Tonik Energy

tina_reading

I've been with Tonik since not long after they started and never had a bad experience with them..... until now. Earlier this week I received an email saying they were increasing my direct debit by £9, and this was being applied from my next payment which was being taken in less than 24hrs (pretty sure there are rules about giving notice?!). Of course, I wasn't able to get through to them on the phone (call just didn't connect), but when I looked at my recent statement it appears my debit balance was higher than normal because for some reason Tonik didn't take the previous month's payment on the 19th as usual, but waited until the 21st. As the statement was generated on the 19th, it looked like I hadn't made a payment for the month. Guess who's now going to switch..... 

Robin9

tina_reading said:

 Tonik didn't take the previous month's payment on the 19th as usual, but waited until the 21st. . 

The April 19th was a Sunday which may well explain that.

KezzieColl

I have been waiting for Tonik to send me up-to-date statements since January 2020.  They've also not been reconciling my direct debit payments to my account in a timely manner.  My energy contract was up for renewal end of May so I switched as soon as I could.  I have gone from nearly £300 in credit with Tonik to £165 in debit because of their failure to reconcile my direct debit payments properly since January 2020.  Complaints have gone unanswered since March 2020.  When I threatened to take it higher up the chain I was  offered £60 for the fact I didn't get regular monthly statements and they hoped this would resolve my partial complaint (note the wording "part of your complaint" was used, not the full complaint).  When I said I'd accept that amount but I still wanted Tonik to acknowledge its failings and felt I still hadn't received a proper response to my complaints raised since March 2020.  Their response was that unless I dropped a formal complaint they wouldn't give me the £60 goodwill sum because this sum was now in full and final settlement of my previous complaints as well, not just for the missed statements that they had previously stated it was for.  Needless to say I'm taking the matter further as I don't believe Tonik have a handle on their IT systems yet.  The money isn't the issue; it's the fact that Tonik have been taking my money each month but not providing accurate (and non-existent) billing statements - and they still don't seem to be able to!

sba99jpd

Hi,
Oh dear, I wish I’d read this before I switched to Tonik recently! They’ve messed up the switch for gas so now I’m being billed by my old and new supplier (Tonik).  They are not responding to emails - 3 over 3 weeks ignored.  I cannot get through on the phone.  Can anyone tell me how I can get through to them?

Chrispy06

It seems that since Tonik decided to update/upgrade their account system (late December 2019 I think) their entire systems would appear to have collapsed.
So I agree with all the other posts here.
My last statement was 8/1/20.  No replies to my emails and having phoned support once and had to wait over 10 minutes to speak with someone. I don't see why I should pay a phone bill to report their lack of service.
Decided to change supplier and left  on 15/3/20. I've yet to receive a a final statement or the refund of the credit I have, and have had no response to any of my emails.
I'm sure Covid-19 hasn't helped, but surely their account system is still working.
My last email I asked, as per their complaints process, to have a manger contact me.
Assuming I receive no response by next Friday 6/6/20, the next step is to contact the Energy Ombudsman 
A shame really because they have been pretty good for the past few years.
But my advice to anyone considering joining Tonik,  DON'T

inspectorperez

Chrispy06 said:

It seems that since Tonik decided to update/upgrade their account system (late December 2019 I think) their entire systems would appear to have collapsed.
So I agree with all the other posts here.
My last statement was 8/1/20.  No replies to my emails and having phoned support once and had to wait over 10 minutes to speak with someone. I don't see why I should pay a phone bill to report their lack of service.
Decided to change supplier and left  on 15/3/20. I've yet to receive a a final statement or the refund of the credit I have, and have had no response to any of my emails.
I'm sure Covid-19 hasn't helped, but surely their account system is still working.
My last email I asked, as per their complaints process, to have a manger contact me.
Assuming I receive no response by next Friday 6/6/20, the next step is to contact the Energy Ombudsman 
A shame really because they have been pretty good for the past few years.
But my advice to anyone considering joining Tonik,  DON'T

When you say their "entire systems appear to have collapsed", I think you are absolutely right.

I suspect they have had a complete accounting breakdown and instead of taking proper advice and dealing with this in a professional manner, they are applying stick plasters every day to some very serious issues.

It is very frustrating that OFGEM do not involve themselves until there is actually a winding up petition presented to the Court.

Two out of four directors have left since end of last year and not been replaced. One can only imagine that the remaining two directors are either lacking in any form of morality or are just completely out of their depth! A proactive regulator would step in and put them out of their misery as well as assisting those many many customers who are experiencing high stress levels because of their incompetence.

Chrispy06

Update. It may be that Tonik has finally sorted out the problems with their accounting system, or the fact that I opened an issue with the ombudsman, but whatever, they have finally (on 2nd July) produced a final statement for my account. I have yet to receive the in credit balance, but according to their processes they have 14 days from statement date to do so.  I have still not received any communication from Tonik to the many emails I sent. They haven't even bothered to inform me that a final statement has been produced. Only reason I'm aware, is that I was checking every few days.  What an amazingly bad way to run a business. 

Chrispy06

Further update. My refund has just arrived in my account. 

flash-heart

Similar issues here.
Tried to switch back in April this year.  Electricity fine but 2 months later discovered gas was still with my previous supplier.
Attempted to call them but no success. Email was no better.
Opened up a complaint using the Resolver tool where by complaint gets passed to Ombudsman after 2 months.
Eventually got hold of someone at Tonik by using the new customer option on their call centre menu.
It was noted by the agent from tonik that gas was not yet switched over and she would forward the complaint to the relevant department.
Eventually I checked my account last week and found an option to add a Gas reading although start date not until mid July so nearly 12 weeks after it should have been. However the tariff I am now on is not the one I signed up for. It is more expensive and has free boiler service which I dont really want.
Hopefully switch will now go through so I am not paying 2 energy suppliers any more. I will leave my complaint open in Resolver as I am far from happy about the gas tariff I am now on.
Certainly wont be staying with them beyond year 1. Cant believe I paid exit fees from my previous company to go to this rubbish company just to save £20 a month. Please beware!!!

rs567

Flash-Heart: Can I have your free boiler service?! I have been going through the 'renewal' process ostensibly for the free boiler service as a stop gap, as our regular engineer has stopped working during the Covid situation, but as this need to be activated via a sent link, this is proving fruitless, especially with these boiler services needing to be booked before September. Needless to say no confirmation of renewal or attached link has been forthcoming despite repeated lengthy phone calls.

As my original dual fuel tariff was due to finish on June 22 I 'renewed' online a couple of weeks before 'on the Green SuperPower V6 (+Free Boiler service). A week or so later and no confirmation so I rang Tonik around just before my end date. I also highlighted that my last Direct Debit was taken at the start of April and nothing since. As  I was in credit, I put that down to Tonik 'levelling up 'my account balance.  The operator said there was no record of renewal online, and the reason may have been that my DD had stopped, although my bank still showed the DD active, i.e, I had not stopped it. She said she would do the renewal (now v7 tariff) on the phone but it would take a day for my bank to confirm the new DD they were having to set up, and she would ring me back next day. Sure enough, no phone call and I had an automatic email saying I had gone onto Standard Variable tariff, this on the 22nd. I sent an email, which received an auto acknowledgement and was never answered. Almost a week later, I phoned again and eventually spoke to another operator who tried to get to grips with it, before finding the original operator who explained she had 'been off sick '(stress I shouldn't wonder). She went through the process again, promised after being prompted, to send confirmation of renewal (didn't happen) and I requested that my bill be back adjusted to compensate for the days on the Standard Variable tariff (wishful thinking, I know), to which she said she would send a note to the billing dept.

01/7 I receive an email to say my new DD has been accepted by my bank, £46.21 as agreed. On the 3rd they took a payment for £55.21 (?) against the new DD, so I cancelled the 'old' DD to avoid future problems. Checking my 6th July statement I have been on three different tariffs, none of which are the prices quoted for the standard variable or the V7 (although my account tariff now shows v7) . It looks like there has been some kind of 'levelling up' of my week's overpaying, but I have no idea what rates I will really be paying.

Yesterday I phoned again, and spoke to someone in the 'wrong department', but refused to accept a 'call back', so spent an hour in all

, mostly waiting for transfer, until the person himself looked at the situation. I explained all I wanted was a confirmation of my renewal/contract and their attached specified link to the boiler service plan. As I had to go to work, I had to let him assure me he would get the relevant dept. to do that. Today, 08/7, no confirmation received, but an auto email telling me that I have cancelled my direct debit, with £37.71 outstanding on my bill and I need to 'contact them' to reinstate it or go on to Standard Variable(!) This would be the old DD, they had already taken £55.21(?) against the new one they had set up....left hand, right hand.

So that's it so far, thanks for reading.

I'm tempted to jump quick for the equivalent Pure Planet offer and have done with it. Just wondering if Tonik can sting me with the £60 exit fee even though they still haven't confirmed my renewal. I bet that charge would be applied efficiently!