MSE News: Octopus Energy to take on Iresa's 90,000 customers - here's what you need to know

matelodave

Caitykinss wrote: »

To save scrolling through many pages of comments, I had a pretty good experience with the transfer process from Iresa to Octopus. Although they got the credit balance wrong on first go, they quickly sorted it. The prices don't seem to me to be too different from others we have been offered so I decided to stick with them for now, but I am yet to receive a bill. Two lots of direct debit payments have come out and are showing on my Octopus account, but they haven't given me a bill or asked for any meter readings. Is anyone else in the same boat?

Even though they haven't asked for a meter reading it would be a good idea to read it yourslf every month and keep your online account updated.You can do it when you like rather than waiting to be asked.

The price of their electricity would have cost me over £220 more if I hadn't swapped to Eversmart. I was with them just five weeks and it cost me around £9 extra. That was during August when my consumption is very low. Their tariff would have cost me an extra £40 in December alone.

BTW they've just sorted my final bill and they owe me £6.03 so I'm waiting to see how they intend getting it to me because I'm not setting up a DD just for six quid.

They were pretty good at sorting out the transfer from IRESA to Octopus but it didn't seem quite so efficient when I left them. It's taken over six weeks which is longer than the period I was with them. They still say it might take another 10-14 days to credit me.

Farway

At last, e mail from Octopus about a refund from Iresa re outstanding credit refund

I left Iresa a month or so prior to them folding, I cancelled my DD but was aware they had just over £20 of my cash

I've never had a final bill, they collapsed before they got round to that, but successfully transferred, not to Octopus, without any problems

I've never ever contacted Octopus or Iresa about my outstanding credit, so it seems the wheels are slowly turning away in the background

Now I'm getting the £20+ back, I had to supply Octopus with my current account details, presumably because my DD was cancelled

Tahlullah

Completely at a loss now.

I had 2 accounts with Iresa. When they folded, I immediately cancelled my DD's and searched for alternative providers and changed as soon as it was possible to do so.

During this waiting period, I only ever heard about one account from Octopus. Not a problem, I told them about the second account and they eventually responded. I was in credit and they offered a refund. I accepted because I couldn't be bothered to worry about the small change. The other account was slightly in arrears so I paid.

Then I got a letter telling me I owed £25.00. I couldn't understand why they had given me a £80 refund if I owed £25, but I didn't argue and paid it to settle the bill.

I have been with my new providers - Ovo and Eon since August and today received a bill from Octopus for £75.00 covering the period from 1 August to 12 September.

So, why on earth did they ever refund me the money if I was in arrears? Plus I wasn't with them for this whole period, so what happened to the automatic switching service I used?

I really thought my relationship with this awful company was over, but they keep hanging on in there.

martyp

A day after the 6 weeks following my switch I contacted Octopus to ask what's happening and point out the Energy Switch guarantee and promptly received an e-mail with my final bill. I assume this happened only as a result of me giving them a kick and makes me wonder how long things could have festered had I not have said something..
I questioned why it took over 6 months to receive my final bill and received odd reasons, one was my direct debit from Iresa which went through absolutely fine to top up my balance with Octopus...
Unsure exactly how that direct debit could have caused the delay but they didn't really elaborate. Quick responses via e-mail, within hours as per their amazing feedback but didn't really provide a valid excuse as to why it took me chasing them after waiting 6 weeks for my final bill...
I can only think their amazing feedback is based on their speed of taking on customers and taking money from them and not handling their switches if they want to go elsewhere...
I found a hidden message in the referral link

brewerdave

I switched away to USIO on the 12th Sept. (nearly 8 weeks ago) but my Octopus account just sits there,unchanged since they recorded my initial reading with USIO - I actually OWE them, so its incompetence not money grabbing!!

Farway

The £20+ owing to me from Iresa credit has now appeared in my bank via Octopus

All over for me, until the next time

LittleWelshLady

Can someone help me please? 😊We currently rent a 4bed and have our utilities with Octopus Energy. We have just purchased our own 3bed home and have only just got gas connected to it (it was solid fuel before).
How do I find out the best deals when I dont have anything to compare to please?
Is it worth staying with Octopus or not?
Sorry for all the questions - I'm not very good with technology 🙈🙈

martyp

LittleWelshLady wrote: »

Can someone help me please? ��We currently rent a 4bed and have our utilities with Octopus Energy. We have just purchased our own 3bed home and have only just got gas connected to it (it was solid fuel before).
How do I find out the best deals when I dont have anything to compare to please?
Is it worth staying with Octopus or not?
Sorry for all the questions - I'm not very good with technology ����

I think it might be on an estimate basis in that case if there aren't any historical usage details for comparison. Normally on the comparison sites you can enter in details in order for them to give a rough idea of usage (e.g. number of rooms, occupants, type of heating etc.). I wouldn't want to comment on Octopus from my personal experience as they do have a lot of fans and may be one of the cheapest suppliers in your area as the prices vary by region for different suppliers. There's lots of different comparison sites out there which should give an unbiased comparison for you but often indicate if they can switch you or give cashback etc. You could try the MSE one (Cheap Energy Club) via the Utilities button at the top of this site and just see what comes up although there's loads out there (Citizens Advice, Moneysupermarket, USwitch etc.)
It may lead to an innacurate estimate of usage if you use the information from your current bills with Octopus owing to potentially different usage from different appliances in the house possibly, there are lots of factors. You could aim for a low cost supplier with no exit fees so that you can switch without penalty should you find you're using more or less than expecting once you have some information on your usage (accounting for seasonal variation as well)
I'm sure others can add further comment but hope that helps a bit.

johnpr98

I finally have my Credit refund from Ocropus after a considerable delay, only sorted when they had sight of my first bill's start reading from Yorkshire Energy, time to move on at last

Re Gas usage for LittleWelshLady, depends on how much time you are in the house, On the MSE Energy Club comparison site try 15,000 kWh P.A. for heating morning and evening as a starter or 20,000 if you are in most of the time. It's not an exact science as it depend on the age of your house, the build and insulation, also on the severity of the Winter, I still remember the cold conditions of December 2011 (My highest ever usage), although it averaged out afterwards as the Spring was milder by comparison and I was meaner with the gas usage. Good Luck.

ShabbZ

Hi Guys

Similar story to everyone else, received a letter from Octopus Energy a while ago informing me regarding Iresa Energy. I wasn’t too concerned as my place is on a prepay Electric-key and Gas-card (like that when I moved in and haven’t bothered changing it).
In the interim I have been topping up using the existing Iresa Key + card without any issues. However the new Octopus Energy Elec-key and Gas-card arrived a few days ago, unfortunately no information about the tariff they have put me on, so I called customer service to get the information-

Existing Tariff= Iresa Flex2 Prepayment Dual Fuel
Electricity= rate- 12.825p/kWh Daily Charge- 16.85p
Gas= rate- 3.28 p/kWh Daily Charge- 25.85p

New Octopus Tariff= no name given for tariff
Electricity= rate- 14.86p/kWh Daily Charge- 30.1p
Gas= rate- 3.82 p/kWh Daily Charge- 28.26p

I tried using Cheap Energy Club to do a comparison but the Octopus Prepayment Tariff doesn’t seem to appear- I don’t think they usually deal in prepayment.

I have a few questions, just wondering if anyone can help-
What happens if I don’t put the new Octopus Key and Card in my meters to update/switch to Octopus Energy? Can I stay on the existing IRESA tariff? (I topped up both electricity and gas using the old key + card and at the moment both are still working)

Also I’ve had a look at prepayment suppliers and can’t find a better rate then the one Octopus Energy is putting me on- anyone know of a better tariff (as stated Cheap Energy Club is not helping)

Any useful advice will be greatly appreciated, Thanks