Switching to Pure Planet

steelarts

Thanks a bunch MSE! My contract with Ovo Energy recently came to an end so, as advised by MSE, I switched. Searching MSE, Pure Planet seemed to be offering the best deal so I went with them. I did all the final meter readings, etc and thought the switch would be painless as it was in the past. This is quickly becoming a nightmare! Not only do Pure Planet take payment in advance (yes they do specify they do that so it wasn't a nasty surprise), but Ovo are still taking their Direct Debit even though I'm in credit with them, grrrrr!

I didn't want to shut down the DD because I'm owed a couple of hundred quid from them and was worried that closing it might cause all sorts of problems. Now I still have ALL SORTS OF PROBLEMS and I'm getting badly in debt because each company is just taking money out of my account. Pure planet are due to take another £95 out of my account. That's nearly £200 for less than 2 months energy supply and I'm a single guy living on his own, so I don't exactly use huge amounts of the stuff - definitely NOT what they're taking.

So the upshot of this wonderful switch is I'm paying for energy I HAVEN'T USED yet and am still paying another supplier who is NO LONGER SUPPLYING ME!!!! I feel absolutely wonderful about that.

The fantastic thing about PURE PLANET is you can't actually talk to a human being about this. You have to type a message and someone will get back to you in within 48hours!!! This is absolutely not on and MSE, YOU SHOULD NOT RECOMMEND ANY COMPANY THAT CANNOT BE SPOKEN TO ON THE PHONE. If I had known this to be the case then I would NEVER have switched to them. Avoid Pure Planet at all costs if you want to speak to a real person folks.

And MSE, what can you do to make sure WE don't get screwed because of YOUR recommendations????

JJ_Egan

I take it you have complained to MSe CEC ??


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https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5745767/pure-planet-reviews-add-your-feedback

Flt._Lt._Biggles

steelarts wrote: »

Thanks a bunch MSE! My contract with Ovo Energy recently came to an end so, as advised by MSE, I switched. Searching MSE, Pure Planet seemed to be offering the best deal so I went with them. I did all the final meter readings, etc and thought the switch would be painless as it was in the past. This is quickly becoming a nightmare! Not only do Pure Planet take payment in advance (yes they do specify they do that so it wasn't a nasty surprise), but Ovo are still taking their Direct Debit even though I'm in credit with them, grrrrr!

I didn't want to shut down the DD because I'm owed a couple of hundred quid from them and was worried that closing it might cause all sorts of problems. Now I still have ALL SORTS OF PROBLEMS and I'm getting badly in debt because each company is just taking money out of my account. Pure planet are due to take another £95 out of my account. That's nearly £200 for less than 2 months energy supply and I'm a single guy living on his own, so I don't exactly use huge amounts of the stuff - definitely NOT what they're taking.

So the upshot of this wonderful switch is I'm paying for energy I HAVEN'T USED yet and am still paying another supplier who is NO LONGER SUPPLYING ME!!!! I feel absolutely wonderful about that.

The fantastic thing about PURE PLANET is you can't actually talk to a human being about this. You have to type a message and someone will get back to you in within 48hours!!! This is absolutely not on and MSE, YOU SHOULD NOT RECOMMEND ANY COMPANY THAT CANNOT BE SPOKEN TO ON THE PHONE. If I had known this to be the case then I would NEVER have switched to them. Avoid Pure Planet at all costs if you want to speak to a real person folks.

And MSE, what can you do to make sure WE don't get screwed because of YOUR recommendations????

Welcome to MSE Forums :hello:

Oh dear, where to start?

MSE staff do not generally read these forums.
They may read some posts, but they certainly don't read all.
Only if you report a post will they read it for sure.

The MSE CEC does not recommend any supplier; it simply lists all the suplliers and tariffs (the best they can) in price order, to allow YOU to decide what you want.

Yes there is also a Top Picks area, but that also is no recommendation, just a 'don't miss them' section, as it explains.

I am sorry that you didn't read the fact that Pure Planet is an app only supplier.
I see you really like to be able to speak to people directly on the phone.

Which makes one wonder why you even use MSE at all??? They certainly keep their phone number top secret!

However, the good news is that you can cancel your MSE CEC account by simply logging in and clicking on the 'Leave Energy Club' button at the bottom of the page


You can also cancel your MSE forums account by emailing the FT from the email address you joined the Forum explaining you wish to close your Forum account.

There really is no need to deal with such organisations if the way they choose to operate does not coincide with your expectations.
- leave them to be enjoyed by those who find them acceptable

Gerry1

Another poster has a similar problem with Ovo. Whenever I've left an energy company and I've been sure that my balance would have been in credit after the final bill, I've always cancelled the DD and I've never had any problem at all.

It seems that Ovo's accounting system isn't fit for purpose if they can't send you a cheque or refund your credit to your bank account, even if you have to tell them your sort code and account number again.

You'll have to decide whether going overdrawn because they've taken another DD payment is worse than a delayed refund because of a flawed accounting system.

However, under the DD Guarantee you should be able to get a full and immediate refund from your bank of any DDs that have been taken incorrectly so in the meantime that's the way to go.

steelarts

Flt Lt Bigg, firstly, I went back to check to see if it mentions Pure Planet being online only and I couldn't find anything that mentioned this. If I'd seen that in the first place I would not have chosen them as a supplier. But things get overlooked sometimes so I thought I'd double check and there appears to be nothing on MSE showing this, but I could be due yet another trip to Specsavers, lol.

Secondly, MSE does come up with ideas and points the way to certain changes in the ways things are done. That's why I use the service. You obviously think waiting 48 hours for a reply to a query is acceptable. I don't, and I'm sorry that you don't agree.


Anyway, I did a bit more research and although at the time MSE pointed to a considerable saving by choosing Pure Planet over Ovo, U-Switch now shows me that if I go with Eon I could save another £70 a year. That WAS NOT pointed out by MSE CEC or I'd have gone with Eon in the first place! So, on this occasion I'm going to opt out from PP and switch to Eon via U-switch because they have the better deal and there are no opt out charges.

I'm sorry to think that someone can only say how wonderful they find MSE. Sometimes it's by criticism, or pointing to a bad experience, that services get improved. Don't go telling me to cancel my subscription to a forum because I find something not quite right. Who made you the forum police? Just because I am unhappy with ONE aspect, it doesn't make me unhappy with the whole.

Anyway, one lives and learns and my lesson is now to look at more than one switching service to get the best deal.

steelarts

Thanks Gerry, it's not something I'm used to doing so I'll know for the future. I'm worried now that if I start claiming back a little bit for the DD that's just gone out it's going to mess up the refund as a whole so I might just wait and see what happens in the next few days. I'll certainly take your advice in the future though, Cheers!

Flt._Lt._Biggles

steelarts wrote: »

Flt Lt Bigg, firstly, I went back to check to see if it mentions Pure Planet being online only and I couldn't find anything that mentioned this. If I'd seen that in the first place I would not have chosen them as a supplier. But things get overlooked sometimes so I thought I'd double check and there appears to be nothing on MSE showing this, but I could be due yet another trip to Specsavers, lol....

Make that appointment NOW!