Octopus Energy reviews: Give your feedback

bristolleedsfan

Never been classed as a Smart Tariff

masonic

SJMALBA said:

In conclusion, Tracker is a smart tariff, that's not identified as a smart Tariff on the list of Octopus tariffs, and it's fixed, despite being listed as flexible?

My brain hurts…😕 🙄

It all depends on how the terms are defined. As they have included terms in the contract that permit variation of the formula, it is flexible, whether or not in practice they are at liberty to enforce those terms. As with all Octopus tariffs, there is no obligation to remain on the tariff for a fixed period of time. As it does not require a smart meter, it could be considered misleading to include it in the smart section beside all of the other tariffs which do require a smart meter, even though its pricing depends on when you use the energy and does not follow a predictable formula. For edge cases like Tracker, it can be difficult to fit them into a particular box.

MWT

SJMALBA said:

To clarify, I'm not on tracker, I emailed Octopus with a few questions re. Tracker, but by the time they responded (1 week) v2 had become v3, which is much less attractive (in terms of Standing Charges (SC) & unit rate caps), so I contacted them again to ask if I could be put on v2, given that I missed out due to their slow response, and was told:

The only way to lock in a particular version of a tariff is to request to be moved to it, as long as you are asking questions and waiting for answers you risk something changing.

Historically Octopus have been very good at honouring an actual request to be moved, if something changed before the request could be actioned, but from what you've said you did not do that so whatever is current is what I would expect you to be offered...

Spies

Tracker really confuses me, the demo site (is it based on real data?) consistently shows lower than SVR rates for both elecrtic and gas.

MWT

Spies said:

Tracker really confuses me, the demo site (is it based on real data?) consistently shows lower than SVR rates for both elecrtic and gas.

Right now the actual rates for today, and the past couple of weeks has been below or very close to the SVR, but there is no guarantee that it will stay that way...

masonic

bristolleedsfan said:

Never been classed as a Smart Tariff

"Smart Tariff" is slang for Time-Of-Use (TOU) tariff. TOU tariffs are those which, through pricing differences, encourage users to reduce their energy usage at times when the cost of supply is high and shift to times when it is lower. Tracker was the precursor to Agile, where Tracker varied the price from day to day, and Agile varied every half hour. As highlighted by your screenshot, Octopus reserved the right to require a smart meter to be installed, though that's another term it has never enforced. I think we are just arguing semantics, it really doesn't matter to the discussion what it is labelled, the facts of the pricing and ability to join the various versions of the tariff are not in dispute.

masonic

Spies said:

Tracker really confuses me, the demo site (is it based on real data?) consistently shows lower than SVR rates for both elecrtic and gas.

Historical prices should be based on real data, but forward projections are based on prior years and are not realistic. This page gives a better guide: https://energy.guylipman.com/sm/electracker and https://energy.guylipman.com/sm/gastracker

bristolleedsfan

masonic said:

bristolleedsfan said:

Never been classed as a Smart Tariff

"Smart Tariff" is slang for Time-Of-Use (TOU) tariff. TOU tariffs are those which, through pricing differences, encourage users to reduce their energy usage at times when the cost of supply is high and shift to times when it is lower. Tracker was the precursor to Agile, where Tracker varied the price from day to day, and Agile varied every half hour. As highlighted by your screenshot, Octopus reserved the right to require a smart meter to be installed, though that's another term it has never enforced. 

That did make me 

masonic

bristolleedsfan said:

masonic said:

bristolleedsfan said:

Never been classed as a Smart Tariff

"Smart Tariff" is slang for Time-Of-Use (TOU) tariff. TOU tariffs are those which, through pricing differences, encourage users to reduce their energy usage at times when the cost of supply is high and shift to times when it is lower. Tracker was the precursor to Agile, where Tracker varied the price from day to day, and Agile varied every half hour. As highlighted by your screenshot, Octopus reserved the right to require a smart meter to be installed, though that's another term it has never enforced. 

That did make me 

Based on that, it seems they were originally intending to allow use with non-smart meters until they started rolling out smart meters. How the goalposts have moved.

Ally_E.

bristolleedsfan said:

wakeupalarm said:

Umiamz said:

wakeupalarm said:

Does anyone or preferably someone who is already paying by Direct Debit after receipt of bill know how often the bill is produced by Octopus Energy?  Is it monthly, quarterly or six monthly?

Assuming that you mean variable direct debit, opting to pay the full balance, then they produce a statement after every meter reading that you submit and schedule a direct debit for any balance owing.

For example, I get a statement on the 23rd of every month (I have smart meters) and a direct debit is scheduled for the full amount around 14 days later. My mother submits readings manually when she gets a reminder email (once a month) and the same thing happens for her - statement next day and direct debit for full amount around 14 days later.

Yes, variable direct debit. But how long do they take to produce the bill if you don't enter monthly readings. Do they produce a bill based on estimates monthly, quarterly or six monthly.  I will be away for several months later in the year and want to know if the direct debit will be coming out monthly, quarterly or six monthly on receipt of bill.

"If you don't send us readings for over three months, we'll automatically send you a bill based on estimates"
https://octopus.energy/blog/why-we-dont-send-monthly-statements/

I usually provide a reading on the 22nd of every month. In Jan I didn't provide a reading on time and they created a bill using estimates on 6th of Feb.