Bulb Energy Reviews: Give your feedback on the energy supplier
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It's early days for me but it seems to me that the payment issue is more flexible with Bulb than with other suppliers. I like that you can change your DD without spending an age trying to get through to someone on the 'phone.beardiedog wrote: »You can change your DD in your account, you don't have to accept their figure, as long as you keep an eye on it and increase it if needed or top up.
There was an initial suggestion on my account page that I should increase my DD just a little to reflect higher winter usage. This did seem a little 'previous' as I still had to receive my first month's statement showing actual use! But it was only a suggestion and now that my actual use has shown to be less than the estimate, the suggestion has been removed. I would certainly be very disappointed if they made a unilateral decision to increase the DD even when the account is in credit, as for me, part of the attraction of Bulb is flexibility. On the website they do suggest that people build up credit in the summer to offset higher winter use. In fact this seems to be the preference of most suppliers. However I would have thought that, going by their own flexible ethos, this would be up to the customer. Personally I prefer either that my monthly payments average out the peaks and troughs of usage or that they can be adjusted seasonally - ie rather than building up a ton of credit in the Summer. That said, in my case I don't expect winter consumption to be hugely different as my main mode of heating is a multifuel stove and in the cooler months I offset occasional storage heater use by cooking on the stove wherever possible instead of using the electric cooker.0 -
@hulkm01
Please edit out the referral link as it is against the forum rules.
You need to read the forum rules.
Only place for referrals is the Referrals Board and again read the rules there before posting.0 -
I have dual tariff electricity, no gas. Signed up with Bulb December 2017 and correctly submitted meter readings regularly on a monthly basis. I also record and monitor usage on a spreadsheet.
On EVERY BILL Bulb transposed the day and nights readings resulting in some bills having negative usage (??) and some with horrendously high charges.
Every month I emailed Bulb to highlight their mistakes. Initially they insisted that I had entered the readings incorrectly. Then they blamed the error on their third party meter readings data collection company. Everyone except Bulb was at fault!
Each and every month they assured me that it would not happen again but every month the mistake was repeated and every month they needed to correct their bill.
I am no longer with Bulb!0 -
@hulkm01
Please edit out the referral link as it is against the forum rules.
You need to read the forum rules.
Only place for referrals is the Referrals Board and again read the rules there before posting.
Careful, gsmlnx.
You may need to re-aquaint yourself with the forum rules as I have done today, following a threat I will be banned for reporting a matter to MSE who, after their careful consideration, considered my assessment of a report I made was not correct.
Crazy, I know - last time I'll try to help the MSE staff keep this place under control
Anyway, according to the forum rules it says
https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/site/forum-faqs/How do I report an inappropriate, offensive, or racist post?
Report any post or Private Message (PM) which you feel is inappropriate, offensive, unlawful or otherwise in breach of these rules to [EMAIL="forumteam@moneysavingexpert.com"]forumteam@moneysavingexpert.com[/EMAIL].
...
Don't comment on reported posts in the thread.
Just report it and let the Forum Team deal with it, even if you feel justified to make a comment. If you do, action could be taken on your posts as well. Please don't quote the post, as this causes the Forum Team more work.
Breaking the rules can lead to a loss of posting priveliges.:eek:0 -
:question:
Several months ago somebody on Bulb forum said they could already access SMETS1 meters from several suppliers, and First:Utility was listed as one of those. I have meters from F:U installed in 2016 by Siemens.
Enrolment of SMETS1 meters into the DCC was planned to start by the end of this year, but Bulb have not answered a question as to what is in fact really happening.
I am also unsure whether a SMETS1 which has been enrolled with DCC will be able to send Solar PV readings, or whether I will have to wait for a new SMETS2 from Bulb to have this capability.
My over-riding need is to avoid having to read my meters, as I am disabled and cannot get to them, and my wife is now having some difficulty too.
Once this is clarified I can proceed with a switch!
Due to several reports and newspaper articles it is now a matter of public record and common knowledge that the update of SMETS1 meters planned to start by November 2018 has been delayed to 2019.
I wonder whether certain people are confusing the smart meter with the in-home display: My switch from SP Power to EDF has (probably miraculously considering Scottish Power's non-action) completed yesterday on December 10 and my SP dual fuel account is closed. But the in-home display connected to the Scottish Power Elster branded smart meters is still working although the old Scottish Power tariff is still registered.0 -
My Feedback
Did you switch go smoothly? Yes. Switched about eighteen months ago.
Have you had problems since? On closing the account yes. We used Bulb for a Flat we lived in. On moving out, we informed Bulb and submitted our Final meter reading. Since then they have continued to take our Direct Debit. Contacted about ten days ago and they said they would refund in about a week. No refund to date and they have taken another Direct Debit.
Is it easy to contact? Need to hunt down the email address at the bottom of the web page. Once you have that you generally get a reply in a day.0 -
I switched to Bulb a few months ago, after my previous "Big 6" supplier reduced my direct debits to virtually nothing over summer, then tried to claw the money back in big chunks in Autumn.
I chose Bulb because they were in the top 5 or 6 cheapest tariffs, and had numerous great reviews both here on MSE and elsewhere.
Switching was fine, no problem, except for some confusion over an out of date email address, which was my fault. Their email-based customer service was a bit slow, taking a couple of days to respond - though their website does warn it may take up to 5 days, so that's within the promised time frame. Online chat-based support was much quicker, and sorted the problem straightaway. The web portal is easy to use.
However...
Part way through month two (after the cooling-off period) they informed me that my direct debits would be increasing from £83 to £118 per month. This brought the payments up to roughly the same as I'd been paying my previous supplier, and so meant I'd completely wasted my time switching. Three of my friends later reported they'd had exactly the same issue with them.
Fortunately, Bulb's tariff has no exit fee, so I immediately switched back to one of the Big Six without penalty. (Not that an exit fee would have made any difference in this case. I was so annoyed at them that I wouldn't have stayed anyway.)
I'm still patiently waiting for the refund of December's payment from Bulb, 14 days after the switch completed, but no refund or communication has been forthcoming so far.
I have to say, I had high hopes when signing up with Bulb, but I'm left very disappointed.0 -
Bulb are no longer cheaper than the main competition for many. However their big advantage is their referral system.
You get £100 (or even more if you use one of those who give you cashback on this site's referral thread) just for signing up.
It you can get others to signup, you get more free money from Bulb.
You do need to factor that in when making comparisons.0 -
Yes I have to say I admit I made a mistake joining Bulb. If they're not careful they're going to struggle.
I switched over an Economy 7 tariff for my parents a few months back, and all of a sudden the DD's have increased massively. I know their prices rose.
However the main problem is that the Off Peak meter has suddenly disappeared from my account. And they're not sure why. Readings can no longer be given. Currently being investigated.
Their customer service isn't the best, so I'm not too happy at all right now. I think once Christmas is over I will just be switching them away again.
I think it's only fair to warn other MSE users that these guys aren't as good as I'd been led to believe.0 -
SpanishBlue wrote: »Bulb are no longer cheaper than the main competition for many. However their big advantage is their referral system..
To be fair, yes Bulb have dropped in the comparison tables but not really by much. In the Eastern region give or take a few pennies they are on a par with British Gas and Scottish Power. At this time two new companies top the table, Utility Point and Peoples Energy. However in larger companies which pay Warm Home Discount the table is almost static with Bulb attaining 10th in the table.
Comparison from Uswitch.0
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