Economy Seven Energy reviews: Give your feedback

[Deleted User]

I changed to eco 7 last month. Yesterday I received an email saying they are changing the direct debit from £208 a month to £356 a month until April. Who can afford a massive increase over the winter period??? Terrible service and just before a payment is due. I am switching AGAIN!!!!:mad:

JohnD49

With a proposed increase in monthly payments of £98 (when I am already £219 in credit) I, too, am incensed with this new policy of higher winter payments. I use much the same electricity both winter and summer, as I have no electric heating, and use an immersion heater for water in summer but not in winter. This balances out the increased lighting in winter. I have emailed to say I am refusing the new direct debit and suggest most other customers should do so too.

Marriedfor

We joined 'Economy' Seven earlier this year when Iresa ceased trading (ironically we never had a problem with Iresa ). We used their Foxglove website -which i agree does look like it was designed by a child! Initially the site wouldn't work to give us a quote either but i persevered and eventually got a dual fuel quote which seemed reasonable. The switch was fine (from Octopus as they had automatically been given Iresa's customers). We were confused as to who Economy Seven were and when I received an email from Fischer Energy confirming the switch and my details I became suspicious. An email was sent to Fischer enquiring about their involvement with Economy Seven and their explanation seemed reasonable. Up until today (15-11-18) we have been indifferent either way with Economy Seven's service. However, today I received an email from them telling me that our winter direct debits were going to go up and the summer direct debits were going to go down so to avoid "Bill Shock" after increased usage during the winter. The only shock i had today was reading that my DD was going to increase by 76% from £113pm to £198pm. (My summer DD would be reduced to £85pm). Surely the point of a fixed amount DD is to evenly budget through the year. My income doesn't increase by 76% in the winter!
I have emailed them and asked them to review this DD policy and i await their response but my instinct is to switch again. Ill let you know the outcome......

Wild1

I switched because they seemed cheapest on the Cheap Energy Club

The switch took far longer than previous switches, and I kept receiving emails asking for me to set up an account, give meter readings etc but the online site seemed to have a number of technical issues so I kept having to phone them.


I too have received an email where my annual projection has been increased by £250, although I have not been asked to submit meter readings, and my direct debit has been increased by 80% to avoid 'bill shock'! I'm switching back to one of the big 6

Alfiedog12

Just switched to Eco7 and have paid £151.00 for the first month, now been advised that I will be charged £264 per month over the winter period (they haven’t even had meter reading yet)

They have totally mis-sold their product and choose not to advise customers of the change in payment at the time of switching. They advised they do not want customers to get into debt with their energy. Surely they are putting customers in a very difficult financial situation over the winter period by hiking monthly DD this way and could be forcing their customers into financial difficulty. I asked if I could pay the same monthly DD amount over 12 months to ensure it covered their estimated yearly cost, NO was the answer! I will definitely be switching.

Personally I think that Eco7 are a very small provider who need our money through the winter to help their cash flow for the increase in energy they need to provide. They are certainly not increasing DD to help the customer.

olympusmegavolt

ANOTHER ANGLE
I too have had an email notification regarding the increase in DD to compensate (in their favour) for the winter quarters.
The next day, I had yet a new and increased revised DD, BUT this was based on a 25%increase in my estimated annual usage. (Unacceptable, but remember you have the right to ask for refunds if you stay in credit)
Not best pleased! ; so to vent my frustration, I sent them an email requesting explanations for these increases together with queries regarding other, less major issues. I am awaiting their explanations.

I concluded that they must be strapped for cash as their prices are very competitive and are using these methods to prop up their finances.
Rather than going into an instinctive ‘knee jerk’ reaction of condemning and moving, logic still told me that, even that I do not like what they appear to be doing, I am still better off financially than moving to another supplier.
If there is a mass exodus and the company goes under, I would suspect there will be a lot of people, who, if they haven’t done their sums, will be the long term losers.

I do not particularly like the situation, but I think one should always look before you leap. You can always move at any time, when you have a cool head.

Robert52A

Economy 7,(Fischer Energy Foxglove Energy).
Besides the Winter Direct Debit situation I am still dealing with a very badly handled fault repair. I have had a long and frequent email and telephone contact but still not resolved .
Our E7 Consumer Boards had no power available to them . This was reported to the 15 Oct. The first visit of engineers was finally planned for Sat 20 . It didn't take place once their Metering Service providers realised we were using 3phase supply. Economy 7 were apparently surprised that they were supplying energy to houses were they could offer no service in the event of a problem. The next week they spent trying to appoint a company with suitably qualified electricians to carry out the work. Finally told about Fri (26) lunchtime that they would be at our house later that day. We were expecting ,as advised by supplier, a new contactor and meter. 8.30 pm 2 guys arrived from Manchester at our rural Norfolk address. Fitted a new meter but not the contactor. Every knowledgeable person I spoke to said , 'It will be the contactor' They thought it would be fine. It wasn't. Also meter was recording all units only on 1 tariff, unlike our 'faulty' one they took away.They came back again ( Manchester -Norfolk-Return) on Monday. We were expecting the contactor and they said a Teleswitch. They replaced the Teleswitch with a secondhand Manweb unit. They said they tested the contactor and thought it was fine. They left. It wasn't .Still no power or heat on E7 circuits. Admitted they didn't have a contactor. So Thursday 1st just 1 guy (must be economising) left Manchester drove 'down south' collected a secondhand contactor came to Norfolk and fitted it. Back to Manchester. Guess what it was the contactor (everybody knew that) So 18 days loads of miles emails telephone calls the heating was on. But all is not well. The change of teleswitch has deprived us of our very useful EEB Split E7 Night Rate 2230 to 0030 and 0230 to 0730 GMT.I understand it is good for the efficiency of our Storage Radiators. Now our times are straight 0030 to 0730 Night rate. In addition the teleswitch only operates the contactor opening up the supply to the E7 boards. The meter lives in a world of its own . It records night rate as 2300 to 0600 GMT and its internal clock is an hour fast (still BST ?) So when all our storage rads are still busy heating their bricks from 0600 to 0730 the day meter reading is whizzing round recording expensive units.

Despite many emails and calls I have not had any indication of when and how they are going to rectify this situation. The last contact I had from then was Tuesday 6 Nov. Now ignoring emails.
Then I get their Winter Boast to my Direct Debit an additional £100+ a month to my account which is already £300+ in credit.

Guess what , not very happy !! Apart from price have very little to offer. Staff are very nice to chat to as long as you don't expect solutions.

wilsonbird

That is a sensible way of looking at it.
I've only been with Eco7 for a couple of months and have received the same email.
Looking at previous comments it seems to me Eco7 have realised people are unhappy with the price rises and are trying to raise their prices again through the back door. I personally would have preferred them to be honest - it makes sense that they have had a big increase in customers and they need more revenue to pay for the increased demand through the winter. It's a big increase tho bearing in mind the whole point of having a d/d plan is to spread your costs over the year.
I telephoned them as the web chat/ email option wasn't working and was told they are reviewing cases that have a large credit balance and someone will be getting back to me.
I can save £20 a year by switching but will wait until I hear back before deciding.

ecclebrick

Not happy about the DD adjustment ... I suspect they do not have a billing system capable of adjusting each customers DD in line with usage, so they are using a sledgehammer.
I just had to ask for my DD to be put up myself to ensure the latest rise was covered, and now we have their answer to the problem.
They already charge a month in advance, which is not normal practice, it's certainly suspicious of a company with cash flow problems, not doing it for the reasons given.
I will be watching my credit closely, and writing to complain ..

davidaslater

20% increase within days of joining. Dreadful customer support when available, access to account blocked. I am switching again. This has been an annoying process and does not generally encourage switching except away from this company.