Green.Energy - 10% extra on top ups - *Extended 1st Feb*

imaginary_80s

UnclaimedEnergy said:

Damn that is insane that they're letting customers just refund the credit balances minus maybe £100.

Will be amazing if they now have the on-going cash flow required to do this for everyone who took them up on the offer and maxed out.

I am definitely still suspicious of the reasons behind this whole scheme, because if a lot of people did what I did and went for the maximum (£500) bonus, that's an awful lot to be paying out for seemingly no reason. Short-term cash flow does seem like a possible motive, but at such an extreme long-term cost? Surely they aren't that stupid.

Inigo_Montoya

imaginary_80s said:

UnclaimedEnergy said:

Damn that is insane that they're letting customers just refund the credit balances minus maybe £100.

Will be amazing if they now have the on-going cash flow required to do this for everyone who took them up on the offer and maxed out.

I am definitely still suspicious of the reasons behind this whole scheme, because if a lot of people did what I did and went for the maximum (£500) bonus, that's an awful lot to be paying out for seemingly no reason. Short-term cash flow does seem like a possible motive, but at such an extreme long-term cost? Surely they aren't that stupid.

pretty sure a lot of people will not have done what you did due to the potential risks / hassle involved in trying to use the offer in a way it obviously wasn't intended for
5K is a lot of cash to load onto the offer - I could have quite easily but just put in £500 & played it safe

imaginary_80s

Inigo_Montoya said:

pretty sure a lot of people will not have done what you did due to the potential risks / hassle involved in trying to use the offer in a way it obviously wasn't intended for
5K is a lot of cash to load onto the offer - I could have quite easily but just put in £500 & played it safe

The way I saw it was that best case scenario I get a £500 bonus, worst case scenario I end up with £5k stuck in my energy account and I have to withdraw it in small instalments over a long period of time. I figured even if the company went under, the existing accounts (including their balances) would just transfer over to a new provider, so I wasn't going to lose my money. I could be wrong here, but wouldn't a fair few people have come to the same conclusion?

[Deleted User]

imaginary_80s said:

Inigo_Montoya said:

pretty sure a lot of people will not have done what you did due to the potential risks / hassle involved in trying to use the offer in a way it obviously wasn't intended for
5K is a lot of cash to load onto the offer - I could have quite easily but just put in £500 & played it safe

The way I saw it was that best case scenario I get a £500 bonus, worst case scenario I end up with £5k stuck in my energy account and I have to withdraw it in small instalments over a long period of time. I figured even if the company went under, the existing accounts (including their balances) would just transfer over to a new provider, so I wasn't going to lose my money. I could be wrong here, but wouldn't a fair few people have come to the same conclusion?

Yep, agree, I also judged it as low risk in terms of having the money protected and put in as much as I could afford at the time.

I started with £1k but when the offer was extended I bumped it up to £2k in for £200 bonus with the view of leaving it with the supplier to cover my energy usage for the next 18 months or so and happy to leave it with Green until I either move to another supplier for a better deal or have run it down. From my point of view I couldn't make 10% on that £2k over 18 months elsewhere with little risk so I'm happy to leave the money with them for now - unless they put the prices up again!

brewerdave

imaginary_80s said:

Inigo_Montoya said:

pretty sure a lot of people will not have done what you did due to the potential risks / hassle involved in trying to use the offer in a way it obviously wasn't intended for
5K is a lot of cash to load onto the offer - I could have quite easily but just put in £500 & played it safe

The way I saw it was that best case scenario I get a £500 bonus, worst case scenario I end up with £5k stuck in my energy account and I have to withdraw it in small instalments over a long period of time. I figured even if the company went under, the existing accounts (including their balances) would just transfer over to a new provider, so I wasn't going to lose my money. I could be wrong here, but wouldn't a fair few people have come to the same conclusion?

I'm still surprised that OFGEM have allowed this to happen. After all, if Green fail and an SOLR has to be appointed ,all these excessive credits will fall on the fund supported by the Energy Cos. levy.
Also I'm not sure why the FCA haven't been involved as Green are effectively operating as a deposit taker.

Inigo_Montoya

they are offering the deal again

maybe a lot of people did withdraw their top ups after the last offer got credited so they have a cash flow issue again ?

this smacks of a ponzi scheme & desperation TBH but I'm still mulling over whether or not to do the max 5K topup this time - worst case scenario they go bust in the next two months & I have to wait for the cash to be paid back by the SoLR

Inigo_Montoya

on the web app the maximum payment allowed in one go is 2.5K

does this mean that last time people who topped up 5K did two payments on the same day & still got 10% for both of them ? - or did they do 2.5K on each of the two days the offer was available

the terms of the offer are unclear about this - I dont want to do a 2nd 2.5K payment & only get the offer on the first top up

TBH my alarm bells are ringing very loudly about this but I've assumed the worst case scenario of the company going bust & the SoLR having to pick up the tab - Ive even paid on my amex & gotten 0.5% cashback which is basically a years worth of interest on an easy access account right now

[Deleted User]

I did multiple deposits on the first version of the offer because I could only do £200 at a time through the mobile app and each got the 10% credit as promised.

I agree about alarm bells. Looking at previous years net operating profits, they were about 1% of turnover (£200k profit from £22 million turnover) I find it hard to believe they can afford to knock 10% off the cost of energy without making a loss later on down the line.

Majormark

Well, I have two accounts, on the first occasion earlier this year I made £1000 for 60 days investment of having a top up of 2 x £5000 on the accounts. Then requested the money returned after the 60 days... All good.! No problems! So I have done it again. I will have literally paid for 2 years of energy. Fantastic investment. What a great company!

Inigo_Montoya

Majormark said:

Well, I have two accounts, on the first occasion earlier this year I made £1000 for 60 days investment of having a top up of 2 x £5000 on the accounts. Then requested the money returned after the 60 days... All good.! No problems! So I have done it again. I will have literally paid for 2 years of energy. Fantastic investment. What a great company!

as long as they don't go bust before you withdraw your next 10K & leave you chasing the credit with the SoLR which will probably take at least 6 months to get back 

Really surprised Green isnt imposing more restrictions on withdrawals after the 60 days TBH , such as loss of the bonus amount - I guess not enough people are doing what you are doing to make it a significant issue

I know deposits are supposed to be protected but my 5K deposit this time has made me quite nervous 

If they do go bust it will be interesting to see how Ofgem & the SoLR handle the refund/crediting of such large deposits