, plus a monthly fee

Pro - this charges volume based charging on each transaction, plus a monthly fee (higher monthly fee than Plus)

Obviously there are other various benefits based on the particular service level procurred that I won't go into here, but both Plus and Pro gives the service user their own SUN (i.e. does not share it with GoCardless)

Only those who have opted for Plus or Pro (i.e. those with their own SUN) appear on bank statements under their own name, as Symbio do.

By contrast, those on the Standard level of service would be displayed as 'GoCardless Ltd. Ref: Business Name'

Biggus_Dickus

Tafrock wrote: »

I'm getting nowhere with my persistent emails to natwest either. It's a poor excuse for not paying cashback

I guess it’s a little disappointing for you as a NatWest customer but it’s an understandable and some may say justifiable response from NatWest.

Their payment system isn't capable of automatically identifying your D/D as a payment to Symbio;...it sees a payment that's routed directly to a 3rd party company,..and that’s as far as it goes.

It would take significant changes to their payment systems for it to be any other way,...and banks hate spending money on their computer systems.

They only do it if;

• It suits THEM!
or
• They‘re forced to make changes due to legislation.

I’m a NatWest Reward account customer too,...and I’m seriously considering a switch to Symbio in the very near future but it seems I’ll need to forgo the £13 NatWest rewards that my present leccy bill has generated in the last 12 months.

Tafrock

So a monthly payment that appears simply labelled symbio energy from my current account cannot be identified by natwest as a payment to symbio energy. Go figure??

PixelPound

rags58 wrote: »

I have checked my emails and the meter reading I gave on the 17th was not recorded on the e-mail. All I have is Symbio acknowledging my opening meter reading and stating it would be processed and validated. If I was to hazard a guess or make an assumption I would say the figure I gave Symbio was the same figure Octopus used as my final reading.
I know roughly how many units I use in a day and Octopus issued a bill to the 30/6/19 based on a reading I gave at the end of June.
A simple calculation for 1st-17th July takes me almost to the same figure Octopus have, so its a fair assumption that's the figure I gave to Symbio.

So you gave the same reading to both companies? That's your issue, the new company will verify the figures with the independent body who will use typical use figures. Normally they will give these to your old supplier who use them for the final bill, this ensures you are not paying for the same energy use twice as they both use the same verified reading.
You have two options, (1) get your new supplier to reverify the figure and see if they will use that, or (2) contact your old supplier to get them to verify if they have received readings from your new supplier and issue a revised final bill based on those.

Biggus_Dickus

Tafrock wrote: »

So a monthly payment that appears simply labelled symbio energy from my current account cannot be identified by natwest as a payment to symbio energy. Go figure??

Regardless of how your D/D payment is ‘labelled’ it isn’t a payment to Symbio;...it’s a single transaction between your Bank and the 3rd party payment company,...and therein lies the problem.

Frustrating for customers (me included) but the chances of the Banks making changes to their payment/Reward systems that would circumvent this anomaly are remote to say the least,...imho of course.

molerat

EnergyTwist wrote: »

But there are numerous suppliers, usually the small ones, that use a direct debit collection agency such as CoCardless, and the banks include them.

And there is the problem. If it was a clear no third party agencies then fine but it is not actually the case.