MSE News: Outfox the Market hits customers with FOURTH price hike in six months

VoucherMan

editor1 wrote: »

My contract law is rusty as its been a long time since I read law as a Post Grad, however, and regardless of unclear and imprecise T&Cs, as far as switching a membership over to a standing charge structure this is a 'No Go'.

I don't know what lawyers are instructing OFTM, if any at all, but should those of us called 'members' have our membership fees revoked and standing charges imposed this is Breach of Contract, it also is clearly a case of Miss-selling, in which case any contract becomes Null & Void.

No doubt if/when the amendments are made someone more knowledgable will be able to confirm the legality, and if it's not then Outfox will make yet another grovelling apology and backtrack.


If they do remain in place I don't see what choice we have other than to just accept the change or leave without penalty. Either way we're screwed.


I still think there are some extremely devious mind behind all this. They've just amended the payment structure to take more in winter, but now with this latest attempt to extract more money they'll be saying there's not enough money in the account come spring and they'll have to keep us on the higher debit charge.


That's assuming they last that long.

joe134

michaels wrote: »

I tried to switch away a week ago, Scottish power emailed today saying oftm is not on there supplier list so the transfer has been cancelled. Since I applied SP have raised the cost of their fix by 150 quid.

Anyone know if this is a SP issue or if it is impossible to leave oftm?

I don’t know where you got that SP have raised their fixes ,because they have not.
I am with them,and their fixes have been static for months now.
I look every day, hoping they may bring a new one out.

Stanbow

I am in the process of leaving OFTM having only joined in October, on my first statement up to 22nd November they have estimated the reading. Actual reading 20 November 2018 12873.0 Estimated reading 22 November 2018 12897.4 Meter units used in the charge period 161.4 my meter only shows five digits(no decimal places) I have asked for an explanation by email this morning, not holding my breath.

JamJar

Switched to these bunch of chancers less than 2 weeks ago. Fortunately got a decent fix with Octopus so I’m off to them, scheduled for 17 Dec. Phew!!

olip74

editor1 wrote: »

Thus far, as a few have pointed out, I've been lenient with OFTM due to the fact I contracted for a 'Fixed' period, which means fixed annual costs - given this fact, any effort to rescind the Membership structure, which was sold heavily by OFTM, and change it to one with Standing Charges is clearly a breach of contract - important for those wishing to avoid exit fees of £100 for duel energy users. Actually, I'll go further, its a clear case of mis-selling, which again will Null & Void any existing contract - use Small Claims Court for this should OFTM play hardball.

A few facts for those of us who took advantage of the Whack Tariff Fixed 18 month deal offered in the first quarter of this year (January - March)

1.) OFTM was sold as a members operated business with each member paying a banded monthly membership fee for electricity, with zero charges applicable for gas, namely, we had no standing charges to pay and this was identified clearly in all promotions OFTM run. Indeed, the Welcome Pack clearly indicates in Black & White that OFTM was run on a 'membership' basis and all those subscribing to its services were/are members - regardless of what T&Cs they desire to use they are unable to change this contractual fact by fiat.

2.) No correspondence from OFTM, namely the Welcoming Pack included a copy of the T&Cs, namely a clear and precise list of obligations by both parties to the contract - on checking OVO Energy Welcome pack and First Utility Welcome Pack email I could not find T&Cs, however, OVO actually forwarded a Welcome pack via the post that may have contained T&Cs. Could someone shine a light on this please?

My contract law is rusty as its been a long time since I read law as a Post Grad, however, and regardless of unclear and imprecise T&Cs, as far as switching a membership over to a standing charge structure this is a 'No Go'.

I don't know what lawyers are instructing OFTM, if any at all, but should those of us called 'members' have our membership fees revoked and standing charges imposed this is Breach of Contract, it also is clearly a case of Miss-selling, in which case any contract becomes Null & Void.

As of AM timeline on 30 November I've had no correspondence from OFTM detailing any changes for our 'Fixed' contract. Indeed, the last correspondence OFTM sent was on 23 November detailing new DD charges, these being £119 per month in my families instance.

It would be great if Hengus and a few others can jump in here, in the meantime I'm getting some legal advice from Barrister peers on the Contract Law issue. However, these moves by OFTM, if they impact the 'Fixed' contracts is the last straw for this poster - Fixed Contracts means Fixed prices, this applies to all Futures Contracts, namely, all parties agree to a fixed price for delivery at a future date.

Again, OFTM either need to change Lawyers, or actually ensure they have legal advice issued with regards all the games they are playing - its evident they have not taken legal opinion, had they done so these changes would not be considered based on Contract Law.

The MSE article states those of us on fixes will be allowed to leave free of penalty, which is something. However my bill will rise by less than £50 so, given recent rises across the sector, I'm definitely better off staying. I'd be interested to hear about the legal angle however, as you say I signed up to the membership model and I'd rather not have to pay any extra at all.

I rather fear that variable tariff customers are being milked to pay for those who took the fix and if enough customers leave they could go bust.

ben501

olip74 wrote: »

The MSE article states those of us on fixes will be allowed to leave free of penalty, which is something.

I wouldn't rely too much on the MSE article. They are known for being light on the truth & liberal with their use of facts. If I've understood correctly they can't charge you for leaving after such a big contract change anyway regardless of their terms.
For now I am sceptical on the validity of the article. I've not been told about a change to the fee and I don't know of anyone else on a fixed term who has. I'm not disputing it but it's odd that MSE have mentioned it before customers have been told. They're usually that slow to react/respond.


I notice Outfox are missing from the cheap energy club now so must have been removed.


Using the unit prices on the energy club I've done my own comparison and with that massive hike in fee/daily charge I'll now be better off switching. Just waiting for official notification from Outfox if it's true.

Anthorn

joe134 wrote: »

I don’t know where you got that SP have raised their fixes ,because they have not.
I am with them,and their fixes have been static for months now.
I look every day, hoping they may bring a new one out.

Depends on how you look at it and how you calculated it.

It appears that Scottish Power's Online Super Saver December 2019 which was a broker exclusive has been removed from comparison sites and I have checked MSE CEC and uSwitch searching tariffs exclusively from Scottish Power. So anyone who was about to switch to that tariff will have to go for the pricier Online Fixed Price Energy December 2019 so that's a price increase.

*Prices and tariffs above relating to the Eastern region.

olip74

ben501 wrote: »

I wouldn't rely too much on the MSE article. They are known for being light on the truth & liberal with their use of facts. If I've understood correctly they can't charge you for leaving after such a big contract change anyway regardless of their terms.
For now I am sceptical on the validity of the article. I've not been told about a change to the fee and I don't know of anyone else on a fixed term who has. I'm not disputing it but it's odd that MSE have mentioned it before customers have been told. They're usually that slow to react/respond.


I notice Outfox are missing from the cheap energy club now so must have been removed.


Using the unit prices on the energy club I've done my own comparison and with that massive hike in fee/daily charge I'll now be better off switching. Just waiting for official notification from Outfox if it's true.

The article has changed now:

What if I'm on a fix?

A small number of Outfox the Market customers are on a fixed rather than variable tariff. Outfox the Market originally told us that while the rates wouldn't change, it would still switch customers on to a daily standing charge, rather than the monthly membership fee.

However, it has since reversed this decision - it has now told us they'll be NO changes if you're on a fixed tariff.

Rather bears out your analysis. Good news as long as they can keep their heads above water!

alittleowl

ben501 wrote: »

I notice Outfox are missing from the cheap energy club now so must have been removed.

Nope, just checked and OFtM are still there with this out of date information: "Outfox the Market charges a monthly membership fee depending on your level of usage instead of a standing charge."
Have lost all faith in comparison sites and am now highly skeptical of any "News" from MSE. Just glad I decided to switch away from OFtM when all this DD nonsense started two weeks ago.

thecrazycatlady

I’m leaving them for another supplier and had a phone call from them asking me to confirm my address and give them my card details to pay the estimated final bill (which I refused to do as they called me!). We agreed they would follow up with an email giving bank details for me to make a bank transfer which they did - the email came from a company branded as Foxglove Energy Supply so I haven’t paid anything. I know I could ring them using details on my bill but wondered if anyone else had experienced this too?

Many thanks