TOTO Energy Nightmare

JeanJeannie52

TOTO energy became my new supplier on 16th May 2018, got a welcome letter from them on 25th April 2018 this letter states "Your monthly direct debit will be £60.05 and taken on the 1st of each month. The first payment we'll take will be on 1st of June as I had requested it come off on the 1st of every month. However on the 11th May 2018 they tried to take a months payment from my bank , the money was not there as it wasn't due till 1st of June. This resulted in me being charged an unpaid transaction fee, plus they where not my supplier on that date as I was still with British Gas. Then on 30th May 2018 I got a message on my online account saying they where no longer my supplier.

So the nightmare began on the 11th May 2018 on that day and since then I have tried to contact them by phone it is impossible to get them to answer. While still phoning every day I also tried speaking with them via the live chat on their site it also says all their adviser are busy leave a message and we will get back to you, still no response. So I emailed them have I got a response NO, so today I e-mailed their CEO wonder how long he will take to respond if he does.

Does anyone know if they have breached trading standards and the direct debit guarantee?

I am now in limbo as I don't know who my energy supplier is or if I even have a supplier, has anyone else experienced this with TOTO.

I will be changing my supplier once this is sorted as I don't think much of any company that has no customer support or services that you can actually speak with.

System

The devil is in the detail. From Cheap Energy Club and no doubt in your Welcome Letter:

Company info: Birmingham-based Tonik Energy launched in 2016. The firm supplies 100% renewable electricity across all its tariffs.

Further info: Tonik's fixed deals start on the day you apply, so your rates may not be fixed for the full 12 months. It also takes direct debits in advance, so your first payment may overlap with your final payment(s) to your current provider.

There is also a sentence in the ts and cs which states that a specific date for payment can only be set from the third payment onwards.

Your old supplier has 6 weeks from the date of transfer to issue a Final Bill. Double payments are often a consequence of switching. You will get all overpayments back.

JeanJeannie52

It's TOTO energy not Toniks I'm with and there where no T's & C's with the welcome letter. Thanks

System

My bad - sorry. I was looking at two sources whilst watching the England/Australia ODI match. Ignore my incorrect reference to Tonik. The relevant paras from Toto!!!8217;s ts and cs are these:

Initial Direct Debit, in which payment is taken on day 16 of signing up. A second payment will then be made between days 22 and 42 of your signing with us. A Standard Direct Debit will then continue to be taken on or around the corresponding subsequent day of the month chosen by you.
You can alter the day of the month your payment takes place on from the third payment onwards by contacting us or requesting the change in your myaccount area.

The terms and conditions that are relevant to your contract are on Toto!!!8217;s website. I would surprised if they are not mentioned in your Welcome Pack/e-mails

JeanJeannie52

Nope can't find any T's & C's in this welcome letter plus they tried to take the payment before they where actually my supplier. This means I was still being charged by British Gas as I didn't leave them till 15/5/18 and TOTO where trying to take a month upfront when not supplying my energy. I also have smart meter's don't know if that makes a difference.

Skools_Out

JeanJeannie52 wrote: »

TOTO energy became my new supplier on 16th May 2018, got a welcome letter from them on 25th April 2018 this letter states "Your monthly direct debit will be £60.05 and taken on the 1st of each month. The first payment we'll take will be on 1st of June as I had requested it come off on the 1st of every month. However on the 11th May 2018 they tried to take a months payment from my bank , the money was not there as it wasn't due till 1st of June. This resulted in me being charged an unpaid transaction fee, plus they where not my supplier on that date as I was still with British Gas. Then on 30th May 2018 I got a message on my online account saying they where no longer my supplier.

So the nightmare began on the 11th May 2018 on that day and since then I have tried to contact them by phone it is impossible to get them to answer. While still phoning every day I also tried speaking with them via the live chat on their site it also says all their adviser are busy leave a message and we will get back to you, still no response. So I emailed them have I got a response NO, so today I e-mailed their CEO wonder how long he will take to respond if he does.

Does anyone know if they have breached trading standards and the direct debit guarantee?

I am now in limbo as I don't know who my energy supplier is or if I even have a supplier, has anyone else experienced this with TOTO.

I will be changing my supplier once this is sorted as I don't think much of any company that has no customer support or services that you can actually speak with.

Yes, the supplier has breached the terms of the Direct Debit Scheme by attempting to collect payment ewarlier than specified in their direct debit advance notice.

You should make an indemnity claim direct via your own bank.
Normally, claims such as this result in an immediate (certainly by close of the business day) refund of the amount taken in error.
However, as I understand it, they were unsuccessful in taking the payment diuue to insufficient funds (not your fault as you were not expecting a collection on that day). But yopu should still make an indemnity claim direct via your bank for the consequential loss i.e. bank charges incurred due to this error.
In this instance, the bank can ask you to wait up to 14 days for the refund, as they will need time to obtain the money f4rom the supplier.

The supplier should not refund you directly for their error in operating the direct debit scheme, and in the event you have contacted them directly, they should simply refer you to your bank to make the claim.