“Avoid this company at all costs!!!
This is a terrible company with terrible customer service. I joined them because they were the cheapest provider but after 3 months they increased my direct debit by two and a half times. I gave them accurate meter readings and my usage has remained consistent over the past 3 years (across several companies), so there was nothing to justify this exorbitant increase in the direct debit. I completely understand that direct debits can fluctuate in the summer/winter months but never by this much.
They then shifted me onto a more expensive tariff, take ages to respond to emails, and make promises of phone calls but then dont call. In the meantime, as I've been trying to resolve this dispute my bill has continued to rise at an extreme rate.
AVRO missold the policy to me with a low intial teaser rate, have used threatening behaviour, and their slow customer service means that my bill continues to rise as the dispute it being resolved.
Absolutely unacceptable. The worst service I have had with any company.”
“It's company policy not to refund credits and then not to speak to their customers. They've owed me £740.01 for over two months on a final bill and they refuse to refund. You can't call them or live chat and I have emailed countless times. They have called back on a couple of occasions when I haven't been able to accept the call, but they don't leave a number to call them back on. I strongly suspect this company is in deep financial trouble, so please don't be drawn in by their pricing.”
“Told us everything went smoothly and we had switched over to them on the 22.4.21 but when I checked my bank account they had taken a months payment out before we’d even switched to them!! They don’t reply to emails and you can’t ring them. Have now been told the switch never happened and British Gas are still our supplier. They stated avro tried to switch us but thank god it failed and British Gas took us back on without us knowing. Avro don’t respond to us but we have spoken to my bank and they completed an indemnity form for an unauthorised direct debit and have refunded both Avro payments into my account. Lloyd’s have been fantastic just wish other companies were the same. Avoid Avro at all costs as they take money for something they’re not even supplying!!!”
“im having a nightmare dealing with avro trying to get my credit back they owe me about £300, they have refused for a month to refund any of it back, im now changing companies , due to being so annoyed with them, its very difficult to get hold of anyone in this company, they have told me i will have to wait at least 6 weeks, not happy as they have no right to hold onto anyones money, im a single parent with an autistic daughter i need this refund quickly. i wish i had read these reviews before i went with them. disgusting company to deal with, AVOID they do not care 1 bit”
“Switched away from AVRO months ago. Still waiting for a refund of my balance. This seems a common complaint, suggesting the company has cash-flow problems or just a chaotic and inadequate support structure. Avoid.”
“Avro Energy blocked my transfer as I had a debit balance of £78.92 on 19/05, due to the seasonal nature of the monthly payments scheme. My monthly DD is £82.86 and will be paid on 25/05.
It is unlawful for an energy supplier to bock a transfer if the debt is less than 28 days old, but they did anyway. (Do a search for 'Citizens Advice Switching energy supplier if you’re in debt')
They have not contacted me, they do not respond to email and the phone and webchat service is closed.
They did, however advise me via twitter that the objection has now been cleared, after I paid the amount by debit card (I found this solution to see if others had experienced the same problem - and many have!).
Avro also advised that I now have to restart the transfer and if it is not done before the next bill, the transfer may be blocked again as there will be a debt.”
“As below, I switched companies on 24th Feb....I am £326 in credit. Endless emails that don't get answered, they re hanging on to money for a reason. I have flagged it to OFGEM. No live chat and phone for emergencies only which will get terminated if not. How many closed or dormant accounts do they have credit for?”
“Absolute cowboys, the worst I have dealt with in 25 years in services, customer services needs to be overhauled by rouge traders and the billing transactions don’t add up, lost readings just a big bill after chasing them to review my account after first year.
They need shutting down and sent back to school, trading standards need to jump on this mockery of a company I was able to pay my £7000 bill that came from no where, but I feel for the people who get put in my position to no fault of there own.
Boarder line fraudsters with no care for the public and customer services with no training or understanding, ponzey scheme at its best.
Shut them down.”
“These guys blocked me from switching 6 times, and still won't let me move after paying.
They organised a smart meter installation without telling me .the check. No customer service. Terrible company and service, stay away .”
“After moving to a new supplier I'm still owed my credit balance after several weeks. Forget the ombudsman just send them a pre-action protocol demand and if they don't pay then commence proceedings in the small claims court.
After I sent them a screenshot of my online claim form they finally responded saying I'd have to wait till the following Friday to process my payment and then it could take up to 10 days for the payment to reach my bank account. No mention of compensation or interest owed so trying to weasle out of paying the full amount.
Guess what....my online claim will be actioned in the next few days. They'll end up having my court costs to pay as well.”
“The saga started back in February when an Avro operator invited me to switch my 90-year old mother’s meters over to smart meters free of charge. The installer visited and installed the meters on 9th February but could not get the readings to show on the display unit and despite two further attempts on separate occasions still has not completed the job. Despite numerous e-mails and promises to send the engineer back to finish the job nothing has happened. One of the units is in a difficult place to read under a cupboard and to make it worse the new meter was fitted in the same location but sideways on so unless you crawl on your hands and knees it cannot be easily read. The customer service from Avro and Lowri Beck their meter provider is appalling so I would like to warn everyone not to use them.”
“left Avro for a new cheaper supplier - was nearly £500 in credit
Despite three phone calls and three emails (not responded to even though reciept acknowledged) still havent got my money back yet after 7weeks.
Avoid them.”
“This would be a zero star review if possible. My late mother was ab Avro customer. I notified Avro of her passing some 6 moths ago, completed the "change of tenancy form" (sympathetic of them to require that form when transferring the account to the executors) and requested the repayment of the several hundred pound balance.
To date they have not repaid, and continue to issue estimated bills based on my mother's consumption despite the flat being empty. In 12 months since she passed, zero units of gas has been used, but every month the estimate is as if my late mother (who always had the thermostat up high) is still living there. Similarly with the electricity usage, although we are using perhaps 20% of the old usage for estate agent viewings etc.
I have asked a dozen times for current usage to be used for estimates, so that I do not need to do an hour round trip to take readings, Avro have flatly refused. They have had sight of the death certificate and are aware of the 5 or 6 readings I have supplied, but claim that they are unable to reflect the empty status of the flat in their calculations.
I have tried to speak to them, but they will only discuss emergencies over the phone. I have emailed, as requested, and they do not reply.
If I owed Avro money, not the other way round, I am sure they would be responding, seeking to agree the usage and dealing with me, but instead I have been proactively ignored.
Don't let your parents sign up as customers!”
“Wish I had read these reviews before I changed supplier seems my complaint is far from the only one!
Seem to have a tactic of get you into debt and ignore you so you are trapped!
This company take your meter readings don’t use them to bill you, let you build up a credit, ask for the money back and then they look at the readings, re issue the bills so you are then I debt and refuse to let you leave. Don’t answer emails, and can only call of you have an emergency. Complaint in with ombudsman and just had to start another complaint. This is the worst company I have dealt with.”
“Left this joke of a company in December, had to pester for a final bill which I got in march (bearing in mind it was disputed but they still wanted payment till resolved) now I am credit but cant get a response to emails, phone line only emergency calls, looking at the reviews a lot in same position, why isnt anything done about them, this is disgusting, why have regulators if they do nothing!”
“Our account was significantly in credit our direct debit was significantly higher than our monthly usage yet they refused to refund the credit. Their excuse was 'they need to hold on to it and increase it for usage during next winter' even though this was in spring!
We decided to leave and they made this as difficult as possible. When we finally received our final bill, nearly 6 weeks later they then held on to our credit for several more weeks despite this being against Ofgem rules. When we asked for the automatic compensation as set out by Ofgem they lied about the date the final bill was issued, refused to issue the compensation and still hadn't refunded the credit balance.
If you try to get in contact their phone lines are constantly blocked and the chat system doesn't work. They are blaming the pandemic for not being able to answer the phone but this has been going on for over a year now and other companies are managing to speak to their customers but Avro are just trying to save money by reducing staff levels and offering a terrible level of service.
If you do manage to get through to someone they are normally rude and arrogant.
We are now taking our complaint to the Ombudsman.”
“Absolutely appalling customer services. Cannot get in touch with anyone, despite repeated emails. They served us for a week when we moved into this house 19.2.21 and am still awaiting a bill for that week. I’ve given them a deadline by which I expect to receive it but will not be paying them anything at this rate.
Be warned!! I think if you look at the Twitter feed, their service is failing and they are probably going under.
Tried to tell me that last May’s change in Covid law and moving house was recent. CLUELESS.”
