Outfox The Market Direct Debit changes

BedrockFred

Reiceved this email this morning...


[FONT=&quot]Thank you for taking the time to raise your concerns with us and I’m so sorry to learn about what’s happened. I apologize for getting back to you just now but this is a very busy time in this industry.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]I understand that you are not happy that you received a letter stating that we are introducing a change in our direct debit policy. It is [/FONT][FONT=&quot]designed to help our customers to pay an accurate amount for the actual energy that will be used. This would result an increase in the direct debit during the winter months and reducing of the direct debit during the summer months. This is caused by the increase of use of energy during the winter and reducing the amount of energy used during the summer. [/FONT][FONT=&quot]The credit on your account £154.56 is also included in the direct debit review, so that it is used accordingly.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Under our license agreement we are obliged to set a fair direct debit according the [/FONT][FONT=&quot]most current information available with regards to the usage. In this respect to avoid our customers to fall into debt we have to review their direct debit according to our best knowledge to set the correct direct debit amount in order for them not to fall into debt.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]I’m sorry that you feel that this approach breaks our terms and conditions. In point 7.1 it states that we will set the direct debit according the consumption.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]I understand that you feel that this breaks any license conditions. We are not breaking any license conditions. All information is available on the Ofgem website.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]I apologize for this inconvenience.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]I will leave the complaint open for 7 days so you are able to inform us if you are unsatisfied. After this time, we will close the complaint as resolved. [/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Best Regards[/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]{Edited by Forum Team}[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]I will not go into debt, looking at the credit figure he has given £154.56 and looking at my account he must have used my latest meter readings as my on my account it shows a credit of £176.97 so last month I must have used £22.41 energy half of what my DD is now[/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]Can only think like many on here that OFTM have a cash flow problem and are trying to make up their short fall, also looking at thier site it seems the monthly membership fee has increased something I didnnot know or were informed of[/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]Cancelled my DD but thus far OFTM have not tried to reinstate it, I also replied to their email and said I would accept an increase to my DD provided it was a fair increase and my DD was level over the full 12 months
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[FONT=&quot]Having said that the increases they have made and I expect to make to their tariffs and membership they will become just the same as other suppliers indeed switching to a fixed 2 year deal with another supplier the costs are a little more but I have peace of mind and as important to me I have a level DD over the 24 months
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[FONT=&quot]Three days into my switch can't come soon enough
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[FONT=&quot]PS Nowhere have I said to them that they are breaking the terms and conditions although instead of giving 10 days notice I thought it should be 30 days
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hubb

And astonishingly the cheap energy club still doesn’t reflect OTM’s current state.

Pekie

[FONT=&quot] 'It is [/FONT][FONT=&quot]designed to help our customers to pay an accurate amount for the actual energy that will be used.'[/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]In my opinion, the people who switch to suppliers like OFTM and who take the time to 'blog' on MSE are fairly savvy and do not need 'help to pay an accurate amount'! Have you noticed most of the comments on here are from people who are in credit with their accounts and have carefully used energy in order to create that situation?[/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]I don't mind a spot of 'living on the edge' if it works out cheaper in the long run. [/FONT][FONT=&quot][FONT=&quot]Fortunately, I'm a 'low user' and can afford to sustain a bit of a gamble[/FONT] however, OFTM are playing a dangerous game here in a very competitive market and one wonders if 'no deal is better than this bad deal..' :huh:
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[Deleted User]

Very funny...:-)). A kind of OFTMexit. Bad Deal or No Deal...

shaftthemarket

I am so tired and fed up with this chase the market thing. It is all so terribly flawed. As it happens I have both my energy and BB/phone contracts ending right about now and so am fighting on two fronts. Don’t even ask about the BB hassles – this post/thread is about OTM.

The first and in the case of MSE sad thing (sad because I used to trust MSE, now I am not so sure…) is that the comparison websites are all badly flawed. Many present non-existent deals, meaning a flash of hope followed by the ache of frustration when it turns out to be a fantasy deal. In fact, watching the links/urls as I click through I get the distinct impression they are all fronts for the same unreliable engine. Then there is the point made above: why on earth hasn’t MSE flagged OTM as a wildcat in its listings? It does that for Enstro-whatever they are called, but not for OTM despite all the evidence that something is very wrong.

The second thing to realise is that we are all rabbits and all the suppliers are foxes looking for their next hot meal. This is market reality. Their duty is to their shareholders, not to the customer, and the more they can outfox the rabbit the better. Some, like OTM, are just plain dumb – not so wily foxes – who think if they the fox stare hard enough (those bizarre we’re only trying to help emails), the rabbit will blink, but as we have seen from this thread that is not always the case. If OTM are on thin financial ice, then the ice will surely crack with the current exodus of customers.

I am another recent OTM joiner (based on sound research up until I made the switch) only to find I had been out-foxed. In this parish they are now known as OTC – Outfox The Customer. The deal breaker for me is twofold. In a way I could live with the winter/summer DD changes, as there is a certain logic to it (though I fully appreciate for many it is the averaged out over 12 months thing that appeals; but I was joining at the start of winter, and so on an averaged 12 month DD I would significantly underpay over the first few months) but what is not acceptable in any way at all or in any circumstances if the huge price hike hidden within the DD split. As so many have detailed in this thread, Winter DD x 6 plus Summer DD x 6 is invariably >> than previous year round DD x 12. This is known in other settings as daylight robbery, or at OTC HQ, me fox, you rabbit.

The other part of the deal breaker is that this being a variable rate tariff, it is as certain as foxes eat bunnies that there will be further hikes along the way, the only limiting factor being how much OTC think they can get away with (until they go pop). There are current fixed tariffs available that are currently 10% (or less) more than OTC – so if OTC raise their prices by more than 10% over the next year/fixed period, then the fix becomes cheaper than OTC. Yes, OTC are usually at the lower end for per unit prices, but the claw back £££ (they are foxes remember) through their standing charges, sorry I mean bunny club membership fees. I wouldn’t be at all surprised if these see further increases over the coming months.

Despite sending emails to OTC etc etc not a hint of a reply. So I’m off to greener pastures. There will be foxes there, too, but for this rabbit it is once bitten, twice shy.

[Deleted User]

Such stuff that dreams are made on... A Midsummer Nights Dream. Shylock is not quite dead...he is still alive and kicking, hundreds of years later...
ATB
Dougie.

[Deleted User]

Typical ploy...always answer questions which aren't asked and don't answer the ones that are. As long as the money keeps coming in, they don't care. They learn more from the politicians than they do their customers.:-)) They should read Martin Lewis's free book for kids on budgeting. I might send them a copy see url: https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/family/Teenagers-cash-class/

ATB
Dougie.

System

orangesnaps wrote: »

This is what I got from the comments on facebook.

" So just got through to them on the phone and this is what they said. 1. They have a new system that has estimated our usage over the winter
2. They can review the DD's after 14 days, yet the DD will take effect from 10 days
3. Now this is the interesting one she let slip, their costs have gone up and they need to increase OUR DD's to make sure they cover THEIR costs over the winter period!

I will be taking my account elsewhere I am not paying more money to prop up a business that is in trouble!"

I can understand the frustration and annoyance that OFTM's change of policy has generated. I have ditched and switched because I was annoyed at a supplier, and it ended up costing me more than if I had stayed. A few facts to ponder on:

1. OFTM is not asking you to pay anymore for the energy that you use based on your agreed tariff.

2. It is rescheduling your payments: more in Winter and less in Summer.

3. Switching today will take at least 17 days and possibly 35 days.

4. OFTM has 6 weeks after the date of actual transfer to raise a Final Bill. Credit repayments will then follow.

5. Switching late in the season will inevitably lead to a higher monthly DD as most smaller suppliers have ts and cs which state that there must be enough credit to cover the following month's charges. 1/12 of the annual cost will not be enough for most homes and a lot of the smaller suppliers now charge more per month for late in year switches.

6. If OFTM goes under, then the bailout cost will be reflected in all our future bills.

7. In the event of a supplier failure, all credit balances are now 100% protected under Ofgem's SoLR regulations.

In sum, OFTM customers switching today could be in for some short term financial pain. And, finally, before anyone asks, I do not work for or represent any entity in the energy sector

shaftthemarket

Hengus wrote: »

1. OFTM is not asking you to pay anymore for the energy that you use based on your agreed tariff.

I am sorry Hengus but for many of us this is simply not true, at least in the short term. As I noted above, in many cases Winter monthly DD x 6 plus Summer monthly DD x 6 is >> previous monthly DD x12. Even factoring in the recently announced unit price increase, the hike in my case is over £200pa. That means I am being asked to pay £200+ more per annum for the energy I use based on the tariff I singed up to. Yes I might get some of it back next summer if they reduce the DD enough, but then so too might pigs fly, or foxes go pop.

The maths is only part of it. The other things is the attempt at blatant daylight robbery. OTC say they are transparent. So too was !!!! Turpin when he said 'your money, or your life!'.

Pekie

'There are old energy suppliers and there are bold energy suppliers, but there are no old, bold energy suppliers'...






(need to get out more...)