Outfox The Market

dbks

Hammer_Time said:

I was wondering as the supplier I was transferring to (Avro) went bust mid switch, would I still be entitled to the £30 compensation for the late bill? 

Yes, assuming the supplier you switched from has not gone bust.
It would be the supplier you switched from that would need to issue the final bill, and them that you would have the complaint against if it is late.

It goes without saying that my reply is also based upon the fact the switch went ahead, and so the supplier you were switching from did actually cease to supply you.

oliverbrown

My final balance with Outfox was not paid within 10 working days so I raised a complaint on live chat. The final balance was paid the following day without compensation. Following a further live chat, the compensation was paid out the following day.

I don't know about other communication avenues, but their live chat seems efficient.

Hammer_Time

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.

TonySimon

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.

tsb

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!

dbks

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?

Nick_C

dbks said:

TonySimon said:

This is from the Ombudsman Service....

The Electricity and Gas (standards of performance) (Suppliers) Regulations 2015 and the Electricity and Gas (standards of performance) (Suppliers) (Amendments) Regulations 2019 Standards of Service contain legislation set in place to confirm how suppliers should operate.

Regulation 6D of the Electricity and Gas (Standards of Performance) (Suppliers) Regulations 2015 states that PC must refund your final credit balance within 10 working days of your final bill OR within 10 working days of the corrected bill.

Regulation 8 states that should a supplier fail to meet this, or any other individual standard of performance, it must make a payment of £30 to the customer affected by the failure.  In addition, regulation 8 also details that the standard £30 payment must be made within 10 working days of the supplier’s initial failure.  If the supplier does not adhere to this timescale, it should then issue an additional payment of £30.

Whilst I do not seek to disagree with the legal position that the OS have given you, it should also be noted that the OS does not rely solely on the strict legal position when adjudicating on any dispute.

I have had sight of a recent ruling (not made public, afaik) that indicated that consumers are expected to be put in a position that easily allows them to budget their energy costs accurately.
As a result, the OS adopted the position that the supplier should provide an accurate final bill within 6 weeks of ceasing to supply you, except where the inaccuracy was not down to the failure of that supplier. (e.g. a revised final bill is issued later because of a successful disputed final meter reading complaint having been raised by the consumer)

The opinion on the requirement to produce a final bill within six weeks was published by OFGEM when the proposals were put out for consultation. 

wild666

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?

Always record phone conversations complaints with any company, use a Dictaphone and your mobile set on speaker to record it. Don't tell them your recording as most people will disconnect the call but after the call speak the date and time into the Dictaphone as proof that it was recorded. 
These recordings can be useful if you complain to the ombudsman about the company just as photo readings can be for electric and gas. 

tsb

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 haven't tried to telephone.  I had read complaints that people couldn't get through to them on the telephone and being late Friday afternoon, I didn't rate my chances.
Instead I have emailed my request through. I have received a standard "We've received your message and will get back to you" email.  They have no customer service at the weekend so I'll wait and see what happens. 

Xenon

Xenon said:

I moved to BG 4th October (Dual Fuel to Dual Fuel) and still waiting for my final bill (have stopped the DD) - trouble is a third party company requested a photo meter reading for gas which i gave them on the 7th October so not sure when the clock starts running.
I will wait and see as in no rush for a week or two.
I guess they could argue they did not get the gas reading until x date which would be a hassle to check and verify.

Update: Final bill issued 10th Dec after making a complaint...credit balance paid into bank account and £30 credit waiting to be paid - will wait for the 10 working days to see if i get what i am due or another £30 on top.