Outfox The Market

booshya

I'm not sure why anyone, let alone someone who posts almost every day on this very forum, would be looking to switch supplier.

The advice from MSE has been for some time that there is no point looking to switch supplier; there is nothing meaningfully cheaper available for most by switching supplier currently.

Anyway, if you did want to check, the longstanding advice is to consult a comparison site ... and not to then page down to the very bottom to choose the most expensive supplier & tariff you can find on there.

In regards to existing OTM customers, they are presumably quite savvy as they would have actively decided to switch to OTM at some point in the past (or in a few cases OTM may have been the existing supplier at a property they moved to, but then they would not be put on a fixed term tariff unless they actively chose it).

OTM offer a very clear renewal message at the end of any fixed term tariff with some quirky graphics and clearly detailing the costs of each option available.
The offerings will include some options not available to new customers, and clearly states what tariff you will be put on (and the associated cost) if you do nothing.

If any existing customer actively chooses the most expensive option, by "not paying enough attention" at that stage, they deserve everything they applied for.
Furthermore, the tariff in question hasn't even been on offer for a month yet.

As mentioned above, OTM is not really interested in taking on any new customers at this time of energy price turmoil.
But better to continue to keep the opportunity open for those determined to be supplied by OTM, by pricing at a level that will offer a generous profit by anyone prepared to pay it, than deny that opportunity completely, such as Neo Energy, Logicor and even EDF and Octopus are doing (albeit the latter two in a more clandestine manner).

tsb

TonySimon said:

Hammer_Time said:

tsb said:

Hammer_Time said:

I transferred from Outfox to Avro ( I am now a Octopus customer),  however they went bust before is was completed, I now have a final bill from them for the energy used from the 9 September to 30 September 21, however the statement date was 29 November 21. Would I be entitled to the £30 compensation?

I'm in the same position. Mid switch from Outfox to Avro when they went bust. I have now received my bill from Outfox dated 29th November 2021 for energy up to 30th September 2021 and they have refunded the credit balance on the account.  

I wondered whether this compensation applied but haven't Outfox been waiting for the final reading from the Avro administrators before they could raise the bill? This wasn't anything Outfox could speed up so I didn't think this would apply.  Also my readings for the final bill are not the same as the reading I gave Octopus but my Octopus account still isn't showing anything but zero.  I presume if these readings match the opening ones with Octopus I don't need to worry?

I just phoned Outfox to ask them to pay the £30 compensation, they quickly checked with there billing department and then told me the £30 should be in my account in 2 days.

It's actually 2 x £30 you are due.  30 September was your last day with them?  They should have billed you around 11 November.  On this date you were due £30.  They should have paid the £30 around 25 November and didn't so you are due a further £30.

Well it's taken some time and some effort to keep chasing the payment but I finally have £60 in my bank courtesy of Outfox the Market.

I had no replies from my original email request for the compensation, and subsequent repeat emails.  Finally this week I emailed a 'complaint' to the Foxglove energy address and received a response the next day.  The payment was credited to my outfox account first then in my bank this morning. Result!

Thank you to everyone that helped with the information.

dbks

tsb said:

TonySimon said:

Hammer_Time said:

tsb said:

Hammer_Time said:

I transferred from Outfox to Avro ( I am now a Octopus customer),  however they went bust before is was completed, I now have a final bill from them for the energy used from the 9 September to 30 September 21, however the statement date was 29 November 21. Would I be entitled to the £30 compensation?

I'm in the same position. Mid switch from Outfox to Avro when they went bust. I have now received my bill from Outfox dated 29th November 2021 for energy up to 30th September 2021 and they have refunded the credit balance on the account.  

I wondered whether this compensation applied but haven't Outfox been waiting for the final reading from the Avro administrators before they could raise the bill? This wasn't anything Outfox could speed up so I didn't think this would apply.  Also my readings for the final bill are not the same as the reading I gave Octopus but my Octopus account still isn't showing anything but zero.  I presume if these readings match the opening ones with Octopus I don't need to worry?

I just phoned Outfox to ask them to pay the £30 compensation, they quickly checked with there billing department and then told me the £30 should be in my account in 2 days.

It's actually 2 x £30 you are due.  30 September was your last day with them?  They should have billed you around 11 November.  On this date you were due £30.  They should have paid the £30 around 25 November and didn't so you are due a further £30.

Well it's taken some time and some effort to keep chasing the payment but I finally have £60 in my bank courtesy of Outfox the Market.

I had no replies from my original email request for the compensation, and subsequent repeat emails.  Finally this week I emailed a 'complaint' to the Foxglove energy address and received a response the next day.  The payment was credited to my outfox account first then in my bank this morning. Result!

Thank you to everyone that helped with the information.

I've started to see a number of this type of complaint now being referred to the OS regarding a number of different suppliers.

The OS says the rules are very clear; the £30 automatic compensation falls due as soon as the respective breach occurs, and payment must be paid within 10 days of the breach occurring and without the requirement for any customer intervention.

Whilst each complaint is obviously assessed on its merits, there seems to be a pattern emerging that the OS typically awards a further award of £30 where the supplier has failed twice.

dbks

dbks said:

tsb said:

Hammer_Time said:

tsb said:

Hammer_Time said:

I transferred from Outfox to Avro ( I am now a Octopus customer),  however they went bust before is was completed, I now have a final bill from them for the energy used from the 9 September to 30 September 21, however the statement date was 29 November 21. Would I be entitled to the £30 compensation?

I'm in the same position. Mid switch from Outfox to Avro when they went bust. I have now received my bill from Outfox dated 29th November 2021 for energy up to 30th September 2021 and they have refunded the credit balance on the account.  

I wondered whether this compensation applied but haven't Outfox been waiting for the final reading from the Avro administrators before they could raise the bill? This wasn't anything Outfox could speed up so I didn't think this would apply.  Also my readings for the final bill are not the same as the reading I gave Octopus but my Octopus account still isn't showing anything but zero.  I presume if these readings match the opening ones with Octopus I don't need to worry?

I just phoned Outfox to ask them to pay the £30 compensation, they quickly checked with there billing department and then told me the £30 should be in my account in 2 days.

Thanks for this.  I'll get in touch with them.  £30 would be handy but £60 even better!

Did you phone? If so, how did you get on?

The problem with phone calls is that they can later deny anything they said.
I prefer to put my compliants in writing; email will do usually.

As I understand it, the response from OTM is usually, if they agree to your complaint, is that they will pass your request to their billing department who will process your refund on the next working Friday. It will then take up to 10 workjing days for that refund to reach your bank account.
- amazingly, it usually arrives 9 working days after the Friday mentioned, and it arrives via Faster Payments.

However, I am aware of cases recently where the refund was promised as per the above, you wait until 10 working days after the next working Friday, and nothing. You ask again, and then they come up with some crazy reason why the accounts department have decided you are not eligible for the refund, and the CS apologise for any confusion they caused you earlier.
I'm tempted to wonder if it's Boris doing a bit of moonlighting for them.

Cases are now going to the ombudsman. I wonder if the £400 charge per compliant will make them see sense? Or will it just push them over the brink which they presumabaly are finely balancing on at present?

I've now been updated on a case where OTM refused a customer a 2nd automatic payment when the promised payment never arrived.

OTM paid the 2nd automatic payment as soon as the complaint was lodged with the OS. They then referred to the second payment having been already made in a proposal they made to resolve the complaint, saying no further payments were due. However, OTM acknowleged the 2nd payment was made late, and offered a further £30 in full and final settlement.

Presumably OTM are aware of the typical resolution the OS seems to propose in such circumstances, and now wanted to simply avoid the OS complaint fee that would fall due if the OS had to investigate.

However, the complainant rejected the OTM offer to settle and elected for the complaint to be investigated by the OS.

The complaint has now been investigated and was upheld by the OS.

The OS acknowledged the proposal OTM had made to settle without investigation and said this was considered as a mitigating factor.
However, the OS said this was balanced out by the aggravating factor that the 2nd automatic payment was not paid until after the complaint with the OS was filed, a number of months after it should have been paid.

The matter was further aggravated by the fact that the supplier first agreed to pay the 2nd automatic payment, but then did not pay it and when challenged by the complainant, OTM told the complainant they were not entitled to it.

The OS said that the energy supplier is both expected to act promptly to resolve an issue when it makes a mistake, and that it is expected to provide clear and accurate information to its customers.

The OS found that OTM had failed to meet both of these requirements when they refused the 2nd automatic payment, and  accordingly was not satisfied that the extra £30 that OTM had now offered in this instance was sufficient, and so doubled it on this occassion to £60.

whattochoose

I only pay for electricity which I believe with OTM is a green tariff. 
According to this it appears green tariffs are not subject to capped rules and prices....
https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/information-consumers/energy-advice-households/check-if-energy-price-cap-affects-you
Fingers crossed, I'm hoping the amount I pay wont change. 
Of course, that's hoping OTM survives as an energy supplier.