Octopus Energy takes on Avro customers

LippyDoodle

I never had any reminder email from Avro and my d/d went out as usual on the 1st. 

LippyDoodle

xlnc99 said:

niktheguru said:

xlnc99 said:

niktheguru said:

£700 credit!! you need to make sure you're not giving companies so much of your money at any one time! No wonder you're trying to shave 1-2p off each kwh energy!

Yes the prices shouldn't increase till april, saying that there are no exit fees, so you can leave whenever you want.

Yes - we got a great deal with Avro in 2019 only because we were getting ripped off previously with one of the big six (my mistake). So really it seems like alot of credit but its not, its just because we were overpaying in previous years until i got a grip of the prices. Then 2020 renewed with avro albeit slightly higher but still a good price.

Its going to be a nightmare to leave in winter and try to find a good company, id rather wait it out until feb/march

but i am afraid they may go up quite a lot by then - i hope not

Your previous companies billing is completely irrelevant in you building up a massive credit with Avro. You will have given them your annual consumption on joining (if you didn’t that’s part of the problem) upon seeing your credit go past say £150 you should have clocked this and asked for a direct debit reduction.

how much energy do you use a year in kWh?
if your bills are up to date and your meter readings are accurate I would suggest you reduce your direct debit with octopus down to £10 a month (which you can do totally online with octopus) and them keep a close eye on you bill every month. Let your existing credit get used up until it comes to around £100 and then increase your direct debit back up to the necessary level (you will know what this is by seeing how much you are spending each month whilst it’s reducing your current level)its best to keep your account in slight credit but as close to break even as possible.

Good idea - i will reduce the DD to £50 per month until the credit runs out

I never ask for a reduction, that way I know I'm covered over the winter months. What ever credit I'm in I have back at the end of my contract. 

deefadog

badger09 said:

Has anyone else received the standard monthly reminder from Avro to input meter readings?

Mine are due 7th, but I was surprised to receive anything at all from Avro.

I've posted readings from 26th Sept on both the original AVRO site & through link provided by Octopus

Yes, i had one, but the link was dead, the email from Octopus had a link to submit the final reading which seems to have worked.

janbeno

deefadog said:

badger09 said:

Has anyone else received the standard monthly reminder from Avro to input meter readings?

Mine are due 7th, but I was surprised to receive anything at all from Avro.

I've posted readings from 26th Sept on both the original AVRO site & through link provided by Octopus

Yes, i had one, but the link was dead, the email from Octopus had a link to submit the final reading which seems to have worked.

I received my reminder this morning. My meter read date is 8th. I will submit my reading on the link from Octopus. It keeps everything straight, hopefully leading to a correct monthly DD?

loveabargain13

Was surprised to see an email from Avro. Not heard from anyone as we were mid switch but had paid an advance D/debit to Avro prior to starting with them.

oliverbrown

Customers in mid-switch to Avro at the time of their collapse have still not had any emails. Perhaps it is a data protection issue.

As my switch to Avro completed a few days ago I will hopefully finally hear from Octopus soon.

janbeno

Just thought I'd post this as it's all really relevant:

Just received from Energy Supermarket.com:
"The energy market is in extreme crisis. Wholesale gas prices – which firms pay – have risen fivefold in the last year. Much of the UK’s electricity is generated by gas too. This means both gas and electricity prices for consumers have rocketed to previously unimaginable levels.

For energy switching the situation is catastrophic. Nine energy firms, with nearly two million customers between them, have gone bust, and more are almost certain to follow (so I’d urge everyone to download your bill, and screengrab your credit so you’ve got a record). There are no decent tariffs left to switch to – in fact, there are very few tariffs for new customers at all.

On the back of this, I’ve spoken with the team and asked them to temporarily change the way that we operate Cheap Energy Club, and I wanted to let you know what we’re doing.I’ve asked the team to pause sending you energy alerts for now.

You chose for us to let you know via email when there are cheap tariffs you can switch to. These don’t exist at the moment. So we simply won’t be sending you any alerts, though if you’re on a fixed deal right now, we will let you know when your tariff is about to end, and that you’re being moved to a standard price-capped tariff.

Here are the key need-to-knows to explain why:
 There are no switchable deals meaningfully cheaper than the price cap. We are in the perverse situation where there is nothing meaningfully cheaper than the default price you go to when a deal ends (or if you've never switched). Even though the regulator’s price cap jumped by 12% on Friday 1 October, it is still set substantially below the current cost price of energy – the main reason so many firms are going bust.If / when you come off a fix, you will pay a lot more. There’s no getting away from this I’m afraid. Many coming off cheap fixes will find themselves paying up to 50% more than they were – when they move to the price cap – but there is currently no solution. If you do want to fix you’ll pay even more as the current cheapest fix is 30% higher than the price cap, so for most the premium isn’t worth it.Consider the price cap a ‘six-month fix’. The new price cap rate is locked in until 1 April 2022, and it will almost certainly rise substantially again then (see why in price cap FAQs). So for the moment consider it a six-month fix, at the market’s cheapest available rate, which you can leave penalty-free at any time."

wiseonesomeofthetime

UPDATE 11AM TUESDAY 5 OCTOBER

Thank you for your continuing patience. We are now starting to set up Octopus accounts for you. Any credit balance is protected and will be added to your Octopus Energy account but we have not started moving any balances over to our systems yet - we are hoping this will start to happen over the next week or so, and we will be in contact with you directly with more information, and to confirm the rates you will be paying with us.

The prices Avro were charging were unsustainable, which is why they went out of business. Your Avro tariff came to an end on 26th September - the point the company ceased trading. Customers will be moved onto our Flexible Octopus tariff, which is currently £10 under the price cap. This is currently cheaper than anything else available from any other large supplier and also cheaper than the fixed prices we're currently offering new customers on our website.

For most people however,, this is an increase, and we are sorry about that. We know how hard it is when prices rise. Wholesale costs, which make up 50% of your bill, are up over 300% in the last year - meaning new tariffs are more expensive across the board.

Source: https://octopus.energy/avro/

oliverbrown

Yesterday's update from Octopus confirmed they are now in possession of the email addresses of people who were mid-switch to Avro at the time of their collapse. So we should finally be hearing from Octopus soon.

icsys

I have to say... was a little worried at the lack of correspondence from Octopus other than the initial email from 'Greg' sent on the 26th September and one from 'Jon' sent on the 29th September, since then I have had nothing further.
But after reviewing the information posted on the Avro information page  https://octopus.energy/avro/  I have  some assurance as it is pretty comprehensive.

Having suffered at the hands of British Gas when Flow went pop, (I transferred to Avro at  the earliest opportunity), I'm hoping the above is a sign of what to expect from this company in terms of transparency and customer service.

I guess now its a matter of waiting for the 'final bill' email to confirm the Octopus account has been opened.