Outfox The Market Direct Debit changes

Pete99

Since quite a few of the smaller suppliers seem to be employing this split high low direct debit scheme which the majority of customers don't agree with, maybe a plan would be to switch every two or three months, you can switch every 28 days according to Ofgem but it takes 21 days to actually switch, that way you're not lending one supplier a huge amount of your hard earned, obviously doesn't apply if you've chosen a fixed plan with penalties, but the savings don't, in my opinion, compensate for their free access to your bank account, incidently you can switch if you're within 49 days of the end with no penalty.

System

Pete99 wrote: »

Since quite a few of the smaller suppliers seem to be employing this split high low direct debit scheme which the majority of customers don't agree with, maybe a plan would be to switch every two or three months, you can switch every 28 days according to Ofgem but it takes 21 days to actually switch, that way you're not lending one supplier a huge amount of your hard earned, obviously doesn't apply if you've chosen a fixed plan with penalties, but the savings don't, in my opinion, compensate for their free access to your bank account, incidently you can switch if you're within 49 days of the end with no penalty.

There is one big flaw in your suggestion. Not only do many of the smaller suppliers ask for higher DD payments in Winter but most also insist on the first payment in advance of supply. More often than not, this leads to a double payment in the weeks around a transfer of supply.

There is an easier solution: switch suppliers in Spring and build up some credit if regular (even) payments are important.

System

MadMat wrote: »

I've really had enough of these jokers, So are there any decent providers who will cover the exit fees? even if the init rate is a little higher it'd be worth it to me to have a flat payment over the 12 months.

I work in a seasonal industry, my income is a lot lower during the winter months than summer, I really don't need this increase being dumped on me with so little notice!

Mat

Yes - take a look at Bulb.

Pete99

Hasn't been my experience so far, I switched to Outfox in February this year with a monthly DD of £71, I am now switching to Octopus with a DD of £85 ( no split high / low yet) which is 1/12 of my annual usage from the figures I supplied and prices Fixed for 12 months with no exit fees, incidently this is the same amount my DD with Outfox would be if I stayed with them but with the high / low split.

System

Pete99 wrote: »

Hasn't been my experience so far, I switched to Outfox in February this year with a monthly DD of £71, I am now switching to Octopus with a DD of £85 ( no split high / low yet) which is 1/12 of my annual usage from the figures I supplied and prices Fixed for 12 months with no exit fees, incidently this is the same amount my DD with Outfox would be if I stayed with them but with the high / low split.

I do not want to worry you but I switched to Octopus in March. I set my annual usage at 10% more than my average. At the beginning of October, I had a credit balance of £200 and Octopus has just increased my DD from £36 to £88 per month. There is a reason for some of the increase, that said I estimate that I will end my contract about £250 in credit.

Pete99

That's the whole point, if they increase my DD to an unreasonable amount I'll just switch again, it doesn't cost me anything but my time to instigate a switch, maybe if everyone did that it would make them start to compete, it's my money not theirs, I'd rather pay on receipt of the bill, but that's not available at a reasonable price anymore.

editor1

There seems to be some confusion over the last post I made on here regarding OFTM and some notion that £400 has been extended to them as credit free of charge by my family, which is a figure certainly not brandished by me, but still, my folks would be happy if £400 in credit, rather than the actual £240 credit we presently have.

In no way defending the appalling behaviour of OFTM, the fact remains one is no novice at executing the best deals possible for all utilities and insurance, which means i shop around and do my research, including looking at reviews of any and all suppliers I deal with - when I considered joining OFTM in early March this year they were 100% the cheapest. Indeed, First utility upped their costs to a degree that was unacceptable, and I moved from OVO Energy due to the same issues, namely excessive costs compared to other smaller suppliers, many of which have now gone bust, and, its likely OFTM may well go bust by the end of the present financial year, which is the end of March 2020.

That said, the fact remains that on all deals offered my MSE persons usually go into a credit situation based on the fact that actual usage was consolidated for monthly DD payments, with OVO my folks managed to be in credit by more than £500, for which we received 2% interest - higher than the banks at the time, First Utility did not pay interest on credit, there again, when i switched to FU we saved more than £120 per annum on our bill when compared with OVO, and First Utility were not the cheapest when i joined them, OFTM were the cheapest and the terms offered on joining seemed a good bet, but it was a bet and one with risks, risks that are now apparent.

Now, and despite all the crap OFTM have done in the past two weeks, not withstanding the other crap earlier in the year with their Electricity banding, the fact remains my folks have not lost a penny, indeed, compared with FU they are a full £160 better off, which ain't bad and will remain better off as over the full 12 months of usage their bill will remain the same as when we joined, namely, £1020 - now, this was supposed to cost us £85.00 per month, alas this is now not the case and a new procedure has been introduced no doubt to stave off a bankruptcy, so, our monthly charge from 1st December has gone up to £119 a month, but will then reduce to £51 during the low season - lets compare where I'd be with FU, namely we'd be paying £103 a month on the Fixed deal they offered us before moving, so, we are effectively £16 a month worse off for six months and £52 a month better off for six months. In reality we are the same, namely our annual expenditure will be exactly the same as when we joined them over the course of 12 months.

Now, far from being blas! about this issue, its a case of fingers crossed that OFTM survive until the new year, or, i hope they survive until my folks exit peak usage, which is March. in the meantime, my father eats electricity and even with the increased DD, his usage and abuse of electricity means our family remains better off until such time OFTM go bust, in which case the Regulator steps in, together with the fact, as detailed on this forum again on the pages about Spark, any credit with OFTM remains guaranteed, that is we get it back unless in the process of changing supplier.

One other fact, on the three occasions i had to deal with OFTM via its chat line and phone our issues were dealt with promptly. Indeed, my mother is happy she can phone in her monthly meter readings and still remains annoyed she lost the use of the SMART meter - however, was that Smart meter worth paying FU an addition £200 a year to use it, or, an addition £300 over the course of an 18 month fix - work it out for yourselves folks, but again, life is not without risk, for some the antics of OFTM have been a disaster, but for others not so much of a disaster.

If its safety you want, then remain with the Big Five, together with OVO Energy and First Utility, however, if its cheap prices you are after, regrettably this comes with real risks, I wish this were not the case, but all business comes with associated risk, which is why i prefer a tightly regulated market and not the Mickey mouse one we currently have.

As a reminder, my folks have not lost a penny, they are in credit with a suppler - this is usual, that supplier is in danger of collapse, but has not collapsed yet - when they do collapse, or, when another business offer a great deal and covers all exit fees we'll switch, until then, we'll stick with with OFTM in the knowledge we are no worse off than with any other supplier financially. Now thats a fact I'm afraid!!!!!!

editor1

As a quick reminder to Forum posters, if you think I'm too lenient with regards issues with OFTM this may be because i live in a country that allegedly is one of the most unregulated to do business in, you'd think in Hong Kong you'd have plenty of competition in all business fields, regrettably this is not so - where i live we have one Electricity supplier, no mains gas supply and one internet supplier - my costs compared to the UK are large. And i know the UK market because i deal with all utilities, all internet and all insurance for my folks, this due to the fact they are elderly and can't use a computer - we save a fair bit per year, actually my folks would be about £100 a month worse off if I did not shop around and hassle on their behalfs.

geoffplus

Would you give OFTM 5 sars out of 5?

With their Trustpilot rating collapsing rapidly (currently on a generous 3 stars), suddenly a lot of 5 star reviews are appearing, and OFTM have referred some of the one star reviews to Trustpilot for breaching their guidelines. OFTM are also removing negative comments from their facebook page (though I guess most businesses would).

I wonder if many people are still joining OFTM because they have not read the negative postings about them?

geoffplus

I don't want them to go out of business as I am sticking with them until I see what they do. I have just joined them so they owe me nothing. I am on Zapp so can leave whenever I want with no penalty, and their revised monthly direct debit is a surprisingly reasonable £101 at the moment. Although I have very little trust in OFTM and am still angry at how they have treated me and others, I am going to try and get what benefits I can before perhaps having to switch to a more expensive supplier.

I was going to leave immediately after switching, but then I could lose out, so will wait and see. If they had owed me money and with their revised higher direct debits would end up owing me more, I might have switched.