Tomato Energy (Electric Only Supplier) - Too Good To Be True ?

masonic

It looks like Octopus are grinding through the process of issuing me a bill, meaning a D86 must have been completed. The deduction I can see in the app is considerably less than I was expecting, and no bill is available yet to check it. I've also not been able to calculate a scenario that fits. The closest I have got is that a different change of supply reading has been agreed. This may work out quite well for me as I switched to E7 upon leaving Tomato and Octopus seem only to be charging me for off-peak units since I joined them a calendar month ago. If I get all my day units billed at the TE lifestyle rate, even peak, I am quids in.

I shouldn't have to wait too long for the bill to arrive... Edit: and it has, the other shoe has dropped and they've taken a further sum, plonked a dodgy estimated read in the middle for a tariff change, which I shall be challenging.

I'll also be entering week 5 of final bill watch in a few days time. Not long to go before another standard of performance payment is due, so Tomato will need to act promptly to avoid that. I'm looking forward to their reconciliation calculations, as based on the opening meter reading they still have on file for me, my usage while with them is -1657 kWh. That's what happens when your data collector meddles with the customer opening reading and opts for a much higher one.

Boohoo

Boohoo said:

causeequalstime said:

masonic said:

Newbie_John said:
But in 2022 there was a similar case:
https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/publications/logicor-energy-limited-final-order

and it was closed within a month (because they paid the invoice - sounds similar right? ):

Logicor Energy Ltd made full payment of its RO for 2021-22, including all applicable interest, thus ensuring compliance with its RO for 2021-2022.

Therefore, on 26 October 2022, the Authority made a decision not to make a FO.

That was an easy one, as it was a specific debt that was being chased. This time, they are being held to the requirements of a large energy supplier, and must maintain sufficient liquidity to pay their debts as they become due.

Sending my bill for April would help.

I have posted about my Dad's goings on with Tomato a few pages back.

Last week email states he will pay £65.94 by DD by 14/05 but he left them on 17/04 and the £65.94 is the exact amount of his March bill.

He has not had his April or final bill yet.

£65.94 left his bank on Monday and yesterday his pending payments showed another £65.94 coming out today.

I called Tomato on his behalf and was told that money will go towards the final bill and today's DD may not happen. I said if it does my dad will call the bank and get it reversed and I was then told that breach the T@C's and count as a non payment and they may put a default on his credit file.

Today another £65.94 has come out.

Has this happened to anyone else or is my dad unlucky?

After Tomato taking 2 lots of £65.94 I sent a COMPLAINT email to them oy Friday morning and in the afternoon my dad got an email with a bill for April of £33. No mention of the 2 x £65.94 on the bill.

At about 5pm dad gets another email saying they are taking £33 on 21/04 by DD.

The bill he got doesn't say final bill.

Is he best to wait until his 6 week's are up for a final bill and then ask for the nearly £122 back or should he get the bank to do a DD indemnity or will that be classed as a non payment from Tomato?

masonic

Boohoo said:
Is he best to wait until his 6 week's are up for a final bill and then ask for the nearly £122 back or should he get the bank to do a DD indemnity or will that be classed as a non payment from Tomato?

If his March bill was £65.94 and they've taken 2 lots of £65.94, then issued an April bill for £33 that they have not yet taken, then he is owed £32.94. Recovering more than this may be treated as a missed payment. If the £33 is taken, then he could do a DD indemnity for this as there is sufficient credit on the account to cover that bill.

Once 6 weeks are up, if they haven't issued a final bill he'll be due some standard of performance compensation. If they don't refund the final credit within 10 working days of the final bill when it does turn up he'll be due some more compensation.

Boohoo

masonic said:

Boohoo said:
Is he best to wait until his 6 week's are up for a final bill and then ask for the nearly £122 back or should he get the bank to do a DD indemnity or will that be classed as a non payment from Tomato?

If his March bill was £65.94 and they've taken 2 lots of £65.94, then issued an April bill for £33 that they have not yet taken, then he is owed £32.94. Recovering more than this may be treated as a missed payment. If the £33 is taken, then he could do a DD indemnity for this as there is sufficient credit on the account to cover that bill.

Once 6 weeks are up, if they haven't issued a final bill he'll be due some standard of performance compensation. If they don't refund the final credit within 10 working days of the final bill when it does turn up he'll be due some more compensation.

There maybe some confusion here or its just me.

All bills have been paid apart from the April bill for when he left.

March bill was £65.94 and paid early April.

Last week he got an email saying Tomato are going to take £65.94 by DD but no bill had arrived.

Tomato sent another email saying they are taking £65.94 2 days after the 1st lot.

I emailed and spoke to them but the rep said they make take 2 lots and I said I will do a DD indemnity and was told that could be seen as non payment of bill even though he has not got one.

On Friday I sent complaint email about this and later that day he got a £33 bill but it doesn't say final.  There is no mention of the 2 x £65.94 on that bill.

So he is nearly £132 in credit with them and the £33 for April bill will be paid by DD on Wednesday.

Thanks 

born_again

Boohoo said:

Is he best to wait until his 6 week's are up for a final bill and then ask for the nearly £122 back or should he get the bank to do a DD indemnity or will that be classed as a non payment from Tomato?

It normally would.

But given the state this company are in who knows how they will handle it.

masonic

I would just pursue the complaint and let them deal with refunding. The middle £65.94 could be treated as paying the April bill, in which case it's the later ones you should claim back (plus part of the middle £65.94). But who knows.

Of course while the CEO brags about delaying payments as long as possible, I dare say he takes a different line with customers.

HillStreetBlues

masonic said:

I would just pursue the complaint and let them deal with refunding. The middle £65.94 could be treated as paying the April bill, in which case it's the later ones you should claim back (plus part of the middle £65.94). But who knows.

Of course while the CEO brags about delaying payments as long as possible, I dare say he takes a different line with customers.

Judging by how long they take to bill some customers doesn't seem in a rush to collect payments.

Chrysalis

masonic said:

HillStreetBlues said:

GingerTim said:

coupleuk said:

GingerTim said:

Asking them to give you 9 months' worth of free energy is certainly bold!

It certainly is - but given how far in the smelly stuff they are, my thinking is they'll be keen to remove as many "problem accounts" as they can.

They have already committed to offering 50% off any account not billed for 6 months and 25% (maybe 15% I cant remember) off any 3 months not billed. At 12 months they are free anyway.

So, it's not much of a leap for them to concede failure and move on.

Mind you, when they go bust I don't think the appointed SOLR will be beholden to any of those commitments? (beyond not charging you beyond the last 12 months).

I stand to be corrected by those more knowledgeable, as always!

It's a gamble, hold out hoping TE will stay afloat and either write off or greatly reduce amount.  SOLR will no doubt battle for as much as possible and won't honour any goodwill reductions that aren't in the T&Cs.

Should it happen, the first thing you will need to do is provide a meter reading to SoLR, and that should definitely be backed up by photographic evidence. If you've had metering/billing issues with TE, then it is likely there won't be a series of validated reads available for industry flows, which puts you at greater risk of that change of supply read being adjusted downward, and more energy billed on the deemed tariff. The Administrators of TE would then need to negotiate a pennies to the pound price for SoLR to buy the customer debit balances from them. I expect both parties will consider the contractual value of those debts as a starting point, with SoLR negotiating downward for impairment and collection costs. But when it comes to billing you, the best you should reasonably hope for is time to pay if the bill is particularly large.

I can see this going badly for a lot of people, my experience may nor may not be common, but in recent years whenever I had a period that relies on the supplier guessing/calculating usage, it seems to always be done in a way that makes them bill more. (see my recent gas DCC thread as an example, plus closing usage from Octopus when I joined TE and of course my big dispute with Octopus some years back).

Newbie_John

Some updates from other posts on failed supplier -Rebel
1. Failure
2. British Gas appointed as SOLR in 7 days
3. In 21 days from failure users were set up in BG with special "rebel customers" tarrif and told they will pay the same rate for their time under Rebel.

Sounds simple.

masonic

Chrysalis said:

masonic said:

HillStreetBlues said:

GingerTim said:

coupleuk said:

GingerTim said:

Asking them to give you 9 months' worth of free energy is certainly bold!

It certainly is - but given how far in the smelly stuff they are, my thinking is they'll be keen to remove as many "problem accounts" as they can.

They have already committed to offering 50% off any account not billed for 6 months and 25% (maybe 15% I cant remember) off any 3 months not billed. At 12 months they are free anyway.

So, it's not much of a leap for them to concede failure and move on.

Mind you, when they go bust I don't think the appointed SOLR will be beholden to any of those commitments? (beyond not charging you beyond the last 12 months).

I stand to be corrected by those more knowledgeable, as always!

It's a gamble, hold out hoping TE will stay afloat and either write off or greatly reduce amount.  SOLR will no doubt battle for as much as possible and won't honour any goodwill reductions that aren't in the T&Cs.

Should it happen, the first thing you will need to do is provide a meter reading to SoLR, and that should definitely be backed up by photographic evidence. If you've had metering/billing issues with TE, then it is likely there won't be a series of validated reads available for industry flows, which puts you at greater risk of that change of supply read being adjusted downward, and more energy billed on the deemed tariff. The Administrators of TE would then need to negotiate a pennies to the pound price for SoLR to buy the customer debit balances from them. I expect both parties will consider the contractual value of those debts as a starting point, with SoLR negotiating downward for impairment and collection costs. But when it comes to billing you, the best you should reasonably hope for is time to pay if the bill is particularly large.

I can see this going badly for a lot of people, my experience may nor may not be common, but in recent years whenever I had a period that relies on the supplier guessing/calculating usage, it seems to always be done in a way that makes them bill more. (see my recent gas DCC thread as an example, plus closing usage from Octopus when I joined TE and of course my big dispute with Octopus some years back).

Yes, I've seen the same. Most of these issues can be traced back to the fictitious Estimated Annual Consumption figure, which they also use to set the level of fixed direct debits. This seems to be calculated by ignoring any usage patterns in the last 12 months and finding the highest monthly consumption from yesteryear to multiply by 15.