Outfox The Market Direct Debit changes

moneytorques

To be fair, I can see the concern and why.
It hasnt been rolled out in a very communication friendly way and to an outsider could seem an act of desperation.

I've been with them since Dec 17 but now I'm unsure if the ML ESC is reflecting the latest Tarriff increases so they may no longer be the cheapest for me anyway.:eek:

martyp

moneytorques wrote: »

Why is everyone making such a song and dance on this??

OTM is cheap. That's the bottom line why we've switched to them.
OTMs prices are increasing as are all the other suppliers.
OTM are still one of the cheapest.

They were for me when I joined in September and in the space of a few months are now over £100 more expensive than my cheapest deal based on their January rate increase:
Until 31st December = £535.58
From 1st January = £712.95
Annual Increase = £177.37


So in my case it's not just the mess with the direct debits, I can save by going elsewhere, in my case with my new supplier my quote is £607 for the year.
I did quotes on the website and it does come up with fixed tariffs which don't seem to be accurately reflected in price comparisons. One where you pay an amount upfront for 6 months, then monthly for 3 months then whatever the variable tariff is for the last 3 months. Really you don't know what the variable tariff will be then...
They're just too unpredictable for me, as if they have an unstable pricing strategy, I know mine is a variable tariff but increasing the price every month for 3 months in a row to the point of being around 33% more annually in my case is too much. I don't fancy a big outlay of around £280 upfront in order to potentially save about £40 possibly with the added risk that OTM could go bust with the bad reputation gained, difficulty with their current prices and number of customers no doubt leaving.

martyp

ic451uk wrote: »

.

Changes to your Direct Debit
On January 15th, we will write to inform you of your revised Direct Debit payment. This payment will be based on new unit prices and standing charges that come into effect from January 1st.
Please do not contact us with regards to your new Direct Debit payments until you receive the notification on January 15th. The first payment based on the return to a fixed Direct Debit will begin from your February payment.

So I paid £40.84 on the 12th December when I was meant to be paying about £73 and having been told I'll be paying £83 in January does that mean £40.84 is going out now or £83? Or the £73 I was meant to be paying from the 13th December?
Really doesn't make budgeting easy, glad I've switched now...

dprice1164

You couldn't make it up. Also, they sent me the same email and I'm no longer a customer ��

orangesnaps

moneytorques wrote: »

Why is everyone making such a song and dance on this??

OTM is cheap. That's the bottom line why we've switched to them.
OTMs prices are increasing as are all the other suppliers.
OTM are still one of the cheapest.

I'd pay them a year up front if necessary to secure their rates.(I know not everyone can do that).

To me a bit of seasonal tweaking of the DD rates to help OTM have enough in the kitty over Winter made sense.
If you get into more than £35 credit I understand you can ask for a refund anyway.

I bet this whole process and the debacle of x amout of customers straining the customer care with silly queries since November will ultimately cost OTM and the customer more money on the rates in the long run so well done to those who have responded in a knee jerk manner all very much overkill.

Well, I wouldn't have had any issue with them increasing the direct debit amount if need be, but like many others my account was in credit by £300+ and they still had the cheek to increase the direct debit and then eventually relented to refunding us a measly amount but with the higher direct debit amount our credit returned to £300+ again after just one payment. I'm currently on a fixed tariff but in the process of switching to a different provider. I would rather pay a little more for a company that doesn't have any dodgy business practices or treats their customers in an appalling manner.
Good luck in staying with them.

rudigarude

I'm finding this car crash quite amusing. I'm not actually with outfox, but with Economy7Energy which appears to be owned by the same company. I've interacted a few times via twitter and WOW, talk about lack of customer service!

Having said that though, for me right now, they are still the cheapest (well I think they can be beat in my case by about £50 per year in the quotes I've seen). I've currently got a £185 credit with them and have been taking far more regular meter readings.

I can see what moneytorques is saying, in my case it doesn't matter as I've budgeted based on my usage for a year an not what my energy company thinks. However that isn't the case for everyone and not everyone can do that.

What makes me angry is the way they tried to introduce this policy. It was just before Christmas, they claimed it was to help the customer and then to top it off someone went onto BBC moneybox live, arrogantly saying they wouldn't waive leaving fees because customers would be better off with them (they since got rid of this policy, like all of the other policies).

I don't think it's helpful or fair to simply say just because a company is cheaper that changing to unfavourable payment terms is acceptable. A customer makes a decision not only on the cost but the payment terms (car insurance for example).

oxters

Can’t see this posted elsewhere so I’ll update the situation here. Got this message today:-
Dear Customer,

The last few weeks have been challenging for our valued customers, and I would like to thank you for your patience and understanding.

The changes we have introduced to our Direct Debit policy, where customers pay a higher rate during the winter to match increased consumption, followed by lower payments in the warmer months is a sustainable solution to providing cheaper energy prices. I firmly believe that this will soon be standard practice for companies aiming to help customers save on their energy costs.

However, I fully accept that many of our customers do not accept that this is the right thing for them.


Moving forward
Having listened to our customers feedback, the company has decided to reintroduce a fixed Direct Debit policy.

This policy applies for all customers on both our fixed and variable tariffs and will see a return to 12 equal monthly instalments.

An apology
As a consequence of the initial change in our Direct Debit policy, the company has experienced a significant demand in its customer care services (call volumes & emails) & we have worked hard to meet this. However, I accept this has had a negative influence on our standard of service, and for this I personally and sincerely apologise.

Changes to your Direct Debit
On January 15th, we will write to inform you of your revised Direct Debit payment. This payment will be based on new unit prices and standing charges that come into effect from January 1st.

Please do not contact us with regards to your new Direct Debit payments until you receive the notification on January 15th. The first payment based on the return to a fixed Direct Debit will begin from your February payment.

I hope these changes will help alleviate any concerns you may have had in recent weeks. We are continuing to work hard to resolve any outstanding queries and as a family run business we pride ourselves on listening to our customers. I have full confidence in our staff and expect normal service will resume in time for the new year.

Finally, I would like to thank you for your valued custom throughout 2018 and wish you all a very warm and happy new year.


Yours sincerely

Keith Bastian
CEO

Note: If you have left, or are in the process of leaving our company, please accept our apologies and disregard this email.

So they’ve capitulated ant done a complete u turnDear Customer,

The last few weeks have been challenging for our valued customers, and I would like to thank you for your patience and understanding.

The changes we have introduced to our Direct Debit policy, where customers pay a higher rate during the winter to match increased consumption, followed by lower payments in the warmer months is a sustainable solution to providing cheaper energy prices. I firmly believe that this will soon be standard practice for companies aiming to help customers save on their energy costs.

However, I fully accept that many of our customers do not accept that this is the right thing for them.


Moving forward
Having listened to our customers feedback, the company has decided to reintroduce a fixed Direct Debit policy.

This policy applies for all customers on both our fixed and variable tariffs and will see a return to 12 equal monthly instalments.

An apology
As a consequence of the initial change in our Direct Debit policy, the company has experienced a significant demand in its customer care services (call volumes & emails) & we have worked hard to meet this. However, I accept this has had a negative influence on our standard of service, and for this I personally and sincerely apologise.

Changes to your Direct Debit
On January 15th, we will write to inform you of your revised Direct Debit payment. This payment will be based on new unit prices and standing charges that come into effect from January 1st.

Please do not contact us with regards to your new Direct Debit payments until you receive the notification on January 15th. The first payment based on the return to a fixed Direct Debit will begin from your February payment.

I hope these changes will help alleviate any concerns you may have had in recent weeks. We are continuing to work hard to resolve any outstanding queries and as a family run business we pride ourselves on listening to our customers. I have full confidence in our staff and expect normal service will resume in time for the new year.

Finally, I would like to thank you for your valued custom throughout 2018 and wish you all a very warm and happy new year.


Yours sincerely

Keith Bastian
CEO

Note: If you have left, or are in the process of leaving our company, please accept our apologies and disregard this email.

ic451uk

oxters wrote: »

Can’t see this posted elsewhere so I’ll update the situation here.

Try looking at post #1091!

VoucherMan

moneytorques wrote: »

Why is everyone making such a song and dance on this??


so well done to those who have responded in a knee jerk manner all very much overkill.

Is that a genuine question or are you just trolling?


Many (probably most) of those who switched to OFTM will have done so simply because they were cheap. A lot of them will be on low income, and unlikely to have a spare £200 a month for the increased DD. Certainly not at the short 10 days notice they gave. Even those who do have the finances to cope with it long term would struggle with only 10 days. After all, why leave money laying around in a current account when it can be invested somewhere? A responsible company would give plenty of notice that allows customers to budget for such a change.

ic451uk wrote: »

Latest email received from OTFM - it's a complete backdown on everything that's happened over the last few weeks:

Moving forward
Having listened to our customers feedback, the company has decided to reintroduce a fixed Direct Debit policy.
This policy applies for all customers on both our fixed and variable tariffs and will see a return to 12 equal monthly instalments.

Here's hoping they recalculate the DD to take into account the increased charges they will have already taken, but from past experience of this outfit, I'm not holding my breath.

Scatty

moneytorques wrote: »

Why is everyone making such a song and dance on this??

OTM is cheap. That's the bottom line why we've switched to them.
OTMs prices are increasing as are all the other suppliers.
OTM are still one of the cheapest.

There was nothing wrong with the winter/summer split (apart from timing).

However, in my case they vastly over estimated it. Got that sorted. Then again they vastly over estimated my annual usage and then sent me an email to say my DD in Jan would be £111 (up from £42) until further notice. Oh, and not to mention the 28p per fuel daily standing charge which added much more to my annual bill. So from Jan 1 they are no longer cheap.

The fact I have switched back to British Gas of all firms yesterday says it all for me. So no one is knee jerk reacting, we're all thinking of our budgets and wondering why a company such as Outfox can't just get their act together.

Edit: And I have quite a large credit on my account so they didn't need to bump it up to £111 on a 3700 kwh elec and 5 kwh gas per annum usage.