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

MWT

Alex_ST said:

GingerTim said:

JohnPo said:

Well we have been SOLR'd to British GAS 

https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/press-release/ofgem-appoints-british-gas-take-customers-tomato-energy

May God have mercy upon your souls.

What’s the issue here?

A systemic lack of knowledge of HH billed ToU tariffs would be a good place to start...

I'd have though it was highly unlikley that BG could usefully get involved in any historic billing so the administrators (if Tomato manage to find one willing) are on their own.

spot1034

GingerTim said:

Alex_ST said:

GingerTim said:

JohnPo said:

Well we have been SOLR'd to British GAS 

https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/press-release/ofgem-appoints-british-gas-take-customers-tomato-energy

May God have mercy upon your souls.

What’s the issue here?

British Gas are notoriously rubbish, combined with Tomato's own staggering incompetence.

I've been with BG for about eighteen months and their automated systems work very well. I accept that they don't have a great reputation when it comes to customer service, but if you don't need to talk to them they are fine. The information I get in my online account is very good, with full details of half-hourly smart meter readings, usually available by the end of the next day. They are certainly better than E.ON Next who I was with before, and they've had some quite cheap fixes during the time I've been with them (without doubt they've been more competitive than Octopus in the past year) and an internal move from one fix to another does not incur exit fees. In my view you could do worse.

JohnPo

Fortunately my billing from Tomato was up to date with no obvious errors - I have taken the precaution of taking manual meter readings again today of each active register, downloaded MyWatts data and filed away all invoices and related payments made.

I will keep trying a switch as at some point BG will have to a find a way to remove the automatic block which Tomato put on all accounts probably out of spite.  I was prepared to tolerate a cheap useless supplier, but not an expensive useless supplier - I was pleased to escape from BG after Neon Reef failed - and don't intend to hang around longer than I have to.

MWT

JohnPo said:

I will keep trying a switch as at some point BG will have to a find a way to remove the automatic block which Tomato put on all accounts probably out of spite.  

Once you have a BG account you should be able to leave.

Any blocks are probably there to protect the bulk transfer process.

GlitterMedusa

Like @spot1034 I find BG way more competent than E.ON Next. I spoke to BG CS once and they were really helpful, which was a pleasant surprise given their reputation. E.ON Next on the other hand were a complete PITA to deal with.

I have no idea how well, or not, BG will deal with the billing for the Tomato tariffs but they do 5 hours of half price electricity on Sundays, and the odd 2 hours half price at short notice, which uses HH data and so far I've not had any trouble with that. So they certainly seem to have the technical capability to deal with it, whether that happens in practice, well, you'll all find out out soon enough I guess.

Good luck to those of you who are going through the process!

Newbie_John

I've left TE mid October for Octopus, paid final bill to TE, and first bill to Octopus.

Received a text message from BG they will look after my bill from now on.. say what 😉?

hawkwind

I've just received a text message to say that Tomato energy have ceased trading so British gas will be looking after my supply.
Only problem is I'd already switched to Home Energy.

WiserMiser

hawkwind said:

I've just received a text message to say that Tomato energy have ceased trading so British gas will be looking after my supply.
Only problem is I'd already switched to Home Energy.

Beware that if you are with BG at some future point they're likely to backdate your start date to when they became SoLR for Tomato.  You'll be paying for the same kWh usage and standing charges that you've already paid to Home Energy.

Even if you complain and seem to get it solved, BG's billing system will keep repeating the same mistake.

masonic

Newbie_John said:

I've left TE mid October for Octopus, paid final bill to TE, and first bill to Octopus.

Received a text message from BG they will look after my bill from now on.. say what 😉?

Octopus are pretty good at notifying you immediately if a claim is made for your supply. So you should be able to bat them away if they come for you.

amz1909

so got the text message today... can i switch right away or wait for bg to set up accounts pls ?
Thanks