Outfox The Market Direct Debit changes

Anthorn

gsmlnx wrote: »

Once a final bill has been produced, any credit should be repaid within 10 working days (2 weeks).

Perhaps you can link to the information that credit must be refunded within 2 weeks of the final bill. I'm asking because in my switch from Scottish Power to EDF SP specified in its tracker "up to 3 weeks" after the final bill is created to refund credit.

Anthorn

As reported by M.S.E. OFTM has returned to equal monthly billing and has abandoned its 70/30 DD policy:

The small supplier has informed customers who joined it before 21 November that it will now return to fixed monthly direct debits, meaning they should pay the same each month – providing their usage doesn't change massively.

If you were with Outfox the Market before 21 November your direct debit will revert back to a fixed amount from February.

Outfox the Market has told us that if you're on its 'Zapp' or 'Wham' variable tariffs, or its 'Whack' 18-month fixed tariff, you should go back to paying the same amount each month.

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/news/2019/01/outfox-the-market-u-turns-on-direct-debit-changes/

Now what of those who in a knee-jerk reaction have hastily left OFTM and found themselves on more expensive tariffs and to that I must add "ROFL".

Steve456

Vortigern wrote: »

True, but what I meant was that the LBA might encourage OTM to pay up - before any court fees are raised.

There is a report on the Facebook OTM discussion of OTM having to pay a £25 court fee.

wavelets wrote: »

Oh, if it's on Facebook it must be true :rotfl:

I haven't seen the Facebook post, but that would make perfect sense if someone took out a small-claim against OFTM and it was either uncontested or OFTM lost. They would be liable for the £25 cost of issuing the claim.

hubb

Anthorn wrote: »

As reported by M.S.E. OFTM has returned to equal monthly billing and has abandoned its 70/30 DD policy:


https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/news/2019/01/outfox-the-market-u-turns-on-direct-debit-changes/

Now what of those who in a knee-jerk reaction have hastily left OFTM and found themselves on more expensive tariffs and to that I must add "ROFL".

Yes but the cost has just risen so you are still paying more with oftm despite lower dd monthly payments. At least I am now fixed with So.

RishiF

Anthorn wrote: »

As reported by M.S.E. OFTM has returned to equal monthly billing and has abandoned its 70/30 DD policy:

Now what of those who in a knee-jerk reaction have hastily left OFTM and found themselves on more expensive tariffs and to that I must add "ROFL".

If that's all you think this about, I have some news for you.

This isn't just about a change from fixed to seasonal Direct Debits (and back again). It's about a succession of structural price changes in a short space of time. The 'before and after' price-increase email, showed that I would be paying almost 50% MORE for my energy from January 2019, than I had been paying until November 2018, and this doesn't even include the DD changes. The majority of this increased cost came from their decision to change from a membership fixed fee of £7.51, to a standing charge of 28p per day per fuel (apprx. £16.80 a month for dual fuel customers), with the rest of my increases coming in the form of a series of rapid price hikes to the unit rates themselves. The change to a seasonal direct debit was simply on top of all that, and meant that I would be paying for 70% of my total annual bill (which itself would be rising 50%), in the winter months.

When I joined Outfox, they quoted me slightly over £30/month for my energy. My direct debit was something like £48, however, on the basis of building up a credit for the winter months. Winter came, and they suddenly wanted to put my DD up to 'account for my increased usage in winter', and were now asking for about £65/month, despite having accumulated enough credit on account to cover for any rise in usage.

I have just switched to another provider who, despite charging higher unit rates than Outfox were at the beginning of my term with them, are now charging me just £36/month. This is lower than what I was being billed by Outfox before the 'uplift' had even hit.

Outfox have repeatedly changed their membership fee/standing charge structure -- introducing new tier rates which penalised higher energy users earlier in 2018, and increasing the membership fees for everyone else, before finally abolishing the tiers and introducing a new 'standing charge' of 56p/day for dual fuel customers in it's place. Unsurprisingly, as a result of so many various changes in a short space of time, coupled with all the problems with citing a variety of different DD amounts to people by email, and then allegedly re-instating cancelled DDs without permission, there were a flood of calls and emails to OTM which they were poorly equipped to cope with.

It was never just about the 'Winter Uplift' DD. There were many other issues both before and after that, which aside from anything else (e.g. price increases) caused a sense of uncertainty and doubt amongst their customers, and damaged trust.

At this point, for many of us, it's not even about price or who is cheapest anymore. It's about trust.

pvt

Anthorn wrote: »

Now what of those who in a knee-jerk reaction have hastily left OFTM and found themselves on more expensive tariffs and to that I must add "ROFL".

There was nothing knee-jerk or hasty about my decision to jump ship to Utility Point, and the fixed tariff I got seems better than OFTM's hiked Jan 2019 rate.

I wish all the best for those who stay with OFTM, for as long as it is around. I'm sure all the negative sentiment expressed in the previous 61 pages of this thread is not all true. Though from my personal experience, much of it is.

Anthorn

RishiF wrote: »

If that's all you think this about, I have some news for you.

Er ... it's not what I think about it: I quoted and linked to a report by MSE. What I think is that some people in a knee-jerk reaction switched from OFTM without seeing the result of their complaints. It is therefore a complete and utter waste of time to complain in the first place.

RishiF wrote: »

This isn't just about a change from fixed to seasonal Direct Debits (and back again).

Direct Debit changes is precisely what this thread is about. I do know that this thread has been hijacked for other purposes, lately promotion of a Facebook Group. However OFTM has reversed those Direct Debit changes and apologised to customers so I'd say there is nothing left to complain about in this thread.

Anthorn

hubb wrote: »

Yes but the cost has just risen so you are still paying more with oftm despite lower dd monthly payments. At least I am now fixed with So.

That's probably your own fault for not fixing in the first place. The prospect of price rises is precisely the reason why energy customers fix. Going back a few months what I saw on MSE and elsewhere was advice to avoid price rises by fixing: So why didn't you fix?

ben501

Anthorn wrote: »

This affair actually has its funny side when we have people who are worrying about slipping further into credit lol

Indeed.:rotfl: If only the people had the spare money to bankroll OFTM. As has been said before, many customers are those with little or no spare cash laying around. Finding an extra £20, £80, £200 (or whatever they decide to add) at short notice is not always possible, and certainly not as a regular payment.
Maybe if the credit balances many customers had already built up had been refunded before the increased charges were started, there wouldn't have been as much ill feeling.

Anthorn wrote: »

As reported by M.S.E. OFTM has returned to equal monthly billing and has abandoned its 70/30 DD policy:

Now what of those who in a knee-jerk reaction have hastily left OFTM and found themselves on more expensive tariffs and to that I must add "ROFL".

Celebrating a bit early aren't we? I tend to take any MSE 'news' reports with a pinch of salt. [STRIKE]They're late, often inaccurate[/STRIKE] I won't bother giving reasons as MSE don't like criticism, and will probably pull the post. Let's just say that we don't yet know the outcome.


They specifically stated not to contact them until 15th January. Fair enough, it gives them time to sort out the mess, but we have to hope that's what they are doing. We don't yet know if the direct debits will be recalculated, or just the old ones reinstated. If it's the latter then OFTM will have grabbed up to 4 months charges at the increased rate so will have all that extra cash in their champagne glasses. Hopefully the new 'equal payments' will now be reduced to reflect the extra money they've already taken. Either that or apply a prompt refund of excessive credit balances.


As for peoples 'knee jerk reactions', some people had been waiting 4, 5, 6 weeks just for a response. How long do you consider a reasonable time to wait before acting?

Scatty

Anthorn wrote: »

As reported by M.S.E. OFTM has returned to equal monthly billing and has abandoned its 70/30 DD policy:


https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/news/2019/01/outfox-the-market-u-turns-on-direct-debit-changes/

Now what of those who in a knee-jerk reaction have hastily left OFTM and found themselves on more expensive tariffs and to that I must add "ROFL".

Wow. You're not a nice man if you find that funny.

Actually I think you'll find the introduction of the 28p per fuel daily standing charge makes those of us who switched extremely grateful that we did.