Economy Seven Energy reviews: Give your feedback

This uncaring, cold, callous, calculating company despises vulnerable & disabled customers and actively & deliberately targets them for abuse, harassment & disability discrimination in order to manipulate & bully them into switching away to another supplier so they can be rid of them!

DO NOT let any vulnerable, elderly, mentally ill or disabled loved ones go ANYWHERE NEAR this company or its other brands, (Economy 7 Energy, Outfox The Market, Fischer Energy, Foxglove Energy), or they will be subjected to unprofessional behaviour, unfair treatment, harassment, abuse and utter misery from grossly prejudiced staff & policies designed to upset such customers so much they leave, (it gets even worse if you dare to inform them your loved one should be on the Priority Services Register for vulnerability or disability)!

In addition to the huge problems around unlawful disability discrimination & unfair persecution of vulnerable customers, their systems & websites are unfit for purpose & insecure, plus the staff are ignorant , rude, patronising, insulting & fundamentally UNHELPFUL! Their so-called complaints department is the worst I have ever come across, in ANY industry and they have the dubious honour of making appalling Energy Suppliers such as IRESA, Extra Energy & isupplyenergy look good)!

Worse still, they are incapable of basic maths and make frequent, bad mistakes in overestimating your future use, and setting your direct debit at an eye-wateringly high level, (always in their favour conveniently)!

UNFIT to hold an Energy Supply Licence and only a matter of time before OFGEM and/or the Equality & Human Rights Commission step in & deal with them once and for all!

Likely to cause your disabled, mentally ill or disabled loved ones SERIOUS & SIGNIFICANT HARM & damage their health & wellbeing as well as deliberately inflicting financial difficulties so they can selfishly profit from the misery they have caused; Economy 7 Energy/Outfox The Market/Fischer Energy/Foxglove Energy represent a serious health risk & potentially even danger to life as they WILL NOT STOP once they get their 'teeth' into your vulnerable loved ones! SADLY, I speak from bitter experience!

A truly shocking, uncaring, profiteering company that looks upon disabled & vulnerable customers with scorn & singles them out for personal intimidation & corporate discrimination!!!!! - AVOID LIKE THE PLAGUE at all costs & please ensure your disabled, vulnerable relatives, friends or neighbours are kept well away from these morally bankrupt pretenders!!!!! – Certain to GO OUT OF BUSINESS soon, (if OFGEM doesn't strip them of their Energy Supply Licence or force them to close down first. like they did to IRESA, which this lot are far WORSE than & have sunk to new lows for an Energy Supplier), and sure to leave a trail of misery & horror stories in their wake!

This is a PRIME example of how right Martin is to lobby OFGEM to carry out a 'fitness' test before issuing a licence; IF they had done that for Economy 7 Energy, (and their sister brands; Outfox The Market, Fischer Energy & Foxglove Energy), they would never have passed and would not be able to rip-off & abuse Customers as they are doing!

I was just wondering, rather than change supplier again, whether to stick with it and just regularly ask them to repay my inevitable (thanks to the ridiculously high DD) credit balance. Has anyone done this with E7E and how easy was it? I know it took isupply over 2 months to repay a credit balance when I left.

wavelets wrote: »

You need to be careful when electing to quote only part of a term that you do not take that out of context.

Here is the full term on which you suggest to all to write a complaint as the hike is a clear breach of terms and conditions


You have missed the part in the contract that states they will give 30 Days' Notice for changes of contract which they failed to do; I got 1 Days' notice.

14.3
If we make changes to this contract that are disadvantageous to you, we will give you 30 days’ notice to let you know about the changes. If you do not agree with the changes, you can switch to another supplier without paying a termination fee.

1) Vulnerable or low income* Customers can FIGHT THIS and can still pay equally over 12 months! This is done under OFGEM rules on protecting vulnerable Customers; ask your supplier to provide an Income & Expenditure Form to fill in if you are vulnerable, disabled or on a low income, (the majority on benefits/pensioners/disabled/financial hardship/large debts etc. should have a good chance) - also immediately submit a FORMAL COMPLAINT, (make sure to use the words 'Formal Complaint' & email it to Complaints@Foxglove.Energy who handle complaints for all companies within the Bastian PLC group; 'Foxglove Energy'), if they ignore your request, or refuse to send the form to you, (which is usually by email but you can ask for a paper copy if you don't have access to a printer), or if they make it difficult or are obstructive & try to put you off or use delay tactics, (which are all strategies they usually deploy), or if they decline the application unfairly once you have returned the completed form, then take the complaint to the Ombudsman after 8 Weeks; set a reminder on your phone or mark on your calendar/diary to do this in 8 weeks from the day you complained; you can do this earlier if they provide a Final Response)!

*Make sure you are entered on their Priority Services Register if you are vulnerable; (OFGEM's definition of 'vulnerability' includes people on a low income or in lots of debt. as well as Customers with mental health problems & disabled ones). There is a downloadable PDF Form on their website, (bottom of the page under Priority Services Register on Eco 7 Energy, Outfox The Market & Fischer Energy home pages), but you can also just email the details they ask for over to the main email address for the company of the group who supplies you; kapow@outfoxthemarket.co.uk or hello@economyseven.co.uk or hello@fischerenergy.co.uk - Once you are on their Priority Services Register they have to make certain allowances, (regulated by OFGEM), such as allowing a nominated third person to discuss your account or complaint with them on your behalf, (which can include a trusted Family member or friend, or people from organisations such as Citizens Advice).

2) Outfox The Market, (& Eco 7 Energy), were in BREACH OF CONTRACT doing this in the way they did, (their contract promised they will give 30 Days’ Notice for changes to contract, but they gave just 1 days’ notice & then wrongly claimed they only need to give 10 days - which would have been correct for a simple, fair, proportionate DD increase, but this was a fundamental CHANGE TO THE CONTRACT TERMS which clearly stated monthly payments will be calculated by dividing annual use by 12); Outfox The Market have subsequently changed their Terms & Conditions to reflect the 70/30 Direct Debit payments but Eco 7 have not yet done so; as of 5th December 2018! Put in a FORMAL COMPLAINT for Breach Of Contract through failure to give sufficient notice, (legally it was an 'Unfair Contract Notice' and technically legally unenforceable)! Send complaints to Complaints@Foxglove.Energy - they will obviously deny they have done this, (if you said that day is light & night is dark they would deny that also; it's their 'default' position), but don't worry about this, just wait until 8 Weeks has passed and escalate the complaint to the Independent Energy Ombudsman which you can do over the phone: 0330 440 1624 or online via their website, or by post: Ombudsman Services: Energy, PO Box 966, Warrington, WA4 9DF.

The poor, unprofessional & unethical way this was communicated is also worth complaining about or including in your Formal Complaint, especially if you are Vulnerable, mentally ill, disabled, in financial hardship or lots of debt, or on a low income as by definition the 'shock' & impact of such unfair, bungled communications, calculations & mistakes are likely to have a greater detrimental impact, and worse effects on all such Customers, which the supplier was bound by OFGEM Rules to consider BEFORE making the changes & communicating them, (which they clearly failed to do), and is also likely to be indirect Disability Discrimination in breach of the protections provided for such people under the Equality Act 2010. Outfox The Market & Eco 7 Energy failed to comply with the Terms of their Energy Supply Licence, breached OFGEM Rules covering the protection & best interests of Vulnerable Customers and most likely contravened legal rights under the Equality Act, (search online under "vulnerable customers in the energy market" for more information). If you are concerned about this you can also contact the Equality Advisory and Support Service (EASS) by phone: 0808 800 0082 or via their website.

3) Eco 7 Energy, also part of Foxglove Energy, (all owned by Keith Bastian's Leicestershire based Bastian PLC which also owns Fischer Energy in addition to Outfox The Market & Eco 7 Energy), have also done exactly the same thing! - They gave just 1 days’ notice, overestimated my use and hit me with a massive unaffordable 75% increase in my direct debits. There was NO EXCUSE for this MISTAKE as I had submitted readings on a WEEKLY basis! After I submitted a FORMAL COMPLAINT, (and a great deal of patronising, ignorant, rude and unhelpful emails from them), they revised the figures to a roughly correct annual total but still an unaffordable 40% Direct Debit increase! I insisted I could not afford this amount each month in winter, (as my income is flat over 12 months & I can barely afford what I had been paying), and pointed out I was vulnerable & on a low income but they ignored this multiple times & even patronised me by sending an inappropriate email where they said I would learn to love this new system over time, with a SMILEY FACE, which was in reply to my email stating I was vulnerable, on a low income & could not physically afford anywhere near their proposed, incorrect, unfair increase & very stressed, anxious & worried about how I would afford to even eat!!! - Only after a great deal of arguing & being ignored, (over a protracted, stressful, upsetting, unnecessary, avoidable period of almost 2 weeks), did I get them to finally supply an Income & Expenditure Form! Once they had received the completed form, (and were issued with a Formal Complaint), they suddenly had a change of heart and allowed me to continuing to pay in equal payments over 12 months, at an affordable level well below their proposed monthly payment!

Complete the Income & Expenditure Form, (Citizens Advice can help with this if you need it), send it back to them, (the fastest way is to scan the completed, signed form & email it back to them as an attachment, but you can also post it). They have an obligation under OFGEM Rules to treat you fairly & a duty to consider your personal circumstances, vulnerability & ability to pay, if they fail to do this then submit a Formal Complaint!

PLEASE NOTE: If you are not classed as 'vulnerable' or on a low income this won't help you!

Gerry1 wrote: »

E7E are either operating a ‘Bait and Switch’ scam or are hopelessly incompetent. Judging by their very poor website and emails, I suspect it's a bit of both.

I had a slight degree of sympathy because they were by far the cheapest and have no doubt been caught out by the rises in wholesale prices, but they have been far from honest and transparent in their communications. As others have reported, they messed up big time by announcing a 70% increase in DDs, only to change it to 40% the next day.

But the worst deception was the latest email that gave new prices and then said "Based on your current usage, your estimated annual electricity consumption (EAC) is and your estimated gas consumption is Default Value". No, those aren't my typos, that sentence is pasted verbatim.

Their email stated 'Price Increase £32.69' for electricity but completely omitted the massive additional 'Price Increase £238.59' for gas ! The only clue was the price per kWh quietly changing from £0.0267/kWh to £0.0351/kWh. I joined E7E Dual Fuel in March 2018 at an annual rate of £1115 but after several hikes in quick succession it would be £1507 from January.

So I've switched to Avro !

They are not incompetent, but as cunning as a fox who’s just been appointed Professor of cunning at Oxford University (Blackadder)


I have analysed (in my case) what they have done.

When I joined, they estimated my annual bill, based on my submitted annual usage to be £1,065.23
THEN

First notification NOV 15
When they wanted to hike my DD, they did so by increasing this usage from £1,065.23 to £1,239.90 (new estimated cost!) and splitting the payments.

(From my spreadsheet however, I have calculated that this “new estimated cost” is actually based on a NEW TARIFF, unpublished at the time, but will be sprung upon me in two weeks’ time on NOV29.)

Second notification Nov 22
At this point however, the impending increase was unbeknown to me, so after raising a complaint I get a reduction,
To make this new DD estimate look plausible however, they lower the original cost estimate that I first submitted, from £1,065.23 to £991.92.
This new DD only covers these lower figures; therefore, there will be a shortfall at the end of the year.

Third notification Nov 29
They then inform me of a 7%electric AND a 35% increase in gas charges together with an absurdly low projection of annual costs (default values, whatever that means) in an attempt to disguise the true impact.

To do this, they now give my starting projected annual cost of £783.43 (down from £1,065.23), which, after adding their increase will, rise to £937.57 – still a saving!!

The reality of course is that the new projected annual cost will be £1065.23+£199.14
= £1,264.37

They must think we all fell from Christmas trees

This outfit is craftier than a fox and may be smarter than we are all giving them credit for. These are not schoolboy math errors, they have been carefully contrived.
If you leave these characters, make sure you do it when your DD credit is as low as possible.
.
I think this Foxy outfit devised a plan so cunning you could put a tail on it and call it a weasel. (Blackadder)