Neon Reef - any views?

Shedman

danielson81 said:

Neon Reef have objected to my switch to PFP.... because I have £45 of "debt" , due to my fixed DD not catching up. Surely my final bill would correct this? 

If the debit balance is older than 28 days then they can refuse a switch until its settled.  If that's the case then probably easier just to make a one-off payment so you can leave.  If you haven't had a debit balance for more than 28 days then go on chat and point it out and threaten to raise a complaint.

From Which:
Whether you can switch supplier if you’re in debt to your gas or electricity supplier depends on how long you’ve owed the money.

You've been in debt for 28 days or less

If you've owed the money to your supplier for 28 days or less, you can switch supplier. The debt will be added to your final bill from your old supplier.

You've been in debt for more than 28 days

If you've owed the money to your supplier for more than 28 days, you can't switch supplier until you've paid the money back.

You can't be stopped from switching if it's your supplier's fault that you're in debt - for example because they've estimated your bill wrong. If you do owe them money you'll still need to pay this when you get your old supplier's final bill. 

Penelopa.Pitstop

Telegraph_Sam said:

I'm surprised that within all the "alternatives to Symbio & co" discussions no one appears to have mentioned Outfox the Market. They appear to have a good "Which?" rating with reasonable tariffs. And feedback from anyone?

I was with OTM before Neon Reef, but now, they don't come anywhere close to best available tariff. Looks like PfP is getting a lot of new customers.

WBCPB

danielson81 said:

Neon Reef have objected to my switch to PFP.... because I have £45 of "debt" , due to my fixed DD not catching up. Surely my final bill would correct this? 

Looks like they are clutching at straws after the "mass exodus" !!!!!!!!!!
Regards

SPOWER

WBCPB said:

danielson81 said:

Neon Reef have objected to my switch to PFP.... because I have £45 of "debt" , due to my fixed DD not catching up. Surely my final bill would correct this? 

Looks like they are clutching at straws after the "mass exodus" !!!!!!!!!!
Regards

What is it with mass exodus? Would me saying stampede have been better?

niktheguru

WBCPB said:

danielson81 said:

Neon Reef have objected to my switch to PFP.... because I have £45 of "debt" , due to my fixed DD not catching up. Surely my final bill would correct this? 

Looks like they are clutching at straws after the "mass exodus" !!!!!!!!!!
Regards

I suspect a lot of the smaller providers have experienced that people have "cancelled" their direct debits upon switching, so don't want the hassle of chasing for owed payments post switch, though I completely agree with you that this shouldn't happen. We are starting to see a lot of providers doing this for what are nominal amounts.....if its £200 then fair enough, but if its less than  £50 surely it can just be taken on the final bill.

The ofgem wording isn't the most helpful either. It would be much easier if they just gave a figure like £100 at time of switch.

Telegraph_Sam

The volume of negative feedback on these forums that has accumulated recently with regard to Neon Reef, Avro, Symbio, PfP etc must surely have reached the point where consumers' experience must be given greater emphasis in the MSE CEC ratings, not to speak of other search engines also. Even allowing for the tendency for negatives to be published being greater than for consumers singing the praise where warranted. 

Gerry1

Telegraph_Sam said:

The volume of negative feedback on these forums that has accumulated recently with regard to Neon Reef, Avro, Symbio, PfP etc must surely have reached the point where consumers' experience must be given greater emphasis in the MSE CEC ratings, not to speak of other search engines also.

It must surely have reached the point where dozy Ofgem wakes up and starts to regulate.  It's all very well saying that market forces will deliver solutions, but clearly they are not working.  No doubt the first months of Covid-19 were difficult, but that was over a year ago and it's no excuse for today's poor service.  It also gives dodgy companies an unfair advantage over their honest competitors who do invest in adequate resources.

There need to be some minimum standards about responding to customers in a timely and satisfactory manner, together with appropriate enforcement and penalties, but Ofgem couldn't care less about energy companies' performance unless it concerns the smart meter rollout.

Telegraph_Sam

In which case it should be up to CEC, uSwitch, CAB, Which? .. to act as proxies even if they are unable to enforce and penalize. If enough switchers get the message then market forces should do what Ofgen cannot or will not do

niktheguru

Telegraph_Sam said:

In which case it should be up to CEC, uSwitch, CAB, Which? .. to act as proxies even if they are unable to enforce and penalize. If enough switchers get the message then market forces should do what Ofgen cannot or will not do

The problem is, poor customer service is pretty universal. A lot of the big 6 have equally dire customer service, the pandemic has just given them all an excuse to continue the poor service. These forums are perhaps a bit squewed as obviously people will complain more about customer service here. Of course there are a few of the smaller providers that are dodgy and customer service is poor (symbio being an example) but they certainly aren't on their own, price of supply is by no means a determinant of service levels.

Something certainly should be done, but more importantly i think clarity regarding the necessity of meter reads should be emphasised. Or if people don't provide meter reads regularly, or decline a smart meter there should be a charge for companies to send out a meter reader regularly so that "estimates" are a thing of the past. I would argue at least half of the complaints are from people who either don't realise, cannot (for whatever reason), or don't bother to read their meter, then go into significant credit or debt and then complaint about it. 

Gary1963

Just started the switch to PFP!