Co-op transfer to Octopus

Alison69

Having been informed that co-op are transferring their energy business to Octopus I raised the issue of how bills can be paid going forwards. Chose current tariff etc as it was possible to pay at the local post office. I was told that Octopus would be honouring this. Having received an email from Octopus now advising that a new account number etc would be sent I again raised the issue of paying bills. I have now been told that payments are either direct debit, card payment over the phone, online or going into an HSBC bank and paying into their account (which is unlikely to work as it will go into one big account and not be allocated against our account). We cannot transfer to another provider until the switch to Octopus has occured and then we will be in a position of owing money to Octopus without being able to pay. In addition moving to another provider is also going to cost more as we are on the cheapest tariff for our circumstances at the moment. Is there anything we can do as this is not a problem that we have created.

Terry_Towelling

Don't you like the idea of paying by Direct Debit, or paying by card over the phone? Direct debit certainly sounds like the easiest and cheapest way to do it. Paying at an HSBC branch might indeed see your money going into an account with loads of other payments but, presumably, any pay-in that way would include your Octopus account number as a reference.

Alison69

Hello my father uses a building society rather than a bank and using cash at the post office is his way of doing things. Neither he, nor I for that matter, use electronic banking because it causes far too much hassle when things go wrong.

Ben8282

Not sure that you will find another provider who allows payments over the counter at the post office.
Perhaps you should consider a pre-payment meter. I'm sure there will be a local store offering pay point services so that you can top up the key/card.

Alison69

When we switched from EDF to Coop there were lots. So if this has now changed then ultimately no-one is going to get paid. My father is elderly and he's not going to change now.

bristolleedsfan

Ben8282 wrote: »

Not sure that you will find another provider who allows payments over the counter at the post office.
.

British Gas, EDF, SSE and that was just a quick scan of google results. :rotfl:

Ben8282

bristolleedsfan wrote: »

British Gas, EDF, SSE and that was just a quick scan of google results. :rotfl:

Thats good to hear. OP will have no problem getting what they want then when they next switch.

Alison69

Thanks for that. I'll take a look at their tariffs, however we still can't switch at the moment while the transfer is taking place. It all seems very unfair to customers especially as I was told by Octopus that they would be honouring methods of payment and contracts and are now going back on that. So much for their excellent customer service record according to Which? I can't be the only one who is sick to death of the obsession with paying electronically.

[Deleted User]

Alison69 wrote: »

So if this has now changed then ultimately no-one is going to get paid. My father is elderly and he's not going to change now.

Then you’ll surely find demand letters on your doormat and eventually your supply will be cut off.

Do you really think that’s the correct attitude to take?

Alison69

no local paypoint places either and it would mean far more trips to make payments and the chance in bad weather that may not be able to get out. This is the problem with banks and everything closing everywhere. We are lucky that we have an excellent local building society.

Ben8282

Paying over the phone with a debit card is not paying electronically.
Paying in at the counter in an HSBC branch is not paying electronically.
Paying by direct debit is not paying electronically.
Not sure what your real objections to electronic banking are. Things are no more likely to go wrong than doing things manually.
Strange place where you live. A post office (or sub post office), a building society branch but no pay point facility.