Should I avoid Outfox?

seaurchin

Energy comparison sites show that I could save a lot on my gas and electricity bills by switching to Outfox the Market but there have been a lot of adverse comments towards the end of 2018 about this supplier hiking direct debits during winter months. A spokesman for the firm says that this is no longer the case. Should I trust them and tie myself into a 12 month fixed price energy deal?

busybee100

I've just switched to them. I'm thinking it's a good time of year to sign up for 12 months. I've seen the complaints but the bottom line is they are £84 cheaper than bulb and as long as I make sure the readings are correct at the beginning and end they can't charge me more than the fixed unit price. If there's any complication with dd it is probably still worth it for me.

VoucherMan

seaurchin wrote: »

Should I trust them and tie myself into a 12 month fixed price energy deal?

Trust them? Never!

seaurchin wrote: »

A spokesman for the firm says that this is no longer the case.

7.2 of their T&C

Your monthly direct debit amount will be based on the amount of energy we think you’ll use each year of your contract but may also be weighted according to winter/summer seasonality.

That said, if you can afford the possible winter price hike, and don't mind waiting a few months to get your credit balance returned once your contract is up, it's probably good to go for.


Bear in mind their apparent desire to hold on to as much of your money as they can.
Something else to consider is the monthly charge. This is based on 'estimated usage', not actual usage, and they're very good at overestimating your usage, thereby increasing your monthly fee by putting you in a higher usage band.
They also tried last year to increase the monthly charges of fixed rate customers, until they were informed that they couldn't do that. I wouldn't put it past them to try other devious methods of increasing the costs of existing fixed rate customers.

Don't forget you'll probably want to check their T&C regularly to make sure they haven't made any unscrupulous changes.
Read them carefully, then read them again, and take a copy for your own records as they are unlikely to send you a copy.

busybee100

Hi VoucherMan
I haven't seen anything about a monthly charge, are they still doing it?

VoucherMan

VoucherMan wrote: »

Don't forget you'll probably want to check their T&C

.
Read them carefully, then read them again, and take a copy for your own records as they are unlikely to send you a copy.

busybee100 wrote: »

Hi VoucherMan
I haven't seen anything about a monthly charge, are they still doing it?

It depends which tariff you're on. (probably)


3.19
Boom! Tariff
The tariff is made up of your unit rate and a monthly membership fee for electricity.
3.20
your membership fee band will be varied depending on your EAC figure







Fix’D 19 Tariff claims to have a fixed standing charge, so should be safe.

busybee100

Thanks for that. I've checked the 3 on Uswitch and they all have a standing charge as does the Pure Planet tariff so maybe they are moving away from membership.