Octopus Tracker

Bendo

Griffindog said:

masonic said:

Griffindog said:

Qyburn said:

From what I read and what was posted here, Octopus said that all customers would be moved to the new tariff.

I believe they did, with the reasoning that they had to put people on a fixed term. A number of us were already on fixed terms on earlier tariffs so they had to acknowledge the exiting fixed end date and deal with it one way or another. People either retained that date or changed to a new tariff and got compensation.

No, compensation was only paid out in a few isolated incidences, and it was not all about whether a fixed end date was mistakenly included on their account, it was related to how persistently they complained. Ultimately it is cheaper to pay some customers off whether or not they have a justified complaint, rather than bear the cost of them pushing it all the way to the Ombudsman, as some made it quite clear they were prepared to do. 

The vast majority of customers simply changed to the new tariff without making any fuss and did not get any compensation. I am sure this included some who mistakenly had an end date added to their account.

So if they wrote to you now and told you that they were switching you to a new tariff half way through your fixed term and it was going to result in you paying over £100 more would you just say OK and accept that?  Whether the fixed date was a mistake or not, it happened so I asked them to honour it. I don’t think that is unreasonable.

Did you ever bother to read the terms.  It was perfectly clear that regardless of there being s date, they could ammend or pull the tariff at any time, so yes,  it was reasonable.

wakeupalarm

masonic said:

Griffindog said:

Qyburn said:

From what I read and what was posted here, Octopus said that all customers would be moved to the new tariff.

I believe they did, with the reasoning that they had to put people on a fixed term. A number of us were already on fixed terms on earlier tariffs so they had to acknowledge the exiting fixed end date and deal with it one way or another. People either retained that date or changed to a new tariff and got compensation.

No, compensation was only paid out in a few isolated incidences, and it was not all about whether a fixed end date was mistakenly included on their account, it was related to how persistently they complained. Ultimately it is cheaper to pay some customers off whether or not they have a justified complaint, rather than bear the cost of them pushing it all the way to the Ombudsman, as some made it quite clear they were prepared to do. 

The vast majority of customers simply changed to the new tariff without making any fuss and did not get any compensation. I am sure this included some who mistakenly had an end date added to their account.

Compensation for the increase in standing charges?  Compensation for the change of formula?  Compensation for the remainder of the "fixed" term? What sort of compensation amounts are we talking about?

masonic

Griffindog said:

masonic said:

Griffindog said:

Qyburn said:

From what I read and what was posted here, Octopus said that all customers would be moved to the new tariff.

I believe they did, with the reasoning that they had to put people on a fixed term. A number of us were already on fixed terms on earlier tariffs so they had to acknowledge the exiting fixed end date and deal with it one way or another. People either retained that date or changed to a new tariff and got compensation.

No, compensation was only paid out in a few isolated incidences, and it was not all about whether a fixed end date was mistakenly included on their account, it was related to how persistently they complained. Ultimately it is cheaper to pay some customers off whether or not they have a justified complaint, rather than bear the cost of them pushing it all the way to the Ombudsman, as some made it quite clear they were prepared to do. 

The vast majority of customers simply changed to the new tariff without making any fuss and did not get any compensation. I am sure this included some who mistakenly had an end date added to their account.

So if they wrote to you now and told you that they were switching you to a new tariff half way through your fixed term and it was going to result in you paying over £100 more would you just say OK and accept that?  Whether the fixed date was a mistake or not, it happened so I asked them to honour it. I don’t think that is unreasonable.

Bendo has given you a great answer. In addition, the T&Cs were clear on the point that Tracker Nov 23 was a variable tariff.

I'll add that under the new terms to which I said ok and accepted, I am protected from price rises until 15th Feb 2025. Mid-term price hikes were always a possibility before being brought under the new terms. Like the vast majority of other customers who did likewise, I've be paying about 10% more, but still saving loads compared with the price cap, so I'm ok with that.

Coming back to the end date and you asking them to honour it, they did as you repeatedly requested, now you are talking about raising another formal complaint because you are still unhappy and want compensation now. I get that sites like this foster a bit of a complaining culture, but every customer on Tracker or any other smart tariff must accept that things may not always work when on these tariffs. Surely that is especially true when one insists to remain on a defunct tariff beyond the date other customers have been moved off it. I've had billing issues off and on for most of the time I've been an Octopus customer. It can be annoying, but I've never raised a complaint about that.

Griffindog

wakeupalarm said:

masonic said:

Griffindog said:

Qyburn said:

From what I read and what was posted here, Octopus said that all customers would be moved to the new tariff.

I believe they did, with the reasoning that they had to put people on a fixed term. A number of us were already on fixed terms on earlier tariffs so they had to acknowledge the exiting fixed end date and deal with it one way or another. People either retained that date or changed to a new tariff and got compensation.

No, compensation was only paid out in a few isolated incidences, and it was not all about whether a fixed end date was mistakenly included on their account, it was related to how persistently they complained. Ultimately it is cheaper to pay some customers off whether or not they have a justified complaint, rather than bear the cost of them pushing it all the way to the Ombudsman, as some made it quite clear they were prepared to do. 

The vast majority of customers simply changed to the new tariff without making any fuss and did not get any compensation. I am sure this included some who mistakenly had an end date added to their account.

Compensation for the increase in standing charges?  Compensation for the change of formula?  Compensation for the remainder of the "fixed" term? What sort of compensation amounts are we talking about?

I have no idea what compensation was offered, I have not seen any figures mentioned. When you have a statement on your bill that says “price guaranteed until” with an end date it is reasonable to expect that they will adhere to that date or come to some agreement with the customer to end it. 

All the correspondence I received about changing to Dec 23 was always “because we have to move everyone to a fixed term” it was never “because our terms say we can withdraw that tariff”. A mistake on their part, repeated by their CS staff because that’s what was on their script.

Qyburn

Griffindog said:

When you have a statement on your bill that says “price guaranteed until” with an end date 

Does your bill really say that, and if so would you dig your heels in and claim the unit rate should be fixed as well?

masonic

Qyburn said:

Griffindog said:

When you have a statement on your bill that says “price guaranteed until” with an end date 

Does your bill really say that, and if so would you dig your heels in and claim the unit rate should be fixed as well?

There was a known error in the billing system that caused it to incorrectly state the price was fixed, but this contradicted the T&Cs that were signed up to before the bill was produced, so was clearly incorrect. Reminds me of a regular savings account that launched recently and the welcome letter stated that was fixed when it wasn't. When it was brought to the attention of the bank, they apologised for the error and that was that.

Griffindog

Qyburn said:

Griffindog said:

When you have a statement on your bill that says “price guaranteed until” with an end date 

Does your bill really say that, and if so would you dig your heels in and claim the unit rate should be fixed as well?

I signed up to a tracker rate with a fixed standing charge, agreed maximum rates and fixed formula.

What do the Dec 23 tariff bills say on the end date line?

As I have said previously their emails said that they were taking me off that tariff to put me on a fixed term tariff which was nonsense as I was already on a fixed term tariff. Had they taken a different approach things might have been different.

gt94sss2

stripling said:

Griffindog said:

I fought to stay on Nov 22 until the end of my term (June). I no longer receive a daily rate and haven’t had a bill for 2 months. It has also backfired somewhat because I will have to go on the April 2024 tariff when it ends. I wish they had offered me December 2023 plus compensation as they did for some.

When I ran a search for alternative tariffs, Tracker April 2024 was not much cheaper than Octopus SVT or Eon's tracker. 

Comparison sites won't work with the tracker tariff as its pricing is unknown given the link to the wholesale rate. 

As it is, I understand the tracker April 2024 has been consistently below their SVT tariff..

masonic

Griffindog said:

Qyburn said:

Griffindog said:

When you have a statement on your bill that says “price guaranteed until” with an end date 

Does your bill really say that, and if so would you dig your heels in and claim the unit rate should be fixed as well?

I signed up to a tracker rate with a fixed standing charge, agreed maximum rates and fixed formula.

No you didn't, the T&C's were clear that the formula and standing charge were variable. The bills you received with incorrect information turned up after you had signed up to the T&C's with the correct information.

Griffindog said:

What do the Dec 23 tariff bills say on the end date line?

This is the billing error mentioned above. There is no end date line in your screenshot. What it states is your unit rate and standing charge, and that there is a price guarantee in place until 15 June 2024. Here is the info from my most recent bill:

Fixed term versions of Tracker, including Dec 24, state 'not applicable' against the 'price guaranteed until' because they are variable rate, fixed formula, not fixed rate. This line is used for conventional fixed price tariffs. So Qyburn's question is did you try to hold them to a fixed unit rate of 16.06p/kWh as stated in your bill, or was that unreasonable because it was obvious from the accompanying T&C's that the price was not guaranteed?

Qyburn

masonic said:

Qyburn's question is did you try to hold them to a fixed unit rate of 16.06p/kWh as stated in your bill, or was that unreasonable because it was obvious from the accompanying T&C's that the price was not guaranteed?

Exactly. If anyone was taking that tack, claiming an error in the wording on the bill took precedence over the terms and conditions accepted at commencement, then logically he'd not only claim the unit rate was "fixed" but actually "guaranteed".