Octopus Refunds

Thefotoman

Octopus again! I am over £200 in credit with Octopus and in response to them asking me to deposit even more money with them, I have requested a refund. I now receive a message saying they will review it and let me know if it they have approved it!

This is MY MONEY (they are NOT a BANK!) and they have the audacity to think they have the authority to either refund me or not! I find this practice very dubious and more akin to a company run by the Mafia!

Thefotoman

Octopus Energy has requested that I should have at least £296 credit in my account to avoid going into debt with them! Obviously they will be putting this money on deposit and collecting the interest but not passing anything on to me!
They are, in effect, purporting that I will have problems in affording to pay their bill. I find this practice disgusting. This deceitful action is normally the work of companies run by the likes of Trump and Infantino!.

Swipe

Just pay via Variable Direct Debit then if you don't like them holding your money.

WiserMiser

If you think Octopus are bad, you're likely to find anyone else far, far worse. At least they're very easy to contact and you don't even have to pay for the call.

As Swipe says, MVDD is the answer, but you'll have to email or call them.

TroubledTarts

So, taking the mild rant out of your posts.

Yes it's normal at the end of summer (couple of months) for customerd on direct debit to have a decent credit on their account for the expensive winter months to come.

It is for this reason that Octopus are suggesting that figure and not fleecing you or anything underhanded.

You can do as others have suggested and ask them to put you on pay monthly variable direct debit and as long as you are money savvy and know your usage and bills and stay up to date with energy pricing the winter big monthly payments won't be surprised or ruin your Christmas.

bristolleedsfan

https://octopus.energy/blog/getting-a-refund-from-octopus-just-got-faster/

HumberFlyer

I am £239 in credit at the moment…. octopus has not asked me to increase, but I have just increased my dd by £30 this morning…. preparing for the expensive months coming shortly.

QrizB

I'm wondering how your reply is timed as earlier than your original post, but that's a mystery for another day 🙂

As Octopus and others have said, the credit is to ensure your balance doesn't go negative over the winter months. Octopus's T&C require that you keep your account in credit at all times (most other suppliers have the same T&C term).

If you don't want to carry a credit balance, change your payment to Monthly Variable Direct Debit. Every month you'll automatically be charged enough to clear your bill, no more and no less.

Jemma01

Not unusual, I've got about £487 credit. and I know my winter bills are £250/m 🫩 they tried to up my monthly payment to £85 this August, but I'm keeping it at £65, since my PV is generating at worst £100/m. I reckon by February I'd have ran out of credit 🤔