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Tomato Energy (Electric Only Supplier) - Too Good To Be True ?
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Few things:
I have discovered that i have a SMETS1 but Octopus are coming tomorrow to change it to SMETS2 within a few days of asking (top notch support). my meter hasn't worked since 26th Nov i suspect because 3G is being switched off, so maybe this worked in my favour.
Concerning having live usage data, if you're techy try something likehttps://www.instructables.com/DIY-Smart-Energy-Meter-With-ESP32-Home-Assistant
No doubt TE are cheaper , with a battery i would save £1,000 per year using Lifestyle. only downer is there lack of ambition to be green but seems same as many providershttps://electricityinfo.org/fuel-mix-of-uk-domestic-electricity-suppliers/
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There were lots of problems with some of the smaller companies that collapsed. Some of their customer records turned out to have been be shambolic at best.However, if Tomato only offer Variable DD then those problems wouldn’t apply.2
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lohr500 said:@alinwales
Definitely worth joining the Tomato Energy Users Group on FB.
Tons of TE specific info and feedback from folk who have signed up with TE.
I was an earlier contributor to the forum and along with several other early adopters of the TE Lifestyle tariff, flagged up serious errors with the time of use usage reporting on their myWatts website which in turn carried through to billing.
Both my September and October bills we incorrect due to the usage timing being 30 minutes out.
In the end I had little confidence in their ability to sort things out in a timely manner and I was worried that their business model was unsustainable. So I jumped ship in November.
The unit costs and standing charge are too good to be true and I can only assume they are prepared to take a loss with early adopters to build a customer base. Whilst they seem to have resolved some of the billing issues, they appear to be well out of their depth on managing the protocols for SMETS1 and some SMETS2 meters, explaining how their Agile equivalent tariff is billed and correcting the previously issued incorrect historic bills.
I am still waiting for a refund on the September & October overcharges. My case is now with the Ombudsman.
Fortunately I was able to find an alternative supplier (UW) who could offer 7 hours of off-peak electricity at £0.04929 per unit, albeit with a higher s/c than TE. With the imminent arrival of my battery storage, I should be able to avoid the very high £0.35 peak rate on all but the heaviest of demand days. So other than the s/c difference, my bill won't be vastly different to TE anyway.Ha, I've switched from UW. While most usage was overnight (i think 6.7p for me), the daytime rate of 35p was a lot, especially as the children are starting to shower more often (9kw * long time!) - the wife won't let me wake them at 3am to shower.Anyway. let's see how this goes. I did speak to TE sales this morning, they said 'We prefer it if you place an order over the phone as we can explain everything' to my question of why was my export being moved when that wasn't shown or agreed at point of sale. Anything else was replied with 'you'll have to redial and speak to customer service' . To which after 10 mins holding I gave up. Same with SP as I guess I can block the move from their and also.I did glean that I'd be on a fixed 7p export with TE, so have to figure out what a drop of 5p is - certainly I know that overall TE will be a lot lower... at the obvious risk of it all going pear shaped at some point.off topic - I downloaded the Hildebrand Bright app, as it works with any SMETS2 meter (saw noted in a TE group). Gives 30min usages near-live, and you can plug in the TOU cost profile to give a good indicator of cost to compare to future bills. then there's a website glowmarkt where you can download all historical usage too. Quite neat.0 -
Newbie_John said:Ok but even if they've collapsed today what would happen in the worst case scenario?
https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/what-happens-if-your-energy-supplier-goes-bust#:~:text=Wait for Ofgem to appoint a new supplier&text=Your new supplier will start,or supplier at any time.
You'll be moved to SOLR, who you can leave anytime - they may offer you the same rates, they may put you on the SVR tarrif. "Together" went bust on 18th Jan 2022 and new supplier British Gas was appointed on 24th Jan.
Possibly the few days between now and the previous bill may be charged at different rates..
Sure, the future looks uncertain - but you're not risking much really.I think in that situation I would not wait. SoLR, once appointed, can object to switches out until they've onboarded the stranded customers. This can take a few weeks (meaning essentially being locked into a tariff no worse than SVR for that period). I was stuck with ScottishPower for about a month. But we are getting ahead of ourselves...Of course there is a reasonable chance that the SoLR would be Octopus, especially given the high proportion of TOU customers (I guess)
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As of tomorrow I should be a TE customer. No request for a meter reading as yet, and I'll not be volunteering one as I'd much prefer them to use a smart reading they have taken.About an hour ago my Octopus Home Mini lost connection with my meter and it hasn't come back. Presume this is due to the impending switch. Data is currently trickling into the Bright app which I set up yesterday evening.1
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Am I completely missing it, or do Tomato Energy statements not include meter reads? Not a major issue, just noticed - I keep my own spreadsheet and wanted to cross check the opening read matched my old supplier's closing read. But no reads on the bill at all?
The monthly reads are shown on MyWatts (albeit dated 2 days after the bill date) and the numbers stack up with the usage.1 -
bagand96 said:Am I completely missing it, or do Tomato Energy statements not include meter reads? Not a major issue, just noticed - I keep my own spreadsheet and wanted to cross check the opening read matched my old supplier's closing read. But no reads on the bill at all?
The monthly reads are shown on MyWatts (albeit dated 2 days after the bill date) and the numbers stack up with the usage.
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masonic said:bagand96 said:Am I completely missing it, or do Tomato Energy statements not include meter reads? Not a major issue, just noticed - I keep my own spreadsheet and wanted to cross check the opening read matched my old supplier's closing read. But no reads on the bill at all?
The monthly reads are shown on MyWatts (albeit dated 2 days after the bill date) and the numbers stack up with the usage.0 -
Newbie_John said:Ok but even if they've collapsed today what would happen in the worst case scenario?
https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/what-happens-if-your-energy-supplier-goes-bust#:~:text=Wait for Ofgem to appoint a new supplier&text=Your new supplier will start,or supplier at any time.
You'll be moved to SOLR, who you can leave anytime - they may offer you the same rates, they may put you on the SVR tarrif. "Together" went bust on 18th Jan 2022 and new supplier British Gas was appointed on 24th Jan.
Possibly the few days between now and the previous bill may be charged at different rates..
Sure, the future looks uncertain - but you're not risking much really.
Came to same conclusion, Ofgem have gone all in on protecting consumers, so there is very little personal risk, its not like I am buying shares in the company.
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The first couple of half hours data have come through to MyWatts, and I got the 'Welcome to Tomato Energy' message on my IHD this morning, so it looks like my switch is complete. Meanwhile, Octopus took a smart read yesterday while they still had access and updated my balance, so I should have a bill on the way from them.Took a photo of my meter reading first thing this morning just in case it is needed.3
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