Energy Company Suggestions - see my criteria

NotArobot24

Hi all

I have a visual impairment and am disabled which affects my access to some tech,  I try to be as independent as possible and get very frustrated when things do not wokr so please bear with me.

I am on the register with my current company.

Apps are not an option for me as very few of the aids I use work well. My carer and a IT helper  enable me to access sites if there are issues.

I am looking for an energy company that is disability friendly and can meet my requirements, which I think are very reasonable.  Some of the companies I have dealt with including my current supplier have been incredibly insensitive with staff humiliating me rather than trying to help me.

I am on a very low income I can't afford budget DD's as regardless of company I end up in a loop of having it increased because computer says no and then have to spend what little time I have calling them to change it. I don't like nasty surprises, so I keep my usage down rather than have big bills.

Really I want a set and forget solution, i.e. once I get the account working all I need to do is provide my reads once a month and all the rest happens automatically according to my requirements.

These are my requirements:

1. I want a direct debit that some companies call flexible or variable, where I pay the outstanding amount in full every month to avoid scary bills.

2. I want my variable direct debit to go out about a week before the end of the month as I have several other payments going out earlier in the month.

3. I want accurate bills based on the reads I provide, i.e. no estimated bills.

4. I want my bills to run from the first of the month to the end of the month regardless of the number of days, i.e. 1st to 31st or 1st to 29th or 1st to 30th or 1st to 28th..

5. I need prices to be competitive,I am a low energy user but not so low that complex schemes work for me.  So just four rates for electric and gas usage and standing charge.

6. I want to be able to talk to the company with UK based call staff (so that they are able to carry out all the potential tasks).

7. I do not want a Smart Meter under any circumstances, not because of some phobia but simply because they lack the control I seek (previous suppliers have confirmed this).

8. Ideally, I want to be able to escalate matters and be able to call a manager or back office staff if there is an issue that I can't resolve with call centre staff.

That is about it, I think these are reasonable requirements.  Please let me know who you would recommend that can meet the above requirements.

Thanks in advance.

molerat

2 and 4 are incompatible, dd will be taken a couple of weeks after billing.

You are not going to get much choice on 7 going forward so why not accept the change now but currently I don't believe any supplier insists on a smart meter for their standard variable tariff.

8 is unlikely, you generally can't get past front line call centre staff on the phone with any supplier.

I am afraid you are asking for too much.

Saver52

I don't know of any energy companies who provide variable monthly direct debits, clearing your balance each month.  However, as a pensioner on a low income I have found Octopus really helpful.  They do not insist on you having a smart meter. You can contact them directly by phone and the customer services staff are extremely helpful and friendly. They initially estimate your annual usage and divide by 12 so you pay the same, winter and summer months.  If you build up an excess of credit you can choose to have it repaid to you or reduce your monthly payments. They remind you by e mail each month to send in your meter readings. I always send mine on the last day of each month so never get estimated bills. They then send you an acknowledgement of receipt initially, and within a couple of days e mail you a statement of your usage that month and how much credit or debit you are in. They are the best outfit I have ever used.

BarelySentientAI

NotArobot24 said:

1. I want a direct debit that some companies call flexible or variable, where I pay the outstanding amount in full every month to avoid scary bills.

Less and less suppliers offer this.  My guess is that all will stop soon.

NotArobot24 said:

2. I want my variable direct debit to go out about a week before the end of the month as I have several other payments going out earlier in the month.

If you give readings in the middle of the month, the usual billing cycle for those who do variable DD would do this.

NotArobot24 said:

3. I want accurate bills based on the reads I provide, i.e. no estimated bills.

Standard practice if the supplier receives meter readings.  If they don't, you will get estimated bills.  No supplier is much different from another in how well this works.  Sometimes you will get an estimated bill, and sometimes you will have an estimated reading if the tariff changes in the middle of a bill unless you are willing to have multiple bills in a month (which goes against your requirement 4).

NotArobot24 said:

4. I want my bills to run from the first of the month to the end of the month regardless of the number of days, i.e. 1st to 31st or 1st to 29th or 1st to 30th or 1st to 28th..

If you want to pay at the end of the month, as per requirement 2, this is unlikely to work.  Otherwise, give a reading on the 1st of every month and this is what will happen (apart from occasional bumps like tariff changes).

NotArobot24 said:

5. I need prices to be competitive,I am a low energy user but not so low that complex schemes work for me.  So just four rates for electric and gas usage and standing charge.

All single rate tariffs apart from Octopus beta tariffs.

NotArobot24 said:

6. I want to be able to talk to the company with UK based call staff (so that they are able to carry out all the potential tasks).

Most suppliers have at least some UK-based call staff.  No call centre staff, regardless of geographic location, can "carry out all the potential tasks".

NotArobot24 said:

7. I do not want a Smart Meter under any circumstances, not because of some phobia but simply because they lack the control I seek (previous suppliers have confirmed this).

You cannot overrule the government on this point.  Suppliers are required to fit smart meters under almost all circumstances.  You will end up with one.

NotArobot24 said:

8. Ideally, I want to be able to escalate matters and be able to call a manager or back office staff if there is an issue that I can't resolve with call centre staff.

You cannot have a direct line to managers or back office staff.  There is an escalation and complaints process for all suppliers that you can follow, with the addition of whatever support is required for your disability up to and including vulnerable customer support teams.

NotArobot24 said:

That is about it, I think these are reasonable requirements.  Please let me know who you would recommend that can meet the above requirements.

No supplier can meet all your requirements as stated.  They are not reasonable requirements for a mass-market customer service business.

NotArobot24

molerat said:

2 and 4 are incompatible, dd will be taken a couple of weeks after billing.

You are not going to get much choice on 7 going forward so why not accept the change now but currently I don't believe any supplier insists on a smart meter for their standard variable tariff.

8 is unlikely, you generally can't get past front line call centre staff on the phone with any supplier.

I am afraid you are asking for too much.

Gosh I didn't expect to be attacked like this.

2 and 4 are entirely compatible but perhaps I have not explained it properly.

For example

I take a read for the period 1st to 31st July.

I provide the read to the energy company manually and they take the DD on my preferred date.

My current supplier does this but my issue with them is they keep issuing faulty bills, this month it has been 5 bills, I have no idea what amount of DD they will actually take.  A few months ago they took £7 and then hit me with a bigger bill the next month.

On 7 please don't tell me to take something that works against my disability, it is my decision please respect that decision.  I asked for a supplier not to be told what to do or not do.

On 8 I guess you may be right but I would not need to ever talk to anyone if the company just did what they said they were going to do.

Gerry1

Octopus offer Monthly Variable Direct Debit and have good customer service so they should definitely be your first choice. Their app is brilliant.  I doubt that you'll find anyone that's better.

Many other suppliers also offer MVDD including British Gas (at least for those who were on their old billing system), but BG's customer service is dire.

Qyburn

NotArobot24 said:

2 and 4 are entirely compatible but perhaps I have not explained it properly.

For example

I take a read for the period 1st to 31st July.

I provide the read to the energy company manually and they take the DD on my preferred date.

Octopus will nearly do this.

If you give the meter reading on the 1st, they will treat that as midnight the day before, ie the end of the month. That gives a bill for each whole calendar month no matter how many days in the month. That is what I wanted as well. 

What you can't do is set the DD date independently, submitting the meter reading triggers creation of the bill and the DD is then set up for round about the 17th. 

debitcardmayhem

NotArobot24 said:

On 7 please don't tell me to take something that works against my disability, it is my decision please respect that decision.  I asked for a supplier not to be told what to do or not do.

Not wishing to attack you or your abilities, at some stage you will be forced to take a smart meter, but I cannot understand why it works against your disability. If you find a company that works with the rest of your requirements , excepting 8, Octopus springs to my mind they were very sympathetic to me whilst in hospital for 14 weeks. A smart meter will allow them to meet most of your requirements re billing, and you can always supply them with manual readings from the meter. 
I don’t see anyone attacking you above , but that’s my opinion.

Qyburn

NotArobot24 said:

7. I do not want a Smart Meter under any circumstances, not because of some phobia but simply because they lack the control I seek (previous suppliers have confirmed this).

Don't bite my head off, but what control do you currently have, which you don't think you'll have with a smart meter?

MP1995

@Notarobot24

You have two options if you believe you are being bullied in responses to your thread.

Use the Report function under the replies you believe to be breaking forum rules or edit your profile and add the forum members that you consider to be bullying you to the ignore list.

Back to your questions the best most energy companies can offer you is to put you ont he priority list and you can discuss with them your specific disability needs once you are on that list.

Variable whole month direct debits are available through octopus, I mention octopus as JIam with them, however even our varhable DD has stopped being taken so it's no guarantee, the best thing is though. I have found Octopus are slowly becoming a bit like all other energy companies except a few perks.

Octopus used to work in teams of 10 for customer service and I found them very responsive pn "X", however since they have expanded I cannot confirm or deny what they are up to now.

Ultimately energy companies are much of a muchness, with Octopus leading the pack, so maybe give them a try.

Don't forget to contact friends or families for a referral code as they will get £50 and so will you. Always seek out friends and family that are Octopus customers first.

Phoenix72

Nobody is attacking you, nobody is being rude.

It's quite simple, your 8 stipulations do not exist.

Octopus probably best of an average bunch but like others they aren't as good as they were.