Tonik Energy

LinW13

Hello,

I switched away from Tonik on 7th Feb 2020. I first requested a final bill and refund on 24th April. I keep on emailing to let them know I'm still waiting. Most times they don't even acknowledge receipt. It must be hell working for them at the moment. I've made a note of the company directors and wonder if it worth contacting them directly. Thankfully, they don't owe me a lot of money, but I feel really sorry for anybody needing their money back.

Best of luck everybody.

Biscuit_Tin

LinW13 said:

Hello,

I switched away from Tonik on 7th Feb 2020. I first requested a final bill and refund on 24th April. I keep on emailing to let them know I'm still waiting. Most times they don't even acknowledge receipt. It must be hell working for them at the moment. I've made a note of the company directors and wonder if it worth contacting them directly. Thankfully, they don't owe me a lot of money, but I feel really sorry for anybody needing their money back.

Best of luck everybody.

You cannot have a refund until they produce a final bill - as they don't know what the settlement figure is until then.

I suggest you follow the suppliers complaint procedure, if you have not done so yet.
If you had done that on 24th April when it seems you first had cause for complaint (a final bill should be produced within 6 weeks of you ceasing to be supplied by the supplier) then you could have already escalated the matter to the ombudsman service by now.

If you have not yet commenced folllowing the supplier's complaint procedure, you will have to wait up to 8 weeks from raising that complaint, and only then get in the waiting list for the ombudsman to assist you.

Doesn't Tonik pay you 3% interest on any credit balance? (balances up to £1000) If so, that's more than you will get from any bank account.

wenklaw

Biscuit_Tin said:

LinW13 said:

Hello,

I switched away from Tonik on 7th Feb 2020. I first requested a final bill and refund on 24th April. I keep on emailing to let them know I'm still waiting. Most times they don't even acknowledge receipt. It must be hell working for them at the moment. I've made a note of the company directors and wonder if it worth contacting them directly. Thankfully, they don't owe me a lot of money, but I feel really sorry for anybody needing their money back.

Best of luck everybody.

You cannot have a refund until they produce a final bill - as they don't know what the settlement figure is until then.

I suggest you follow the suppliers complaint procedure, if you have not done so yet.
If you had done that on 24th April when it seems you first had cause for complaint (a final bill should be produced within 6 weeks of you ceasing to be supplied by the supplier) then you could have already escalated the matter to the ombudsman service by now.

If you have not yet commenced folllowing the supplier's complaint procedure, you will have to wait up to 8 weeks from raising that complaint, and only then get in the waiting list for the ombudsman to assist you.

Doesn't Tonik pay you 3% interest on any credit balance? (balances up to £1000) If so, that's more than you will get from any bank account.

Do not defend the indefensible mate.  

Regarding interest they should pay 3% but my bills have been messed up for 7 months, finally they manually produce one and guess what not a penny of interest on what was a £700 credit balance in month 7.  Yes I know realistically it shouldn’t have been £700 but still no interest at all.
tonik are a truly terrible supplier now, steer clear.

wenklaw

Oh and I complained using the companies procedure who ignored me after repeated calls, emails etc.  I then raise with the ombudsman after 3 months who are as useful as a chocolate teapot.  I’ve now started the switching process and guess what tonk are on to me immediately about cancelling my DD, stating they are upping my tariff.  I proved meter readings and still no bill.  

tempus_fugit

Tonik are hopeless. I switched from them on 14th May, eventually got a final bill mid-June, £63 credit to be refunded. Still no sign of it and I know they have a few weeks to do so, but I have phoned them three times now.

I was told that I would have to reinstate my direct debit to allow them to send the refund - not sure why a direct debit is required for a refund - the clue is in the name “debit”. But anyway, this was done and I was told I had to phone them to confirm the bank details. I did this but the person on the phone didn’t seem to understand why I was calling. She eventually said yes, I see your direct debit, the money will be refunded asap.

I called them again the following week as nothing had appeared, to be told that they will now put it through and it will take 5 working days for the money to appear in my account. The chap read out the last three digits of my account number to confirm it and I confirmed it was correct.

Another 5 days later and still no money so I called again and the chap told me that the last time I called it had not been actioned, so he would action it now. This time I asked him to confirm the last three digits of the account number to make sure he was actually doing it, as I got the distinct impression from his casual manner that he was stringing me along. Thus ensued a lengthy “discussion” during which he ummed and ahhhd, spoke to his supervisor and finally fobbed me off with an excuse that he couldn’t tell me because of GDPR! I told him this is nonsense because it’s my own account and I had already passed their “security check” so GDPR is not applicable. After telling me he would lose his job if he complied he sent me a screenshot which confirmed the account number. If he’d done that in the first place we could have avoided a lot of hassle.

Anyway, 5 days on and guess what, no money. I will implement the complaint procedure officially tomorrow but when I called last week he told me I already had two complaints logged and he would log another. I had not made any complaints, just phoned for info, but based on that my 8 weeks should start from the first phone call.

I’ll see how I get on but I wouldn’t touch this lot with a bargepole. Now with Shell Energy, who have their own issues but at least I can understand the operatives when i call and they are very helpful once you do get through to them. Also, they don’t laugh at you when you say you’re not happy, unlike the Tonik lot. Very unprofessional.

sofiejones

Toxic Energy is a deserved name for this company. How they've got a licence to trade is beyoned me.

In June of this year I gave them notice I was changing supplier due to their hideous performance. As I had paid for my energy a month in advance and I had built up a good credit, I cancelled my direct debit knowing there were ample funds to cover any bills. They went absolutely mental and threatened me. Having applied to another energy provider, when Toxic got wind of that they locked me out of my account. Having read them the riot act that got reinstated. Now I could download everything and printscreen what I needed which was just as well. I was always billed and those bills showed on my account. In fact they showed so well that in March of this year they billed me 3 times. They also claimed not to have billed me in February although my bank statements show otherwise. My nice credit had suddenly nosedived into the red by several hundreds of pounds. Emailed my complaint in which got an auto-response and that was all. Phoned up to complain and as soon as they learnt it was a complaint they hung up. Presented my evidence via Resolver which was completely ignored. Sat and waited the obligatory timescale until it could escalate to the ombudsman. There my case sits waiting which Toxic seem to be ignoring. Once that timescale has passed with the ombudsman it's off to the Court and if needs be, the bailiffs. Ok I'm only out of pocket by about £300, but it's the principal that matters. I can only reiterate what people are stating on TrustPilot. If you're with this company get out fast and don't expect an easy escape. As to the 5 star reviews on TrustPilot praising Toxic, they are fake. And if someone from Toxic reads this, you've picked on the wrong person here.

sofiejones

I forgot to mention in my above post. Several weeks after cancelling my direct debit with Toxic, without my knowledge or permission they reinstated their direct debit on my bank although I was now no longer a customer of theirs. So folks, even if you have left keep a very close eye on your bank account.

krish

sofiejones said:

I forgot to mention in my above post. Several weeks after cancelling my direct debit with Toxic, without my knowledge or permission they reinstated their direct debit on my bank although I was now no longer a customer of theirs. So folks, even if you have left keep a very close eye on your bank account.

Did you cancel with your bank and have confirmation, or did you ask Toxik to cancel? I've always cancelled DDs with my banks, on online banking, making a PDF of the confirmation screen for my records. Never had one reinstated without my permission. Whatever the case, surely (imho) doing this without your permission is bordering on fraud/criminality? Have you reported them to anyone about this?

sofiejones

krish said:

sofiejones said:

I forgot to mention in my above post. Several weeks after cancelling my direct debit with Toxic, without my knowledge or permission they reinstated their direct debit on my bank although I was now no longer a customer of theirs. So folks, even if you have left keep a very close eye on your bank account.

Did you cancel with your bank and have confirmation, or did you ask Toxik to cancel? I've always cancelled DDs with my banks, on online banking, making a PDF of the confirmation screen for my records. Never had one reinstated without my permission. Whatever the case, surely (imho) doing this without your permission is bordering on fraud/criminality? Have you reported them to anyone about this?

Krish I cancelled the unauthorised DD myself online with my bank after noting the reference number. I then contacted the bank to advise them. I now keep regular checks on my account in case they try it again. Everything I do is printscreened for proof. I then sent the evidence to Resolver as they were handling my complaint at that time. The ombudsman now has the information as they are handling the case. I'm just waiting now as I'm happy to face these thieves in Court when the time is ripe. I'm also aware 2 of their driectors have resigned in the last 10 months. I believe they might be on the verge of collapsing.

sofiejones

As of today Tonik Energy are listed as having gone bust.