Energy companies so-called 'estimated use'

Change to Bulb. No estimates, everything’s plain and clear and I don’t see them as unethical bloody criminals, which Scottish Power are.
You give Bulb your meter readings, they tell you how much you’ve used and what it’s cost. My monthly payment is rising but that’s the fault of the 7 month winter which looks set to continue until mid-summer.

Private companies are only in the business to make profits for their shareholders and pay their directors well to perpetuate that situation, we all need to remember that. They generally do not care a toss about their customers until they threaten to take their business elsewhere. As far as smart technology is concerned, my brain is the only smart thing I need in my household.

I know it's nothing to do with this string but.......I got a smart meter before I left the country to visit family for 6 months ......then I got an email from SSE asking for a meter reading!!!! I emailed them and they replied
'sorry, the computer hasn't updated your account'...........then I got an estimated bill............I asked why and they said because we haven't updated your account..............really??

After a lifetime of being with British Gas I looked at the Ofgem site which had a list of energy suppliers who had signed up to their energy Switch Guarantee (unfortunately this page does not appear to be on their site anymore but they do have a lot of useful information for consumers). With my annual gas & electricity usage figures to hand I worked my way through them. (i.e. did not use a comparison site but approached each supplier directly for a quote and then checked the reviews for each supplier). SoEnergy were the clear winners and I have been with them for nearly a year and cannot recommend them enough. Their website is clear and concise. Cannot believe it took me so long to make a change for the better and yes I am paying less for my fuels.

Forgot to mention on the one occasion where I submitted an incorrect meter reading this was flagged by the site with a request to contact them and I received an email reply confirming the correct reading and a link to a revised bill within hours.

What happened to me relates to meters, rather than smart meters, but I do still think about it. A couple of years ago I had a letter from E.ON, my supplier, telling me that as I'd refused entry to their engineer on two occasions, if necessary I would be forced by police/Court to allow entry. I rang them to let them know that nobody had called, nor left a card, and I didn't like being threatened. Apparently I was mistaken, at least according to them, and the engineer had left a card both times he'd called. I arranged with them for the engineer to visit one day the following week between 7.30 and 11.00 to change the meter. Of course, nobody showed up, and I rang them, and was told that the engineer HAD called, and been refused admittance by a man. I pointed out that I am a woman and lived on my own. Another appointment was made, and again nobody arrived, and when I called, I was told that the work had been done as the meters are outside my house. I told them that they most certainly are not, they are under the stairs. However, no amount of talking to them would persuade them that their engineer was clearly going to the wrong house (although the letter they'd sent proved they had the correct address and post code), and I was told that as far as they were concerned, the work had been done. (And of course, if the meters really were outside, why hadn't the engineer done the work on his first 'visit'?)

As soon as I was out of contract, I moved to First Utility.

Evergy companies estimates are never right; their computer systems cannot realistically know what is happening in every home. On top of that they want to maximise their 'free' income, having monthly credits in excess of what is needed to cover your annual usage.

Every company I have been with has advised me that I am not paying enough. I disagree and refuse to permit any change in my monthly payment. Guess what? My figures prove to be sufficient over the 12month period.

I have records going back over 30+ years in the same house, and their computer figures cannot match that. I have always recorded units used never the actual costs and when their staff know this they reluctantly back down.

As for changes to tariffs then I have relied upon Martin Lewis' moneysavingexpert site with its separate club just for energy matters. I recommend it.

When I retired 18 months ago, I had the time to price check my energy costs and other expenses such as home and car insurance. By switching providers, I saved over £1000 a year! I was shocked at that amount!

I am now with Sainsburys for my gas and electricity and have been very pleased with their service. It is somehow linked the British Gas, something called "grey gas", but so much cheaper and very friendly staff. They had to replace my gas meter because of something EON did when they attached a smart meter. I am registered with Martin Lewis and got an email with new, better tariffs at the end of 12 months but Sainsburys were still the best for me.

My mother, aged 85 with Alzheimer's, is being pestered to have smart meters fitted, the letters imply she has to have one but I know that is not the case. She still has enough capability to live on her own with a little help from her children but gets very flustered with new technology so she is quite upset and confused about having a smart meter. So far I have managed to convince her that she does not have to agree, but it is annoying how frequently they write to her.

I'm with EDF, on a fixed-rate tariff. I have just had a letter saying that a) they will be sending me a cheque for £64 (yippee..!) as they had overestimated how much energy I would use, and b) my direct debit will be going up by £12 a month.!! You couldn't make it up...

Grannyknot

I had a long running dispute with BG from Oct 2010 until February 2018.
They too billed me as a business (I told them 3 weeks before moving in that I was a residential customer) for 4 months and it went right to the CEO. The business side is a completely separate arm and they have no ability to liase with the residential side of BG.
I went to CAB, Energy Ombudsman, paid £10 for all data and phone calls via the FOI act and sent BGB a bill for my time and calls which they initially laughed at but eventually sent a cheque for £300 (I originally asked for £500) and another chq for £50 a few months later.
There's much more but to cut it short, I also took them to the County Court, however, they didn't turn up and I was awarded £3700 by default.
All because they tried to squeeze £238 that I didn't owe, out of me.
Luckily, I kept all emails and notes of calls made to prove that even the CEO of Centrica agreed with my version of events.
BGB cannot win against facts if you are right.

Gosh GabriellaG! What a consumer activist. You really sorted them out. Well done.
I'm just off the phone to EDF. Estimated usage for forthcoming year now much reduced along with monthly direct debit. Apparently the last person I had dealt with had entered info wrong with resultant undercharging. . However, all now sorted (I hope) and they're even coming to remove a defunct meter that I was having to pay a standing charge for. What a stress it all is. Hope that's it for now.

Indeed, MamaCaz, energy firms work very hard at trying to screw us for more than we can realistically afford.

My energy company (sorry, I should call them the 'Provider' these days, shouldn't I?) E.on send me a letters regularly each money (for about 16 months now) warning me that I HAVE to switch to a Smartey-Arse meter because it's 'Government Policy'. What they would like to say is "It's The Law!" but obviously I's get them bang to rights for making a false claim like that.

They also tell me that these meters are free. Is that so? Are they provided by some magical Smart-Meter faerie out of the goodness of her heart?

But I've heard and read far, far too many horror stories about these damn things and how more people refuse them than accept them.

I always take the view that energy companies ALWAYS act in their own greedy fiscal interests and don't give a toss about the customer......

No!!! Companies don’t have to get away with this! Go on moneysavingexpert forum. Martyn Lewis. He is completely independent and can steer you to cheaper options. There are also forums like the bigenergyswitch.com that offer to do it for you each year. Do not sit on a variable tariff and let them take your money!

E. ON tried to put our bill up 80% we told them that unless they reduced that we would go elsewhere they reduced it to a 30% increase - we still might.