Bulb

Snowulff

 I have been using Bulb as a supplier for a year now, but having come through the first year with nearly £200 surplus I have been told that I must increase my payments per month “as I am not covering the cost” of the electricity I am using according to them.
I have also been told that I must accrue a sizeable buffer of cash in the account to cover possible under payment during the winter, and that this is required to ensure that I never go into “debt” during the winter.
Always in the past with other suppliers, the total has been split over 12 months, and any surplus£ reluctantly given back, but Bulb are insisting that they keep it, which means that there declared rates are not accurate, what is MSE view on this?
Is it legal?

Robin9

After 12 months your fix has come to an end - time to find a new supplier - Bulb will then be forced to refund your credit.

UnclaimedEnergy

Robin9 said:

After 12 months your fix has come to an end - time to find a new supplier - Bulb will then be forced to refund your credit.

He's with Bulb.... Bulb only offer a single variable tariff with no exit fees... Why have you even commented about a fixed tariff

A lot of suppliers choose to operate with Direct Debits which increase in October and decrease in April. Normally for suppliers the Winter is where they have most of their costs, so they change your DD accordingly to account for that.

Increasing your DD and not returning excess credit to customers is legal, and the only way to force them to get that credit back is by switching away. (You could also try raising a complaint with them if you wish to stay with Bulb).

Why are Bulb doing this? - Most of their customers likely already have £100-£200 of credit in their accounts, yet they're doing a customer wide DD increase.

The main reason they won't be refunding customers credits is because they don't have the cash to do so... hence the DD increase. Previous years they've had investors to back them up in the UK, however with expansions overseas they are running themselves a little bit thin.

My hope is that customers start to notice the long-term failings of Bulb and leave before they go bust with 2m+ customers, leaving behind a massive debt for everyone else to pick up and pay for.

Robin9

@UnclaimedEnergy My apologies for forgetting how Bulb works "He's with Bulb.... Bulb only offer a single variable tariff with no exit fees... Why have you even commented about a fixed tariff" 

Fix or variable it really doesn't matter.  

Capyboppy

This morning I received an email to say I was officially an Octopus customer (yay!). The thing I am concerned about is that it also says They have found the average final bills from Bulb to customers Is around 8 weeks to 8 months! This concerns me greatly as I am presuming that will include my money they gave that I was in credit. I am expecting back around 150-175 pounds as was £250 in credit. 
Surely they can’t make ex customers wait that long? I am wanting to transfer whatever credit I have left straight over into my new Octopus account so I can bring my monthly payments down. 

Gerry1

Capyboppy said:

They have found the average final bills from Bulb to customers Is around 8 weeks to 8 months!
Surely they can’t make ex customers wait that long?

No, they can't.  Since 1st May 2020 it's been six weeks to produce the final bill, another two weeks for the refund.  £30 compo if either is breached.

brewerdave

Gerry1 said:

Capyboppy said:

They have found the average final bills from Bulb to customers Is around 8 weeks to 8 months!
Surely they can’t make ex customers wait that long?

No, they can't.  Since 1st May 2020 it's been six weeks to produce the final bill, another two weeks for the refund.  £30 compo if either is breached.

Sorry - not quite correct - they can make ex customers wait that long - in theory it costs them - but enforcing the "fines" ? Good luck with that !!!

Capyboppy

brewerdave said:

Gerry1 said:

Capyboppy said:

They have found the average final bills from Bulb to customers Is around 8 weeks to 8 months!
Surely they can’t make ex customers wait that long?

No, they can't.  Since 1st May 2020 it's been six weeks to produce the final bill, another two weeks for the refund.  £30 compo if either is breached.

Sorry - not quite correct - they can make ex customers wait that long - in theory it costs them - but enforcing the "fines" ? Good luck with that !!!

I read somewhere that someone went to the ombudsman once 6 weeks had passed and was offered a ‘token’ amount of compensation. Worth bearing in mind. Felt sorry for the poster though, as their final bill was £400. A good reason to keep on top of things and submit regular readings.