Flow Energy UKReviews 

Good service but would be easier to if they had smart meter

Brilliant honest company. On the ball with pricing and queries.

Terrible. I have been complaining via various methods for 8 weeks, finally got a call yesterday. Didn’t resolve my issue, and still haven’t got their online payment system sorted. Absolute rubbish customer service. Stay away if you possiblypossibly can.

Would prefer to leave 0 stars but unfortunately, this is not an option.
I am a young professional living alone in a one bed flat. The flat is old and nothing with in it is gas run. Everything is electric. Due to this I expected I a higher electricity bill by default. However in my 18 months at that flat, I have worked Monday to Friday all day and dont return home till 5pm. I rarely have appliances switched on and did not expect my bill to increase that much in the winter months
After a year of being with Flow on a very reasonable direct debit agreement,I had an email drop in with a large bill of over £500. I rang to contest this and ask why I wasnt made aware earlier I was accruing debt so I could have renegotiated my direct debit, instead of being unfairly informed a year after setting up contract I owed so money. I was informed, quite abruptly this was my responsibility to check and resolve and the only reason they even contact me when they did, was because they were reviewing accounts! I was then informed,I needed to log on line to check my bills and check for any debt! This is not something I was informed about upon entering contract and I was told any changes to my direct debit would be "discussed" prior. Little did I know "discussed" meant an email saying I owed them X amount and my direct debit had already being amended to account for this. Putting my monthly outgoings for electric alone, up to £140 a month. As a young person in early stages of my career, this is not a bill I can comfortable cover with my current income and I have been left struggling each month to cover my bills thanks to an unexpected and frankly very unfair way this company deals with their customers.
I have since sent an email asking to negotiate my direct debit to a lower outgoing and pay it off over a longer period. The response I received was shocking. The only way I can potentially change the amount I pay per month, is to fill in a spreadsheet they have sent me asking for ALL my monthly outgoings! Including how much I pay for rent, TV and broadband, and even personal things such as hairdressing appointments or activities I may partake in. They also expect me to tell them how much I earn. Not just from wages, but if I receive any benefits or illness related support! This is not something I wish to share with my electricity company nor should I have to be asked to share information none related to my query directly with them! Another question on this spreadsheet is what debts I have and if anyone owes me any money! These are ridiculous questions and are irrelevant to my account with them!
Poor customer service. Poor customer care. Poor account management and I would avoid.
I am looking to move as soon as my finances allow.

tl;dr - Avoid - poor customer service & billing

Glad to finally be moving away from Flow now my contract is up. 2 years ago this was a really good company, very good customer service and good prices. I don't know what has happened over the last 12 months but their customer service has gone off a cliff, and although they still are fairly good value it isn't worth the hassle because of their bizarre grasp of how direct debits should be billed.

Some months ago I knew I was underpaying on my direct debit so I was happy to have this increased by a reasonable amount, however they tried to raise it by 56%. i.e. they wanted me to pay over one-and-a-half times a month what I had been paying. A simple check of my usage in terms of Kw/h showed I should be paying 25% more, not 56% (so they wanted to overcharge me around £20 a month). They said this was to bring the debit amount down but this would still have been too much and I would have rapidly built up a large amount of credit in my account. They wouldn't listen on the phone, they were rather abrupt but agreed to escalate it to another team who came back with the same dodgy maths. When I threatened legal action, suddenly they could do the maths and brought it back to my agreed level.

I'm leaving next month and I will likely be best part of £100 in credit, we shall see how quickly this is refunded or if I have to go through several rounds of painful phone calls with them again.

Would have given five stars except for the fact of their sub-contractors a couple of times didn't keep to their appt time by not arriving and not contacting me ( to replace the meter.)

Professional service provider who keep customers regularly informed
I have stayed with Flow for many years because I’ve felt they provide an honest service

Have found Flow Energy responsive to my queries. The amount of information available in is very reassuring and enables you to make valued choices. Also being in Ipswich and living locally means I can visit Flow face to face, even better.

Took over this account from ex partner, was with them on direct debit for several years no problem.
Earlier this year coming off a fixed rate they did a yearly review. Said I owed £30, which I paid in full. They put my bill up over double the original price. I queeried this and they brought it down to one and a half the original price. Several weeks go by and out of the blue they put the price back up to over double again. By this time I’m losing the will to fight!
Several more weeks go by and I suddenly get told I’m in arrears by nearly £200! Customer service is useless and condescending. I was threatened multiple times daily with bailiffs if the debt wasn’t paid within the week.
Now according to Flow this is my fault and not theirs.
I have changed company and would urge people to be very careful. They don’t tell you that monthly meter readings are mandatory. You can’t get back on your online account if you forget your password. You can get stiffed with a massive bill because they tell you the wrong amount at review. They ONLY do a yearly review.
Would never recommend to anyone and I wish I could put 0 starts for the stress they’ve caused.

Very happy to stay with flow - the new direct debit was higher than I hoped but then I am sure everyone else put up the rates

A company with a vulgar attitude to customer service, I have now reported them for harassment, they are bullies! Stay away from them.

Ive tried calling you but you keep saying you cannot discuss it with me? I then call the people who you say to discuss it and they say I need to speak to you, Im totally stuck ?

My daughter believed she had settled her Flow Energy account when she moved to Australia. Indeed, reading the (deliberately?) confusing Statement I can understand why she could easily have understood she was in credit.

Flow Energy then sent an email saying payment was outstanding of double the amount on the Statement. When she responded asking for clarification she received no response, so she asked me to act on her behalf and resolve matters.

When I phoned the Payments department I was told that they could answer my queries as soon as Customer Services received an email from my daughter authorising me to act on her behalf.

She did so, and cc'd me, but Customer Services insisted no email had been received (before admitting that it takes 12-24 hours for emails to be processed).

I was told no Supervisor or Manager was available to speak to me.
I was then told no-one was prepared to call me back. The call handler was unable to clarify why the bill had been doubled.

Having been told by email in April that 'the relevant department' would 'have the final bill corrected' and 'notify me', the next I heard was a threatening email in August threatening to send in the debt collectors!

I applaud 'challenger brands', but this one appears to be shambolically mismanaged. They really need to get their act together if they ever want to be taken seriously.

I have been with FLOW ENERGY for some years always paying by direct debit for my fixed rate dual fuel that was near expiring so I was given the opportunity to fix again for another period of time to the FLOW ENERGY MAY 20 V2 TARIFF which had a much smaller amount increase of £162.00 PA to what I was already paying rather than being put on the variable rate WITH A GREATER increase of £349.00. I have now been paying for the last 3 months not the increse of £13.50 p/m but an increase of £36 p/m they inform me that i am in credit of £122 and they are taking the £36 p/m due to the fact that the winter months are only 2 months away so why did they give me a new fixed tariff for them to say that I might use more energy. I don't UNDERSTAND asked to be change to what we agreed to be told No. I am looking for a new energy supplier ask to be paid back my credit to be told it will take 12 months.

I HAVE NEVER HAD A PROBLEM WITH FLOW ENERGY AND I HOPE I NEVER DO. BEEN WITH THE COMPANY NOW FOR QUITE A CONSIDERABLE AMOUNT OF TIME. KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK FLOW ENERGY. KIND REGARDS...

You are always increasing my monthly direct debit, even when I ask you not to because I always clear any surplus

My previous review was 4 star. What a difference a couple of months make. After 6 years of being a customer I had asked to resolve a billing issue to stop a threatned monthly increase. This was specifically due to gas readings most reading being from myself or estimated (in six years flow have only read my gas meter once and that was earlier this year). "We have forwarded to the relevant department" was the outcome and needless to say no response. They even suggested I photograph my meter and send it to them? My response was No send a meter reader around. The increase was imposed through my direct debit without my authority. I am about to leave flow and truley believe the amature attempts to resolve my issues were never taken seriously. I expect the reply to be the standard "sorry to hear about your experience but?" Customer retention should be gold to any firm. Never again will I deal with this company or in fact CO OP, who are now involved with flow.

Unsolved issues
Bad customer service

Been loiyal customer for 3/4years having prom=blems with my direct debit being changed ,phoned tons of times no satisafaction at all cannot believe u have only I phone no ,some of your operators have no idea if this is not sorted out am changing suppliers £60 is total rip off what new companies refund u ,worse service I have had ,operators some of them u need to SEND ON COURSE ON CUSTOMER CARE

A very Competent Company. Always been fair. Great to speak to a person if you need to ring Customer Services.