Octopus Energy - has anyone recently taken a 12m fixed?

Xbigman

I'm not sure the above tariff data is right.

The bottom image is the V2 tariff that I applied for on the 6th August. The top image is the V3 tariff that went through on the 8th August (sorry but I only switched Gas). The V4 tariff was a few days later. 
You may be asking for the wrong version.

The rates are so close together it makes about 50p a year difference to me.

This is Midlands (west).

mac.d

I've now been switched to the tariff I requested with an apology for the confusion. It's at least one good thing about doing it via email, there is clear timeline and trail to trace back should any 'confusion' occur!

ZiggyTheBadger

When I checked Octopus tariffs before (we were switched from Shell) they were relatively logical in that "Octopus 12M Fixed July 2024 v1" was followed by "Octopus 12M Fixed July 2024 v2" and so on, until the next month. When I've been checking recently the "current" shows "Octopus 12M Fixed August 2025 v1", while the v2, v3, v4 and v5 all show as "historical" rather than current.

It all looks a bit underhand to me. What are they doing? The v2, v3, v4, v5 are all (a little) lower than v1, are they there as some sort of comparison site dodge in they appear for a few hours to top lists and then get withdrawn? There isn't any obvious way of working out when a new tariff was due or has appeared. They don't list the tariffs obviously on the website (they're hidden in bottom menus on only some pages). The website tariff switch has only worked when the previous tariff expired, no other time that I've checked. They will respond to email requests to change tariffs, but several times I have had to chase it, or they have misread what I'm trying to switch. 

I don't really get why Octopus get the customer service plaudits when they indulge in what seems such such childish trickery. All they really have going for them is the no penalty switch, might be worth switching to a more adult supplier.

wakeupalarm

ZiggyTheBadger said:

are they there as some sort of comparison site dodge in they appear for a few hours to top lists and then get withdrawn? 

I think you have hit the nail on the head,  When they launched some of these versions, I got emails from some comparison sites telling me there were now cheaper options.  Version 4 and 5 were launched and closed on the same day.

As for Octopus CS, it has gone way down over the last 2 years, to the point were you have to complain in order to get the most simple things corrected.  I think their frontline staff are just AI bots now and only a few human beings remain in the "executive" team.

ZiggyTheBadger

wakeupalarm said:

 Version 4 and 5 were launched and closed on the same day.

Useful information, thanks. It's not as if it's a few pennies either way, the electricity prices of the August v5 tariff were over 13% lower than v1; that's over £100 per year for the Ofcom "average" household.

vic_sf49

ZiggyTheBadger said:

When I checked Octopus tariffs before (we were switched from Shell) they were relatively logical in that "Octopus 12M Fixed July 2024 v1" was followed by "Octopus 12M Fixed July 2024 v2" and so on, until the next month. When I've been checking recently the "current" shows "Octopus 12M Fixed August 2025 v1", while the v2, v3, v4 and v5 all show as "historical" rather than current.

It all looks a bit underhand to me. What are they doing? The v2, v3, v4, v5 are all (a little) lower than v1, are they there as some sort of comparison site dodge in they appear for a few hours to top lists and then get withdrawn? There isn't any obvious way of working out when a new tariff was due or has appeared. They don't list the tariffs obviously on the website (they're hidden in bottom menus on only some pages). The website tariff switch has only worked when the previous tariff expired, no other time that I've checked. They will respond to email requests to change tariffs, but several times I have had to chase it, or they have misread what I'm trying to switch. 

I don't really get why Octopus get the customer service plaudits when they indulge in what seems such such childish trickery. All they really have going for them is the no penalty switch, might be worth switching to a more adult supplier.

If you check for new tariffs as often as I do (I tip off 3 other families to better rates, so check almost daily), you see all the very short lived ones.

There is nothing underhand about them changing the rates, daily if they choose to. 

A lot of the versions had changes to E7, but not necessarily single rate electric, and gas. 

Either look for better rates regularly, or don't. There is no logic as to when they change them. 

When I spot a better rate, I email asking to switch to it, which might not get actioned for a few days, but has always been back dated to when I emailed, or to whatever I requested, such as the next day. 

squirrelpie

Lorian said:

Make sure you are talking to an agent not just their AI

If you're using email, how do you know whether you're talking to a person or an AI?

ZiggyTheBadger

vic_sf49 said:

If you check for new tariffs as often as I do (I tip off 3 other families to better rates, so check almost daily), you see all the very short lived ones.

There is nothing underhand about them changing the rates, daily if they choose to. 

A lot of the versions had changes to E7, but not necessarily single rate electric, and gas. 

Either look for better rates regularly, or don't. There is no logic as to when they change them. 

When I spot a better rate, I email asking to switch to it, which might not get actioned for a few days, but has always been back dated to when I emailed, or to whatever I requested, such as the next day. 

Octopus pricing strategy is that only customers able and willing to put daily, or even hourly effort into constantly checking the offered rates on multiple comparison sites get the best deals. You may be in a minority happy with that, but most customers are unlikely to agree they have the time or attention span. 

Nothing underhand about Octopus dipping the offer by around £100 per year, unannounced, for a few hours? Nothing underhand about Octopus expecting customers to check that 12 month fix rate several times a day if they want it? Nothing underhand about Octopus leaving the promised online tariff swap un-fixed for more than a year? Nothing underhand about Octopus hiding the actual tariffs in a link at the bottom of only a few of their web site pages? Nothing underhand about Octopus notifying these changes to comparison sites (to which they pay commission) while not notifying customers directly?

Other companies, Scottish Power for one, made a habit of offering lower price deals through comparison sites than they did through their customer website. Scottish Power (rightly) regularly come bottom of customer service tables by Which? and others. Octopus is a company that self publicises as "the UKs most trusted energy supplier", that doesn't match what they actually do behind the facade.