Outfox The Market Direct Debit changes
Comments
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I wonder if they are in financial trouble...
I had a Membership fee increase a few months ago
a Rate increase last week
And now they want a massive hike in our Direct Debits for the winter months.
This stinks of 'get the customers in' by offering cheap energy and then sneak in extra charges as time goes on. Nobody wants to switch just before Christmas as switching means we are out of pocket for a few weeks because of payment overlaps. I wonder what OFGEM would say ??0 -
They must be in am absolute mess and I presume are making a last ditch attempt at saving them selves.
I was paying my last company £46 a month and this covered my usage over a 12 month period. This ended in August, outfox set my direct debits at £65 a month and when I contacted them they wanted to leave it a few months the to see my usage before they lowered it.
Email today winter direct debits £109 and summer £ 47.
Switched this morning, can I stop them taking a direct debit of £109?0 -
Ah just came on to ask this question. We are refugees from Iresa/Octopus.
They want to ramp DD from £103 to £181 (Oct-Mar) and £78 (Apr-Sept), just more hassle and my Iresa account isn't sorted nor my Octopus account............arghhhhhhhhhh!0 -
Good to see a thread is already going on this as I'm disgruntled as well, albeit a fair amount less impacted than others by the looks of it.
I switched in September and have so far endured a price rise for each month since but the direct debit think is less than pleasing. I was pleased to be paying just £40 a month for my electricity and gas and with my previous suppliers was also paying under £50 a month for both. Now I'm being advised over £70 a month for the winter then £30 a month for the Summer months. Not great to have a nearly doubled direct debit right before Christmas...
I argued the case on chat (looks like I'm lucky to have got that according to other reports on here) and got a fantastic response that this Winter is the harshest one for years???!!
I was curious to know how they knew that as so far it's been mild...
I also pointed out that paying just under £50 a month with my previous suppliers I ended up with about £150 credit balance when I switched and barely ever went into debit.
The response was that I could request a refund and that everyone was affected the same, chat as follows (advisor name removed as don't want to incriminate them as they were probably just saying as advised):
[FONT="]Me: Is it possible to opt out of the direct debit arrangement? [/FONT]
[FONT="]Advisor: All customer's are affected by this change Sir [/FONT]
[FONT="]Me: I prefer to have a regular fixed monthly payment and the plan is nearly twice what I pay at the moment right before Christmas [/FONT]
[FONT="]With my old supplier I paid about £50 all year round and ended up with a credit balance [/FONT]
[FONT="]Advisor: We do understand your concern Sir [/FONT]
[FONT="]This change is being implemented so that your account does not go into debt during the winter - one of the harshest in recent years [/FONT]
[FONT="]Me: The estimate is based on me having very high usage over winter but I think this would result in me having a big credit balance. [/FONT]
[FONT="]How do you know it would be one of the harshest as it's been very mild so far? [/FONT]
[FONT="]Advisor: Sir with regards to your credit balance, if you are very high in credit we can request a refund [/FONT]
[FONT="]This would be better than being in debt [/FONT]
[FONT="]Me: I stayed in credit with both my previous suppliers paying about £50 a month all year round. £70+ a month is way more than the £40 a month I'm paying now and right before Christmas is when I need the money the most so December isn't a good time for me [/FONT]
[FONT="]How much would I need to be in credit for to get a refund as I may ask when I'm £100 in credit [/FONT]
[FONT="]Advisor: I do understand this [/FONT]
[FONT="]Me: I had about £150 credit balance when I switched over [/FONT]
[FONT="]Advisor: Sir whenever you do think you're too high in credit simply contact us and we will request a refund [/FONT]
[FONT="]Me: How long does a refund take though? [/FONT]
[FONT="]Advisor: Once approved, up to 10 working days [/FONT]
[FONT="]Me: How would it be approved? [/FONT]
[FONT="]Can that be done just through chat? [/FONT]
[FONT="]Advisor: To clarify [/FONT]
[FONT="]If you are ever high enough in credit where you think it warrants a refund, simply contact us via phone. webchat or email [/FONT]
[FONT="]If our refunds department approve your request [/FONT]
[FONT="]Within 10 working days a refund is issued and visible in your account [/FONT]0 -
Good to see a thread is already going on this as I'm disgruntled as well, albeit a fair amount less impacted than others by the looks of it.
I switched in September and have so far endured a price rise for each month since but the direct debit think is less than pleasing. I was pleased to be paying just £40 a month for my electricity and gas and with my previous suppliers was also paying under £50 a month for both. Now I'm being advised over £70 a month for the winter then £30 a month for the Summer months. Not great to have a nearly doubled direct debit right before Christmas...
I argued the case on chat (looks like I'm lucky to have got that according to other reports on here) and got a fantastic response that this Winter is the harshest one for years???!!
I was curious to know how they knew that as so far it's been mild...
I also pointed out that paying just under £50 a month with my previous suppliers I ended up with about £150 credit balance when I switched and barely ever went into debit.
The response was that I could request a refund and that everyone was affected the same, chat as follows (advisor name removed as don't want to incriminate them as they were probably just saying as advised):
[FONT="]Me: Is it possible to opt out of the direct debit arrangement? [/FONT]
[FONT="]Advisor: All customer's are affected by this change Sir [/FONT]
[FONT="]Me: I prefer to have a regular fixed monthly payment and the plan is nearly twice what I pay at the moment right before Christmas [/FONT]
[FONT="]With my old supplier I paid about £50 all year round and ended up with a credit balance [/FONT]
[FONT="]Advisor: We do understand your concern Sir [/FONT]
[FONT="]This change is being implemented so that your account does not go into debt during the winter - one of the harshest in recent years [/FONT]
[FONT="]Me: The estimate is based on me having very high usage over winter but I think this would result in me having a big credit balance. [/FONT]
[FONT="]How do you know it would be one of the harshest as it's been very mild so far? [/FONT]
[FONT="]Advisor: Sir with regards to your credit balance, if you are very high in credit we can request a refund [/FONT]
[FONT="]This would be better than being in debt [/FONT]
[FONT="]Me: I stayed in credit with both my previous suppliers paying about £50 a month all year round. £70+ a month is way more than the £40 a month I'm paying now and right before Christmas is when I need the money the most so December isn't a good time for me [/FONT]
[FONT="]How much would I need to be in credit for to get a refund as I may ask when I'm £100 in credit [/FONT]
[FONT="]Advisor: I do understand this [/FONT]
[FONT="]Me: I had about £150 credit balance when I switched over [/FONT]
[FONT="]Advisor: Sir whenever you do think you're too high in credit simply contact us and we will request a refund [/FONT]
[FONT="]Me: How long does a refund take though? [/FONT]
[FONT="]Advisor: Once approved, up to 10 working days [/FONT]
[FONT="]Me: How would it be approved? [/FONT]
[FONT="]Can that be done just through chat? [/FONT]
[FONT="]Advisor: To clarify [/FONT]
[FONT="]If you are ever high enough in credit where you think it warrants a refund, simply contact us via phone. webchat or email [/FONT]
[FONT="]If our refunds department approve your request [/FONT]
[FONT="]Within 10 working days a refund is issued and visible in your account [/FONT]
How do they know it is going to be a harsh winter. It's been a mild Spring?0 -
This is what I got from the comments on facebook.
" So just got through to them on the phone and this is what they said. 1. They have a new system that has estimated our usage over the winter
2. They can review the DD's after 14 days, yet the DD will take effect from 10 days
3. Now this is the interesting one she let slip, their costs have gone up and they need to increase OUR DD's to make sure they cover THEIR costs over the winter period!
I will be taking my account elsewhere I am not paying more money to prop up a business that is in trouble!"0 -
Just had "the" email and subsequently started the switch process to another supplier 10 mins later! Bye, bye OFTM.0
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Its all from a generic email theres no increase when you work it out.
I am in credit but email says direct debit is not covering, it is.
I would rather pay an average and build up in summer carrying it forward and over the winter, balances out same without paying extra where you most require that dosh. Quite the opposite to OFCOM recommendations.
As you can see from this theres no increase 12 x £59.60 p/m present = 6 x £83.44 + 6 x £35.76 both total £715.20EstimatedApril to
Annual
Cost
Current
Direct Debit
October to
March
Monthly Direct Debit
September
Monthly Direct Debit
£715.20
£59.60
£83.44
£35.760 -
orangesnaps wrote: »3. Now this is the interesting one she let slip, their costs have gone up and they need to increase OUR DD's to make sure they cover THEIR costs over the winter period!
That was two months ago maybe more, they would have sent an email asking you whether you accept the price hike think around £3.5 p/m for us. Was around £56, now £59.6 p/m0 -
Dear Sirs.
Sent to OFTM , I await a response from the bandits
Today I received my email regarding the new direct debit scheme in which you calculate my annual electricity usage as a monetary value as opposed to the normal industry standard of KWh.
Please take time and fully digest the contents of this email.
You have advised the following
Annual Cost £2321.70 Existing DD £154.78 Winter DD £270.87 Summer DD £116.09
As you will see my current direct debit is £154.78 which annually equates to a usage of £1857.36. In very recent emails with your company attached we agreed that based on my annual usage for the previous 4 years including the last 12 months up to 8th October 2018 my usage would be calculated on an annual consumption of 14000 KWh. As you do not list the estimated KWh usage I can only assume that the price quoted is based on that figure.
Over the next 12 months you have estimated that I will spend £2321.70 plus the £323.91 that I am presently in credit with you. That is a grand total of £2645.71
When you compare this against last year’s spend of £1758.22 (Taken from my bills) you have estimated an increase in electricity consumption of £563.48 but when you add in my the credit on my account this equates to an increase of £887.39. Taken as a percentage of last year’s bill, this represents an increase of 50.4%.
In your email of 13th November 2018 advising the price increase (2 days ago) you quoted my annual costs as follows
Projected Annual cost £1856.45 New cost £2032.18 Increase £175.73
My direct debit was set for £154.78 giving me the annual usage of £1857.36. With your 10.9% increase as detailed in the aforesaid email my annual bill was to be £2032.18. When you divide this figure into 12 equal monthly payments it amount to a direct debit of £169.35 and this does not take into account the credit I carried over from last year.
Can you also please provide me with the KWh estimate you have used to calculate next year’s usage on as it is not detailed in any of you correspondence. Based on my explanation above I would like you to justify the 50.4% increase you have saddled me with.0
This discussion has been closed.
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