Outfox the Market reviews: add your feedback

Happychappy

Hooooray !! today ESB have taken over my account, but now the battle with OFTM to get an up to date closing account, just
been sat on their alleged chat service, unfortunately it takes two to chat, and they aren't playing,

I shall cancel my DD and wait for a response from them, because I know if I leave the DD running they will continue to take payments, they really are out of their depths and just a matter of time before they go under

London19

Well Foxie,
you succeed you show my account in debit when you have taken money by direct debit 6 working days prior that makes my account in credit of £30 plus. I made a mistake asking what my direct amount was going to be because you keep changing the amount.
Now you increase my direct debit from £46 to £99 per month. (Last week the it was to increase to £65 per month).
I can’t phone your lines are engaged. I can’t use the chat your to busy. If I email the only response, a email changing the amount of my direct debit.
I made a mistake switching to you.
Why on earth are you doing this to your customers we are people who have to budget do you expect us not to eat as much food or have the heating off or not pay our utilities bills because you inflate and change our monthly direct debits. Shame on you.

I’m going back to Octopus by the way there direct debit based on your assessment of my usage
£61 per month Fixed for 12 months


Hi Foxie, I’ve been waiting at least 15 working days for a call regarding direct debit (I wonder where I am in the 5 day wait) no response yet. I’ve sent emails no response.
I can understand you are busy but as a customer I feel like a mushroom (kept in the dark cupboard and thrown a little bit of s- - - on now and again from up high). By the way we will double your direct debit.
Me: dear employer double my pay from next pay day, I know I don’t need it all but it will help me make sure I keep a healthy balance..
Foxie things must be difficult can you imagine how the customer’s are feeling.

Before joining this company read the reviews.

What is foxie going to come up with next!!!

Now I’m getting a increase in unit charge electric,gas and standing charge. This way they can warrant an increase to direct debit and keep the the money. Yep it won’t leave you with credit they will have it.
They are out foxing us again.

If your thinking of joining them read the reviews.

Outfox the market or the consumer that is the question !!!

I did not know that a company can change its policy I should read the fine print.
When you are £50 in credit and they nearly double your direct debit I wonder is that fair or legal!!!
I’m sure they will have a answer but will it be right.
Are they in trouble?

Outfox the market or the consumer that is the question !!!

Consumerist

Happychappy wrote: »

. . I shall cancel my DD and wait for a response from them, because I know if I leave the DD running they will continue to take payments, they really are out of their depths and just a matter of time before they go under

A good idea might also be to contact your bank when you cancel the DD to make sure Outfox don't try to reinstate it without your consent.

harryshepard

I complained and was told they would "review my account". It took 2 weeks, then they came back with the same crappy pricing that they had already sent. I have now left them. I was supposed to be paying £76/mo and they decided to almost double that to £131 over winter, cheeky sods. Their chat support are sarcastic and useless, their phone support isn't much better (their system cut everyone off when I had been queuing for an hour last week).

I don't know how they're allowed to get away with such massive price hikes. The current top deal on Cheap Energy Club has also just introduced this stupid split pricing, except theirs seems to be 66.66...% for Jan-Jun and 33.33...% Jul-Dec which is just nonsense, so I avoided them as well. Hopefully ofgem will crack down on these dodgy companies

Barneybear1

Oftm latest way of obtaining money, I left them early this month my gas usage is 4 units per month never higher, for the couple of weeks in November till I left early December they have charged me 625 kWh despite meter readings being sent including my final reading. This and over estimating my electric also has enabled them to keep all the credit I had built up. Time for the ombudsman I feel.:mad:

boliston

Got an email a week ago saying DD going from £67.07 to £107.07 from 7/1/19 (has been £47.91 for the previous 11 months) - emailed them a couple of days ago to query it but not holding much hope of a reply. Just got a quote from Utility Point that beats OFTM unit rates on both fuels and also is only about half the standing charges 'UP Energy Saver' tariff so did the switch - hope OFTM don't try and block me as I have a £14.96 debit balance

oxters

It's just over two weeks since CEC sent me this:


We've not told you about your savings in a little while - but we wanted to let you know that we've been keeping an eye on your tariff and you're STILL on the best deal available based on your details (see below).
Gas
Gas
Your gas tariff
Supplier
Your gas supplier
Outfox The Market
Tariff
Your gas tariff
Zapp April 2018 Tariff High User
Electricity
Electricity
Your electricity tariff
Supplier
Your electricity supplier
Outfox The Market
Tariff
Your electricity tariff
Zapp April 2018 Tariff High User

Because we spend time away from home, with little heat used, I am well in credit. OFTM did increase my payments but they have since emailed to reduce them without any complaint from me.

I have to say, I’m not one of the leavers, and have been reasonably happy with my charges and service.

They’ve made mistakes, but CEC have not rescinded their advice to me so I am a bit confused.

I’m hanging on, unless I am missing something?

boliston

oxters wrote: »

.......

I’m hanging on, unless I am missing something?

Looks like you are still using the 'zapp april 2018' tariff which is a legacy tariff now - I wish I could go back to those low april prices but the current zapp rate is now much higher and it will be even higher from 1/1/19 - having said that OFTM is still one of the cheapest but no longer THE cheapest

Ian_875

Just got this. Irrelivent to me as I've already left (although nice to know I should get the credit back in 8 weeks)


Hello,

We thought it would be helpful to provide an update and respond to a few questions that keep popping up. We appreciate that it has not been easy to get in contact and you may be waiting on a resolution to your query. We apologise for the delay.

Please be assured, we are working hard to ensure everybody receives a response and our teams are helping hundreds of customers every day. We are resolving all queries and expect to be back to our normal service levels very soon. If you have recently switched to another supplier you can ignore this message.

Thank you for your patience.

Are you going bust?
To be blunt, no! It is no secret that the energy market is a difficult place, but we are a sustainable business with a long– term vision. We are proud that we have managed to help thousands of customers reduce their energy costs over the last 2 years and we look forward to doing so again.

Why have you objected to me leaving?
We will always do our best to make your switch away as smooth as possible. We will only object to you leaving if there is an outstanding debt on your account that is older than 28 days. If this is the case, we will just need you to clear the balance and your new supplier can reapply for the switch.

Are you charging exit fees?
No, exit fees for the Whack! fixed tariff have been waived.

Will you charge me for cancelling my Direct Debit?
We will not charge you £25 if your account has a credit balance sufficient to cover one month’s energy use. We would advise you to reinstate the Direct Debit ASAP to avoid your account going into debt.
We will not charge you if you have recently switched to another supplier and your account is in credit.

We will charge you £25 if, you are still supplied by OTM, have cancelled the Direct Debit and your account is in debt.
We will charge you £25 if, you have switched to another supplier, have cancelled the Direct Debit and your account is in debt.

Why do I keep getting different Direct Debit notifications?
We are sorry that there has been conflicting Direct Debit information emailed. Unfortunately, a change to the seasonal Direct Debit schedule was sent, followed by a further Direct Debit that includes the price increase in January. The last notification you received will be your payments until March.

Why has my Direct Debit been reinstated?
There can be a delay in the system picking up a cancellation of a Direct Debit and because we have sent a number of Direct Debit notices, the second notification is sent before we receive the cancellation notice. This evidently is not ideal, and whilst this is a genuine system error, we can appreciate it can be worrying and we apologise for this.

The latest Direct Debit email says my payment is until further notice?
This notification is a standardized template that we cannot change. Remember, your winter uplift payments will only continue until March and then the payments will reduce to match your summer consumption.

I have left OTM – when do I get my final statement?
Your new supplier will ask you to provide your meter readings and will send them on to the industry data collector to verify the readings. These are forwarded to us and we’ll raise your final statement. We will also return any credit due or ask you to settle any outstanding balance. This can take up to 8 weeks.

Thank you – Outfox the Market

Izzyisastaffie

This company behaves outrageously. They gave me a quote and a DD amount. I signed up. That should have set the ball in motion. Instead of a smooth transition I have been mislead from day 1. The DD doubled before I'd ever made a payment. No meter reading was requested. Estimated bills for 15 DAYS are being raised which amount to around 2/3rds of my ANNUAL usage?? They are reinstating cancelled DDs without any communication whatsoever, illegal if I am not mistaken? They take somewhere in the region of 15 days to reply to any emailed communication, cut you off from the webchat when the conversation gets a little difficult for them and seem unable to process simple enquiries.
I have now notified my bank by phone of the situation and they have assured me that they will not be able to reinstate the DD again, or if they do I will be able to claim the total amount back immediately.
They have already taken around a 3rd of my estimated annual usage in Direct debits and 50% above my actual meter readings to date. Plus I have a 'membership' fee of £34.77 added to my electricity account - I have been with them for just 55 days (53 on the date they applied this fee)??
They are either incredibly incompetent or are trying to fleece their customers to enable them to keep trading. I have now switched again to another supplier and will not miss this 'unforgettable' experience.
I would recommend avoiding this outfit at all costs. I am seriously out of pocket and cannot wait for my switch to my new supplier to go through. I can only hope that I get my overpayments refunded within their stated 8 weeks timeframe, interesting that they can take your money instantly without notification, but it takes them 8 weeks to refund monies extorted from their customers.
I also think that the switching process needs way more simplification and a set of rules to be followed by new suppliers.
If my new energy company performs moderately well then it will be very long time before I switch again.