Add your feedback on energy supplier Tonik

Catslovelycats

Ombudsman have now taken on my complaint about Tonik messing up my meter eadings and charging me nearly 4 times my monthly usage back in March. My deal with Tonik runs out 21st Sept. I'm loathe to leave them when they still have so much of my money that I want back.

Telegraph_Sam

I'm sure the banks have to offer a direct debit protection / guarantee scheme where you can reclaim unjustified payments taken from your account. My bank (First Direct) have a dedicated team who do this simply on the basis of a phone call, other banks may not be quite so accommodating but the guarantee principle applies throughout.

ppppenguin

@Telegraph_Sam is 100% correct. If a DD is incorrectly taken the bank MUST refund it if you ask. Some banks may make it easier than others. I would expect First Direct to be excellent. If it turns out that the DD was valid after all then it's a matter between you and the company that took it. The bank shouldn't be involved in that kind of dispute.

https://www.directdebit.co.uk/DirectDebitExplained/pages/directdebitguarantee.aspx

https://gocardless.com/direct-debit/guarantee/

Telegraph_Sam

Whilst there may or may not be a grey area as far as reclaiming the "(in)correct amount" is concerned when this is variable, it must surely be a case of "what is there to lose?" by going this route and asking the bank to implement the D/D guarantee. At least it could go some way towards leveling the playing field and showing T that you are serious.

Telegraph_Sam

It seems that the way the system works is - it all depends on whether T advised you in advance of what they intended to take by D/D, and whether you took any preventative action before the payment was taken - there should have been an advance notice period. If the payment went through unchallenged then it becomes a dispute between you and T, whereas if you had cancelled the D/D and still got debited, then the D/D guarantee would trigger and the bank could and should reclaim the payment.  Not simple.

tempus_fugit

Catslovelycats said:

Ombudsman have now taken on my complaint about Tonik messing up my meter eadings and charging me nearly 4 times my monthly usage back in March. My deal with Tonik runs out 21st Sept. I'm loathe to leave them when they still have so much of my money that I want back.

I’d still leave them rather than give them any more of my money to add to the pot that’s already built up. If you leave now you can cut your losses, just be prepared for a battle and a fair bit of time to get your money back.

Ginger123456789

Oh well: I guess I am the only person in the world that has not had any real problems with Tonik: yes it all went wrong in January 2020 - I continued to pay my bill and it worked out fine - yes I got confusing bills in July and August however the bottom line was correct so hey all good - and this month September I got my first non confused bill that looked like my pre-January 2020 bill so all good. And it is accurate: I am on a smart meter so I guess that helps: £55 per month and I can move to an even cheaper tariff saving an £5 so again all good as far as I am concerned. I have no losses to cut so far. A cautious 4 out of 5 from me and a cautious welcome back to Tonik. 

Gerry1

Ginger123456789 said:

£55 per month and I can move to an even cheaper tariff saving an £5 so again all good as far as I am concerned.

That's not the way to think about it.  You need to think in annual costs calculated from annual kWh usage based on actual meter readings.

IF the smart meter hasn't gone dumb, IF the quotation is based on annual metered consumption, IF they've divided that cost by 12, then it's OK (although you'll still need the annual kWh figures to make accurate comparisons).

However, it's all too easy for a dodgy company or dodgy commission-based sales agent to dream up a DD amount that won't be sufficient to cover your usage, as many wails on this forum sadly confirm.

Telegraph_Sam

My strong impression is that in this case they do everything they can to put in place DD's that will cover one's usage - and much more. Otherwise it would be a simple case of topping up "manually" as and when required to keep the account in balance such as in mid winter.

inspectorperez

Just to get Tonik's recent customer satisfaction record in perspective, it is interesting to examine the "organic" customer reviews on Trustpilot.

June 2020 - 5 five * ratings, 282 one * ratings.

July 2020 - 10 five * ratings, 201 one * ratings.

August 2020 - 0 five * ratings, 193 one * ratings

September 2020 to date - 0 5 * ratings, 72 one * ratings

Most of the comments bear a striking similarity and a majority of them indicate substantial amounts of stress and exasperation being experienced. They nearly all carry a health warning to avoid Tonik at all costs!