Avro Energy banned from taking on new customers - MSE News 29 May 2019 at 4:13PM edited 30 November -1 at 1:00AM in Energy 44 replies 6.2K views

MSE_Naomi

Small energy firm Avro Energy has been banned from taking on new customers because it hasn't joined the national smart meter network...

Read the full story:
'Avro Energy banned from taking on new customers'

Click reply below to discuss. If you haven’t already, join the forum to reply.

Consumerist

In the past, such a ban has led to a supplier going into administration so let's hope, for their customers' sake, that Avro complies with Ofgem's order.

Sadly, Avro Energy seems to have little regard for its licence conditions in particular and Ofgem in general. I'm glad I have recently moved on.

heathere

I'm with Avro and would, be very disappointed if they went into administration because of this. I definitely wouldn't have a smart meter and as I understand it most don't work any more when you switch suppliers anyway.

The way that the Governmant is trying to force people to have smart meters really annoys me. I am careful with my use of electricity, turning off things I'm not using and lights when I leave the room. I don't need a meter to tell me that I'm using more when I turn on my TV or whatever.

minislim

Thats a shame! i dont want a smart meter! i feel that i already do enough turning all unnecessary appliances and lights off, monitoring my energy usage and providing regular meter readings.

a lot of energy companies are now forcing you to have a smart meter for their cheapest deals.

which isn't fair

Talldave

minislim wrote: »

Thats a shame! i dont want a smart meter! i feel that i already do enough turning all unnecessary appliances and lights off, monitoring my energy usage and providing regular meter readings.

a lot of energy companies are now forcing you to have a smart meter for their cheapest deals.

which isn't fair

Why is the energy company wanting to fit a smart meter which allows them to bill you with 100% accuracy without the need for you to fiddle around sending readings unfair?

A smart meter is just a meter, you don't have to turn lights off because you have one. If you already use an energy monitor then if they provide an in home display, just put it in a drawer and forget it.

wrongplanet

Consumerist wrote: »

Sadly, Avro Energy seems to have little regard for its licence conditions in particular and Ofgem in general. I'm glad I have recently moved on.

They seem to have little regard for the truth too.

As you are aware from the MSE Avro Feedback forum, they claimed that my switch to the MSE Collective tariff didn't succeed and didn't pay the referral fee so no cashback, and then apparently failed to respond to MSE's chasing. It seems they did this to a small number of others too.

Yesterday MSE mailed me to say they were going to pay the cashback regardless of whether Avro paid the referral fee or not - well done MSE.

Also, in a FB message thread Avro have claimed they never pay referral fees when they clearly do.

[Edit] Plus their FB page banner still says they don't charge exit or cancellation fees with no qualifier that this only applies to tariffs offered directly.

Update: MSE's £25 goodwill cheque arrived 15/6/19. Once again well done MSE and a big thumbs down to Avro for putting them in this position.

Consumerist

Talldave wrote: »

Why is the energy company wanting to fit a smart meter which allows them to bill you with 100% accuracy without the need for you to fiddle around sending readings unfair? . . .

1. Suppliers lull customers into a false sense of security by promulgating this kind of hype - which you seem to blindly believe.

2. They are reportedly often installed incorrectly

3. They mostly go dumb again if you switch supplier

If I had a "smart" meter I would need to read it regularly myself and check it regularly against my statements in just the same way as I do with a dumb meter. I don't see any advantage to having one just yet.

VT82

Avro's business model will need them to grow their customer base to stay solvent. They won't be able to do that anymore.


Whatever they have to comply with doesn't sound like it can be rectified quickly. My guess is they will go into administration long before they could get compliant. Glad I'm not with them, and if I was and didn't have exit charges, I'd be starting my switch today!

Talldave

Consumerist wrote: »

1. Suppliers lull customers into a false sense of security by promulgating this kind of hype - which you seem to blindly believe.

2. They are reportedly often installed incorrectly

3. They mostly go dumb again if you switch supplier

If I had a "smart" meter I would need to read it regularly myself and check it regularly against my statements in just the same way as I do with a dumb meter. I don't see any advantage to having one just yet.

1. I don't blindly believe any energy industry/government crap around smart meters. As an electronic engineer, I know that a correctly installed and connected smart meter can provide the readings. What suppliers do with those readings is another issue.


2. Perhaps, but that's because a stack of poorly trained fitters are being pressured to meet targets - again because the government & industry are obsessed by metrics and not whether what they're fitting works. But a correctly fitted meter, connected to the network is perfectly capable of providing readings.


3. True for SMETS1 but not true for SMETS2. Now the industry has the network sorted, it's simply going to be what level of incompetence each supplier exhibits in dealing with smart meters.


I know you're not the person I addressed the question to, but my question remains unanswered. Why is fitting a smart meter unfair? If you want energy, you need a meter. It's up to the energy companies - not the user - to select and fit that meter. Even a SMETS1 smart meter operating in dumb mode has equal functionality to a legacy meter. So why is its fitting unfair?


I've just switched to a tariff that "required" a smart meter, so am waiting to see if the supplier follows up and comes to install one (well two actually, because I'm buying gas off them). I don't care whether the meter's smart or not and I'm sure I will suffer from the energy industry's usual incompetence at handling such a complex process of writing down some numbers, removing meters and writing down some more numbers, then ensuring that those numbers get as far as the billing department. But that's life.


I cannot get my head around why it's unfair that my suppler might want to change my meter. To be honest, the gas price is so stunningly good they can hold a party in the front garden at the same time and paint the meter bright pink if they want.

Consumerist

Talldave wrote: »

. . . Why is fitting a smart meter unfair? . . .

Well, it's not the principle of having a smart meter that is unfair but more the way suppliers are, in a lot of cases, putting customers under unreasonable pressure to have them installed - by any means possible.

Their benefit is questionable at the moment and many reports suggest they are an open invitation for hassle.

When SMETS2 is in full swing and the pace of installations has reduced so that proper installation is more likely, I might be more inclined to accept one. In any event, as legacy meters reach the end of their useful life they will have to be replaced and they will be replaced by smart meters whether we like it or not.

I think I will wait until I have to have a smart meter by evolution.

As I have said before, a smart meter being monitored by a dumb supplier is just a recipe for disaster.

CDSWFUK

Like them or not Smart Meters are being pushed by government and the regulator, if Avro does not comply then they may be stripped of their licence.......if that happens then their customers will go through the supplier of last resort process.

Suppliers incentivise the installation of smart meters as they are under pressure to install them