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

lohr500

Newbie_John said:

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.

That probably works OK for a single rate tariff or Eco 7 type tariff.
Were Rebel offering TOU tariffs and if TE go belly up, what will happen for those customers whose 1/2 hourly data/meters seem to have been screwed up as a result of transferring to TE?

Thankfully I jumped ship last year with a full set of half hourly readings and the Ombudsman ruled in my favour with the actual billing calculations I submitted to challenge TE's erroneous billing.

Newbie_John

lohr500 said:

Newbie_John said:

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.

That probably works OK for a single rate tariff or Eco 7 type tariff.
Were Rebel offering TOU tariffs and if TE go belly up, what will happen for those customers whose 1/2 hourly data/meters seem to have been screwed up as a result of transferring to TE?

Thankfully I jumped ship last year with a full set of half hourly readings and the Ombudsman ruled in my favour with the actual billing calculations I submitted to challenge TE's erroneous billing.

TE TOU are very much like E7 tarrif.. Smile and Agile would be problematic.
We keep hearing monthly they'll go down soon, with predictions constantly being updated - recent one was Easter.. 

And as @colin79666 posted he has been finally  charged after 5 months so they are actually getting better and better.

I've had literally no issues during 8 months with them - and really hope I'd be able to extend my contract for another year!

masonic

Newbie_John said:

lohr500 said:

Newbie_John said:

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.

That probably works OK for a single rate tariff or Eco 7 type tariff.
Were Rebel offering TOU tariffs and if TE go belly up, what will happen for those customers whose 1/2 hourly data/meters seem to have been screwed up as a result of transferring to TE?

Thankfully I jumped ship last year with a full set of half hourly readings and the Ombudsman ruled in my favour with the actual billing calculations I submitted to challenge TE's erroneous billing.

TE TOU are very much like E7 tarrif.. Smile and Agile would be problematic.

TE TOU isn't like E7 at all. With E7 your data is recorded on two registers, which you as a customer can photograph and provide as proof of your use. Billing only requires a pair of such meter readings. If no HH consumption data can be retrieved from the meter - no problem. With any TOU, the fallback is single rate if smart metering fails.

Over the next few weeks, the sales ban will be lifted, or it won't. That will give us a pretty good idea of the future.

tlcgrantham

Newbie_John said:

lohr500 said:

Newbie_John said:

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.

That probably works OK for a single rate tariff or Eco 7 type tariff.
Were Rebel offering TOU tariffs and if TE go belly up, what will happen for those customers whose 1/2 hourly data/meters seem to have been screwed up as a result of transferring to TE?

Thankfully I jumped ship last year with a full set of half hourly readings and the Ombudsman ruled in my favour with the actual billing calculations I submitted to challenge TE's erroneous billing.

TE TOU are very much like E7 tarrif.. Smile and Agile would be problematic.
We keep hearing monthly they'll go down soon, with predictions constantly being updated - recent one was Easter.. 

And as @colin79666 posted he has been finally  charged after 5 months so they are actually getting better and better.

I've had literally no issues during 8 months with them - and really hope I'd be able to extend my contract for another year!

Recently had a customer service call from TE to check everything is ok and ask what I thought of the new MyWatts app. I told them the new app was great and I was very happy with no issues.                        I also took the opportunity to ask if I could switch my Lifestyle default Tariff to the EV version making it very clear I don’t have one. They emailed a response confirming I could switch to the EV version but they would only allow the fix offer until my original 12 month fix ends in November. 

              I didn’t really want to switch but would have done so if they gave me a fresh 12 month fix till next May.

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.

Update.

I stayed at my dad's house last and we went through his bank statements and discovered that Tomato did a DD for £65.94 but the money was paid back the same day.

My dad didn't notice as that day there were about 20 transactions on the statement. This was April.

He called his bank today and I spoke to them and was told the DD was taken but may have been reversed by Tomato but not his bank.

So last week's 2 X £65.94 DD was for March bill but they shave only taken 1 lot.

His DD for £33 is pending for tomorrow.

So they owe him £65.94 but he is still waiting for a reply to his complaint email from last week to sort things out.

JKS$(

A tiny difference in my TE April bill - it's 37p higher than Bright App shows. March TE bill was 2p lower than Bright. Not sure why there are differences, there are no gaps in my HH data.

I've been lucky in that almost everything worked & I'm continuing to save money on my bills. As a low user in an all electric property, the TOU tariff makes all the difference.

Somehow both TE & Octopus have agreed a different opening/closing MR, but I'm not financially out of pocket as Octopus agreed to a goodwill payment. Whether that difference will cause a problem in the future - we shall see. I have submitted correct MRs to myWatts (which are then adjusted upwards) & I continue to get monthly photos of my meter.

I'm still glad I switched & hope TE survive.

masonic

For those who have been waiting for a response from TE, I've just received a reply to an email I sent them on 5th April, so they are slowly working through the backlog of emails. They are asking me once again for the opening meter reading I sent them on the day I switched, told them over the phone a couple of weeks later, and included in the email they replied to.

Tomorrow I enter my 6th week after leaving them, and as it seems they are in a bit of a pickle regarding issuing my final bill, I'm starting to think another £40 or £80 may be incoming.

Chrysalis

masonic said:

For those who have been waiting for a response from TE, I've just received a reply to an email I sent them on 5th April, so they are slowly working through the backlog of emails. They are asking me once again for the opening meter reading I sent them on the day I switched, told them over the phone a couple of weeks later, and included in the email they replied to.

Tomorrow I enter my 6th week after leaving them, and as it seems they are in a bit of a pickle regarding issuing my final bill, I'm starting to think another £40 or £80 may be incoming.

I have stayed quiet this time, hoping for an easy compo payment.

tlcgrantham

        Tomato phoned me yesterday to check everything was working ok for me and ask if I had any questions. I asked if I could switch from the default Lifestyle Tariff to the EV version making it clear that I don’t have an EV. Ash (the agent)confirmed that was ok and said it would run for another 12 months at the existing rates. 

         I gave the go ahead and the switch was confirmed a few minutes later by email and  took place immediately. Delighted to have fixed their existing low rates with no exit fees for another year.

Newbie_John

Why did you decide to swap default for EV?
I'm thinking of going the other way round.. as 20:30-22:30 would come more handy.