Solarplicity: Add your feedback

I transferred to Solarplicity in December, I saw a lot of awful reviews on TrustPilot, but most of the issues seemed to be to do with transfer and the IT system.

If I were the IT Director/Manager of Solarplicity I would make sure my mortgage payments had payment protection insurance!

Pro's of signup were:

· No Standing Charge
· Cheaper energy rates than old supplier
· £21 Dual Fuel Discount
· No Cancellation fee*
· Optional Direct Debits
· Optional Quarterly or Monthly Billing
· Optional Paper bills
· Renewable Energy
· Free LED light bulbs

So it is only if any of these are not delivered that I will be annoyed enough to leave.

The Cons of sign up are

· £21 Dual Fuel Discount is only for first year
· They reserve right to charge you £30 for bulbs if you leave in first year
· Teething problems with IT system and old rates.

I am all about business processes and I was able to spot some errors in their processes, a lot of assuming things are done, depending on 3rd parties as well as an incomplete IT system that must be costing them a fortune due to mistakes.

I was able to keep on top of them about the meter readings, their welcome pack suggests you can do this online, but that part of the portal was not active. I called them up numerous times (always quick for me but others seem to have issues) expecting the portal to be updated but the staff told me that at the moment they have to take those reading manually, they offered to do it via phone or email.

I was reluctant to do it over the phone as I wanted written evidence, in the end I did both and asked for an email to confirm which I got (it takes them 72 hours to respond to emails).

Apparently under OFGEM rules the procedure is that you have a cooling off period so they do not even start the transfer process till after that, then there is a window of six days where they can use your meter reading, otherwise old supplier may issue an estimated bill or refuse to send final bill till meter is read. SO IT IS IN YOUR HANDS TO MAKE THIS HAPPEN

This seems to be an industry procedure issue, I reckon it would be easier if you told new supplier you want to move and give them the rates there and then (on transfer) or if you give the old supplier the rates and they pass them onto the new supplier.

Solarplicity said in Welcome pack not to provide meter readings till they told me to in a separate email, that email never came.

However, I was aware of issues (from TrustPilot) and processes (from Welcome letter and Customer Services) I called them to chase email. At first I was too early, but in January I was able to give them the readings and soon got bills from old supplier which I duly paid.

There have been some changes to the Portal since I signed up but thus far I have not had a bill or email requesting meter readings, I expect these will come in the coming weeks as account went active in January.

I have not had the free LED light bulbs because they charge you for these if you leave.

TBH I agree with others that the online quote taking 11% off is a bit dodgy, first off light as a percentage of energy, but they also use the same percentage for a one bed flat as they do for a 4 bed house (I did a quote for a family friend). I already use energy saving light bulbs at 9w LED's are 4w to 7w so a bit thin, especially as they only provide a limited number of bulbs. None of this bothered me as the LED bulbs were not a big factor in my buying decision, I just took the raw charges and put them in my own spreadsheet comparing old.

I do think it is a bit mean to only give the dual fuel discount in year one, I would rather see this scrapped and the unit rate reduced.

It is also a bit naughty to not be upfront about the LED bulb chargeback £30 if you leave within a year, you only see this after signing up on the page in the portal where you order your bulbs and on the front of site they say there is no cancellation charge in their quote.

They are an untrusting lot, you ask for the number of bulbs you need based on kWh or home size, but say “the amount of bulbs you receive is based on your energy consumption, and our team will verify your energy usage and dispatch the correct amount of bulbs to your delivery address.”

I noticed that I would be better off quoting property size than kWh, I also found it grossly unfair to charge back £30 to all consumers regardless of their property size. The price of LED bulbs varies but I have seen them at £4 in ALDI and Tesco. They must be getting them at trade price so about £2.

I bed flat - 7 Bulbs £28
2 bed flat/1 Bed House - 8 Bulbs £32
3 bed flat/2 Bed House - 10 Bulbs £40
3 bed flat Large/3 Bed House - 12 Bulbs £48
4 bed flat /3 Bed House Large- 14 Bulbs £56
4 Bed House Small - 16 Bulbs £64
4 bed flat / 4 bed House Large- 18 Bulbs £72
5 bed House /4 Bed House Large- 20 Bulbs £80
5 bed House Large- 22 Bulbs £88

So why should they charge people who have 5 bulbs based on kWh £30 when someone in 5 bed house should be paying £88, obviously they are averaging out based on their trade price but why should those that get less subsidise those that benefit more then they do?

They also say “We don’t supply to all fixtures/ fittings” so you have no guarantee they will even fit, I guess this is an issue with LED’s more than Solarplicity and a trip to eBay may find an adapter of sorts.

It is strange that this site suggests that they accept monthly payment only, when signing up I called and verified they would happy to bill quarterly and for me to pay on presentation of bill. Of course I still have yet to receive a bill or a request to provide meter readings so for now I just transfer by budgeted amount to my savings account.

Based on Trustpilot and my own experiences it really seems they are a bit flakey on informing old supplier ( I think they may be using a 3rd party) and they have some flaws in their scheduled emails as well as their portal, but thus far I am fine with them (famous last words!)

Yes I read that, but reading your posts it seems it was the 3rd party "data" company mostly at fault. What I do not understand is the problems people seem to have getting through to their customer services, I have called them a dozen times and never had an issue.

They do say that emails take 3 days to reply.

I do not mind a poorer service as long as my main needs are met, I will never pay by Direct Debit after the way other Energy companies help themselves to my money, I heard on R4 that they have billions of our money. They have had to regulate them so they inform customers after previous attempts failed. One guy was owed £3k and they STILL wanted to take monthly payments, it then took him 28 day to get his £3k back.

I am a bit old fashioned, I want a bill for what I have actually used and I will pay it on presentation of the bill.

Solarplicity do need to get their act together in the issues I have highlighted, it must be costing them a fortune.

I hope your new supplier works out for you