Impact of cancelling Direct Debit with Bulb?

marr0g

Does anybody know if Bulb run a different tariff for people paying their bills up-front vs by direct debit? Or any other potential unseen impacts?

Am struggling to convince them to lower my payments a bit (I'm in the right about our usage, not them, so don't warn me about getting debt please), and they said I'd already put them down as far as the website would let me (true) and that was all they could do and they'd review in three months. (I've previously gotten my bills lowered below their minimum via email so this certainly didn't used to be true but who knows these days).

So I asked for a partial refund on my credit for the amount I wanted my bill reduced by x3 instead, and they're now trying to tell me that they need three months' meter readings in a row even to give me a partial credit refund (which is not what their website says). This partial refund would still leave me hundreds of £s in credit so again, please don't tell me it's a bad idea: I know my energy usage, just they have a terrible idea of it 'cause I don't submit meter readings very often.

So I've pushed back on their 'three months' bills' claim, but am considering what to do if they come back refusing. The other option I see is cancelling my Direct Debit and forcing them to send me a bill over the winter so that I can decide how much credit to use and manage my payments accordingly, because I'm definitely better at it than they are. I'd probably reinstate the direct debit later in the spring.

I know that at least in the past some energy companies penalised you for running bill-to-bill instead of on DD, but I can find no evidence that Bulb does now or ever did. Can anybody give me insights into the potential impact of cancelling my DD and running bill-to-bill in winter with Bulb specifically? Does anybody know? I've asked them directly but so far the support person has ignored the question.

Again, just to be clear: I know why Direct Debit is a good way to pay a lot of the time, and I know about building credit up over the year to pay for higher winter usage. I'm asking specifically about how cancelling it might impact my tariff - or I suppose any other hidden impacts like credit rating (assume for the sake of the argument that I will NOT being going into debt here).

Thanks in advance.

t0rt0ise

Bulb charge the same for all payment methods but they did threaten me with an admin charge if I cancelled the DD. Whether they would actually have done so I don't know. In the end I opted to pay with variable DD where they took the whole bill amount each month. I've recently left them and moved to Octopus and pay the same way with them. It doesn't suit everyone but does suit me.

Edit to add: you do have to give regular monthly meter reads though.

EssexHebridean

In fairness, if you're not giving them meter readings regularly, they are always going to struggle to accurately work out your annual use, aren't they!  It's a bit like not feeding a child and then complaining when they say they're hungry that they're being unreasonable because you fed them last week.... 

It sounds like you'd be a good candidate for a smart meter installation - that would then remove the need for you to give readings, the supplier would be able to see accurately what you are using, and the issues with the DD amount should then be at least reduced, if not go away entirely...

In the first instance though, just give your readings monthly - most suppliers actually send you a message or an email now prompting it and that will start to have an impact relatively soon. 

marr0g

Hi EssexHebridean, I'm aware that my irregular meter readings don't give them an accurate picture of my usage, but I don't care. I also don't want a smart meter (the installation would be very complex in my house). I want to reduce my payments _from now_, not in three months' time, and given my enormous credit and the fact they estimated I'd used over £200 of energy last month and I'd actually used £100, from a discretionary perspective it's a perfectly reasonable request, particularly given that looking at my historical payments shows that I always make top-up payments if margins seem slim. This is somebody not exercising common sense when looking at my account, and I don't care for it.

So my question is whether I'm likely to be penalised for cancelling my Direct Debit and insisting they send me a bill.

marr0g

t0rt0ise said:

Bulb charge the same for all payment methods but they did threaten me with an admin charge if I cancelled the DD. Whether they would actually have done so I don't know. In the end I opted to pay with variable DD where they took the whole bill amount each month. I've recently left them and moved to Octopus and pay the same way with them. It doesn't suit everyone but does suit me.

Edit to add: you do have to give regular monthly meter reads though.

Thanks, this is useful to know. I'd actually like to move to Octopus before they buy Bulb anyway just for the referral cash, as I believe their tariffs are functionally identical, but their website currently insists I _phone_ them because I won't save money by switching which, ugh. Also I have an enormous amount of credit with Bulb right now and I worry they'll take ages to sort it out and probably find ways to take some off me as energy companies always seem to when you move.

dunstonh

Does anybody know if Bulb run a different tariff for people paying their bills up-front vs by direct debit? Or any other potential unseen impacts?

Bulb charge in advance, not arrears.  So, you always need a bit more on account with bulb.

So I asked for a partial refund on my credit for the amount I wanted my bill reduced by x3 instead, and they're now trying to tell me that they need three months' meter readings in a row even to give me a partial credit refund (which is not what their website says). This partial refund would still leave me hundreds of £s in credit so again, please don't tell me it's a bad idea: I know my energy usage, just they have a terrible idea of it 'cause I don't submit meter readings very often.

The fact they are asking for meter readings suggests that they have not been getting meter readings from you.   Those that provide meter readings more regularly (i.e. once a month) tend to find bulb is more flexible as they can see exactly what you have used each month.      Those that rely on estimates and occasional ad-hoc meter readings make it harder to see the pattern of use and will find it more of a struggle to persuade them to reduce the figure.

I'm aware that my irregular meter readings don't give them an accurate picture of my usage, but I don't care. 

You choice to not give an accurate picture of your use is the cause of your problem.

 I want to reduce my payments _from now_, not in three months' time, and given my enormous credit and the fact they estimated I'd used over £200 of energy last month and I'd actually used £100, from a discretionary perspective it's a perfectly reasonable request,

There is nothing reasonable about your request.  You are asking them to take a leap of faith as there is no evidence of your real use.

This is somebody not exercising common sense when looking at my account, and I don't care for it.

They are looking at your account and see a bunch of estimates.   They potentially perceive you as not caring and lacking common sense because you don't give meter readings.  It works both ways.

So my question is whether I'm likely to be penalised for cancelling my Direct Debit and insisting they send me a bill.

yes.

marr0g

@dunstonh
This is a ticking off I neither invited nor need AND you've answered my question incorrectly I didn't realise this was the "inaccurate information and smug lectures" forum. Though looking back at the last time I asked for help on here it looks like I should've known better.

The bit you quoted - which I've read, as it's on their website therefore the first place I looked - says 'if you cancel your direct debit and stop making payments', and is a charge for going into arrears and then missing payments. I will be doing neither of those things. Indeed in my original post I said:

"assume for the sake of the argument that I will NOT being going into debt here"

Because I won't. I am running an ENORMOUS amount of credit in my account - over two bill's worth - which I'm actually fine with. I just don't want to run up even more.

My request for a refund meets all Bulb's own stated criteria on their website, which says nothing about three consecutive readings: only about 'a recent reading', which they have, so by their own standards there's no leap of faith involved - I have lots of credit now and would have lots after.

Anybody else who plans on lecturing me for not giving regular meter readings, please save your fingers as I'm not interested. I was interested in whether there is a practical penalty for cancelling my Direct Debit. That was my question.

That said it's hopefully irrelevant now, as I called them on the phone and the guy I spoke to was perfectly happy to process my entirely reasonable request for £150 credit refund on my account - we'll see if it runs into any trouble during processing but he was able to lodge the request, which the person I was emailing with claimed to be unable to do. Assume they must either be running on a different admin system or just lying to me out of pettiness.

(As a total aside I loathe the fact that in this day and age you still need to phone people to get decent customer service; it's so discriminatory. I don't mind phonecalls but lots of people really struggle with them.)

dunstonh

This is a ticking off I neither invited nor need 

You invite it the minute you post on a discussion forum.

marr0g

dunstonh said:

This is a ticking off I neither invited nor need 

You invite it the minute you post on a discussion forum.

Then I guess this is a trashy, rude, bad discussion forum to which I will not return. Fortunately I've found a very knowledgeable Facebook group where not a single commenter has opted to take me to task for my bad meter reading hygiene. I won't let the door hit me on the way out.

PS: I note you had nothing to say about the fact that advice you gave me was dead wrong, also.

dunstonh

PS: I note you had nothing to say about the fact that advice you gave me was dead wrong, also.

The only advice I gave was to give meter readings.  Something you seem allergic to.     The other bit was a copy and paste straight from bulb's website.  

 won't let the door hit me on the way out.

Cheerio

EssexHebridean

dunstonh said:

They are looking at your account and see a bunch of estimates.   They potentially perceive you as not caring and lacking common sense because you don't give meter readings.  It works both ways.

In fairness, they're not wrong are they... 

marr0g said:

Hi EssexHebridean, I'm aware that my irregular meter readings don't give them an accurate picture of my usage, but I don't care.

The thing about public forums is that they are for the benefit of more people than just the OP asking the question. So in the case of this thread, matters covered include how bulb deal with non-DD payments,  that they are wrongly estimating use on an account, and then in the advice given, the reason why those incorrect estimates are being given, and how someone could go about solving the problems.  Down the line that may well be helpful to someone else in a similar position - ergo "it's not all about you" when you post a thread here!  

In the current climate, it's rare for people to be in a fortunate enough position to "not care" that the estimates of what they will be expected to pay for their energy use are wildly inaccurate - most people posting on here are in a position where pennies need to be watched, and as a general rule they also understand that if there are things they can do themselves to ensure that things are kept accurate, it makes a lot of sense to do that.  And it also makes a lot of sense that when we, as regular posters on the boards see a situation in which we can make helpful suggestions as to how the OP might improve their situation, we do so.