Octopus Energy reviews: Give your feedback

pochase

masonic said:

Northern_Wanderer said:

masonic said:

The third reason is that I can get cashback by paying by card, so my preference is to keep my account topped up this way and not pay anything by direct debit, although my current cashback offer is coming to an end soon so is of little bearing going forward.

You receive a discount by paying by direct debit either on fixed monthly or variable payments. If you pay by card your energy rates will increase. I am with you on not wanting to build credit as I have aslo been through 2 SoLRs, waiting a long time to get money back. We are all paying for the failed companies so I chose not to prop up energy companies that we will all pay for if any more go bust. It is a bit more hasstle though to save money each month towards winter.

I've studied my bills and I can assure you that I have been charged exactly the same rate despite topping up my account by card as the sole means of covering these bills. I have maintained a credit balance and an active direct debit at all times, just cancelled or deferred each payment as it came along. As far as I'm aware, Octopus do not offer a discount for paying by direct debit, and I didn't get a discount in the past when paying by direct debit (not while I was on Flexible, Agile or Go Faster tariffs).

Octopus has the same rates for all payment forms (except prepaid), no penalty for not paying by direct dbit.

As they are charging the same rates as suppliers have for direct debit customers, I would say they give the direct debit account to everybody, no matter how they pay. They are using the direct debit cap for all customers except prepaid.

masonic

pochase said:

masonic said:

Northern_Wanderer said:

masonic said:

The third reason is that I can get cashback by paying by card, so my preference is to keep my account topped up this way and not pay anything by direct debit, although my current cashback offer is coming to an end soon so is of little bearing going forward.

You receive a discount by paying by direct debit either on fixed monthly or variable payments. If you pay by card your energy rates will increase. I am with you on not wanting to build credit as I have aslo been through 2 SoLRs, waiting a long time to get money back. We are all paying for the failed companies so I chose not to prop up energy companies that we will all pay for if any more go bust. It is a bit more hasstle though to save money each month towards winter.

I've studied my bills and I can assure you that I have been charged exactly the same rate despite topping up my account by card as the sole means of covering these bills. I have maintained a credit balance and an active direct debit at all times, just cancelled or deferred each payment as it came along. As far as I'm aware, Octopus do not offer a discount for paying by direct debit, and I didn't get a discount in the past when paying by direct debit (not while I was on Flexible, Agile or Go Faster tariffs).

Octopus has the same rates for all payment forms (except prepaid), no penalty for not paying by direct dbit.

As they are charging the same rates as suppliers have for direct debit customers, I would say they give the direct debit account to everybody, no matter how they pay. They are using the direct debit cap for all customers except prepaid.

Yes, I do think the extra costs associated with prepayment should be absorbed into general prices. The situation resembles a tax on the underprivileged. It's hard for one supplier to take a stand on this though, as they'd acquire a disproportionate number of such customers, and take a bigger hit on competitiveness as a result.

MWT

masonic said:

I should add that I was using my Chase debit card and getting 1% cashback, so I'm not 100% sure if CC are accepted. Previous suppliers have been debit card only, never tried with Octopus.

Here you go...

Telegraph_Sam

I seem to remember that the late lamented Tonik Energy used all kinds of strong arm tactics and sweeteners such as 3% interest on credit balances to induce customers to maintain larger than necessary credit balances. By good fortune I was able to resist largely so lost relatively little if any when the ship went down. Octopus come over as much more relaxed about methods of payment and we agreed on variable D/D's which avoids arguments and speculation about future consumption. In theory I put a little aside in an imaginary piggy bank to cover for "normal" winter increases. In general I'd always opt for CC rather than DC payments due to the better legal protection you get from the former (as well as the 56 days breathing space) though hopefully such considerations will be less weighty with a co like Octopus. SO Energy are surely not alone in taking CC's.

badger09

tlcgrantham said:

Many of us use a Santander 123 current account for direct debits which pays 2% cashback on energy direct debits.

I use Santander 123 Lite for all cashback generating bills. Rate on gas & electricity DDs will be 4% in September & October, capped @ £10

https://www.santander.co.uk/landing/current-accounts/campaign

As soon as they process the refund they suggested, I will increase DDs for Sept & Oct to take advantage & reduce again in Nov. Already have a very healthy credit balance to cover projected price rises. 

Moved to Octopus when Avro folded & I really like the flexibility they offer over DDs. I realise not everyone can afford to do this. 

double_dutchy

It's worth looking closely at how the double cash back works with Santander. For me the October and November cash back will be double.

P933alilli

Hi, ive recently had an e mail from Octopus to inform me that my direct debits will change this month and theyve calculated them to be about 50% higher than my current dd's. I expected this to happen nearer to when the price cap rises in october so its taken me by surprise. I also noticed a crystal ball prediction of what my bills and balance will be projected to next july but its only a guesstimate atm which i understand. It would put me c.£1200 in debit whereas currently i'm in credit about £300. I wondered if everyone else has had these e mails? Thanks! I'm just starting to think about how i can save energy before winter kicks in, in another 3-4 months time!

[Deleted User]

Collyflower1 said:

Hi, ive recently had an e mail from Octopus to inform me that my direct debits will change this month and theyve calculated them to be about 50% higher than my current dd's. I expected this to happen nearer to when the price cap rises in october so its taken me by surprise. I also noticed a crystal ball prediction of what my bills and balance will be projected to next july but its only a guesstimate atm which i understand. It would put me c.£1200 in debit whereas currently i'm in credit about £300. I wondered if everyone else has had these e mails? Thanks! I'm just starting to think about how i can save energy before winter kicks in, in another 3-4 months time!

Suppliers are in a difficult position. They are mandated by Ofgem not to allow consumers to start getting into debt. 

Yes, they could have waited until the 1st October to raise your monthly DD payment but it doesn’t change the basic fact that energy prices are increasing. By delaying the increase by a couple of months, your new DD fromOctober would probably have been a bit higher.

If you have a smart meter, and the meter is set to the 30 minute usage profile, then it is very easy to monitor your usage AND COSTs via a free App BRIGHT. 

Consumerist

Collyflower1 said:

Hi, ive recently had an e mail from Octopus to inform me that my direct debits will change this month and theyve calculated them to be about 50% higher than my current dd's. I expected this to happen nearer to when the price cap rises in october so its taken me by surprise. I also noticed a crystal ball prediction of what my bills and balance will be projected to next july but its only a guesstimate atm which i understand. It would put me c.£1200 in debit whereas currently i'm in credit about £300. I wondered if everyone else has had these e mails? Thanks! I'm just starting to think about how i can save energy before winter kicks in, in another 3-4 months time!

Well, I've heard nothing from Octopus about a change of DD so far and my credit balance is less than yours. Perhaps your balance has been reducing in recent months and it's spooked them into a reaction - just guesswork, of course.

Telegraph_Sam

This sounds like the usual fixed vs variable D/D debate, why up to now I have preferred the latter. I'm guessing that they have stated what underlying consumption they have based their calculations on such that you can challenge the figures if they seem unreasonable.

I have no experience of BRIGHT but must investigate. It depends I suppose what tariff (e.g. Go Faster) you are on as well as whether you have the motivation to go digging! I use the Explore your Energy Usage (?) download from the website and using a little Excel macro can make sense of the raw data to come up with a calculated ghost bill every month. May be that is what BRIGHT does. My moan with Octopus is that they do not seem capable of quoting the opening and closing meter readings that correspond to the consumption totals that they have used to base their monthly invoices on - as a cross check that everyone has the same hymn sheet.