Poor Support from New Electricity Retailers: Flow, Amber, Globird

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  Bruceflix on 30/05/2026 - 16:45

  Flow can be dangerous if you do not understand their pricing, which is overly complicated.
  Amber has no support and smartshift is rubbish. Use homeassistant for best results.
  Globird is easy to understand the pricing but will return less than the other 2 in ideal conditions.

  I have been with all 3.

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    SBOB on 30/05/2026 - 16:50

    Trying to make energy pricing and solar/battery setups work in your favour isnt in the retailers interest.
    Complicated and lack of support is expected :)

    Its up to the end user to do the maths, run the numbers, and possibly implement solutions (like homeassistant) if they want to tip the scales in their favour

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      Jackson on 30/05/2026 - 17:58

      Here we go, it's going to be like mobile phone plans in the late 90s.

      What I would say to that though is in the case of Flow that is the key benefit, and they are advertising themselves as such to get market share from other companies, so it's in their benefit to at least be able to tell people how their advertised benefits work

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        SBOB on 30/05/2026 - 18:23

        Man, from that list of questions no wonder you aren't getting great low-level customer support answers.

        Dumb it down. Asking things like why is their daily supply charge higher, payment processing fees, account name holder changes seem like just wasted effort.

        Every company's daily supply charge is different.
        Moving an account to a new provider the existing name with the old provider doesnt matter.
        Payment processing fees ,and the others you should be able to read all their documents and work those out anyway.

        Low customer service companies plus high maintenance customer isn't a good combo ;)

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          Jackson on 30/05/2026 - 18:26

          @SBOB: Thanks for the heads up with changing ownership. Honestly though I am not even getting anyone on the chat, its just broken. I have left messages outside of hours for a return contact and just got nothing. I don't think it's a matter of the questions asked, it's like it's not even a service.

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    Jackson on 30/05/2026 - 18:02

    My situation is that I have a 42kw hour battery that if fully drained, on a sunny day will fully charged from my solar. If I let my 15kw inverter do its thing I should be able to purge 30kwh (less any usage, which might be 2 to 3 kwh) of electricity in the 2 hours with Flow, and make over 10 bucks a day easily. Unless it's raining or very overcast, I should be able to more or less do it again every day.

    Does flow have a similar automated app like Amber that just communicates with your inverter or are we doing things manually? I have also noticed that they have a relatively expensive daily charge at 2.34 (although I have seen this listed as 1.34 some places) and they have annover 100 dollar exit fee, no idea why although maybe they install something at your house to make this all work? If you knew the naswrs to this stuff would be interested to know

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    Dr Phil on 31/05/2026 - 20:04

    What about AGL?

    I've always found them to provide good customer service.
    Though recently even AGL has moved customer service offshore so its not as good now.

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      Jackson on 31/05/2026 - 22:51

      I haven't checked any of the majors feed in tariff, because I am expecting them all to be crap. If any of them came close to one of these new energy retailers no one would bother going with them, but that might be a major assumption

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  p1 ama on 30/05/2026 - 20:21

  You're not the target customer of these smaller "low cost" providers.

  They are for people who know what they are doing, want a no-frills experience and know how to optimise comples tariff scenarios for their own benefit.

  If this is not you, then go with Origin, AGL or another "mass market" retailer who will offer you what you're after.

  What's people's experience with these clowns? Or maybe you use someone who gives you a fair shake without compromising basic support?

  Perfectly fine. I've never had to call my retailer and prefer to keep it that way. Also prefer to not pay for unnecessary support staff I'll never use.

  FWIW, Flow and Amber are "hard mode" retailers. If you need to ask questions or don't know what you're doing, I'd suggest staying away. I'm not trying to gatekeep, just that you'd likely be worse off.

  Globird can potentially work for you.

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    Jackson on 30/05/2026 - 21:10

    I do t know about that, Flow has a very basic fee structure, flat rate all day, no feed in except happy hour. Standard rate is relatively cheap and flat if you need power. Can manually set your mode on your own inverters app when you want or just set it to export for those two hours daily. That's pretty straightforward and if it's your opinion that's "hard mode" then I would beg to differ.

    The bits that I am wondering about are more to do with their lack of explanation. They give you some "hardware" but don't tell you what it is, so how do you know if it's valuable or you need it? They also charge you more for some things without an explanation why, that's sounds to me like giving with one hand and taking with the other. It's poor marketing, and even worse support. Yeah I could jump in blind and if things went south jump off, and that sounds like a lot of people's experience, but that's just crap service. It's one thing to not have support, but it's another thing altogether to say you do and not have it, to anyone who has a shred of respect for consumer rights that's just off

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      Bruceflix on 30/05/2026 - 21:17

      Flow has a very basic fee structure, flat rate all day,

      Surely you jest. That tells me you know very little about Flow's fee structure.

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        Jackson on 31/05/2026 - 00:17

        I am afraid not, I see where I went wrong now. I was getting too much of my info from a price estimate document that their site has directed me to at some point after using one of their models

        https://flowpower.com.au/residential/wp-content/uploads/Flow…

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      surfingedge on 30/05/2026 - 21:53

      Imports are not flat rate. Roughly speaking they charge the AEMO wholesale rate + your network tariff + between 20-25c. Unlike amber it's not passthrough of the wholesale rate either. You don't really find out what you get charged until the end of the month, but generally if you only import when the wholesale rate is low you will get a discount off the base rate.

      I recommend joining the flow facebook group to learn more. Do a search and read the existing posts, don't just post the same basic questions that already get posted several times a week

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        Jackson on 31/05/2026 - 00:10

        This has been very enlightening, thanks. Not knowing what you get charged as a rate until the end of the month was the part I was missing.

        From my data so far I actually don't think I would import anything on most clear days, and on days that weren't clear I would easily have enough battery storage to get me through a day if the previous day was clear and I didn't export the maximum amount in the happy hour. I am fortunate enough to be starting with a very energy efficient house so my battery currently barely has a dent in it most days. Will definitely take you advice and join the group, I usually leave that for after I join the service but there's definite value in this case

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      p1 ama on 30/05/2026 - 21:55

      That's pretty straightforward and if it's your opinion that's "hard mode" then I would beg to differ.

      If it's straightforward then go for it.

      They give you some "hardware" but don't tell you what it is, so how do you know if it's valuable or you need it?

      It's literally on their website: https://flowpower.com.au/residential/get-started/hardware-se… - seems that it's just a power monitor that doesn't have much to do with their service and you're fine without it.

      They also charge you more for some things without an explanation why, that's sounds to me like giving with one hand and taking with the other.

      That's part of their tariff. You need to do the calculation to work out if it works for you after all the give and take.

      It's poor marketing, and even worse support. Yeah I could jump in blind and if things went south jump off, and that sounds like a lot of people's experience, but that's just crap service. It's one thing to not have support, but it's another thing altogether to say you do and not have it, to anyone who has a shred of respect for consumer rights that's just off

      I'm not defending Flow's marketing or support teams - they have a model that seems to work well for them and their customers.

      Different people need different levels of service. Some people like to eat at Michelin star restaurants, some people like the local Chinese takeaway. I don't see a problem with Flow offering a low service, no-frills service which caters to that user base.

      There are people out there who don't need or want customer service, so why should they pay for it? There already exists other options which have standard customer service.

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  surfingedge on 30/05/2026 - 19:07

  I'm currently with Flow. They never responded to me before I signed up, but once I became a customer they responded on the live chat and they did what they said.

  1. Yes the fee is only if you aren't currently supplied by any electricity retailer or you want to stop being supplied. There are no fees to switch

  2. Retailers can choose their own pricing

  3. Don't know but other retailers may charge a special meter read fee for this - if it's really important then why not try to change the name with EA first

  4. AFAIK, there's only one plan for residential customers

  5. You don't need any hardware. Yes supposedly they will send out a power monitor but I haven't received it and I won't be using it even if I get one

  6. You program your battery yourself, the app just shows you what you used and the current wholesale price+your network tariff.

  7. I think using a bank account as opposed to card will not be charged a payment fee. But if you need to pay, Flow may not be the best supplier for you - the point is to be paid by them

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    Jackson on 30/05/2026 - 21:29

    Thanks for answering mate, seems like you have nailed it. You see what I mean though about their material being a dog's breakfast and their support (even if just for people who are not yet customers) being a joke. Support that's not there, hardware that doesn't show up, showing multiple plans when they are the same, and telling people they will get charged when they shouldn't, not to mention their totally whack estimates of what you will pay on their services with their way off models. Regardless like others I will probably still join because their plan suits me, so maybe it pays for them not to care about that stuff

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    notauser on 01/06/2026 - 06:46

    In regards to 5: They sent one guy out to upgrade my meter even though it was already modernised. Never got updated in the app, flow never replied to my questions about it, still says await your upgrade.

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      surfingedge on 01/06/2026 - 10:09

      Flow wants their customers' meters to report live data. Normal smart meters only report once a day, and they work just fine with Flow but officially you can't refuse them changing your meter

      On the facebook group people say it can take up to one month before the new meter syncs with the app.

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  Aureus on 30/05/2026 - 16:55

  If you are just asking general questions, post it in https://www.reddit.com/r/amberelectric/ and someone will help you. That subreddit allows questions for other wholesale providers.

  Most companies these days have terrible support. I doubt you will find a provider with good support, best you can hope for is less bad. I have been with Amber and can confirm support is quite average and smartshift is worse then solutions done by people in their spare time for fun.

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  jv on 30/05/2026 - 18:30

  I have added the questions I had

  Spare us and just use ChatGPT

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    Jackson on 30/05/2026 - 18:34

    Mixed results, but did help a little. Some answers actually said "you will need to contact Flow support"

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  Fudnut on 31/05/2026 - 07:47

  You need to establish what your energy consumption is in relation to your PV and battery size.

  In my situation, with a 40 kWh battery, 10.6 kW PV system, and winter consumption of around 28 kWh/day in a worst-case scenario, GloBird is the best fit. Their plan offers free feed-in from 11 am to 2 pm, a 15c FiT from 6 pm to 9 pm, and the $1 ZeroHero period. This leaves me with a credit balance most days.

  Set the TOU and software power limit on your inverter/battery system — in my case, GoodWe — according to what you want to export. That way, you can cover your daily supply charge, and with a large battery, you should rarely, if ever, need to use the grid. I would not use their VPP, or anyone else’s for that matter. Set it up manually using the battery apps. It is basically point-and-click.

  Supply charges jump right up if your regional distributor is Essential Energy, compared with Endeavour Energy or Ausgrid. I believe this is because of how the market was carved up, with Essential Energy getting the less profitable regional areas compared with metro areas. As I'm with Essential Energy, my supply is $2.17 :(

  The trade-off with GloBird ZeroHero plan is the high kWh cost (0.63c) if you do use the grid. However, if you never draw from the grid, or only need to do so rarely, your credit balance will usually cover it.

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    Jackson on 31/05/2026 - 09:31

    On average how much in credit per day would you be?

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      Fudnut on 01/06/2026 - 07:35

      15kWh FiT earns me $2.25/day + the ZeroHero $1. So for me, with supply @ $2.17, it's ~ $1.08

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  MS Paint on 30/05/2026 - 18:57

  Edit:
  I have added the questions I had for Flow…..

  Crikey. K.I.S.S FFS

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    Jackson on 31/05/2026 - 00:25

    In my defence the first time I contacted them I only had a single question, the list grew over time. I think they have just grown to the point of being unable to keep up with support, as a result of the explosion of new battery systems up until May 1st. There's a permanent banner on their site saying they are experiencing issues with their "residential app and business customer portal". So basically all their customers are affected somehow. Doesn't fill you with confidence

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  tanksinatra on 30/05/2026 - 22:42

  I'm sorry but reading your posts I don't think you're the target customer for these companies.

  Amber, Flow and Globird offer plans that are extremely cost optimised and marketised (to a differing degree). They offer higher returns on feed in electricity but also higher risk and higher fixed costs. You could easily get caught out with a large bill if you draw at the wrong time. And as they are very cost conscious, I doubt any of them offer meaningful support.

  I'm with Globird and I've had to write several scripts to get my inverter to meet the plan/tariff requirements.

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    Jackson on 31/05/2026 - 00:03

    I know people who are on Globird and use it successfully just by making manual adjustments. If you said script they would think you are talking about a movie you had written.

    I would be very surprised if any retailer expected their core target market to be able to write scripts just to take advantage of their service. Clearly you are ahead of the majority of people with regards to automation, which is great for you, but that's would be a small fraction of the 4% of households that have solar and a battery, which I expect would be too small a base to target considering they are sharing that market with other players, In Amber's case they have an app and integration to manage that for people, and it seems that while it has it's fair share of issues, they also don't expect their customers to have that level of technical nouse.

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      tanksinatra on 02/06/2026 - 08:58

      It's up to you. You don't have to use automation. But if you want to maximise returns then you'll find yourself needing to manage your batteries and consumption like a hawk. It's tiring and if you get it wrong then you'll find yourself paying high peak rates charging your battery at the wrong time. That's exactly what the retailers want. They don't want you to use automation… they'd prefer to see you pay extra.

      Also just so you know, Globird raised their supply charges for new customers by about 25% overnight.

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        Jackson on 02/06/2026 - 13:49

        It's definitely a changing landscape, like anything there's a period where you can take advantage, and then when too many people join it levels out a lot. It's just the case with most things, I expect to get a decent return for a year or so and after that it will probably be marginal. That's also part of the reason why I am not worried about battery wear, I think in a year or two everyone is will set their systems to prioritise self use because the margins will be small and the risks less worth it, especially if you don't have a solid automation

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  lanjiao on 01/06/2026 - 08:15

  Why are you saying shit customer service for globird when you didn't contact them? Last time I called them I was 37th in queue, opted for a callback, then a local staff member called me back answering my questions

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    Jackson on 01/06/2026 - 08:32

    Fair point, I haven't, and yes that's how a support centre that's busy should work and the level of support I expect from anyone with a service desk. I added Globird because they are one of the 3 new energy retailers I hear of and so they are in the same part of the market as the other two and I was hoping to hear people's feedback, thanks.

    Coincidentally it seems they are also the simplest to gain a benefit from if you have any sort of solar and or battery but also the one that will leave you the least ahead if you have a big battery and looking to profit

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      lanjiao on 01/06/2026 - 12:41

      All good

      Just to add to others, I've used amber (manually) before and within about 2 weeks of using them I didn't really see any of the massive surge prices that you'd see on the YouTube videos.

      I also have a 41kwh battery but I've been prioritising home use and with electric hot water heater/stove/heater running. I'm using globird and so far (2 months) I haven't had to pay anything— around $5 credit each month

      I've found that it's pretty simple to setup battery automation (your brands app may vary) and hands off

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        Jackson on 01/06/2026 - 12:59

        Are you using Fox?

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          lanjiao on 01/06/2026 - 14:25

          @Jackson: Yeah I got foxess battery and 10kw inverter. Required a bit of fiddling (mainly researching how to change some strings in the inverter)

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            Jackson on 06/06/2026 - 15:15

            @lanjiao: So finally but the bullet yesterday and was refreshingly easy to set the system to export the maximum during happy hour. The only thing I need to know now is whether it matters of I am export during the day. I know Flow doesn't have a negative feed in tariff to worry about but does feeding in for free in off peak times negatively affect your calculated rate, and if you aren't using any energy anyway does it matter?

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              lanjiao on 06/06/2026 - 17:17

              @Jackson: Are you with globird? Because on the standard zerohero plan (I forgot name) If you export during day you get nothing for it but also doesn't cost anything so doesn't matter if excess solar goes to the grid

              Main things are you if you don't want to export so much in 1800-2100 then you gotta set max export limit to a certain amount so on your app you say discharge at 10kw, however it only exports at the set max export limit whilst leaving the difference available for household usage

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  localhost on 30/05/2026 - 16:46

  What are your expectations? Most of those call centres are overseas. Also, they won't invest much in something that is not generating return.

  You can try them and if not working just move elsewhere.

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    Bruceflix on 30/05/2026 - 16:56

    I don't think any of the call centers are overseas. More just non-existent.

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      Jackson on 30/05/2026 - 18:05

      Absolutely non-existent. I just expect to ask a few questions and get some answers prior to sign up, now I am thinking god forbid I get stung after sign up and need to negotiate something, when there isn't even anyone to negotiate with.

      In contrast energy Australia and any other traditional provider has a phone number you call and they can sort you out in 5 minutes. I know they are orders of magnitude larger than these guys, but this is a step change in the enshitification of retailer service if the apps are less than perfect which from all reports they are

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        surfingedge on 30/05/2026 - 19:09

        Flow and amber have got a lot of new customers in the past 6 months and likely haven't recruited enough new staff.

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  prisonmike on 30/05/2026 - 21:17

  You can simply run these queries in ChatGPT and it will give you a good response. You can also get it to write the response in a way easily explainable to a 5 year old.

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    2esc on 31/05/2026 - 17:56

    People just have to remember chatGPT can be wrong depending on the subject and always double check.

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      Jackson on 31/05/2026 - 23:02

      In this case chat gpt answered one question and then referred me to Flow support

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  Typical16-bitEnjoyer on 31/05/2026 - 15:15

  You obviously need a retailer to hold your hand. Go with one of the majors. They will offer support, but at a price.

  You're wanting Scorptec style service at a MSY price. Those retailers are cheaper for a reason.

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    Jackson on 31/05/2026 - 23:09

    Sorry but the expectation that I can use Flow's support comes wholly and solely from the fact that Flow operates a chat support service. I am not expecting a company that's doesn't offer one to provide one just for me. I am expecting a company that directs people to chat support to simply respond to chat support they direct their customers to. If they don't want to operate one, just dont offer it.

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      Typical16-bitEnjoyer on 01/06/2026 - 13:05

      You're not after support. Their service operates as it should.

      You're after answers to sales queries, and most of a very general nature not limited to Flow. This they do not offer. If you can't understand their industry mandatory disclosures, or not more information than what is contained in them, then they are not for you.

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        Jackson on 02/06/2026 - 13:53

        It clearly doesn't operate as it should, you just need to see the banner on their site that's permanently there saying they are having issues to know that. The questions are as you say presales questions and therefore by their nature are simple to answer. I worked in support longer than most people and it's not uncommon for potential customers to be referred to support people during presales and there's even sales support jobs dedicated to answering technical question. It's not uncommon.

        I will let you know how I go once I join, when we have definitive proof if it was for me or not

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  sps925 on 31/05/2026 - 20:45

  Flow will give you the biggest ROI if your usage is low and you can export enough during happy hour. I was initially with Amber, Smartshift returns were disappointing so I turned it off. On manual mode I was spending a lot of time everyday in the Amber app and manually exporting for minimal returns. I then used the Socrates app to automate exports using rules based on export prices and forecast sunshine, but the returns still weren't great as the Amber FITs most of the time weren't high enough to cover the subscription fee and usage charges.
  I switched to Flow and my returns have skyrocketed with minimal effort (just one happy hour export rule).

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    SoapyWooder on 01/06/2026 - 07:59

    This is exactly my position now, but I've never seen export $ stated in invoice. I've asked them multiple times with no reply so I don't know if I get anything.

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  tekisei on 01/06/2026 - 13:56

  I am with Flow. Have you tried emailing them? They will get back to me within a few hours, even when I am emailing them 9pm I would get random 11pm replies with actual useful information. Chat has no idea what they are talking about half the time, and phone will drop your call every 40 minutes when you get to the front of the queue.

  Flow is good for big battery/big export. I would highly suggest Home Assistant automation (minor coding logic knowledge required for debugging) of your charge/discharge cycles if your home load is significant (e.g. if you are not operating at a 20kWh surplus each and every day). Without automation I have been accidentally importing when I don't want to import and accidentally exporting when I don't want to export, and also forgetting for the inverse.

  Globird is set and forget, for high usage households. Very good automated support system for transferring.

  Haven't tried Amber as by the time I installed solar/battery, the socials have basically reported that no one had been getting surge pricing for a while for the big export $$.

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    Jackson on 05/06/2026 - 13:13

    I finally joined today, and coincidentally as I was putting the sign up through I was on the app and got to ask a few things. I'll be going manual for now but looking at home assistant soon enough. Have updated the answers to some of the questions above in the hope it helps others

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  Stuj on 01/06/2026 - 15:40

  I think with all the batteries out there stabilising the grid, the price spread has largely come down, in 2026-27 id say its not worth trying to game the system any longer. Im with Amber and am very disappointed. I will switch over to Globird Zero Hero and use the free period to charge the battery full or EV charge with that.

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    Jackson on 05/06/2026 - 13:11

    Switch to flow, if you have a big battery (>30kwh say) and a decent size inverter, you can make some money. For a 10kw inverter probably close to at least 8 bucks a day at a minimum if you aren't using a lot of energy in peak times or overnight and it's a fairly sunny day

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  Wiadro on 30/05/2026 - 19:53

  LOL
  here i am not worried about prices as im still on the Ampol powering on plan with AGL with no end date yet

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    Jackson on 31/05/2026 - 00:28

    not familiar with that plan? Is it like the AGL plan for connections to new properties where you pay a $200 flat rate and can use as much electricity as you want for an entire 6 months?

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      Wiadro on 31/05/2026 - 09:20

      No it’s a very old plan where it’s stupidly cheap

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  MS Paint on 30/05/2026 - 22:24

  What was the end result with your ill fitting international eBay car mats? We never got a final update on the outcome.

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    Jackson on 31/05/2026 - 00:43

    Here you go love: https://www.ozbargain.com.au/comment/17621120/redir

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  Muppet Detector on 30/05/2026 - 19:20

  Crikey. K.I.S.S FFS

  Knackered Identifying Simple Solutions For Finding Flow's Support.

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  tenpercent on 30/05/2026 - 20:06

  TVDR:

  They're asking the community for other customers' experiences and advice about Flow—specifically whether Flow provides reliable customer support and a fair service (vs competitors like Amber), and answers to practical questions about fees, connection/disconnection charges, daily connection rates, EV vs non‑EV plan differences, meter/hardware and monitoring, app/automation capabilities, transferring account name, and payment-processing fees.

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