The OutFox Now on Endangered Species List as Customers Leave

swann15

I had the email last night. Am really fed up of them. They've well over estimated our gas usage and want to increase our annual bill by £492!!! In addition they're increasing the prices over winter which covers Christmas and a time when most people are likely to have less money. We're also £221 in credit - I'd rather pay more for my energy and have a company who allows me to pay a regular amount throughout the year. I actually don't mind that I build up a credit balance in the summer months as it gives me peace of mind that I'm not going to be landed with a huge bill in the winter when I can't afford to pay it!

dprice8893

kendizle wrote: »

After the last few weeks of membership price hikes, tariff increases (3 in the past 4-6 weeks) and the doubling of direct debits, I have finally had enough of Outfox the Market and have just initiated a switch back to British Gas.

Amazingly with the latest price hikes by OutFox, they have now become higher than British Gas!!
Here's an excerpt from the email they sent out last night:

From 1st January 2019 your electricity unit rate will change from £0.1048/kWh to £0.1279/kWh.

Your gas unit rate will change from £0.0362/kWh to £0.0438/kWh

Your monthly membership fee will be replaced by a daily standing charge of 28p per fuel.

Good News!

From January 1st, the energy regulator Ofgem is introducing a price cap to ensure no-one pays more than a fair price for their energy. Our commitment to you, is that our prices will always be below this cap - and we promise to keep it that way

This amazingly gives me a price increase of £184.19 on my annual bill. May not seem a lot, but as a single guy this represents an increase of about 32% since I first joined in June.

Nice way to shoot yourself in the foot OutFox! you've just sent me back to British Gas. Plus I get £25 cash back and free boiler cover.

My only fear now is that OF take December's doubled direct Debit then I'm left waiting to receive my refund!

Would be interesting to hear if anyone else is/has left and your thoughts on best approach to cancelling direct debits and seeking credit refund

I've just initiated exactly the same deal with Cheap Energy Club. Interesting to note that CEC don't update the cost of your present variable rate deal and therefore give a misleading comparison. It would seem that the introduction of energy price caps is stifling competition and causing exactly the opposite effect.

brewerdave

MODS -There are now ~ 8 separate posts running on OFTM -all being posted to recently -time to combine them ??

System

zoonyx wrote: »

Thanks - since you clearly know a lot more than me, does that include a credit balance with a former supplier after or during a switch?

If you have transferred away from the failed supplier then revised regulations come into force in January 2019 that will allow the appointed SoLR to claim repayment for these credits. Having said that, I know that the Coop repaid ALL credits when GBEnergy failed.

Why is a claim necessary? The Safety Net is paid for by all suppliers: it has been estimated that the failure of GBEnergy added about 50p to every energy bill. The failure of 7 suppliers this year could prove to be a lot more expensive.

kendizle

Hengus wrote: »

If you switch away then it is normal practice for suppliers to freeze accounts until they have received industry-verified meter readings from the new supplier. Switches take anything from 17 to 35 days from application, and suppliers have up to 6 weeks from the day of the actual transfer of supply to raise a Final Bill. Repayment of any credit then follows.

I'm still waiting for my credit refund from Greenstar after leaving them in May!

kendizle

dprice8893 wrote: »

I've just initiated exactly the same deal with Cheap Energy Club. Interesting to note that CEC don't update the cost of your present variable rate deal and therefore give a misleading comparison. It would seem that the introduction of energy price caps is stifling competition and causing exactly the opposite effect.

I did my own calculations based on my energy usage of the last 12 months and using the latest tariffs. Also calculated the membership fee as a standing daily charge and incorporated the £25 BG cashback (equals £2 off a month from the monthly DD)

Plus on a positive note, my smart meter will now work again as it was installed by British Gas

jimroy

zoonyx wrote: »

Thanks - since you clearly know a lot more than me, does that include a credit balance with a former supplier after or during a switch?

I was on a fixed tariff deal with GBEnergy Supply when they collapsed. Co-op Energy honoured my tariff and prices until the end of my contract when they took over. It was all seamless. It only took a week to get credited back from GBE incidentally. I raised and pushed it all through the Consumer Energy Helpline who were great.

Even when I switched away afterwards, because Co-op continued running the brand in tandem to their own for existing customers from GBE's newly built offices (which cost a million and beggared belief at the time I remember thinking) near Preston with the same staff. They continued offering new tariffs. I don't know if it's all fully under the Co-op banner now or not. I've not kept track. I've switched twice more since then. I'm currently on the 18 month Whack Jan '18 fixed tariff with OFTM.

dont_use_vistaprint

kendizle wrote: »

Amazingly with the latest price hikes by OutFox, they have now become higher than British Gas!!

....


My only fear now is that OF take December's doubled direct Debit then I'm left waiting to receive my refund!

Would be interesting to hear if anyone else is/has left and your thoughts on best approach to cancelling direct debits and seeking credit refund

Maybe that's true for a few hours, its impossible to tell anymore, the whole thing is a circus, they change prices daily and sites like uSwitch are a complete waste of time.

Outfox have increased prices again last night and PurePlanet have just gone up today before the switch has taken place - Iv'e gone for cheapest for most expensive and back about 3 times just waiting for the switch :-)

I made the decision to cancel the DD, I know I'm in credit and I'm not having them hold my cash for weeks. If they add £25 charge Ill just refuse to pay it. If they prevent the switch they wont receive any further payments, I'm sure they will be gone by Christmas or January at the latest.

antrobus

dont_use_vistaprint wrote: »

... I'm sure they will be gone by Christmas or January at the latest.

What I can tell you is that the accounts of Foxglove Energy Supply Limited t/a OFTM for the period ended 12 November 2017 show a loss of £761,212. I have no idea as to what their trading has been like since that date. Their next accounts will be made up to 30 June 2018, but aren't due until 31 March 2019.

There is only £1 of share capital, so the business was technically insolvent. The company is dependant on the support of FISCHER FUTURE HEAT UK LIMITED which instals electric heating systems and made £1m in 2017. Both companies are subsidiaries of Bastian PLC, which is owned by a Mr and Mrs Bastian.

It might well depend on the extent to which the Bastians want to continue supporting OFTM.

zoonyx

Hengus wrote: »

If you have transferred away from the failed supplier then revised regulations come into force in January 2019 that will allow the appointed SoLR to claim repayment for these credits. Having said that, I know that the Coop repaid ALL credits when GBEnergy failed.

Why is a claim necessary? The Safety Net is paid for by all suppliers: it has been estimated that the failure of GBEnergy added about 50p to every energy bill. The failure of 7 suppliers this year could prove to be a lot more expensive.

Thanks Hengus,

I've started the switch to Octopus, and I'm hoping my £60 credit is either paid back (It's been requested), or used to pay the final bill or at least next months bill.

It's not a great deal of money compared to others here, but it covers my switch to Octopus.

As for why Octopus.... it's fixed for 12 months at a rate that with £50 cashback equates to Outfox's charges after the first price rise. It's not the cheapest, but overall seems the best deal at least in the medium term.

I've got no hard feelings with Outfox really - they've supplied me for 9 months with ridiculously cheap energy. It was always going to end like this, but take what you can get.