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

QrizB

debitcardmayhem said:

A novel solution is DESNZ nationalise them and give the back end systems to Fujitsu 

A perfect match 😂

The_Hawk

debitcardmayhem said:

A novel solution is DESNZ nationalise them and give the back end systems to Fujitsu 

Do you think that might be on the Horizon? 

MWT

masonic said:

MWT said:

masonic said:

MWT said:

Chrysalis said:

coupleuk said:

coupleuk said:

Bendo said:

I'm sure at some point you will end up with some form of bill...

Lengthy email from TE today - confirming the usage has been written-off, wont be back-billed later and all I have to pay are the 40p a day Standing Charges.

TE have also emailed to confirm the 2 meter moves I instigated for June 9th and 11th.

Suggest anyone else without bills for months also considers writing to them with the kind offer to move (on condition of usage write off)

They do seem so much more pro consumer than Octopus, cant argue with that customer service, accepting liability for their failure.  Did you do this via email to their standard address? So I know best way when asking for my compensation.

... but they are 'accepting liability' by making grand gestures that they cannot afford with their own money ...

Having read more about their origins I do feel they started out with good intentions, they just came to this very under-capitalised and then got overwhelmed with the volume growth before their systems were mature enough to cope.

... add in a few poor judgements in how they were managing cash-flow, especially forecasting and building reserves to meet their market obligations and that is how you get to where they are today.

If they had been able to stay as a service provider to the industry they could have been building a rival to Kraken, but stepping over into being their own energy provider appears to be something they were not really ready for...

Should Tomato Energy go bust, they will still have Senapt and MyWatts. Will just be a bit more of a hurdle to find other suppliers to adopt the platform. That may be why they've taken such a relaxed approach to an existential crisis in the supply company. Through all of this they have been making improvements to the platform and ignoring the difficult regulatory/financial problems.

... and 'Northern Gas Heating', but that may not survive if it still owes over £4m to Tomato as the Administrators would have to go after that money as part of their normal process. 

It would not surprise me at all if NGH fails around the same time and mysteriously has no remaining assets.

Given the loan was entirely converted into stock from the looks of the 2023 accounts, I'm sure they have had ample time to turn that stock into successful and profitable sales, as that stock increase only represented a 15x multiple over the stock levels of the previous year while the debtors increase suggested around a 2x increase in sales....

Also interesting to note that the NGH accounts showed the loan as repayable within a year, but the Tomato accounts show it as longer than a year... 

MWT

In any event all of the published accounts are more than a year or two out of date, so there is still room to surprise us and pull this back from the brink... perhaps...

Chrysalis

born_again said:

Chrysalis said:

They do seem so much more pro consumer than Octopus, cant argue with that customer service, accepting liability for their failure.  Did you do this via email to their standard address? So I know best way when asking for my compensation.

Very easy for someone sat on the end of the phone/email to admit fault.

If it is not followed up in a prompt manner with any refunds due being paid out. They might as well just not reply or refuse to admit error.

Good customer service would be processing any due refunds there & then. 👍

There is no refund due if I understand the issue, as no bill has been issued?

Newbie_John

So OFGEM hasn't stopped them, TE CEO says they're improving.

But this topic is yet again people who predicted them going bust by end of 2024, February, Easter (and failed).. predicting again them going bust. 

Most not even customers.. are the only ones who keep failing here.

GingerTim

Newbie_John said:

TE CEO says they're improving.

Oh well, everything must be going swimmingly, in that case.

/s

masonic

Newbie_John said:

So OFGEM hasn't stopped them, TE CEO says they're improving.

But this topic is yet again people who predicted them going bust by end of 2024, February, Easter (and failed).. predicting again them going bust. 

Most not even customers.. are the only ones who keep failing here.

Ofgem has to follow the correct processes. It cannot run roughshod over the rules because TE is doing so. It is right that an opportunity should be given before the licence is revoked. It is just a shame that all signs point to the forbearance being squandered.

While it is great the CEO says they are improving, it would be even better if other market participants agreed, or even stopped needing to issue winding up petitions to get paid.

I was a hopeful and happy customer until it became clear to me who I'd got into bed with. Perhaps I'd now be suffering a case of Stockholm syndrome myself had I not exited when I did.

masonic

(Removed by Forum Team)

I've always said I'd be happy to return if they start complying with their regulatory and legal obligations. Though I don't hold out much hope of that.

I need them to survive for at least a couple of months longer, to be sure of obtaining the £80 standard of performance compensation, which will more than compensate me for the extra £5 per month I've been spending back at Octopus.

Oh, and the main outfit predicting their failure is Ofgem. That's why it imposed a ban on TE acquiring new customers, to limit the costs to the industry. Ofgem is in possession of more information than anyone posting here. It is unlikely they are 100% wrong about the risk of failure.

tlcgrantham

   From my point of view as a happy customer Tomato are the best energy supplier I’ve ever been with.  

Price, Tariff options, Customer Sevice, MYWatts APP and Billing are all superior to anything I’ve experienced before. 

                 I’m more than happy to remain with them whether they survive or not.