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

diyeco

Low Energy user (1500kWhpa) ~75% night rate.
Tomato was great, but obvious it would go under before too long 
Got off British Gas ASAP since I hate them in principle (seems I am not alone).  Went to Scottish Power based on a price comparison website because Scottish refused to reveal the peak rate and S/C - only gave the off-peak rate.  Having joined the numbers were all wrong, they have apologised.
Went to So Energy, which was a shambles as described elsewhere, and they threw me out since I refused to pay their dubious Security Deposit - see elsewhere on this forum.
Just switched to Good Energy, who did a very quick switch, and on the EV tariff within 24 hours.

wrf12345

Interesting that BG got the Tomato customers, who almost by definition are people who know the energy market and probably won't want to stay with BG for very long - Octopus would have been a better match but Ofgem knows best, as usual.

born_again

wrf12345 said:

Interesting that BG got the Tomato customers, who almost by definition are people who know the energy market and probably won't want to stay with BG for very long - Octopus would have been a better match but Ofgem knows best, as usual.

 Supplier of Last Resort 

I think that covers it. Octopus may have said no, & knowing a lot were previous customers who moved.

Netexporter

born_again said:

wrf12345 said:

Interesting that BG got the Tomato customers, who almost by definition are people who know the energy market and probably won't want to stay with BG for very long - Octopus would have been a better match but Ofgem knows best, as usual.

 Supplier of Last Resort 

I think that covers it. Octopus may have said no, & knowing a lot were previous customers who moved.

Can Ofgem force a supplier to be SoLR, or is it always voluntary? I'm guessing the latter, as basket-case Bulb had to be nationalised to make at palatable for somebody to take on.

bristolleedsfan

wrf12345 said:

Interesting that BG got the Tomato customers, who almost by definition are people who know the energy market and probably won't want to stay with BG for very long - Octopus would have been a better match but Ofgem knows best, as usual.

Might have something to do with number of Business Customers Tomato E  had, read somewhere else Octopus can be picky about business customers they accept whereas B.G are not known to be picky.

QrizB

Netexporter said:

born_again said:
I think that covers it. Octopus may have said no, & knowing a lot were previous customers who moved.

Can Ofgem force a supplier to be SoLR, or is it always voluntary? I'm guessing the latter, as basket-case Bulb had to be nationalised to make at palatable for somebody to take on.

Ofgem look for volunteers first but yes, they can impose a SoLR if they don't get any acceptable offers.

decentchap100

I switched from BG to Octopus fairly quickly. On Intelligent Go for now but as I don't charge my car at home much I will give it a month or so and see if I'm actually better off going to Home Energy with a lower flat rate for any time of day.
Or possibly give Agile a try. It seems to be performing better than last winter at the moment.
Got my first (and final) BG bill yesterday but still no final bill from Tomato so there's about 6 weeks worth of usage that I haven't paid for yet.

tim_p

decentchap100 said:

I switched from BG to Octopus fairly quickly. On Intelligent Go for now but as I don't charge my car at home much I will give it a month or so and see if I'm actually better off going to Home Energy with a lower flat rate for any time of day.

Guessing you don’t have a home battery?

tlcgrantham

decentchap100 said:

I switched from BG to Octopus fairly quickly. On Intelligent Go for now but as I don't charge my car at home much I will give it a month or so and see if I'm actually better off going to Home Energy with a lower flat rate for any time of day.
Or possibly give Agile a try. It seems to be performing better than last winter at the moment.
Got my first (and final) BG bill yesterday but still no final bill from Tomato so there's about 6 weeks worth of usage that I haven't paid for yet.

Take a look at EDF FreePhase Dynamic. Similar but simpler and less risk than Agile. Depending on your region cheaper as well.

decentchap100

tim_p said:

decentchap100 said:

I switched from BG to Octopus fairly quickly. On Intelligent Go for now but as I don't charge my car at home much I will give it a month or so and see if I'm actually better off going to Home Energy with a lower flat rate for any time of day.

Guessing you don’t have a home battery?

No I don't. Been tempted to do it but the payback time is a bit on the long side considering I may move house in the next few years.