'I'm £900 in credit but Extra Energy won't tell me what I owe'

Forum user Icelady provides just one example of the complaints we've seen. She wrote on our forum: "I'm almost £900 in credit and Extra Energy appears to be unable to send me a bill so I can actually pay what I owe. Countless phone calls have no effect whatsoever. Will leave it when contract expires."

Other complaints include final bills not being received by those who've switched from Extra Energy, difficulty claiming back credit after switching, and a lack of help from Extra Energy's customer services.

Join our free Cheap Energy Club to get the cheapest gas and electricity, and read our Reclaim energy bill credit guide for help getting any money back after switching.

According to Extra Energy's complaints data, it had less than 1,000 complaints per 100,000 customers in the first three months of 2015, but it has acknowledged that "some customers have experienced problems with billing", while a "tiny minority" of customers have experienced delays in refunds being returned after they've switched away from the provider.

However it wouldn't give us the exact figures of those affected. See MoneySavingExpert.com's Is your energy company's service any good? poll to rate your provider's service over the past six months.

Online bills sent once every six months

In a bid to resolve current billing issues, Extra Energy says it will change its automated billing system so customers receive bills quarterly, rather than every six months.

However, it says it can't put a timeframe on when this will take effect as it "takes time to re-programme the automated billing system".

But if you want to switch to quarterly billing sooner, you can request this from Extra Energy under energy regulator Ofgem's rules. These say energy providers must make a bill or statement available to customers at least twice a year, and at least quarterly to any customer who requests it or who can operate their account online.

It's also important to note that Extra Energy only sends bills online. It does not send paper statements as standard, but you can request to receive it through the post, though you won't get an online account management discount.

Extra Energy customers complain of billing problems

'Been with Extra Energy since August 2014, but yet to receive bill'

Here are some of the complaints we've seen from our forum users about Extra Energy:

• Hleggy wrote in our forum: "I have been with Extra Energy for dual fuel since August 2014 and despite several phone calls I am yet to receive a bill. Apparently there is a backlog of bills so I don't actually know if I'm on the best deal now or if I'm in credit/debt. I have also emailed it three times and had no response."

• JohntyRingwood: "A dreadful company, I joined them only on 25 September. I have rung up no less than five times asking for a bill, which I was told you get after six months. Rang back after six months to be told it is running behind on billing. I put on its system my meter reads every month without fail. My gripe is not getting a bill for nine months. No energy tracking system. Extremely bad customer service."

• sparks_mot: "Although I keep sending meter readings every four weeks, Extra Energy do not update my account as to whether I'm in credit or debit, this after seven months, so as far as I can see, I'm about £500 in credit. I don't think I will renew at the end of my contract."

• wwpaddler: "My first bill grossly over exaggerated my expected consumption and increased my direct debit from £35 to £47. Been trying to get it reduced back to £35 ever since. Have given up emailing as it never responds. Normal customer service said it would reduce it but failed multiple times so now in the hands of the complaint team which are never available and never call back."

Unhappy with your provider? Complain

If you have a gripe with Extra Energy, complain to the company. If you're unhappy with the response received or don't get one at all within eight weeks, you can take your complaint to the Ombudsman Services: Energy.

'When we identify errors we work hard to fix them'

Extra Energy says its customer services team is currently dealing with all the complaints and "working hard to resolve them". Ben Jones, managing director at Extra Energy, says: "We are proud of our customer service and the fact that we have among the lowest level of complaints of any energy supplier.

"Our ambition is to be better than the big six and to revolutionise the energy market, and this ideology has allowed us to be the fastest growing energy company in Britain.

"We're determined to listen and learn from our customers as we grow. I recognise that not all our customers have received the level of service they should expect from their energy provider. When we identify errors we work hard to fix them."