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

bob2302

Newbie_John said:

tlcgrantham said:

@ Newbie John Did you change your Tariff to default Lifestyle? If so is it any cheaper or better for you? 

      Switching to the EV version has made little cost difference for me but the switch went through quickly and without a hitch. Plus I have my prices fixed till next May and I can switch back if I don’t like it later.

Yeah, I'll do it later - maybe around September - the difference in summer would is negligible.

But would love to lock in for another cheap winter for a year.

Has anyone tried bringing forward the renewal without changing the Lifestyle variant?

MeteredOut

I still don't comprehend how people can get emotionally invested in an energy supplier. It's seems akin to how some regard their own, or their rival, football team.

lohr500

(Removed by Forum Team)

Firstly, I am not jumping with joy at the thought of TE going under.

The industry needs more challengers to rock the boat.
But those challengers need to have a basic level of competence to enter the market and I do not believe TE have demonstrated this.

I was with them for three months last year and they proved incapable of managing a TOU tariff to any degree of acceptability. Since then I have read several reports of customers with "bricked" meters, customers who still haven't received any billing and customers with incorrect billing. Nothing I have read since leaving would convince me they are now operating to anything like an acceptable standard. Ofgem & Elexon seem to agree. 

It would also be a tragedy for their staff and creditors if they went under, especially since their problems appear to have been of their own making.

And, without scaremongering, I think it will be tough for TE's customers if they end up being moved to a SOLR.


Secondly, due to my own particular consumption pattern and the fact that I have battery storage with no surplus to export, I am now paying just 5.5% more than I would have been with TE. 99.8% of my 20,000 kWh usage falls within a 7 hour 4.93p per kWh window. So TE were not "way" cheaper for me.
For me, the risk of ending up on a SOLR standard tariff for more than a few days would have been very costly and I am happy paying 5.5% more to remove that worry.

Shedman

Ofgem have published this today:

Tomato Energy Ltd: Notice of proposal to confirm a Provisional Order 

https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/publications/tomato-energy-limited-provisional-order


Looks like Tomato have until 7th July to lodge representations before Ofgem seek to confirm the provisional order on 10 July.

JohnPo

There is a new .pdf document which sets out the reasons for confirming the provisional order.  Bottom of page 2 & top of page 3 makes the most interesting reading:  Everything was decided on Friday 13th June but not published until today.

Reasons for confirming the provisional order

I. Based on the information received by the Authority directly from Tomato Energy, the Authority is satisfied that Tomato Energy is contravening or is likely to contravene SLCs 4A, 4B.1 and 4B.8.
J. The Authority is minded to confirm the Provisional Order with modifications on the grounds that it is satisfied, in light of the matters set out in this Notice, that Tomato Energy is contravening or is likely to contravene SLCs 4A, 4B.1 and 4B.8.
Consequently, the provisions made by the Provisional Order with modifications are still requisite for the purpose of securing compliance with SLC 4A, SLC 4B.1 and SLC 4B.8.

The facts surrounding the Authority’s decision on contraventions

K. The Authority has considered information obtained since the Provisional Order was made. The particular behaviours of concern relate to:
1) Tomato Energy has not provided evidence of robust internal capabilities, systems and processes, as required by SLC 4A, that would enable it to comply with its legislative and regulatory obligations, including, but not limited to, those under SLCs 4B.1, 4B.8 and SLC 4B.9.
2) Tomato Energy has not provided evidence that it is able to obtain and maintain Liquidity of sufficient amount and Quality so that it is able to meet its reasonably anticipated financial liabilities as they fall due on an ongoing basis as required by SLC 4B.1.
3) Tomato Energy has not, at all times, notified the Authority of Trigger Points as required by SLC 4B.8 either:
i. as soon as reasonably practicable but no later than 7 days after it becomes aware that there is a Material risk that any of the Trigger Points set out in sub-paragraphs (a) to (d) of SLC 4B.8 will occur; and
ii. as soon as reasonably practicable but no later than 7 days after it becomes aware that any of the Trigger Points in SLC 4B.8 have occurred.

So with that and the active winding up petition lead by HMRC and joined by the additional creditor Doctor Cost Limited TA Dr Cost at the end of last week - things do not look great !

Newbie_John

WibbleBaaaaaa said:

Alex_ST said:

tlcgrantham said:

   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. 

Agreed. I have had a LOT of trouble with energy suppliers over the years. Scottish power, octopus, utility warehouse all managed to make a real mess of my complex account. 

All have been ordered to pay compensation to customers for these failures. My experience with Tomato has been very good. The tariff is excellent & has been applied correctly from day 1. I am saving hundreds £££. The bills arrive once a month and I only have to pay what I use—not some randomly assessed (usually too high) direct debit which means the energy company sits on my money half the year. 

If there are any issues I can phone, speak to a UK agent straight away and get things sorted immediately. I’ve literally never experienced that with another energy supplier. 

Those of you rooting for their failure & trying to expedite it by scaring customers into leaving need to get a more productive hobby, I would suggest. 

Same old faces still jumping with joy at the thought of TE going under, and who all jumped away from TE, but who are now grinding their teeth every day TE exists over the fact that the people who stuck with them are all still enjoying way cheaper SC and tariff rates, and they are not............but wait until  September, and if TE are still here, they will all be all crawling back to TE on their bellies, quietly of course, like the boothy lawyers thay have all turned out to be.

Go TE, continue to prove these crystal ball frauds totally wrong.

Exactly, honestly it's like reading Trustpilot reviews and picking the worst, yes sometimes things go wrong, but for majority is all fine.

Let's pick a company, Amazon, Google, Expedia.. if we were to carry research they are constantly under investigation, avoid paying taxes, get fined in millions, have customers who had big problems.. and what? 
People still use them as they are fine for majority.

Like any other company, electricity provider can go down, there are processes for that in place.

Reading posts since 2024 about every single issue found on websites that majority of us head no clue.. and that's by people who are not the customers makes no sense. Go and have a look at your provider instead .

JohnPo

So I have a 'decided' ombudsman decision against Tomato for 'mis-selling - online' which was confirmed on the 13th June based on their incorrect website pricing in November last year.  They have until the 11th July to implement the decision (financial redress).

I'd almost like to run a sweep stake as to whether I actually get to see the £160  awarded to me - LOL!

MWT

For the cheer-leaders, I'm sure you will want to focus on the good news...

This means you are probably going to be able to stay with Tomato at least through the end of August as that is the next action date for Ofgem.

Tomato can of course decide to stop any time they want, but there shouldn't be any other Ofgem actions before August 31st unless it is precipitated by Tomato themselves.

masonic

JohnPo said:

So I have a 'decided' ombudsman decision against Tomato for 'mis-selling - online' which was confirmed on the 13th June based on their incorrect website pricing in November last year.  They have until the 11th July to implement the decision (financial redress).

I'd almost like to run a sweep stake as to whether I actually get to see the £160  awarded to me - LOL!

They owe me £80, but it will be another 7 weeks before I can even go to the Ombudsman. I am rooting for them to survive at least that long.

Meanwhile, so far this month, I have actually made a saving on Agile Octopus, though I don't expect that to continue, especially with everything kicking off in the middle east.

GingerTim

WibbleBaaaaaa said:

Alex_ST said:

tlcgrantham said:

   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. 

Agreed. I have had a LOT of trouble with energy suppliers over the years. Scottish power, octopus, utility warehouse all managed to make a real mess of my complex account. 

All have been ordered to pay compensation to customers for these failures. My experience with Tomato has been very good. The tariff is excellent & has been applied correctly from day 1. I am saving hundreds £££. The bills arrive once a month and I only have to pay what I use—not some randomly assessed (usually too high) direct debit which means the energy company sits on my money half the year. 

If there are any issues I can phone, speak to a UK agent straight away and get things sorted immediately. I’ve literally never experienced that with another energy supplier. 

Those of you rooting for their failure & trying to expedite it by scaring customers into leaving need to get a more productive hobby, I would suggest. 

Same old faces still jumping with joy at the thought of TE going under, and who all jumped away from TE, but who are now grinding their teeth every day TE exists over the fact that the people who stuck with them are all still enjoying way cheaper SC and tariff rates, and they are not............but wait until  September, and if TE are still here, they will all be all crawling back to TE on their bellies, quietly of course, like the boothy lawyers thay have all turned out to be.

Go TE, continue to prove these crystal ball frauds totally wrong.

Every time you make a post decrying 'crystal ball frauds' another bit of news comes out about a regulator taking some sort of action against Tomato. Are you the anti-Nostradamus? 😉