How do you change from one Octopus fixed tariff to another Octopus fixed tariff?

2013yearofthehouse

My mum is currently on fixed rate tariff with Octopus (due to end in May with no exit fees), but she would like to switch to the 16 month fixed rate loyalty tariff that Octopus are now offering and she thought she would be able to do this, since there are no exit fees on her current tariff. 

Using the Octopus app, she selects the ‘change tariff’ option on her account, which opens a webpage with the options for changing her tariff. She selects the 16 month loyalty tariff option and it quotes the prices (and a comparison with current tariff). She then presses where it says ‘review terms and confirm renewal’, which takes her to a page where she ticks the box to say she’s read the T&Cs and then selects ‘update tariff’ to confirm. However, she then gets a message saying “Your tariff isn't up for renewal yet. Come back closer to your tariff end date.”. 

Why is she getting this message, when it seems as though every other step suggests she already has the option to change tariff? I thought since there are no exit fees, that she would be able to change tariff whenever she wants to? I have seen several posts on this forum from other people saying they have switched from one Octopus fixed tariff to another Octopus fixed tariff (long before the usual 49 day allowance at the end of term, because there are no exit fees) or that they are considering doing so soon. Is there a different method for doing this? Or should it be working on the website? I’m not sure what we’re doing wrong/different to others?

Thank you

QrizB

Whenever I've wanted to change tariff with Octopus, and it hasn't been the end of my current deal, I've emailed hello@octopus.energy and the CS reps have sorted it out for me.

There might be other options but that one has always worked.

Alnat1

A phone call also works well, they make the switch while you're chatting to them. Usually answered in less than 5 minutes too.