Add your feedback on energy supplier Tonik

Rennyw

Oh boy do I regret that we moved over to Tonik. They were pretty good until 4 months ago when, as we have seen on the many threads posted by others they "migrated their systems." It's been absolutely dire since. Problems include:

 1 - they have lost information on readings since November

2 - they have not responded to e mails sent since Christmas - this is still a backlog according to a call I managed to have on 28th APril

3 - they lost a lot of information on migration which has meant their whole system has collapsed!

 I don't know how many customers are affected but according to our account details when I looked 2 weeks ago we had used 4000 units in a few weeks! That means our bill would be hundreds of thousands per annum!!  

It is not the company it was when we moved to them last summer. I am waiting for our billing to be sorted fingers crossed and will immediately transfer to another provider. Do not transfer to Tonik - they are in utter chaos at present, it's utterly shambolic . The person I spoke to on 28th April promised I would hear back within7 - 10 days. 14 days on we have heard nothing. Why isn't the regulator getting stuck in and closing them down. Absolutely pathetic!

TonyPope

Can only agree with the last comment. Haven't had a statement since January 2020. I haven't had a reply to my email from 30 April (and two subsequent emails) and the phone number has message saying emergency calls only. I was initially going to ask a question about renewing to fixed rate tariff as an existing customer, but seemingly they aren't interested in me renewing with them. Presumably they have too many new applicants for their cheap fixed tariff and not enough staff (bet they are answering these calls/emails). Clearly they can't cope with increased volume, but keep trying to lure in new customers before getting their house in order. I have a large credit on the account, possibly because their direct debit was set too high, or maybe because this calculation has no basis in reality, given their system is broken, and want to know where I stand. Message on phone states you can do most account maintenance online - ha ha ha!

inspectorperez

The above posts Rennyw and TonyPope seem to exemplify what is wrong with the way utility companies are regulated IMO.

I know from my own experience how much Tonik went downhill from December 2019 and that prompted me to discover the large extent of their financial deficit. Not only do they seem to be in a mess dealing with ordinary trading operations, but also financially in terms of trying to manage a huge deficit. Plus 2 out of 4 directors have resigned in the recent past and not been replaced.

Despite this scenario, they are still trying to attract new business!

OFGEM do not on the face of it appear to be proactive at all in terms of intervening unless for example there is a petition lodged for winding a licensed company up. If they are, it seems to take a long time for it to become transparent and in the meantime, more new customers are taken on board.

You would think that companies performing in such a fashion would be instructed in no uncertain terms to cease taking on new business until such time as they had traded out of an insolvent position and put their affairs in order.

behrendtio

Please stay away from them. Tonik is as shady, unreliable and horrible as it gets.

First switched to them over xmas as our current deal ran out. Got an automated email about the switch, that's it. Literally nothing else. I tried to contact them 5 times through different channels but no response. Then I contacted my previous supplier to ask them to stop the switch - they replied on the same day (Octopus, well done!) - and said the switch is already done. Sure enough the next day, Tonik charged me. I still hadn't received anything, no account number, no login details, nothing.

So I tried to contact them several more times, no response. I then left a bad review on Trustpilot, to which they DID respond with 1 day, asking me for my account number etc "to look into it". Just for show, because their response can be seen as reply to my review publicly. I sent them my details via Trustpilot right away, no response since then (we're talking 2 months ago).

I was so annoyed I just left it at that for a while. 2 weeks ago I received an email that explained how to log into the account backend, a solid 4 months after we switched. The email told me to please submit my meter readings, as there was still no statement created. I tried to do that, but I can't. There's a different error message (either a backend error, I can tell, I'm a software engineer, or a generic "oops, contact us" error) every time I try to submit my readings.

Long story short, I literally can't interact with Tonik in any way, can't submit readings, can't do ANYTHING other than paying my monthly bill, which hasn't been validated with meter readings yet. I've switched back to Octopus now, the additional £5 per month are more than worth it. I just hope they'll get a final bill sorted somehow over at Tonik. Pretty afraid it will impact my credit score because they can't get anything right or they just keep charging me, as I haven't received a confirmation of the switch from their side yet (1 week into the switch).

Please, go anywhere but Tonik. Even if they're a few quid cheaper, it's nowhere near worth it. At this point I'd happily pay 50% more, just to be able to speak to someone or submit my readings...

jessilestrange

Echoing many of the previous responses I've seen here, and their current barrage of criticsm on Trustpilot and Twitter, this comapny has reaaaally fallen down since 2019.

Everything was fine when I first joined. I'd just moved into my flat and joined on the Go Green 1 Year tarriff for gas and electric. I was able to call up easily, email in and get a response next day, no issues with using the website or receiving statements. Between December 2019 and April 2020 I have not received monthly statements at all. All of my previous meter readings for gas have been wiped and reverted back to the industry reading and estimates from then on. My bill has suddenly rocketed from £40 a month to £150, and Tonik Energy is claiming that I need to pay £1300+ to cover the shortfall. This is beyond my understanding. It has to be a mistake!

I live on my own in a very small 2 bed flat. The heating is barely on because the space is so small. Prior to Covid-19, I was working 5 days a week in the city, so the most use the flat gets is late in the evening and during the weekend. I just don't understand how I can suddenly be using £1300+ worth of energy in a 9 month period, on top of the direct debit amount I've already paid! Of course, joke's on me because their phone lines have not been working since yesterday.

I've escalated this issue with a formal complaint emailed to them, and repeated across Trustpilot, MSE, and across social media. I have not had a response from them yet.

Mabel2012

Telegraph_Sam said:

Yea, I could change browser (Chrome), ID, password ... you name it. But I have brought the problem to their notice more than once by email and until / unless they reply then I think it is down to your "small dedicated team" to sort out, particularly if they are looking for some £££'s from me ..

 If you post details of your problem on Trust Pilot review and give a star rating matching with your view of their customer service you may well get a response. You could also send a private message to them on Twitter. I have had responses on Twitter when my emails were ignored.  It's an ongoing battle.

jessilestrange

Mabel2012 said:

Telegraph_Sam said:

Yea, I could change browser (Chrome), ID, password ... you name it. But I have brought the problem to their notice more than once by email and until / unless they reply then I think it is down to your "small dedicated team" to sort out, particularly if they are looking for some £££'s from me ..

 If you post details of your problem on Trust Pilot review and give a star rating matching with your view of their customer service you may well get a response. You could also send a private message to them on Twitter. I have had responses on Twitter when my emails were ignored.  It's an ongoing battle.

Lucky! I've had the cursory public Twitter response, but no response or read notifications in the DMs. Either they're really overwhelmed at the moment or customer service just isn't up to scratch. 

I did have some luck with the phones after waiting for 40 minutes. Eventually I got through to a lady who admitted there was a massive error with the billing and rebilled my account manually. The numbers still look strange so I'm querying it again. My personal projection for the next year is £300+ but they're still saying I need to pay extra to cover this year. I just don't understand where these numbers are coming from. Either they grossly underquote you or they're still having number issues.

Ken68

I think I am having to move on. Have asked to go on their cheaper tariff, but no reply, and Eon offer finishes today at 4pm.

krish

Absolutely flippin' useless and I'm not even with them! Signed up Fri 1st May, read all these horror stories and subsequently cancelled the dual fuel switch over the phone with them on Mon 4th May. Received no email confirmation so phoned back and received a manual email confirmation of cancellation. Cancelled the DD arrangement as soon as I saw it appear on my bank account.

However, upon login at my current supplier, Ovo, I find that my gas supply is still due to transfer on 22nd May. Repeatedly phoned Tonik who said they would rectify this matter. With this morning's call they give me some BS about not being able to stop the gas transfer due to a "technical glitch" with their "system" and that I have to wait until transfer on 22nd for it to then be reversed as an erroneous transfer. I'm still in the cooling off period today !!!!!!! Now attacking this on two other fronts, on Twitter and with Ovo. I just don't trust Tonik to even reverse the erroneous transfer without some new BS.

Undoubtedly will miss out on the E.ON offer.

Telegraph_Sam

I believe that my switch to Octopus is now well under way based on terminal readings previously agreed (= stated to and not disputed by)  both parties. I got yesterday an unscheduled D/D from Tonik which I interpret as the final closing settlement figure. How it was arrived at is a mystery since I cannot log in to my Tonik account.  But since it seems reasonable I have not disputed it. Whether they can have a rethink and come back for more, who knows.  You get the impression that it is a "think of a number" game over there.