Octopus Tracker

masonic

t0rt0ise said:

masonic said:

Telegraph_Sam said:

Can someone confirm if there is truth in the statement that if one waits till after the renewal notice has been issued, that this counts as the tariff having run its course, and that in these circs the 9 month wait rule for rejoining Tracker does NOT apply. Or is this a fig of my imagination?

Yes, that seems to be the case.

Do you know this or is it just guesswork? I have yet to see anyone actually do it.

I don't know of anyone that has tried to rejoin Tracker, except using the cooling off period, but some have it in writing as above. It is always possible that they have been misinformed, that's not unprecedented. But those who have been told would have a good case for goodwill. Better than precedent, since Octopus has form for not treating everyone consistently. If you think you might want to rejoin Tracker within 9 months, then it would be advisable to discuss this with them so that you have something to fall back on.

theonenonly

Apologies for not reading over this thread, but is it making financial sense to fix Gas now? How comes?

I'm in London and was on the December v1 2023 tracker, but being told by email this finishes soon. 

bagand96

double_dutchy said:

bagand96 said:

Messaged Octopus on Twitter yesterday to fix my gas. They started responding and asked for verification etc and then stopped. Today a more expensive fix has launched. Tried contacting to them today and no response. Nice one octopus, losing your shine! 

People say that Twitter is quicker than email but I emailed yesterday to change my tariff and had confirmation back by email exactly 30 minutes later. I then asked by reply to change to paying by variable DD and had confirmation of that back overnight. Congrats to Octopus, great service all round

Emailed them today. Explained I was trying to change tariff with the social media team and they stopped responding, and that now the fix has gone up in price.

They replied within 25 mins:

I'm really sorry for the delay in getting back to you and for any inconvenience this has caused.

I understand you wanted to switch your gas tariff to the Fixed 12M at the rate of 5.75p/kWh, but were concerned about your electricity supply.

Unfortunately, the rates for the Fixed 12M tariff have now been updated to 5.99p/kWh incl. VAT.

Please let me know if you're okay to put this in place.

Thank you for your patience, and please let me know if there's anything else I can assist you with.

Completely missed the point! I responded straight away again explaining my point that I asked for the switch whilst the old tariff was valid, but due to their delay I've now missed out.... No response at all. 

Seems they can quickly respond to simple requests but when challenged they go silent. Wonder if it was AI? 

I know this could probably have been done with a phone call more effectively but just had a few days where I haven't had chance to call. Seems like just another big energy provider now with mediocre to poor customer service to go with! 

Chrysalis

I got a quick response, but wasnt at PC, so had to reply with security responses, dunno if they work Sundays, so might be Monday for my gas changes.

Dec 2023 tracker is about 6.15p currently, which is why I dont mind switching to 5.99p now.

I screenshotted my Octopus usage data as far back as can go on electric in case it goes away when I switch to TE.

Telegraph_Sam

It's useful to see something in writing about the 9 month rule, application of.

Thinking aloud, it could be that now is the worst possible time to switch if there is a cyclical peak in prices around Jan. I must do a check in gastracker. Bu not so on second thoughts. The unit price can be high now but low in the Spring. The only thing to lock on to is the combination of formulas and SC's. 
What is relevant  is the path of alternative fixed price tariffs and how they are affected by the underlying spot price trends. I don't know if it is possible to chart these.
If I haven't confused you then I have certainly confused myself 😕 

debitcardmayhem

@Telegraph_Sam.

 https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81195942/#Comment_81195942

For gas it suggest tha by the end of this year circa 6.89 on dec24 tracker

matt_drummer

Telegraph_Sam said:

 The unit price can be high now but low in the Spring. The only thing to lock on to is the combination of formulas and SC's. 

Just when you really need gas to be the cheapest?

Probably not!

Badboi

Electric back down 7% tomorrow, gas static

VoucherMan

Telegraph_Sam said:

Thinking aloud, it could be that now is the worst possible time to switch if there is a cyclical peak in prices around Jan.

I may be missing something, but, at least on their website, the fixed tariff has no exit fees, so even if you switch now, and a better fix comes along, could you not just switch to the cheaper one?

matt_drummer

VoucherMan said:

Telegraph_Sam said:

Thinking aloud, it could be that now is the worst possible time to switch if there is a cyclical peak in prices around Jan.

I may be missing something, but, at least on their website, the fixed tariff has no exit fees, so even if you switch now, and a better fix comes along, could you not just switch to the cheaper one?

Spot on.

Apart from the 9 month wait to get back onto Tracker if you leave it early. But, if you left now, you could be back on it at the beginning of October, just when you might need it if things change.

Not being on Tracker over the summer shouldn't be much of an issue for most people, even if prices are a bit lower than a fix the possible savings would be minimal given that usage is generally lower. Even less of an issue if you have solar panels like some people deliberating here.

Some people are hooked on the past, Tracker worked very well for many people as wholesale prices were falling dramatically, but now they are not and the Tracker formulas have been revised to make it even less attractive.

The big savings are gone on Tracker, and won't be coming back unless something dramatic happens such as a massive fall in energy costs, pretty unlikely.

Even if wholesale prices fall a bit, it will be at a time when energy use is at its lowest for most people.

The time you want to pay least is when you use the most, probably now and not in June!

I suspect some of these chronic deliberators have missed the boat already as far as the best fixes and therefore, the best outcomes are concerned.