Outfox The Market Direct Debit changes

System

innkeeperlee wrote: »

Is Outfoxthemarket in financial difficulties?

They are looking to increase direct debits by nearly 50% so that there are on “bill shocks” quote, This is a load of bull as they have already worked out what the direct debit should be to cover the energy costs.
The only logical conclusion for this action is that the company is short of cash.
You comments would be appreciated.

Possibly, possibly not. There is no need to panic as your energy supply will not be cut off, and all credit is now 100% protected. If you are on a good deal, and can afford the hike in payments on account, then I would stick with it. At the end of the day, you will only pay for what you use at the agreed tariff rate.

jeantaylor

Just been informed my DD will be increased from £70.72 to £99.01 for the winter months then reduced to £42.43 for summer months I am £254.93 in credit. Contacted OFTM and explained that I would prefer to continue with equal payments for the 12 months as on fixed income, they tried to tell that the new system would help me. I am confused why they think they are better at budgeting my income than myself.

Scatty

I have just instigated a move to another supplier, this was the final straw for me. I'd happily pay my credit balance on OTM to my new supplier, providing it all goes through smoothly. Utter shambles.

orangesnaps

Hengus wrote: »

Possibly, possibly not. There is no need to panic as your energy supply will not be cut off, and all credit is now 100% protected. If you are on a good deal, and can afford the hike in payments on account, then I would stick with it. At the end of the day, you will only pay for what you use at the agreed tariff rate.

I have contacted them via chat, I am on a fixed tariff with exit fees of a £100, the rep said that there will be no exit fees charged should I switch to a different provider.
My partner & I have agreed to stay until they process to refund us some of the credit that we built up. Hoping we should get more or less £300 but doubt it & then switch late Dec./January. My bills are all accurate as I take meter readings on the last day of the billing cycle and send that to them on that day itself as earlier or later than that they estimate the bill.
We simply cannot afford the additional £40+ month that they are imposing no matter how cheap the rates are. Which is saying something.

ncjharris

I've got the same; £60/m atm - proposed up to £120/month until March then down to £50 during the summer.

I understand why they are doing it, but increases this much in the run up to christmas when peoples budgets are already tight?! Come on.

Effectively, they are passing on the debt servicing to us. Whereas previously with level payments we may have run up a debt with the energy company during periods of high usage; now we hold the debt.

I've asked if there is any mechanism to opt out of this. If not, I will be leaving. Shame, as their principle for energy billing was a good one.

ncjharris

orangesnaps wrote: »

I have contacted them via chat, I am on a fixed tariff with exit fees of a £100, the rep said that there will be no exit fees charged should I switch to a different provider.
My partner & I have agreed to stay until they process to refund us some of the credit that we built up. Hoping we should get more or less £300 but doubt it & then switch late Dec./January. My bills are all accurate as I take meter readings on the last day of the billing cycle and send that to them on that day itself as earlier or later than that they estimate the bill.
We simply cannot afford the additional £40+ month that they are imposing no matter how cheap the rates are. Which is saying something.

Did chat work for you - its disabled when I try to use it.

The irony that they say "please try to use chat to keep costs down" was not lost on me.

orangesnaps

Hengus wrote: »

Possibly, possibly not. There is no need to panic as your energy supply will not be cut off, and all credit is now 100% protected. If you are on a good deal, and can afford the hike in payments on account, then I would stick with it. At the end of the day, you will only pay for what you use at the agreed tariff rate.

ncjharris wrote: »

I've got the same; £60/m atm - proposed up to £120/month until March then down to £50 during the summer.

I understand why they are doing it, but increases this much in the run up to christmas when peoples budgets are already tight?! Come on.

Effectively, they are passing on the debt servicing to us. Whereas previously with level payments we may have run up a debt with the energy company during periods of high usage; now we hold the debt.

I've asked if there is any mechanism to opt out of this. If not, I will be leaving. Shame, as their principle for energy billing was a good one.

There is no way to opt out of it. I have requested a refund of some of the credit that we have built up with them & once that's processed, switch to a different provider.
I am worried about having too much credit with them especially with the money grab that they are doing to their customers. Something is not right with them & I don't want that kind of amount tied up to them as I don't trust them anymore.

The chat worked for me but that was at 8:30am today. I also sent them an email stating my complaint about the direct debit changes.

ncjharris

orangesnaps wrote: »

There is no way to opt out of it. I have requested a refund of some of the credit that we have built up with them & once that's processed, switch to a different provider.
I am worried about having too much credit with them especially with the money grab that they are doing to their customers. Something is not right with them & I don't want that kind of amount tied up to them as I don't trust them anymore.

The chat worked for me but that was at 8:30am today. I also sent them an email stating my complaint about the direct debit changes.

Thank you. Chat is working now. The person I am speaking to is going to get the credit control team to review the proposed amount and let me know what changes they can make to the proposed DD. I will see if this is fruitful before making a decision, because - annoyingly - they are still the cheapest!

orangesnaps

I have just got this email from them,

"Following yesterday’s email detailing our revised Direct Debit policy, we have listened to our customers feedback and are introducing additional measures to ensure the changes are fair and accurate for everyone, and to make sure every customer pays for their actual annual energy consumption.

If you feel that your new Direct Debit amount does not match your expected usage during the winter, please email mr@outfoxthemarket.co.uk with a photo of an up-to-date meter reading and we will conduct a further review.

If there is an excessive credit on your account and you believe our proposed Direct Debit is inaccurate, please email refunds@outfoxthemarket.co.uk with a photo of an up-to-date meter reading and brief explanation. We will then take the time to review your account and respond as quickly as we can.

We can appreciate that you may have some concerns and whilst demand is currently very high, we are working hard to respond to all our customers individually.

Thank you for your continued patience.

Yours sincerely"

p00pieb0tt0m

I'm not happy about this change to DD and webchatted yesterday with OTM. I was told that I'd be able to leave without exit fees as I'm on a fixed term contract.

I have looked today at changing supplier but can't find a better deal!

Looking through this thread and wondering what would happen if they did go bust, I've found this on OFGEM. https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/consumers/household-gas-and-electricity-guide/extra-help-energy-services/ofgem-safety-net-if-your-energy-supplier-goes-out-business

I'm gonna stay for now, while I'm on this tariff and look again when it runs out.

I took a screenshot of their terms and conditions, 'Section 7.2, Paying by standard direct debit means:' on 14th November at 20.21 and now 16th Nov 12.42 it has been changed to mention the seasonality. it didn't mention it 2 days ago.