Octopus Energy reviews: Give your feedback

Consumerist

MWT said:

Consumerist said:

Umiamz said:

Consumerist said:

Does anyone understand the logic behind the way Octopus is implementing the £400 government help towards energy bills?

They have reduced my monthly DD by £67 and then predicted the horrendous debt which that change would generate over the next year.

They will also be crediting your Octopus account with £67 in the next few days (according to their Twitter account).

It seems crazy, to me, that their "Balance forecast" doesn't factor in that £67pm credit as well.

You have to wonder what they're playing at to produce such an alarmist balance forecast.

There are going to be unintended consequences of implementing a change like this on virtually no notice.

Just going to have to accept a certain amount of this stuff until it all gets ironed out...

Whilst I take your point, it seems to me that, with many already worried about making ends meet, publishing an exaggerated threat of building significant energy debt, is irresponsible.

MWT

Consumerist said:

MWT said:

Consumerist said:

Umiamz said:

Consumerist said:

Does anyone understand the logic behind the way Octopus is implementing the £400 government help towards energy bills?

They have reduced my monthly DD by £67 and then predicted the horrendous debt which that change would generate over the next year.

They will also be crediting your Octopus account with £67 in the next few days (according to their Twitter account).

It seems crazy, to me, that their "Balance forecast" doesn't factor in that £67pm credit as well.

You have to wonder what they're playing at to produce such an alarmist balance forecast.

There are going to be unintended consequences of implementing a change like this on virtually no notice.

Just going to have to accept a certain amount of this stuff until it all gets ironed out...

Whilst I take your point, it seems to me that, with many already worried about making ends meet, publishing an exaggerated threat of building significant energy debt, is irresponsible.

.. almost as irresponsible as dictating major changes in the price structures, discounts and Government support with insufficient time to organise a smooth transition...

I get the concern, but if they waited to get everything perfect and flawless it would probably be the back end of November before you even knew what the new tariff rates were going to be...

Yes, it isn't perfect, by some margin right now, but it will get better each day as we progress through this month I suspect. 

Consumerist

MWT said:

Consumerist said:

MWT said:

Consumerist said:

Umiamz said:

Consumerist said:

Does anyone understand the logic behind the way Octopus is implementing the £400 government help towards energy bills?

They have reduced my monthly DD by £67 and then predicted the horrendous debt which that change would generate over the next year.

They will also be crediting your Octopus account with £67 in the next few days (according to their Twitter account).

It seems crazy, to me, that their "Balance forecast" doesn't factor in that £67pm credit as well.

You have to wonder what they're playing at to produce such an alarmist balance forecast.

There are going to be unintended consequences of implementing a change like this on virtually no notice.

Just going to have to accept a certain amount of this stuff until it all gets ironed out...

Whilst I take your point, it seems to me that, with many already worried about making ends meet, publishing an exaggerated threat of building significant energy debt, is irresponsible.

.. almost as irresponsible as dictating major changes in the price structures, discounts and Government support with insufficient time to organise a smooth transition...

I get the concern, but if they waited to get everything perfect and flawless it would probably be the back end of November before you even knew what the new tariff rates were going to be...

Yes, it isn't perfect, by some margin right now, but it will get better each day as we progress through this month I suspect. 

But surely, if Octopus knew that bills were going to be reduced by ca. £67pm (for 6 m) then that should go hand-in-hand with the reduction in DDs. To separate them is illogical as well as irresponsible.

MWT

Consumerist said:

But surely, if Octopus knew that bills were going to be reduced by ca. £67pm (for 6 m) then that should go hand-in-hand with the reduction in DDs. To separate them is illogical as well as irresponsible.

In an ideal world all changes would have be simultaneous across all systems, this was far from ideal.

Given a choice between waiting for perfection or getting what they could out there, Octopus will always go for the second choice.

I understand that isn't the way you would prefer it to be, but it is the way it is...

[Deleted User]

Depends how the app is coded. If it simply uses the DD amount in the maths for the balance, then without modifying the code either to introduce an additional factor or to work from a different input would take some effort that, as this time, was probably better spent making sure the actual tariffs and bills were correct.

Consumerist

MWT said:

Consumerist said:

But surely, if Octopus knew that bills were going to be reduced by ca. £67pm (for 6 m) then that should go hand-in-hand with the reduction in DDs. To separate them is illogical as well as irresponsible.

In an ideal world all changes would have be simultaneous across all systems, this was far from ideal.

Given a choice between waiting for perfection or getting what they could out there, Octopus will always go for the second choice. . .

It must have been clear to Octopus that reducing customers DDs without reference to the balancing account credits was going to distort it's "Balance forecast". This has been deliberate scaremongering. Shame on them.

Umiamz

It's quite clear from another forum that I'm on that some people think that having their direct debit reduced by £67 is all that needs to happen. After all, they're paying £67 less so have more money in their bank accounts. Of course, if Octopus don't also credit that £67 to their Octopus account then their debt will continue to increase.

For some reason they can't get their heads around that and think it would end up with them receiving the £67 twice each month.

youravinalarrrf

Umiamz said:

It's quite clear from another forum that I'm on that some people think that having their direct debit reduced by £67 is all that needs to happen. After all, they're paying £67 less so have more money in their bank accounts. Of course, if Octopus don't also credit that £67 to their Octopus account then their debt will continue to increase.

For some reason they can't get their heads around that and think it would end up with them receiving the £67 twice each month.

Of course the huge elephant in the room waiting to bite everybody's !!!!!! is the fact that Octopus haven't even reviewed and increased everyone's direct debits yet to take account of the 1st October price rises. I read somewhere that they intend to do this "in the coming weeks" which is just not good enough and is just adding to the confusion for already confused customers.

MWT

youravinalarrrf said:

...I read somewhere that they intend to do this "in the coming weeks" which is just not good enough and is just adding to the confusion for already confused customers.

... and if they had revised them at the same time thousands would be phoning up to complain that they hadn't had their £66 reduction...

I don't think there is any way to get all these changes through in a perfect sequence for everyone, however it is done and explained there will be people who do not understand what is happening...

Perfection was never on the cards for this one.

Consumerist

MWT said:

youravinalarrrf said:

...I read somewhere that they intend to do this "in the coming weeks" which is just not good enough and is just adding to the confusion for already confused customers.

... and if they had revised them at the same time thousands would be phoning up to complain that they hadn't had their £66 reduction...

I don't think there is any way to get all these changes through in a perfect sequence for everyone, however it is done and explained there will be people who do not understand what is happening...

Perfection was never on the cards for this one.

Surely, the whole reason that Octopus reduced the DDs was because customers' accounts would be credited to make up the shortfall.

Perfection is not something I expect from energy suppliers but I had expected something more truthful from Octopus.

My mistake.