Amber Electric – Energy Development in Melbourne

Still currently a member of Amber but I so far regret making the change. I idea and business model sound impressive and I really do believe I would be a great model if Amber as a company could get the act together. My first problem was that I was referred by a friend as his solar battery installer referred him. My friend was ment to get a $120 referral bonus as well as me as a sign up. Surprise surprise, the code was no recognised. I then tried to call Amber to ask about this and gain assist with the set up. I tried to call about 10 times, I was on hold for 10mins to hear a voice message explaining that they don’t have the staff yet to be able to assist. They said they are working to correct this but in the meantime please send a email. Which I did. Many. Again no response for almost a week and then a couple of responses from different people. By that time I had struggled away to get it changed over through the app asking my friend for set up advice. Now I’m set up, I have lost faith in the algorithm that chooses when to buy and sell energy. As we speak my battery is topping up from the grid. No idea why. It was full at 7.30pm free from the solar on my roof. Dropped to 83% by 9pm. Normally we run the same habits and wake up to a battery at 75% and then it’s fully recharged by 9ish AM. Tonight Amber is buying energy to fill my battery back up for 22cents per KW(battery was 83% maybe 5Kw used to fill) . I’m not going to need it overnight so I checked if the feed in tariff forecast makes it feasible to purchased this at 22cents to maybe sell it for more tomorrow morning. No the forecast is at 4-6cents for the next 24hours. So basically the best I can do is buy it for $1 and at best sell it back for 6cents. Not really getting the most out of the battery investment when I’m loosing 75cents per day. The App has no button to stop the import or to make allowances for predictable personal usage like charging my car. So I’m really at there mercy when this event happens. You may be thinking, you should call them and ask about this. Which I have, 1/2 a dozen times. Unfortunately Amber has one of the worst customer service for any company I have dealt with in Australia. If this improved, maybe the model could become efficient and more user friendly. Hoping someone can enter the market with a similar business model, user friendly App/product, and customer service/experience cause the idea I feel is a step in the right direction. Just executed by a company really struggling to scale and keep their head above water.

I’ve been using Amber Electric and I absolutely love it so far. The real-time wholesale pricing gives me more control over my energy use, and I can actually see how shifting my usage saves money. The app is easy to use, transparent, and makes me feel like I’m finally getting a fair deal instead of being locked into a flat rate. It’s refreshing to have an energy retailer that explains things clearly and genuinely helps you make smarter choices. Overall, it’s been a great experience and I’m glad I switched.