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ColinB

I am on the tariff "Flow Fixed May 2018" which is shortly due to end. I have just had a letter from them (via email) stating that, if I do nothing, I will be transferred to a new tariff "Flow Iris Fixed May 2019". But:
1. The letter states that my current tariff has exit fees of £30/fuel: that is incorrect, my account details clearly state that my current tariff does not have, and never has had, exit fees. The letter is set out in such a way that this erroneous inclusion of exit fees makes the new tariff look more attractive than the old.
2. Even if the tariff did include exit fees, the letter does not point out that they would not be payable if a customer is in the end phase of a fixed tariff. The unwary reader might think that they would pay these fees if they decided not to proceed with Flow's new tariff.
3. The new tariff apparently "... isn't available on our website or anywhere else ...". So customers cannot check it via Cheap Energy Club (CEC) or any other comparison site. Effectively Flow are saying "Trust us, this is a good deal, but we won't let you check how good it is". Actually, given that I've already used CEC to find a better deal, I don't think it is a good tariff.

So have they made stupid errors in the letter or is this a deliberate attempt to mislead customers into switching onto an expensive tariff ? Either of those possibilities is equally worrying. I've asked Flow to explain themselves, but have already initiated a switch to another supplier.

frankie

My letter, 'renewal estimate' states for gas and electric, exit fees N/A on both the current MSE Tariff and will be switched to Daffodil tariff!

Daffodil tarrif details are not on the MSE site as yet, this tariff is for existing customers only. Existing customers will be switched to this tariff when the MSE one ends.

Have Flow changed their minds then and come up with a 'new' new tariff Iris? Not had any notification of this one. If so the tariff details should be shown on it. Wouldn't suprise me if the Daffodil has been renaged on given wholesale prices have increased since this offering was given!?

I'll be out of the country at the end of the month and have held off switching til I get back early April.

ColinB

frankie;
I don't think it's surprising that they offer different tariffs to different customers, there's probably a timing factor here. My letter says Iris is their cheapest current deal and I'd guess yours says the same about Daffodil, but of course they can withdraw any offer and replace it with something else at any time as the wholesale market changes. The annoying thing is that they don't openly publish these new tariffs, so as a fixed deal comes to an end you can't easily compare what they offer you with the rest of the retail market. The details of Iris are below, if your Daffodil is worse than that then you might justifiably have words with them. However I suspect Iris will be worse than Daffodil if wholesale prices have gone up since your Daffodil offer.

Flow Iris Fixed May 2019:
Payments monthly by direct debit, no exit charges, fixed until 30/4/2019

Gas
Unit rate: 3.288 p/kWh
Standing charge: 14.659 p/day

Electricity
Unit rate: 14.674 p/kWh
Standing charge:24.167 p/day

frankie

Colin

For info Daffodil tariff:


GasUnit 3.141 p/kWh
SC 14.006 p/day

Elec Unit 14.231 p/kWh
SC 23.237 p/day

Price guarantee til 31st March 2019
Exit fees N/A

VAT inc

I don't know if this is geographical charging but I guess it is for my area. South West

ebc

We also had the Iris email quote today (am currently on Flow Fixed May 2018).
Like your quote mine claims that there is a £30 exit fee per fuel on current scheme which is WRONG ! There is NO exit fee on current scheme.

When I logged into CheapEnergyClub to compare prices it already shows the Iris cost under the heading "What youll pay after your tariff ends" at the top of the page, so it looks like they have got the Iris pricing details from somewhere ? The CEC unit prices and standing charges match my quoted prices.

My email quoted prices for Iris (I'm in Hampshire) are :
GasUnit 3.291 p/kWh
SC 14.700 p/day

Elec Unit 13.758 p/kWh
SC 20.696 p/day

frankie

ebc and Colin, Just realised you are both on a different current tariff to me and I think that's why the renewal letters are offering a different tariff. (my Daffodil to your Iris)

I'm currently on the MSE Fixed march 31st.

Sorry if I've caused any confusion!

ColinB

ebc wrote: »

When I logged into CheapEnergyClub to compare prices it already shows the Iris cost under the heading "What youll pay after your tariff ends" at the top of the page, so it looks like they have got the Iris pricing details from somewhere ? The CEC unit prices and standing charges match my quoted prices.

My email quoted prices for Iris (I'm in Hampshire) are :
GasUnit 3.291 p/kWh
SC 14.700 p/day

Elec Unit 13.758 p/kWh
SC 20.696 p/day

You're right ! I believed what the email said, ie that the prices weren't on comparison sites, so I didn't look too closely at CEC results (plus I'd already decided to switch based on a previous review). The Iris tariff is indeed listed under the "What you'll pay after your tariff ends" section so, as you say, the prices must be available to the comparison bots somehow. I see that, even though your "Iris" and my "Iris" share the same name, my prices on CEC match those in my letter and are different to yours ... my gas is a bit cheaper, but electricity seems to be significantly more expensive. Presumably that's a geographic thing (I'm in Bath).

Former_Flow_Energy

ColinB wrote: »

I am on the tariff "Flow Fixed May 2018" which is shortly due to end. I have just had a letter from them (via email) stating that, if I do nothing, I will be transferred to a new tariff "Flow Iris Fixed May 2019". But:
1. The letter states that my current tariff has exit fees of £30/fuel: that is incorrect, my account details clearly state that my current tariff does not have, and never has had, exit fees. The letter is set out in such a way that this erroneous inclusion of exit fees makes the new tariff look more attractive than the old.
2. Even if the tariff did include exit fees, the letter does not point out that they would not be payable if a customer is in the end phase of a fixed tariff. The unwary reader might think that they would pay these fees if they decided not to proceed with Flow's new tariff.
3. The new tariff apparently "... isn't available on our website or anywhere else ...". So customers cannot check it via Cheap Energy Club (CEC) or any other comparison site. Effectively Flow are saying "Trust us, this is a good deal, but we won't let you check how good it is". Actually, given that I've already used CEC to find a better deal, I don't think it is a good tariff.

So have they made stupid errors in the letter or is this a deliberate attempt to mislead customers into switching onto an expensive tariff ? Either of those possibilities is equally worrying. I've asked Flow to explain themselves, but have already initiated a switch to another supplier.

Hello,

We are sorry to hear that you are not happy with the service you have received, and we would like resolve your queries with you at your earliest convenience.

Would you be kind enough to provide us with your Flow account number (via facebook direct messagehttps://www.facebook.com/FlowEnergyUK/ or Twitter https://twitter.com/FlowEnergy_Help as we do not have a private message function on here) so we can look into this for you?

We will endeavor to contact you back as soon as possible.

Warm Regards,

The Flow team

ColinB

Flow_Energy wrote: »

Hello,

We are sorry to hear that you are not happy with the service you have received, and we would like resolve your queries with you at your earliest convenience.

Would you be kind enough to provide us with your Flow account number (via facebook direct messagehttps://www.facebook.com/FlowEnergyUK/ or Twitter https://twitter.com/FlowEnergy_Help as we do not have a private message function on here) so we can look into this for you?

We will endeavor to contact you back as soon as possible.

Warm Regards,

The Flow team

Dear Flow Rep

Thank you for this response. Unfortunately - as you have been told on this forum before - not everyone uses TwitFace, so those communication routes are non-starters. Please stop advising people to do that.

However, as you will have seen from my original posting on 17/3, I have already raised this through the "Contact Us" facility in my Flow account so I expect a response through that route. Whilst it's a little too soon to expect a meaningful response (two working days so far), I have not had even an acknowledgement of that message yet so I have no idea if anyone is dealing with the issue. If I hear nothing after 5 working days I will escalate to complaints@flowenergy.uk.com.

Please be aware that if your eventual response includes information that I think will be beneficial to others I will post it on here.

ColinB

So, a couple of hours after posting my previous comment I got an email from Flow (coincidence ?). The gist of it is:

"... I can ... confirm that the exit fee mentioned on the first page was put in error on our part and as you can see on the following pages the exit fee is not mentioned.

As for your second point in your e-mail, we do mention that the exit fees are not applicable as you are no longer in the contracted period. This can be found in the purple banner at the bottom of the first page."

So they made a mistake, that's annoying but I suppose it's only human and at least they've admitted it. Re the second point, yes, they are right it is in the letter - in quite small font in a footnote location nowhere near where the fees are (incorrectly) specified - and I missed it

I've suggested they might like to re-issue the letter with the error corrected and the footnote more prominent (or omitted altogether, it's not needed).