Outfox the Market reviews: add your feedback

Nick_C

Consumerist wrote: »

Totally understand your frustration.

In recent switches I have sent (dumb) meter snapshots along with my opening readings to the new supplier. It seems to have avoided the frustration you are experiencing - so far, anyway. But I'm sure the suppliers will find a way . . .

Edit
I am guessing that your your new supplier is charging more per unit that the old. So it might work in your favour for the old supplier to overestimate your usage. We're only talking about coppers here anyway.

I'm totally unconcerned about the pennies involved in using an estimated figure. What does annoy me though is that Ovo had the ability to read my meters remotely and establish accurate figures three weeks ago, but they still cannot give me a final balance, and I am being kept waiting for a refund of the credit on my account.

discostuxx

We are leaving Outfox The Market, they started off well enough, sensible monthly payment then bang from nowhere double the amount because it’s winter, we were already in credit so paid it anyway and then ended up far more in credit. Requested lower monthly payments but still more than we were paying previously, then requested a refund as we were £350 in credit, they came back and said would review and eventually offered £137, rang them again and said not prepared to finance their business we want more as we are still paying over on a monthly basis regardless of the winter months approaching! The guy on the phone very apologetic totally understood our request and admitted that didn’t make sense would request another review, we would be advised on outcome and refunded by 27th September, received notification via email would review and then found they had refunded original £137 into account despite us now being over £400 in credit. They entice you with a low monthly amount then increase to the point where you collectively end up financing their business, I’m all for supporting small companies and paying a little bit more, but their customer service and the way they treat customers is disgusting, do not bother!

Nick_C

discostuxx wrote: »

We are leaving Outfox The Market, they started off well enough, sensible monthly payment then bang from nowhere double the amount because it’s winter..

Every energy company I've dealt with seems to have trouble setting appropriate DD rates. But you have control. If you have a large credit on your account and they won't refund it, cancel the DD, wait for the credit to run down to a reasonable balance, then tell them how much you agree to pay. At this time of year, you should be in credit.

I was with Ovo for 2 years on a smart meter but even so, after supplying me for a year, they kept suggesting stupid adjustments to how much I should pay. Good thing about Ovo though is they were paying me a good rate of "interest" on the credit balance, and I was able to withdraw any excess of credit over the value of 1 month's DD pretty much on demand.

I switched to OTM on 5 September. My average annual usage over the year will be £72.53. They wanted to set that as my initial DD amount. I told them this would not be enough to cover the heavy winter months. I told them I wanted to pay £92 a month initially, and I will reduce this to £72 in six months time. Oddly, they then sent me an email saying my DD would be £65.07 (!) but a couple more emails got this fixed.

Just take the stance that you are in control. They cannot take DDs that you have not agreed to. But of course, it's important to do your forecasting accurately and ensure you are paying enough to cover future demand.

Gerry1

Nick_C wrote: »

If you have a large credit on your account and they won't refund it, cancel the DD, wait for the credit to run down to a reasonable balance, then tell them how much you agree to pay.

Just take the stance that you are in control. They cannot take DDs that you have not agreed to.

Unfortunately, OTM will outfox YOU by quoting their Ts & Cs and charging £25 for each DD that bounces.

6.5 Any missed or late payments will incur a charge of £25 each time. This will include failure to pay via the required method of Direct Debit or cancellation of your Direct Debit mandate.

Nick_C

I don't think they would stand a Cat in Hell's chance of enforcing that if you were in credit, and they had refused to give you a refund.

And I don't think you can just look at that term in isolation.

The main requirement is to keep your account in credit and pay any amount due.

"6.1 You are responsible for paying us for the supply until you have cleared all outstanding balances"

"6.3 Unless otherwise agreed with us, you must pay the amount shown as outstanding on your bill in accordance with our standard payment method of Direct Debit. "

If your account is in credit, then you are not liable to pay them anything.

It would be wise to give them 14 days notice of your intention to take this action.

And if they tried imposing penalties for not being allowed to take money which is not owed to them, I think the regulator would have a field day with them.

Obviously, both parties should act reasonably, but if you have demonstrated that the credit balance on the account is excessive and they have refused a refund, then I think this action by the customer would be a reasonable response.

Gerry1

Nick_C wrote: »

I don't think they would stand a Cat in Hell's chance of enforcing that if you were in credit, and they had refused to give you a refund.

And I don't think you can just look at that term in isolation.

The main requirement is to keep your account in credit and pay any amount due.

"6.1 You are responsible for paying us for the supply until you have cleared all outstanding balances"

"6.3 Unless otherwise agreed with us, you must pay the amount shown as outstanding on your bill in accordance with our standard payment method of Direct Debit. "

If your account is in credit, then you are not liable to pay them anything.

It would be wise to give them 14 days notice of your intention to take this action.

And if they tried imposing penalties for not being allowed to take money which is not owed to them, I think the regulator would have a field day with them.

Obviously, both parties should act reasonably, but if you have demonstrated that the credit balance on the account is excessive and they have refused a refund, then I think this action by the customer would be a reasonable response.

I'd like to think you're right, but I fear that OTM would just point to 6.5 and, at best, you'd have a long battle with the ombudsman.

Anyone unsuccessfully trying to claw back a large credit from OTM might be better off initiating a switch to another supplier and using the14 day cooling off period to persuade OTM to refund the excess and keep them as a customer.

hareng

discostuxx wrote: »

They entice you with a low monthly amount then increase to the point where you collectively end up financing their business, I’m all for supporting small companies and paying a little bit more, but their customer service and the way they treat customers is disgusting, do not bother!

Not at all they resorted back to average usage earlier this year.
Currently £179 in credit, pay £66 p/m by time April next year comes that will be down to around £20-£40 by keeping the monthly £66.
Its average like any other company, gone are the days when they went pay per month what you used last year where i would have been billed £140 p/m.
Further to that i am on One Variable 5 this time, price will fluctuate and currently £8 p/m dearer than previous Tariff.
Of course free to leave but spite your own face for next cheapest around 12% dearer based on actual usage not providers claims.



Even emails were answered within an hour.

Tamsin12

I switched to Outfox the Market last year from EDF, when I was renting my previous flat. The switch did save me money and I don't have any complaints about the service.
When I told them I was leaving the property, they sorted out the final bill without any problems, and they refunded me about £15 I had been in credit with them. They did that without me having to prompt them - I think it was maybe a couple of months before they did, but I had a lot on at the time so I hadn't chased it.
I am actually going to switch the electricity supply for my current flat to them, from Scottish Power, again because it will save me money.
I see that some people have had a bad experience with Outfox the Market, but I haven't, mine was rather good, and I don't think it would be fair for me to dismiss them on the basis of others' experience.

RalphS

I was advised my G & E switch would take place on October 4, which they did without any issues.

Jimbo4x4

We've been with OTM for around 18m now

WE've had fewer issues than we had with the big suppliers. They tend to answer the phone quickly and the operators generally know what they are doing.

They've put in a new meter for us at my request (which they hadn't done before- it needed moving)), it needed a little patience for them to work out the processes, but it all worked and went smoothly.

Billling has generally been fine- our DD should have been aound £90/m and for some reason they dropped it to £55/month (maybe because i've been lax with supplying readings......). They've put it back up to £90 when i phoned them.

Having suffered from some of the really big suppliers where you wait on the phone for literally hours, we're not unhappy.

They are also just about the cheapest constantly which always helps