Neon Reef - any views?

Shedman

Firstly apologies if there is already a thread but did a search and couldn't find one.

Stepdaughter is moving into a new flat soon which is all electric.  Looking for a cheaper supplier than the standard SSE tariff it'll be on when she moves in.  The cheapest ones coming up are Symbio (not a chance having read the thread!) and Neon Reef.   

Anybody with Neon Reef and if so what's your view on them please?  They seem to get favourable reviews on Trustpilot but then I'm skeptical about TP due to potential fake reviews.

Gerry1

They're part of Utility Point who don't get great reviews, but I've had no problems with Neon Reef.  There's no phone number, but I received a  personal reply within minutes when I enquired about making a one-off payment.  I thanked them for a very prompt reply, and they thanked me for that !

So far everything is running smoothly and I'm a happy bunny.

binny74

Shedman said:

Firstly apologies if there is already a thread but did a search and couldn't find one.

Stepdaughter is moving into a new flat soon which is all electric.  Looking for a cheaper supplier than the standard SSE tariff it'll be on when she moves in.  The cheapest ones coming up are Symbio (not a chance having read the thread!) and Neon Reef.   

Anybody with Neon Reef and if so what's your view on them please?  They seem to get favourable reviews on Trustpilot but then I'm skeptical about TP due to potential fake reviews.

See Utility Point feedback.

Seem to be operated by the same people from the same address. Seems to be one of these online only alternatives. Bit like British Gas X etc

Except NR only supply electric and only offer you their standard variable rate tariff. They don't do E7 but will charge you the same peak rate 24/7 if thats what you want.

As it's an all electric flat, you really need E7 to make it affordable.
Someone else suggested Yorkshire Energy were cheap. They certainly are here in Yorkshire!

Unit rate
13.794p per kWh
Night unit rate
9.476p per kWh
Standing charge
11.87p per day (£43.32 per year)

compared to Neon Reef

Unit rate
12.264p per kWh
Night unit rate
12.264p per kWh
Standing charge
14.47p per day (£52.81 per year)

Shedman

Thanks both. I'll check out Utility Point.  

Edit: oh well at least both companies are based in Poole so close enough to go and doorstep them if any issues 

To be honest we don't know yet if it's E7 or not.  We haven't been in the flat as, due to Covid restrictions, she had to take the it based solely on a video provided by letting agents who (in the usual competent fashion associated with Letting agents...) couldn't tell us if a) the heaters were storage heaters and/or b) whether meter was E7.  All I have managed to find out at this stage is that its a smart meter (Smets 1 unfortunately) and current tenants are signed up with Ecotricity (although the landlords are switching it back to SSE apparently).

Was contemplating Yorkshire Energy (as that's who we are with and we are very happy with them..certainly could show a lot of the others how to do a simple task like supply and bill utilities quickly and accurately) but their tariff for her location is a fair bit more than Neon,  albeit that it would be a fixed tariff on YE.

dogshome

Watch out !

It's the letting Agents are handling the transaction, and unless the Landlord is taking a special interest which most of them don't, the LA will Switch the supplier to Spark in return for a backhander, and the last thing your daughter needs in her life is Spark as an Energy supplier

Mouldymeat3

We joined NR in February. At first it was a bit bumpy until they spotted we had 2 entries on the database which they rectified for us. Since then they have collected a reasonable DD, I send in monthly meter reads, (the app works). Three or four days later they use their own estimate and raise an invoice which I scrutinise on line. To borrow a phrase from another poster, I don't bother them and they don't bother me.

Shedman

dogshome said:

Watch out !

It's the letting Agents are handling the transaction, and unless the Landlord is taking a special interest which most of them don't, the LA will Switch the supplier to Spark in return for a backhander, and the last thing your daughter needs in her life is Spark as an Energy supplier

Nah it's in the tenancy agreement (which we've now just received) that the electricity will be switched back to SSE so not worried on that score.  Anyway will be moving to another supplier asap once she's in.

Shedman

Mouldymeat3 said:

We joined NR in February. At first it was a bit bumpy until they spotted we had 2 entries on the database which they rectified for us. Since then they have collected a reasonable DD, I send in monthly meter reads, (the app works). Three or four days later they use their own estimate and raise an invoice which I scrutinise on line. To borrow a phrase from another poster, I don't bother them and they don't bother me.

OK so sounds like they could be OK so long as you pay attention but just wonder why they use their own estimate when you've sent them the meter reading anyway?  At least with YE they use the meter readings you submit (plus the bills produced within 30 mins of submitting the readings).

Gerry1

Shedman said:

We haven't been in the flat as, due to Covid restrictions, she had to take the it based solely on a video provided by letting agents who (in the usual competent fashion associated with Letting agents...) couldn't tell us if a) the heaters were storage heaters and/or b) whether meter was E7.

That's seriously bad news.  If the heating is via full price electricity it will be prohibitively expensive and there won't be much she can do about it.  Before signing up ask for written confirmation of storage heaters and that the immersion heater is on a meter switched E7 circuit (or at least has a local non-motorised timer), otherwise it could be a pig in a poke of which she will remain blissfully ignorant until the winter brings chilly evenings and rocketing DD amounts. 

Shedman

Gerry

Appreciate your concerns but unfortunately she is so distraught and been made so ill by the a**ehole in the flat below her in the block she lives in now, who has totally disregarded lockdown, plays loud music and has friends around until small hours, is threatening and has basically made her life a misery such that she's prepared for high electricity bills just to get away to somewhere hopefully less stressful.  

Hence why I'm trying to get the best tariff.  Not knowing the heating situation and hence the likely kWh per annum is one reason why I favour Neon as unit rate is very low so any additional consumption will be at least at one of the best rates (and by the way I'm working on 5,000 kWh annually for 1 person in a two bed flat as an estimate so hopefully that's a decent stab).  She's currently on the legacy SSE Superdeal Tariff (stupid 3 rate setup) so already has high bills so hopefully even in worse case scenario the step up won't be too bad.

Gerry1

Sorry to hear that.  Neon Reef seems a good bet and they have no exit fees because it's a variable tariff.  Of course, prices could rise and you can't phone them, but it seems a good place to start.  However, there's no E7 tariff with Neon Reef so she'll need to switch before winter if there are storage heaters.

Note that the smart meter won't send Neon Reef any meter readings, so she'll have to send a reading each month.