"My experience with Bristol Energy"

I have always found Bristol very helpful. The service has been really good and staff have been very patient. I have a visual impairment and staff adapted their processes to assist me.
Thank you 😊

"Good Fixed Tariffs & Green Credentials but Dreadful Systems & Practices"

Prices, deals (fixed/capped tariffs that allow you to leave with no penalty) and green credentials are very good. However, their IT systems and general customer support are very poor.

They do not respond to emails that are submitted through the contact facility they offer on your account.

They do not provide usage stats through their web-based service.

Invoices/bills are unclear, exacerbated by the fact that once a year they insist on providing an annual statement in place of the usual monthly statement, making it virtually impossible to calculate usage and costs for that missing month.

They frequently insist on increasing your monthly direct debit (even if you complain and ask for it to remain unchanged), which leads to massive credits building up on your account (my elderly mother in law ended up with a credit of nearly £500 on her account, despite only receiving state pension and fuel credit) that you then have to waste time and push hard to get refunded. To illustrate how absurd this particular point is, when it comes to renewal time they quote significantly lower monthly direct debit payments even though your new tariff is more expensive.

When you finally get through on the phone their staff are friendly and helpful but clearly have their hands tied by poor systems and practices.

Hopefully their (comparatively) new owners will address these issues.

"I have been in dispute with Bristol…"

I have been in dispute with Bristol Energy since Jan 2020, I had smart meters fitted I noticed the incorrect style of meter had been installed. My old meter had a top mounted display as I have a ground installation, the meter fitted had a side mounted display that you would normally associated with a wall mounted installation.

I immediately raised this with BE and sent them a photo, after weeks of wrangling i got nowhere so decided to change suppliers and here is when the fun and games started.

The best saving quoted all came from suppliers that don not support smart meters, after load of toing and froing I raised a complaint with the Ombudsman Services who found in my favour Aug 2020. I have has two engineer visits to replace the gas meter but the replacements were like for like so would not have resolved the issue. BE have totally ignored the finding from the Ombudsman and continue to ignore the directive to rectify the issue. 18 months later and we still have no resolution.

Do not use this company if you value your sanity, as long as things are going well they are OK but as soon as an issue arises they just don't care and don't want to know. Best to just avoid and go else where.

"Great service"

I have just come to the end of one contract with Bristol Energy and needed to sort out a new on with them. The people there have been very patient and helpful, particularly when I last phoned to arrange the switch to the new contract. I have used Bristol Energy for a few years now and although I understand that the ownership has recently changed, I believe that the excellent standards of service, where you can deal with trustworthy people who are efficient and helpful, have been maintained.

"Now they have been taken over by Total…"

Now they have been taken over by Total Energy, you cannot speak to customer services. But you CAN if you’re a Total Energy customer. Twice I calledand was put through to an answering service on behalf of Bristol energy and was told somebody would call me back within four days. On both occasions nobody did. I only got a return call when I emailed the CEO of TE with a complaint. Not the customer friendly customer service company that used to be

"Excellent customer service"

Excellent service with competitive pricing.
Easy to use online
My only issue is I would like to see the return of the chart showing usage and comparing to previous year otherwise a good company to deal with.

"On the whole I have been more than…"

On the whole I have been more than happy with Bristol Energy and have renewed for a second year. It was a seamless changeover from previous gas supplier, and a year ago more price competitive than renewing this time around, but just marginally competitive to make me want to stay.
My only criticism is recent communication with the customer contact centre and being told by the advisor who answered the call that his job was just to pass on calls and queries and that I would have to wait for a call back for my issue. I am surprised that a utility company should not be able to deal with any query on first contact, (or at least attempt too) the time it took for the customer advisor to take my details etc , surely he could have dealt with my query ..after talking, the advisor agreed the nature of my call warranted a 24 hour call back … a week later I still have not received that call back.!
I called again and spoke to someone who dealt with my query in the same length of time that the previous advisor took to obtain details of my query and promise a 24 hour call back. Oh yes did I say a week later I am still waiting for that call !! Broken promises Bristol Energy...broken promises

"Borderline theft and harassment"

For the final bill, they have increased my monthly energy consumption four times. I've had an open meter dispute for 4 months and no update since.
I have also been pushed around by a company employed by Bristol Energy to "recover" a sum o money I have clearly explained was incorrect.

EDIT: I'm glad you can reply to my comment in one hour but still didn't reply to my emails.

"Won’t refund over £300 in credit!"

After terrible customer service, increasing monthly charges and over £300 in credit! I chose to leave Bristol energy as it was the only way of getting my money back from them. I tried getting them to lower my monthly charge and refund my credit from the account but they never sorted it, so I switched provider. Which I told them I would do if they didn’t sort out the problem. So I’ve now left and have over £200 in credit in my account. They said 3 weeks ago that the remaining credit will be refunded to me within 10 working days. And you’ll never guess, it hasn’t.
Terrible company, steals your money, avoid!

"a good experience"

I was with BE for a year, then switched my supply back to previous provider for the landlord before moving out. It was very cost effective and a smooth process for the very most part. I had credit on my account when I left - and one thing that would have been helpful was an email to explain how my refund had been processed and when it would be received - instead my credit changed to zero and I didn't hear anything. I phoned to enquire and was told I would get a call-back which I never did. I emailed again and received an answer and my refund shortly afterwards (just within the 10 working day window for payment of credit).