Outfox the Market reviews: add your feedback

KEROUAC1957

I have to admit I haven't been on the ball with my OTM account. Alarm bells rang when I received all the DD change emails but I didn't foresee they would be quite this bad.

Something confusing me and apologies if it's been covered earlier...my account list my monthly direct debits but they don't actually match the amounts which have been taken from my account which suggest bad accounting. As an example (not actual figures) they will list a £50 invoice (no invoice details) and a £30 DD but the actual DD was £80. This is the pattern for every month. So when I total the actual DD amounts they have taken compared to the invoice amounts my account should be in much more credit than they are stating.

Is the current advice to switch and keep the DD open? I'm really worried this company is crooked. Which leads me on to ask how could MSE club recommend such a company?

Neil_Jones

KEROUAC1957 wrote: »

Is the current advice to switch and keep the DD open? I'm really worried this company is crooked. Which leads me on to ask how could MSE club recommend such a company?

If you want to switch, switch. Since a switchover takes up to six weeks there will always be a point where a payment to Outfox and to whoever will both go out the same month. Once the final bill is generated you get back whatever's left in credit but this can take up to eight weeks from when you leave Outfox. Leave the debit open at the moment but once you have confirmation that you've moved on, contact the bank under the direct debit guarantee if any more money is taken by Outfox, especially if you have more than enough credit.

As to how it was recommended - before the first wave of price changes it was cheap, it was simple and it just worked. Then the prices went up three or four times in as many months and things sort of unravelled from there. MSE cannot be responsible if the supplier turns a sweet operation into a complete hash and then continues to dig itself deeper with every action.

jk0

KEROUAC1957 wrote: »

I have to admit I haven't been on the ball with my OTM account. Alarm bells rang when I received all the DD change emails but I didn't foresee they would be quite this bad.

Something confusing me and apologies if it's been covered earlier...my account list my monthly direct debits but they don't actually match the amounts which have been taken from my account which suggest bad accounting. As an example (not actual figures) they will list a £50 invoice (no invoice details) and a £30 DD but the actual DD was £80. This is the pattern for every month. So when I total the actual DD amounts they have taken compared to the invoice amounts my account should be in much more credit than they are stating.

Is the current advice to switch and keep the DD open? I'm really worried this company is crooked. Which leads me on to ask how could MSE club recommend such a company?

I think if they are crediting a different amount to what they are debiting, you should claim on the DD guarantee straight away. Are you sure they aren't maybe claiming £50 for gas and £30 for electricity?

Cornucopia

Neither the invoices or the website are particularly clear.

On the invoice, the main figures are the actual/estimated costs for the month. The payment on account (i.e. the DD amount) only appears as a fairly minor entry. However the account balance taken forward should match next month's existing balance.

drsquirrel

Do credits to utility accounts get automatically refunded these days or is it still something we have to manually do?

ben501

drsquirrel wrote: »

Do credits to utility accounts get automatically refunded these days or is it still something we have to manually do?

I'm not sure if OFTM even have a policy on this, but most comments suggest you need to chase them up if you want your money back.

(if there is an automatic system then it doesn't work. My last supplier actually specified that you had to contact them & ask for your refund)

wavelets

drsquirrel wrote: »

Do credits to utility accounts get automatically refunded these days or is it still something we have to manually do?

In 2014, suppliers introduced commitments to refund closed balances as soon as reasonably possibly and within 14 days of a final bill or statement being produced - based on an actual meter read.

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/utilities/reclaim-energy-bill-refunds/

In 2014 it was revealed that about three million people were owed a refund by an old supplier. Energy regulator Ofgem now "expects suppliers to do more" to return the cash when people switch away from them, so it should now be automatic.

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/utilities/you-switch-gas-electricity/

bubieyehyeh

KEROUAC1957 wrote: »

As an example (not actual figures) they will list a £50 invoice (no invoice details) and a £30 DD but the actual DD was £80.

If this is on the balance part of the website, the £50 invoice is the new balance after applying the invoice. If you take the figure from the line below it should match the DD amount.

Consumerist

drsquirrel wrote: »

Do credits to utility accounts get automatically refunded these days or is it still something we have to manually do?

From around the end of March, energy suppliers will be required to repay credit balances within 10 working days of issuing the final bill or automatically pay £30 compensation.

Ofgem are still "investigating" when the final bill should be issued. From summer, however, it is currently expected to be 6 weeks from the date of a switch to a new supplier.

It is going to be interesting to see how all this works in reality - particularly with the smaller companies. I suspect suppliers will add the compensation payments to their prices as a cost of doing business.

drsquirrel

I did read before about the "automatic" refunds. I remember npower refunding me something back a good 12 months after moving after they were forced to do so.


Still waiting/wondering about this final bill... meanwhile OTFM still trying to take DDs after almost 2 months - I'm in credit with them still.