Toto energy massive price increase

robdogg11

Quick question.

I've not had any letter or emails from Toto about this. The first I heard was an email from MSE Cheap energy club.

I am on the 100% renewable variable tariff. I'm pretty sure that this wasn't how it was advertised when I switched as I always fix but that's what all my welcome pack says and there is no mention of a price guarantee date.

Its my fault for not checking the welcome pack properly but as we had just moved into the house I was getting post left, right and centre for new accounts etc.

So not sure where I stand now, do I just wait for a letter and then deal with it (the post has been really bad since the snow last week) or switch away now. The worry is that if I switch and they haven't increased my prices or changed my DD then I am liable for the early exit fees?

4steve

I got this reply

Thank you for contacting Ofgem.

We do not get directly involved in any issue you have about your energy bill or energy supplier. However, we will use the information you have sent us towards monitoring the energy market. For more information about what Ofgem does, visit our website.

You should first contact your energy company to resolve this matter and follow their complaints procedure. If you are not happy with the outcome or after eight weeks they have not dealt with the issue, you can ask the Energy Ombudsman to investigate.

You can find further information for consumers here or through the Citizens Advice consumer helpline.

Regards,

(Text removed by MSE Forum Team)

Consumer Affairs Officer

jrh2254

Just received:
TOTO Energy Discount Variable tariff update
You spoke, we listened - Your energy prices will not be increasing.

We’re following up on the email update we recently sent to you: “TOTO Energy Update” and wanted to let you know we have listened to your feedback. Your energy unit rates WILL NOT be increasing as previously communicated.

What’s happening?
We notified you by email at the end of November that we were changing our prices for our variable rate customers who pay by Direct Debit. This was due to the rise in wholesale energy. Unfortunately, some welcome packs had mistakenly included a reference to a “price guarantee”.

We’re very sorry, this was a misprint. We have acknowledged this has caused concern and listened to your feedback. Your prices will now STAY AS THEY ARE and NOT INCREASE to the new rates until the end date for your tariff as stated in your welcome pack.

What else can I do?
We have introduced two new Fixed Price tariffs to give our customers ‘extended peace of mind’ for the at least the next two winters. By switching to one of these two tariffs you can continue to take advantage of our great value tariffs.

To switch to one of these tariffs - all you have to do is reply to this email with the tariff you wish to switch to and we will update your account and send you a new Welcome Pack with everything you need to know.

The Fixed Saver tariffs you can switch to are:

TOTO Fixed Saver – 13 Months
TOTO Fixed Super Saver – 18 Months

To learn more about tariff changes, login anytime to totoenergy.com/my-account or see our Help & Support pages.

Comments please?

victor2

They didn't have much choice really. They screwed up and are now trying to make themselves out as a caring supplier. But at least they're not increasing the price...

jrh2254

What is the advice to those that have switched or are in the process of switching ?

D_&_G_Hilton

We certainly won't trust TOTO. Their change-of-heart at the eleventh hour smells like panic .. in the face of mass desertions? Also OFGEM breathing down their necks after numerous complaints - we suspect there has been some pressure behind the scenes. Our switch to BREEZE fixed for 12 months takes effect 29 December, very impressed so far with efficiency and customer service far superior to TOTO, and the icing on the Christmas cake is that we are actually saving on the original TOTO tariff.
TOTO was a bad experience from start to finish.
The toto energy reviews on energy-advise.com make interesting reading!!

Wolfey

When I signed up I understood, from the way TOTO presented the figures, that I had variable tariff but with a price guarantee for a year, but they increased their prices to me, significantly, within a couple of months. They have also proposed to take an exceptionally high amount by DDR to cover the winter months and a much smaller amount in the summer, instead of evenly spreading the payments over the year. There was no mention of this before I signed up.

I take exception to their now suggesting what my annual charges will be, after they reduced my estimated usage to produce these. I believe this is misleading and dishonest - it would suggest I would be paying less than their original quote while, in fact, it would cost a lot more! This is shockingly bad practice.

I gave them figures for my quote which were based on my actual consumption in the previous year and would not expect this to change significantly. Their latest figures suggest a reduced yearly cost to me, despite a significant increase in charges.

Based on my actual consumption figure they estimated, in September, my yearly costs to be £2067.21.
In their communication of 04.12.2017, based on the increased charges, they estimate it to be only £1758 - How can this be?

My costs, based on their increased charges, will actually be £551 more in a year.


I have had 10 calls, so far, asking to arrange installation of a new SMET1 meter, despite me stating in my first conversation with them that I was exercising my right to refuse a SMET1 until they are installing SMET2 meters.


I suspect they have had far more customers signing up for their deals than they can afford to lay out for over the winter months and are therefore happy for their customers to take their business elsewhere. They have agreed they told customers they were on a price guarantee and, as they have broken the contract, have agreed I can switch without penalty and, guess what?... I found another provider happy to sign me up for the same price originally quoted by TOTO - Fixed for a year.


It is no wonder people don't want to switch - bad experiences like this reinforce the message that it's nothing but trouble and maybe you should stick with your current supplier. I am connected to a local Citizens Advice who work hard to save people money on their energy bills. They helped to switch lots of people onto TOTO who will now be significantly worse off!

john_edward

Like most customers of Toto I'm toto..lly brassed of by their unprecedented hike in charges. My DD increased 50% !!! Yes. Really. And I was on a fixed tariff. They moved me unilaterally but apparently I'd agreed to allow this. You couldn't make it up. But they did. They took the new charge from my account before they should have according to their letter. So I'm off to a different provider obviously. So what's the good news? They've agreed to waive any charges even though I missed the January 4th cut off. Although today is January 4th!!! Life is too short to waste time with companies who are as poor as this. Cut your losses and move on is my advice. I could go on about their shocking lack of transparency. There are no details of my energy usage available on my account. They appear to just make up the data they quote but cannot give you access to it. It's appalling. End of rant.

Theta101

I switched from TOTO to SSE on 28-Dec-2017.
I cancelled my direct debits to TOTO. (fear of them continuing to take money).
I've not had a final bill from TOTO and I am £103 in credit with them.
It's been over 6 weeks now.
I gave TOTO the final meter readings (SSE too).
SSE are correctly taking £81 per month via DD.

Any ideas on what I should do now to recover my credit from TOTO?

Thanks

System

Theta101 wrote: »

I switched from TOTO to SSE on 28-Dec-2017.
I cancelled my direct debits to TOTO. (fear of them continuing to take money).
I've not had a final bill from TOTO and I am £103 in credit with them.
It's been over 6 weeks now.
I gave TOTO the final meter readings (SSE too).
SSE are correctly taking £81 per month via DD.

Any ideas on what I should do now to recover my credit from TOTO?

Thanks

IIf you applied to switch on the 28 December, then the actual transfer of supply can take anything from 17 to 35 days (35 days is the maximum allowed under the terms of a Supply Licence). Once your transfer of supply has gone through, the meter readings that you provided to the gaining supplier are passed to an industry partner for verification. This can take 5 to 10 days. The losing supplier cannot raise a Final Bill until it has received verified meter readings. Under EU Law and Supply Licence Conditions, the losing supplier has 6 weeks from the date of the actual transfer (not the application to switch) to raise a Final Bill. Your credit refund will then follow.

PS Cancelling your DD Mandate can give some suppliers a problem as this is the mechanism that they use to refund your credit.