Are there any really good energy firms?

fly-catchers

Having been through Seeboard, BG, Virgin, EDF, Npower, SP, Coop, Tonik and now back at SP am exhausted and am as yet to find a really good energy company! Thought of Shell but their getting bad reports. Considered Octopus energy but mixed comments. And of course switching is not without its stresses. Still waiting for my outstanding credit from Tonik. And all SP want is extra payments and an increase to the DD. My electricity bill will always be higher than most average users as I have 3 tropical greenhouses to heat in the autumn & winter (not spring/summer). So getting a good deal on Economy 7 is what I am looking for, from half decent supplier who preferably won't go bust 6 months later! An impossible ask?   

tim_p

What exactly constitutes a ‘really good energy company’? What did the ones you listed get wrong?

matelodave

As tim says, what was wrong with them.
As far as I'm concerned - cheap is my main criterion and hopefully I wont have to get involved with their customer service if their billing is OK.
Going bust doesn't really cause me much of a problem because I do keep on top of my bills and by going cheap I've probably saved a couple of grand over the past five years

fly-catchers

tim_p said:

What exactly constitutes a ‘really good energy company’? What did the ones you listed get wrong?

Overcharging, ignoring actual meter readings, increasing the DD well beyond needed. Endless phone calls trying to get through to the right department. Claiming you owe them £650 and eventually admitting they owe you £65. And thats just off the top my head! Overall Tonik were the best despite their web site issues and of course eventually going bust! If Tonik had continued I would have stayed with them. The fact you have to e-mail the CEO of so many of these companies to get things sorted does not suggest a good energy company!  

es5595

I’m with Bristol Energy, although they have been bought by Together Energy so I’m not sure if they are taking new customers. 

My economy 7 tariff is fair, they offer fully “green” tariffs, an app that is easy to submit monthly readings on, and when I need to contact them I can get though my phone easily and get a credit refund within a few days. 

But then, until it all goes wrong, you don’t really know how they’ll handle it!

spot1034

If you'd asked me this question two weeks ago I'd have said Yorkshire Energy! 

fly-catchers

spot1034 said:

If you'd asked me this question two weeks ago I'd have said Yorkshire Energy! 

I had been looking at them!!

bagand96

fly-catchers said:

tim_p said:

What exactly constitutes a ‘really good energy company’? What did the ones you listed get wrong?

Overcharging, ignoring actual meter readings, increasing the DD well beyond needed. Endless phone calls trying to get through to the right department. Claiming you owe them £650 and eventually admitting they owe you £65. And thats just off the top my head! Overall Tonik were the best despite their web site issues and of course eventually going bust! If Tonik had continued I would have stayed with them. The fact you have to e-mail the CEO of so many of these companies to get things sorted does not suggest a good energy company!  

It was a bit more than "website issues" with Tonik.  They were good, up until they weren't good anymore.  But when it went bad, it went horrible - with the failed billing system migration.  Not being able to provide customers with bills for months on end, despite those customers entering their monthly meter readings, absolutely shambolic.

I left them last January and it took them until May to generate a final bill, despite having the closing reading in January.  Whilst Scottish Power are no beacon of customer service excellence, most of the problems they have sorting out the Tonik mess are down to the state the Tonik customer and billing systems were in.

Gerry1

es5595 said:

I’m with Bristol Energy, although they have been bought by Together Energy so I’m not sure if they are taking new customers.

Bristol Energy is bottom of the Citizens Advice ratings, and Together Energy is only three notches above them.

Malchester

Define what you mean as good and we can help. What are your main criteria? Good customer service? Price? Website? Accurate bills? No exit fees? Ease of contact? Etc etc?

fly-catchers

Good customer service? Yes Price? Yes Website? Not too bothered Accurate bills? Absolutely  No exit fees?  Preferably
 Ease of contact? Yes. Price & Good customer service top of my list.