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So_Energy

Pollie1 wrote: »

I moved from So Energy to another supplier over 6 weeks ago and it has taken quite a fight to get my credit balance back off them. I have only managed it today and had to be rather annoyed and upset to get them to take action. They did send me an email some weeks ago to say I would get the money today, but as it was not in my pending balances I phoned to confirm it really was in fact going to be credited. Kind of wish I hadn't bothered as they obviously don't really know what they mean when they say 'it will be credited by 5pm on 20 Dec' !!!

I got several different responses, one to say it would be in my account by close of business today, then that it could be, or it should be and even that it would take another 3 working days (meaning after Christmas). So which is it ??? They were not clear at all and so I demanded that as my email said it would be in my account today, that's what they should do. After all it is my money and I want to go Christmas Shopping, it was over £240, so not too small a sum.

I asked to speak to a manager, they said I couldn't and actually cut me off. I phoned back and eventually I did speak to someone who said they would ensure the payment went through today, as I had been sent an email that said it would be, and they will phone me back at 5pm (45 mins time) so that I can confirm I've had the money. I have checked my account and it has now arrived, so I got there in the end.

My supply up till now have been stress free, even moving to them in the first place last year, it's just when it came to leaving that the problems occurred. I also have an estimated reading like someone else has said, when it shouldn't have been an estimated reading, but I didn't have the 'energy' to battle that one and as it's the one used by my new supplier anyhow, so I figured it wouldn't make too much difference. My new supplier also had lots of issues getting So Energy to transfer my supply over, but there's another story.

I suspect the money would have been sent to my bank today and wouldn't have cleared for the 3 working days, if I hadn't have checked and rang to query.

Hello Pollie1,

I am sorry to hear about your recent experience with So Energy.

It seems our agent unfortunately mentioned it may take another 3 working days, however, if we have sent out a final bill and indicated the timescale of receiving the refund then it would be on that day.

I would like to apologise for the lack of clarity with your refund query. The funds were returned on 20th December at the agreed time 5pm.

I appreciate you called to enquire about your final bill refund, however, we did indicate on your final bill that this will be in your bank account by 5pm. The funds were returned within this time frame as planned and my colleague did call you back as the last call was unfortunately disconnected.

If estimates were used for your final bill, this is due to your new supplier submitting your opening meter reads and if you had not submitted readings then estimates would be produced. However, if you had submitted opening meter readings but they weren’t used, then I would advise to get in touch with them for further guidance. Both suppliers will use the same readings to open and close your account, so that you don’t pay for energy twice.

So Energy are part of the switching guarantee and this ensure the switch is hassle free, please consider that the industry standard to switch does take 21 days to complete the switch. If this has exceeded this time frame, then please get back in touch with us so we can try to assist.

Thanks

Jas

Simply_Ted

Been with SO energy for three winters. When I first joined they stated this: "Life's too short to be worrying about whether you've picked the best tariff. That's why we’ve kept things simple! We only offer 1 fixed rate tariff at any one time, so there's no confusion as to which tariff to choose."However on recent bills they have stated that I could switch to a cheaper tariff. Also MSE sent me an email to say its time to switch again and offered me a different tariff, which makes three that I know about. They are charging an exit fee of £10, but when I signed up three years ago, I thought that this only applied to changing supplier as there was no other tariff to switch to.

On the contrary, I am confused as to which tariff is available to me and whether I have picked the best tariff.:(

burntwood

Simply_Ted wrote: »

Been with SO energy for three winters. When I first joined they stated this: "Life's too short to be worrying about whether you've picked the best tariff. That's why we’ve kept things simple! We only offer 1 fixed rate tariff at any one time, so there's no confusion as to which tariff to choose."However on recent bills they have stated that I could switch to a cheaper tariff. Also MSE sent me an email to say its time to switch again and offered me a different tariff, which makes three that I know about. They are charging an exit fee of £10, but when I signed up three years ago, I thought that this only applied to changing supplier as there was no other tariff to switch to.

On the contrary, I am confused as to which tariff is available to me and whether I have picked the best tariff.:(

I'm not sure I understand your point.

Are you suggesting that any energy supplier that offers a fixed rate tariff should not ever be allowed to withdraw that tariff to new applicants and replace it with another (either higher or lower priced)?

If you consulted a comparison site, then presumably you chose the best tariff for you available at that time.

Services such as the MSE Cheap Energy Club monitor the market to ensure the option you chose remains the cheapest for you; if a cheaper alternative becomes available to you, it alerts you accordingly.

Simply_Ted

I understand that tariffs do come to an end. My tariff name changes every year. My point is that SO energy only offered one fixed rate tariff, to avoid confusion and customers would know that its the only and cheapest on offer. Now there seems to be three different tariffs running at the same time. I've only been on this new tariff since October but on my bill they say I can change to a cheaper one but there's and exit fee of £10 for doing that. The name of the cheaper tariff is not the same as the cheaper tariff supplied in an email from MSE. (I know exit fee is reasonable compared to others). I find this confusing and contrary to their statement when they were a new start-up company.

burntwood

Simply_Ted wrote: »

I understand that tariffs do come to an end. My tariff name changes every year. My point is that SO energy only offered one fixed rate tariff, to avoid confusion and customers would know that its the only and cheapest on offer. Now there seems to be three different tariffs running at the same time. I've only been on this new tariff since October but on my bill they say I can change to a cheaper one but there's and exit fee of £10 for doing that. The name of the cheaper tariff is not the same as the cheaper tariff supplied in an email from MSE. (I know exit fee is reasonable compared to others). I find this confusing and contrary to their statement when they were a new start-up company.

When I request a quote on the the So Energy website, I am only offered one fixed tariff today. They call it So Acorn.

That may not be the tariff you applied for last October.
What are the names of the other 2 fixed tariffs you say are being offered by So Energy today?

Simply_Ted

My new tariff in October 2019 was SO Turtle. This was offered on renewal. A month later, according to my bill, the cheapest available tariff was SoYak, hardly any savings so I stayed on SO Turtle. In December I was offered So Zebra and two days ago I got an email from MSE which mentioned SoAcorn, which is a better saving so I'm going to switch to that. On looking at my early statements there is no offer of any other tariffs. I can't remember previous suppliers offering new tariffs mid way through the contract. Perhaps things have changed but I never got the memo :undecided Perhaps the wording is ambiguous.

Patr100

their website says:

Our fixed tariff will always be one of the best
We believe in providing a fair, transparent and great value tariff. We don't offer any discounts, 2-for-1 or deals available only to new customers. The tariff available on our website is the same as comparison websites because we believe everyone should get the same great energy tariff, regardless of who you are.
You’ll never need to waste your time endlessly searching for the best energy deal again. We compare our one fixed tariff against every energy deal available to make sure we fulfil our promise to always being one of the best value energy providers. Whether you’re a first timer or deciding whether to renew, you’ll know that our fixed tariff is great value.

I've been with them for about 9 months and on the So Rhino - Gas (gas only) tariff.
my bill says:

Could you pay less?
Our cheapest available tariff for your gas meter is So
Zebra - Gas. This would cost an estimated £192.79 over
the next year (saving £29.16 if you were to do nothing at
the end of your contract).
You may be subject to a termination fee if you switch
more than 42 days before the end of your contract.

I understand companies cannot automatically switch your fixed tariff (even if a cheaper one exists) without your permission/consent but it's not clear what happens if I don't choose to move to Zebra at the end of my fixed period (Mar 2020)
will it be a variable tariff under the same name?

Usually companies do not charge for moving to another tariff within the same company - though this needs to be confirmed.

Glandel

Simply_Ted wrote: »

Perhaps the wording is ambiguous.

What do you find possibly ambiguous about

Simply_Ted wrote: »

...We only offer 1 fixed rate tariff at any one time, ...

Glandel

Simply_Ted wrote: »

My new tariff in October 2019 was SO Turtle. This was offered on renewal. A month later, according to my bill, the cheapest available tariff was SoYak, hardly any savings so I stayed on SO Turtle. In December I was offered So Zebra and two days ago I got an email from MSE which mentioned SoAcorn, which is a better saving so I'm going to switch to that. On looking at my early statements there is no offer of any other tariffs. I can't remember previous suppliers offering new tariffs mid way through the contract. Perhaps things have changed but I never got the memo :undecided Perhaps the wording is ambiguous.

The Turtle tariff was removed from sale to new applicants at the end of August 2019 (iirc)
The Yak tariff was removed from sale to new applicants on 11 December 2019
The Zebra tariff was removed from sale to new applicants on 02 January 2020

All suppliers must inform you if you could save money by switching to another tariff they currently offer.
It all started after Cameron announced a new law on the hoof in parliament saying everyone would be put on the cheapest tariff for them.
This watered down version is what we actually ended up with since March 2014
.https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/electricity/retail-market/market-review-and-reform/retail-market-review/simpler-clearer-fairer-market-reforms

So_Energy

Simply_Ted wrote: »

Been with SO energy for three winters. When I first joined they stated this: "Life's too short to be worrying about whether you've picked the best tariff. That's why we’ve kept things simple! We only offer 1 fixed rate tariff at any one time, so there's no confusion as to which tariff to choose."However on recent bills they have stated that I could switch to a cheaper tariff. Also MSE sent me an email to say its time to switch again and offered me a different tariff, which makes three that I know about. They are charging an exit fee of £10, but when I signed up three years ago, I thought that this only applied to changing supplier as there was no other tariff to switch to.

On the contrary, I am confused as to which tariff is available to me and whether I have picked the best tariff.:(

Glandel wrote: »

The Turtle tariff was removed from sale to new applicants at the end of August 2019 (iirc)
The Yak tariff was removed from sale to new applicants on 11 December 2019
The Zebra tariff was removed from sale to new applicants on 02 January 2020

All suppliers must inform you if you could save money by switching to another tariff they currently offer.
It all started after Cameron announced a new law on the hoof in parliament saying everyone would be put on the cheapest tariff for them.
This watered down version is what we actually ended up with since March 2014
.https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/electricity/retail-market/market-review-and-reform/retail-market-review/simpler-clearer-fairer-market-reforms

Hello Simply Ted and Glandel

The 'Could you pay less?' section of your statements was designed by Ofgem. The comparison assumes that in the next 12 months you do nothing at the end of your current agreement, moving on to our So Out of Contract rates (our variable tariff). For example, if your tariff ends in 3 months time, it imagines 9 months charged on So Out of Contract. This can inflates your potential savings, so we will always check this for you before allowing you to change tariffs.

We only have one fixed rate tariff at any one time. This is so we can keep things simple and you know that when you sign up, or renew your contract with us, you are always getting the best price available at the time.

We regularly review our tariff and operate a Low Price Policy to ensure we always offer a competitive tariff.

Once you sign up for a 12 month tariff agreement, we would not automatically move you onto a cheaper tariff if we introduced one, as we cannot agree a new contract on our customer's behalf. If you'd like to keep updated about tariff releases, follow us on Twitter, or Facebook

Exit fees cover the administration cost for interrupting your tariff agreement early. This includes our staff changing things for you, as well as rearranging how we buy our customers’ energy, as we have to buy this for customers in advance. We believe our low exit fee is a fair reflection of the cost involved. These costs are incurred by ending one contract early even if you go on to start a new 12-month agreement, so we do charge all customers an exit fee if they wish to do this.

Thanks

Jas