What do you rate your energy supplier out of 10

wild666

My original supplier was British Gas and I rate them as 7/10 but they didn't have the problems that are being reported now.
When I moved from OFTM in December 2018 they wouldn't accept my final meter reading, given to them at 23:55 on the final day, I would rate them 0/10. It took 8 months to get a final bill for £5.80. 
Bulb my supplier after OFTM I rated as 9/10 I had no problems with them but my DD was way higher than my actual usage and I built up a £900 credit with them by the time I left them. 
Avro again I had no problems I rated them at 8/10 as again I built up a credit but only £173 by the time they went bust.
Octopus my supplier since Avro went under I rate as 10/10 I've had no problems and have built up £300 in credit since being with them due to the £66/67 payments that was slightly more than my usage but I have being putting in £30 per month on top of the monthly payment as recently my monthly bills have being £70 plus so the extra £30 is keeping my credit at around £300. Once the payments stop and the credit runs down I will have to increase my DD amount or make additional payments each month to stop the account going into a debit. 
 

SpanishBlue

New Octopus customer of 2 weeks. 8/10 so far due to a few small issues including not taking my DD yet despite 2 dates have come and gone and an initial meter reading issue, but otherwise the vibes do feel good.

Previous suppliers So Energy 7/10, Bulb 9/10, Eon, 6/10 and British Gas 4/10.

charybdis26

Octopus 10/10 - for accurate and regular (monthly) billing. Their phone app keeps me fully up to date with my account status. It shouldn't be a surprise in this day and age to find a company performing to their customers' complete satisfaction - but it is!

luvchocolate

Mstty said:

luvchocolate said:

Shell 9/10

A shame for you if they close up shop.

Who would be your preferred supplier to move to. Have you already got someone in mind or will this thread help you with other people's opinions.

Probably Octopus 

Spoonie_Turtle

marlot said:

Octopus 10/10.  By far the best supplier I've been with.

They have a decent billing system which allows huge flexibility.  And a strong customer focus which means that they are responsive.  The combination allows them to come up with new products (eg. tracker) when others are stuck in a rut.  They also seem to have a strong ethical bias.

They engage properly on twitter, responsive on email too.

I echo all of this, couldn't have said it better.

The only difference is that for recommendation purposes I might have give them 9.5/10, for being a bit slow to communicate non-standard price changes - I know why that is (they want to get it right, and with more complex tariffs that takes longer) and it was not a problem for me, but for someone else less engaged with what's going on the lack of any information, even just 'we're working on it' for a while could have been really worrying.  The time it took to hear how the EPG would affect Tracker was quite tense for me even though I had full faith they would do their best for us the customers; if we had been in tighter financial straits and/or I was less engaged, or didn't have the same trust in them, it could have been a more difficult time.  So I guess just something to be aware of if recommending them to normies who are less engaged with energy in general.

I do have to caveat this by saying we haven't actually had any problems we needed them to resolve, but: from reading other experiences about all different suppliers (even the worse ones with Octopus on Twitter) I think they are overall one of, if not THE best supplier.  Their CEO actually engages with customers personally and that lead from the top is reflected in the customer service and ethos of the rest of the company.

pearl123

Deleted_User said:

I'm with Octopus - definitely 10/10.

Octopus is Which magazines top supplier 2023. They're a great company. 

ariarnia

The_Green_Hornet said:

Officer_Dibble said:

The_Green_Hornet said:

Basically, I don't experience problems with energy suppliers.

You're either remarkably forgiving or very lucky indeed. Having being moved from Goto (8/10) to Shell (6/10) then chosen Octopus (9/10) there have been marked differences in web interfaces and customer service. Shell were very slow to do anything and seemed to have more people enjoying their days "working" from home than actually working.

Maybe what some people regard as a major issue I see as a minor inconvenience. Also, as I tend to proactively manage my utility accounts by keeping my own records and submitting regular meter readings either at the end of the month or when the tariff changes, I don't have any surprises when the statements arrive.

What does surprise me reading the comments on this forum is how often some people do contact customer services. Since being moved to EDF in December 2021 I have contacted them once to move onto variable direct debit. With some previous suppliers I haven't needed to contact them at all during the contract.

We all have different experiences I suppose. Whether it is luck, who knows.

for us i wouldn't say its major issues but we notice little things because we look at our bills and try to make sure we understand them. 

other than the eon final bill problem (which i have admitted we caused in part by not giving regular readings for a while when we were a bit disrupted by the pandemic) the only other times that have come to mind are things like when we had our electric smart meter installed we had to contact ovo because the closing meter reading didn't match the card the engineer left (easy typo). which was sorted by sending them a quick picture of the card.  things i hope you would agree isnt a big issue but does need sorting?

Mstty

dealyboy said:

Hi OP @Mstty ...

Firstly let me say thank you, I think this is an interesting thread and will be useful for deciding where to go next.

I, like you, am ex Symbio with E.On Next but I would only give them 2/10. Their systems are bad and show I'm both on an E7 tariff and a single rate tariff depending on where I look. Their customer service is appalling by e-mail or phone and they don't understand the basics and contradict each other and themselves (I have communicated with about half a dozen in the past 3 weeks), they don't even understand my question. They seem to have two different complaint or escalation processes dependent on whether you look at the bill or the website, neither of which work.

It is only because of my tenacity that I can survive with them.

What you are experiencing appears to be the reason they are on the naughty step with Ofgem.

Completely agree with the interactions when contact us made they do not appear to know the very basics of energy supply and customer queries.

rp1974

I'm an Eon Next customer having transferred when Symbio folded,other than initial problems setting up and accessing my online account probably rank them 9/10.
That said,I send monthly readings,read my bills and check that Direct Debits have been paid so dont really need to be contacting customer services,that'd be wasting their time and mine.
Whilst there's little real point switching at present,for many,why stay with a supplier your unhappy with?,if your not content leave.
Interestingly from reading comments on the forum,have many people from Symbio remained with Eon?.

Coffeekup

The_Green_Hornet said:

Current suppliers:

EDF 10/10
Green Energy UK 10/10

Previous suppliers:

ZOG Energy 10/10
Eon Next 10/10

Basically, I don't experience problems with energy suppliers.

I'm with you on this, excluding the last 18 months for the last 15 years I've changed supplier every year fixing for the best deals at the time.
I've been with eon, n power, Scottish power British gas, EDF, shell and a few of the ones that went under recently. Never had any issues changing supplier's, with bills, meter reading and phone calls if I needed to contact them. So 9/10 for all of the above.
However I give regular monthly readings which is basically all they need to charge you correctly for your use and you have no nasty surprises.

Except Yorkshire energy they kept putting my direct debit up and up every couple of months and by the time April hit I was £518 in credit. I called them on numerous occasions asking for a refund of the money, all I got was "I'll let the manager know", "we've sent you a cheque", " we've changed your direct debit", "you can't speak with the manager they are not in or are busy now". 
I couldn't change the direct debit on their website like I could on the other I first mentioned, so I was stuck being charger £79 direct debit and using £30-40 a month in fuel. When I eventually left them changing to shell I had a refund for £780. I'd rate these 1/10 if there were still around I'd actively boycott them.