Bristol Energy Reviews

Amazing company, always happy to help their customers to save money

We switched from British Gas. Four months of me contacting Bristol Energy to ask when we would be billed, little by way of response, on one occasion they had failed to read emails I had sent. I sent an email yesterday and under 24 hours later I have the bills. Remarkably poor customer service and tardy management.

The Fawlty towers of energy companies. Just comical how bad my experience with them over the past year has been. If I'd known how ridiculous they were I never would have switched. The worst experience I've ever had with any company. Just awful.

Bristol Energy are generally good to deal with. You can usually speak to a person instead of a machine. However, recently (Sept 20) they have spoilt things as they are now pushing smart meters, which I am convinced nobody really needs. I changed from EDF specifically because they become so annoying with their endless communications to have an engineer appointment to fit a smart meter.

Beware councils who have hidden scandals.
The energy sector is a long fought out one and dirty tricks campaigns initiatives are likely a part of business as usual.

Beware of astronomical.price rises too.

I switched from British Gas a while ago and the process was smooth and straightforward. My bills are also much lower, which is nice.

Waste of time , If it were possible to leave NO stars i would !! , The service is awful

Having swapped my dad's energy supply to this company last year I really wish I hadn't! Dad went into hospital soon after the swap and never came home, he finally passed away 3 months ago. Bristol energy are harassing us for estimated bills of an empty house despite being given readings. I could paper my walls with their inaccurate correspondence and when I call them they do not update the readings. They are poor to respond to emails too. If you have got other things to do with your time then please avoid this company!

Worst energy company I have ever encountered. Absolutely abysmal customer service that lies to your face about issues. They're happy to overcharge you constantly and not even attempt to fix any problems - for two years.
Then when we switched to another company they sent 'overdue payments' to a collections agency instead of just contacting us directly like any other company would do.
When starting with this company I saw some bad reviews and thought "hey,e company has SOME bad reviews" but now I honestly kick myself for ever giving them a chance.
I implore you to stay the hell away from this mess of a company.

Absolutely appalling service! I paid my bill early and they had paid it into another account. I phoned 5 times after being harassed with emails and provided evidence that I had paid twice but was contacted by a debt agency . Every time I phoned I was told it was sorted! Do not use this company. Communication is shockingly bad!

So impressed with this failing company that I swapped in July.

Absolutely terrible. Probably the most disorganised business (not just energy) that I've had the displeasure of having to deal with.
Only with them for a year. Never again. Avoid.

Totally useless !!!! trying to contact them is a waste of time .. I moved my electricity and gas account .. when i opened the account up there is no gas registered ... Trying to contact them is like talking to outer space . DONT OPEN AN ACCOUNT HERE .. Derek Pye A/C No 200380464

Great customer service, Resolved my issue in a quick and timely manner

Taken over by Together Energy who were voted the bottom place provider both by UK Energy and which magazine - you have been warned.
Increased my direct debit payments massively prior to the sell off to put me way into credit by hundreds of pounds - i imagine to make the accounts look good for the sale.
Time to get out quick

Appalling customer service. I have been waiting since October for a resolution with my bill. I was told it could take up to 6 weeks but it's coming on to 4 months. And now because I am unable to submit meter readings automatically, I am now getting harassed by a 'meter collection agency' on behalf of Bristol Energy.

Excellent all round service - minor issues quickly & easily resolved as, even in these difficult times, ii's still easy to contact someone via phone without lengthy waits. The Contracts & prices I've had with them are equally good. Since switching to them some years ago I've had no inclination whatsoever to look for comparisons elsewhere - my thanks to all at B.E.

Very poor customer service. I've had to send in my initial readings 3 times now to get my account set up properly. It remains to be seen how good the rest of their customer services are, but not a great start...

Good price and service. When my account was an credit they gave me the money back, straight away!

Dreadful service from start. Tomorrow we move to a new provider but Bristol energy have stopped supply today leaving someone with 2 young children without gas and electricity. When contacted they agree tomorrow is changeover day and 1 hour on the phone they don't seem to be able to re connect us. Their staff are amazing and try their best but must be let down higher up the ranks. So no heating hot water or cooking and it's freezing with no phone charger

This is a very useless company when I called to switch to them I mentioned my disability and my husband's and my son's disability and about the issues I had with the other electric and gas companies I was promised extra help and extra help and they would keep me updated with my account and not put me in debt all this was ignored and none of the promises were kept and for months I did not have a direct debit review at all so basically by doing this they have put me in huge debt even when I called I was told that i did not have to read the meters

read th

Been with Bristol Energy a few years now up here in Liverpool because i found their way of providing Energy a more ethical one which is just better and wish more would take this at least into consideration when choosing an energy provider.The pricing as always been cheaper or at the very least competitive compared to the bigger suppliers and I have never had to deal with customer service as the service provided has been faultless.I supply my reading via the easy to use app which is also great- and i hope all this continues after the recent takeover.

Hiked direct debit when switching tariff, when it should have gone down. Nightmare!! then can never get through, finally get through and surprise surprise they supposedly have a system error which effects my account and is going to take approx 3 days to fix so cant deal with query. Joke!!!

Rarely able to get through to customer service when you do unhelpful staff. When switched to Bristol Energy gave wrong meter read to last company I was with spent the next 6 months sorting it out. leaving after only 7 months of my contract.

Really really poorly organised company... have been chased by a debt recovery for an amount dating back to April 19. Fine i might owe the money but seriously why wait 20-odd months before actually telling me that i owe it!! The amount is a bit doubtful and probably could be challenged but I don't currently have the time to deal with such a useless company. Oh... and looking back I see I sent an email back in April 19 challenging payments that they continued to take payments even though I had switched to EDF but of course they didn't bother to respond. Do they even have humans working there or is it just the BE bot running the company?!?!?1

When i needed help with my on line account, they came up trumps. Thankyou

Bristol Energy have always been easy to deal with and the prices are always very competitive. The only thing that I have to say is a little different than I expected was when I requested Smart Meters for my home and they have said that they are unable to replace my old smart meters with new ones. I still don't understand their reasons for this.

Very good company and always letting me know when to send in readings

The staff are useless and incompetent. They couldn't even find out whether I had an online account. They started by billing me a set amount each month then after 2 months billed me a large amount.

Unfortunately Bristol Energy was unable to sort out a problem with my internet regarding an external issue even after explaining the issue. Very average service in this case.

Poor customer service. But typical of industry sadly

The most awful company, for reliable customer service....

If you ring, its 20 minutes on hold. Followed by a number taken, and the 3 days we ring you back speech.. 5 days later = No call backs.

Meter readings have no effect... They seem to send out bills, with no direct relationship to the readings.


Then if you try asking for the money back it seems to be weeks for email replies.. and weeks for credits back.

The company changed direct debit handler = Cancelled direct debits.
One suspects this is a company on, forward factoring with the new handler.

I have found them to be very comparative with reference to pricing. However a little slow on changing the tariff when a better deal has become available on their site. Once this has been pointed out to them, which tends to have to be via telephone, then the necessary action is taken.

I had a bit of confusion with account setup when I moved into my new flat, called the customer support line and it was sorted in no time. The guy I spoke to was lovely and very helpful, I wasn't on hold long at all, and he even moved me over to a cheaper tariff.

It's still early days with them but so far it's cheap and the customer service gets a way worse rap than it deserves!

I have now been with Bristol Energy for a year now and please to say i haven't had any problems with them. I was with one of the big six but now save alot due to Bristol Energy cheap rates.
I am sceptical when it comes to joining new companies due to the unknown so i researched Bristol Energy. I learned they are part owned by Bristol Council so in my head that was a plus becoz usually public sector have rules and regulations to follow and are not out der to rip off customers.


Areas where improvement can be made to get my 5 stars

- Telephones are only open during office hours 9am-5pm Mon-Fri. Which can be a pain if you are at work normally.
- They could benefit by launching a smart phone app like other providers so submit meter reads ...that would be handy
- Warm Home Discount : should be applicable to all eligible customers not the selective few

excellent service, friendly and helpful, if the price is right I will sign up with them again!

It is absolutely no use trying to contact these people when you have a problem: they just ignore you.

Been with BE for some time. Never had any issues. Was competitive and customer service was fine.

I love Bristol Energy. Good price. Simple to join up with lovely helpful people. And doing the right thing by fellow Bristolians. I get a competitive price at the same time as helping to keep down fuel prices and fund services for fellow Bristolians in greatest need. What could be simpler and more satisfying. Just get on and switch, it's easy, you'll feel great about it!

Rang up on Monday to request a simple refund of some of my credit which in the past Bristol Energy dealt with it in minutes. Now you go through to a call queue then diverted to someone who doesn't work for BE to take your contact number to have a person ring you back in 3 days. Well now it's Thursday and like hundreds of other customer no call back has came. For a simple request you're now forcing me to go down the complaints route. Absolute shocking customer service.

DO NOT SWITCH TO THIS PROVIDER!!!!!!!!!!!! POOR SERVICE POOR COMMUNICATION.

Hopeless service. All phone calls go through to voice mail but no-one returns the call. Likewise with emails: no return contact made after a week. The tariffs offered do not match the actual tariff when you want to sign up. No stars awarded as the "company" might as well not exist, as far as my experience has gone, though I have to award one star to be able to leave this review!

These guys should receive an award for producing the highest number of incorrect bills.
I would avoid at all cost as they don't have a clue about customer service.
Hopefully they won't be around for too long as they certainly don't deserve to be.

Recently applied to a job with Bristol Engergy, and didn't havd a very satisfactory experience. They take a long time responding to your application, the level of surroundings in the office during your interview are very distracting not easy to concentrate and off putting and get a poor feedback as mangers are a little inexperienced in what they do.

Customer Servive Advisors rude when you contact the company. Certainly wouldn't recommend Bristol Engergy both as employers and energy company.
Try Ovo Energy, Good Energy Bristol coop.

Very polite, helpful staff. The company sends a metre reader to me as I am registered disabled which is brilliant as one of my metres is above the front door

Been with Bristol Energy for a number of years and this is the only energy provider we have had with not a single issue for argument. Customer service response and communication over tariffs has been excellent, phone response times extremely good, and effectiveness of staff excellent. Recommended.

Advertises a telephone line to make payments. Doesn't tell you it's only available Monday-Friday.

No worth even 1 star! They supplied energy to the wrong house for 4 months. And another 3 months to change to the correct house. People, watch out.... bad service...lies....no communication with staff so job gets done correctly. Pay more, use another company!

I tried to change to this sham of a company back in may 2020, Martin Lewis advised to looked for fixed term, they were offering this. I set up a direct debit at the time. My other supplier were still billing me which I found strange, after many many calls to both companies I found out that Bristol energy took over the wrong supply. I was told on 12 January by Lee smith (manager) that all my direct debits will be refunded & in my account within 10 days, I have also spoke to Ivan another manager on 24th January who also said my money would be in my account within 10 days , Lee smith hadn t processed things properly, today is day 10, still not had my refund, phoned this morning & was told I need to wait till the end of the day for it to go through, I am on universal credit, my bank account is empty & im still waiting for my OWN money to be returned

Thank you Alice, I have now been on hold for 25 minutes to be told there is no one available that can help me, my account number is 200348210 , maybe you can get my money refunded today as I need food shopping

Since I ve been a costumer with Bristol Energy,I ve had excellent service with them.

This company used to be brilliant, since being taken over by another company the customer service is terrible.
They will not respond to any of my emails yet continue to dip in to my bank account and take my money.
They will not provide me with a bill. They think it is OK to treat customers with complete disregard to their well-being, I have told them on numerous occasions that am suffering from massive stress over this situation but I never get a response.

Switched to Bristol Energy a few months ago, have had no issues, I entered a meter reading wrong phoned them up and they sorted it over the phone. I did email them to check a email that was sent requesting a reading two days after receiving a visit to read the meter I did send an email to check but didnt get a reply. Like the fact they have a customer center you can walk in and speak to someone if all else fails (ok it is in Bristol though)

I transferred to Bristol Energy after having the worst experience with a different energy provider. Bristol Energy have been absolutely fantastic, they are very helpful and their prices are hard to beat. I would recommend them to anyone. GREAT SERVICE GREAT COMPANY.

Terrible wish we had never swapped supplier.
Faulty meter since July and only finally changed in September after several appointments of either not arriving or having wrong meter. Then after finally replacing the meter they have failed to supply a new key and as such I am sat with 50p on the meter with no one at Bristol Energy giving a Damn.
Now they are closed till the morning.
Useless supplier.

Really awkward to deal with. Insist on a fixed direct debit every month, it's made difficult for you if you want to pay for what you use.

Like many people, I use more in the winter and use a lot less in the summer. I just wish to pay for what I use, but this company doesn't really allow me to do that.

I have to email my meter reading on the exact same date every month, otherwise my billing date changes. That's even if I send it a day early! They then generate a bill and take a fixed amount every month, whether I use more or less. If I want to pay any excess, I have to call, give my reading again and give my payment details again to give a one-off payment.

I now end up doing this every month; it's really unaccommodating and I would switch to another provider, if energy prices hadn't shot up in the past few months. Really disappointed in their processes.

Great customer service experience , and like that the company is now all green energy . My dad is now a customer too!

Several years ago they used to be a fantastic company, friendly, reliable and very competitively priced. I even used to recommend them to friends and family.
The last couple of years however it's like they're a completely different company. Hiking their prices right up, increasing direct debits with little to no notice, innacurate billing that a more cynical person might consider more than just human error and getting hold of anyone is an uphill battle.
If I could leave a zero star rating, I would.
Deal with this company at your own peril.

Wish I never switched very bad service and customer care

Faulty meter - overcharged and four months later still being told 'investigating' - owe us hundreds!
Total incompetence, terrible customer service and just want money refunded so we can switch to a professional company. This started before virus so absolutely no excuse for this!!!

If able to have the choice I would leave a rating of -20 stars for Bristol Energy. They are appalling. I have a broken (20 year old +) electricity meter which has not been replaced. Having taken 2 complete days off of work to wait for their meter installers to arrive (SMS) - they failed to show. I was lied to down the phone by this meter company on the second day when I asked them why they had not turned up. I have been lied to ever since. 2 months on and still no meter. I have complained to Bristol Energy numerous times.... no response except the automatic received email response. Just 3 weeks left and I will have to take the issue to the Ombudsman. I really do not understand how a company can treat its customers this way. Appalling and I would thoroughly recommend steering very clear from this company. AVOID AT ALL COSTS.

Satisfied with previous service so we renewed for the coming year. Pleased to have my request for the monthly standing order changed to fall in line with my records over the past ten years. Would recommend.

Absolutely dreadful, Do Not Touch them they are useless. They opened the account with the wrong meter reading, I have made at least five telephone calls over the last couple of months and each time get told a different story. Each person running the last person down and saying they are no longer with the company. I asked to speak to a supervisor and was told one will phone me back in five days. They close at 5.00pm and I work, so no joy there. I really wished I had never ever gone to them.

Hopeless client service from start to finish. So many problems and now all of a sudden they dont recognise my email address anymore so I cannot get to my online acvount. Just emailed them, they hope to reply within 10 days!

Impossible to get through to! Was hoping to switch from Ovo to Bristol Energy to save money but wanted to speak to someone first as there seems to be numerous tariffs to choose from but can't get anyone to pick up the phone, have left messages to call me back and sent emails with the same request. You'd think they didn't want new business! No choice but to go elsewhere...

Approaching the end of contract and have been advised that standing charges will rise from :gas 21.78p daily to 28.97p and Electricity 20.12p daily to 31.53p , approx. 50% increase. The lower standing charges are still available to new customers but my perception is you are already with this supplier there is no customer loyalty and how can you justify this increase , be warned !

Competitive prices, local and good customer service. Things to improve: online services and providing FIT (Feed-In Tariffs) for people with solar panels.

Never had a problem and the one i had was sorted out within 24 hours.

Terrible customer service. Incompetent record keeping and will literally lie to you about what they are doing. Do not switch to this company, there are other competitively priced tariffs with much better customer service.

Terrible company rang 3 times every time they take your number and never ring you back, 2 months of on going problems still not sorted.

Decent tariffs, but poor service. They hiked our payment claiming it reflected our last 12 months usage.... despite us having only been with the company for 1 month. It's always difficult to get through on the phones, emails typically just get an automated response and no further action. When you do get through by telephone the operators are polite and helpful and have dealt with the problems presented. To be totally fair this is reasonable service for an energy company in our experience, many of the big names provide much worse service and change DDs and tariffs without warning, so i think 3 stars is fair.

Bristol Energy always remind me about meter reading when they are required.
Reduced my bills by suggesting a better tarrif when my last contract ended.
The best supplier I've had

Well, I am in a weird way relieved to note that so many others have had the same experience as me. I was attracted by the green energy commitment, the tariff on offer and the fact that this seemed to be a rather nice new company in a cutthroat market. I made a big mistake. My payments went through the roof; by far the most expensive energy supplier I have used. Very poor customer service. And to cap it all when we decided to close our account to change supplier we got a near-immediate (and very unpleasant) automated final demand message, to which we responded and paid, only to receive a further final demand a few weeks later. I really wanted to back this horse, now I think it needs a trip to the knacker s yard.

Appalling!

I am so upset and horrified about the service! Individually all of the people I have spoke to have been really nice on the phone but nothing ever seems to be resolved! I would advise people to switch to ANY other energy provider if they are with Bristol Energy, and I would tell new customers to run away screaming!

No one in the company seems to communicate with each other and its impossible to get through to someone who can help. Most of the time you are sent to an overflow service where they take your details and say they will call you back in 3 working days- I have done this countless times and never received a returned phone call. I have sent countless emails to customer service with no response.



They then proceed to tell me that its hundreds of pounds split over a few months (the months that they cleared off) and are now trying to tell me that it's my fault and that they "aren't making the readings up", failing to understand that the previous debit had been cleared as it was their mistake, they are now trying to make me pay it and then some. No one seems to communicate with each other and nothing gets done.

I am angry for those who are more vulnerable than myself who are having to try and deal with Bristol Energy, someone who won't spend hours on the phone and stick up for themselves, those who are panicking and get out a pay day loan because of a mistake that has been made by Bristol Energy.

I will be taking further action if this isn't resolved. Sorry for my rant, I have just had enough and I don't want anyone to go through what I have with this company!

Non UK call centre will take your details for the UK team to never call you back. Been trying to register on the account for a rental I've moved in since November. P.s. Bristol Energy feel free not to tell me to ring your Asian 'customer care' line.

Cant wait for our 2 year deal to end. Overcharged by up to 50% more than previous suppliers for similar usage. Don't touch this company, customer service terrible & charges out of control. If I could give them zero stars I would

`June 2019, i asked for company to look into my high summer gas bill . one year on it has not been sorted, and has been shown the old meter was faulty, phoned yet again today for update on when i will receive monies owed to me refunded and was told they could not sort it out until....( COVID 19 HAS GONE) ????????? really

Same story as others - company used to be good, now avoid like the plague. Had multiple issues with them shipping out payments to debt recovery without telling me I owed them. Since switching to the brilliant Octopus Energy in December, I had 60 quid as final payment to Bristol Energy. They sent this immediately to debt recovery. I paid the debt recovery team straight away. Three weeks later the same paid debt has been re-sent to the same debt recovery company (CRS) and another (OPOS). Even the debt recovery staff are apologetic when I tell them I've paid and said they will inform Bristol Energy, but to no avail... the requests keep coming. Now I tried to contact Bristol Energy to complain and all I get is someone to take a message so that they can get back to me next week. I think the best thing, as a public service, is for Bristol Energy, and all companies taken over by Together Energy, are put out of business permanently. To Bristol Energy Team - My account number is 200089574, don't just try saying sorry, it won't be enough, you'll need to explain to me how to do your job to a basic standard going forward.

UPDATE: The reply form Anna below is incorrect, and knowingly so. I have responded by email. I am still being phoned by multiple agencies for a single debt already paid.

Worst company ever.My contract was fixed price.They sent final bill 645 pound for a year.After long time opened case with energy ombudsman bristol reduced 511 pound.Now i put smart meter reading maximum charge 1.15 a day during lockdown same flat,same people, same enery consumption.But they charge extra 511 .Dont believe them.Bristol energy scam,ripp off.
May be bristol energy offer cheap than other company dont believe it is a trap any time they charge any amount they want.

The incompetence of the company is unbelievable. The accounts team constantly make errors in billing and I (along with a long list of others), have been referred to a debt collector in ERROR... Rather than owning it and apologising for it themselves, I spent hours trying to establish what was going on thinking it was a scam. But no, Bristol Energy apparently sent the wrong file to debt collectors. They need to own their mistakes!

The best supplier for me, correct and responsive when you need them. Thank you all.

Not very helpful dont listen lower your payment plan even though you dont want to allowing you to run up debt then send crs to recover 1 week after bill produced even after you contact then have now lesft them.

The online systems for submitting meter readings etc are not good, most things are done by email which takes weeks to resolve. Ive been trying to close my account for over a month and have been told to send in meter reading 3 times, (which I have done), and don't seem any closer to closing the account! Really appalling provider.

If I could leave no stars at all I would do so!. Have major issues with this company!. Tried several times to get them to refund some of the excess funds in my account since December 2020- unsuccessfully!. Sent an official complaint in February as despite my sending them readings, they keep over estimating - which then shows the amount they owe me being less than it should be! - still sending no refunds - queried several times (long waiting periods and told they are too busy to answer calls will call back - never do! so- changed accounts 1.4.2021 they still debited funds from my bank account in April - did not send me a final bill until today 10.05.2021 which is incorrect because - despite my having sent readings as of 31.03.2021 they have again 'estimated' . THEY NEED SHUTTING DOWN! -oH JUST IN CASE YOU SAY YOU 'CANNOT RESPOND TO THIS - MY ACCOUNT NUMBER IS 200240227 !!! Tried to phome earlier - position in queue No 7 - eventually gave up - trying again now - position in queue 9 !!!!

Good afternoon,

I'm posting here an email I just sent to Customer Care hoping some kind soul will pick this up for me:

I would like to write to you in regards to the treat I'm receiving at Bristol Energy recently.
I have to say it's quite disappointing and there's a clear lack of interest from the phone operators at customer support.

I feel that I had enough of this disrespectful behaviour, I've called more than 10 times now, without exaggerating this fact and spent a lot of my time giving details and sending pictures of the meter readings to Bristol Energy, without a single person bothering to reply back to me or check the details are correct.

I've been waiting to have my account up and running since I moved to a new house back in November 2020 and I still don't have that ready. (Almost 3 months now)

Recently I discovered my details on the account are wrong because someone at Bristol is not paying attention and confused my address and details with a neighbour address.
I did send an email with my correct details and pictures of the gas meter months ago and clearly no one has read it.

I have my neighbour knocking on my door saying Bristol Energy has closed his account saying someone moved into his property! When these are two different addresses on the same building.

If you guys are not whiling to give me at least the BASIC service I would like to please close my account and move somewhere else where I'm not being ignored.

I've been asked to wait 10 days until this issue is resolved and I was just on the phone with a David ( 26/01/2021 at16:38h) which just told me that he can't help me because it's not been 10 days since they've raised the ticket for this.
Tomorrow will be 10 working days, and to call them back then.

I mean seriously?

Is this really happening with what I though a professional company?

I'm pretty sure no one will have this ready for me tomorrow either so what's the point of contacting you again?

You guys are failing at providing ANY kind of help back to the customer, spectacularly.

Thank you,

Terrible experience. I have not been billed in over a year as Bristol Energy refused to come out and read my meters after I switched. After I gave them the meter readings they said there were discrepancies from my recent provider. Since More

Fantastic company, great customer service, positive social values - highly recommended :)

I have been with Bristol Energy for two years now and am very happy that I am part of a company who cares and redistributes within the local community, unlike some others who take the money abroad.
I am also pleased that the price I pay is fair and I ve had no issues to complain about.
I am also happy that I can send meter readings via their What s App, which is a doddle to use.
I therefore encourage potential customers to join this great group.
Dominic

Tried to steal my account from my current supplier by saying that I asked to switch to them.

Stay away from this pathetic company, you have been warned