Outfoxthemarket

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drbanni
drbanni Posts: 2 Newbie
in Energy
Anyone had any experience with Outfox the market ? Prices are astoundingly low, but it all looks a bit dodgy !
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  • footyguy
    footyguy Posts: 4,157 Forumite
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    http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php?t=5716223
  • JJ_Egan
    JJ_Egan Posts: 20,281 Forumite
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    To outfox the market requires buying in bulk in advance of the market rises .

    Only tariff i checked is the same as my current costs . PLUS a monthly membership cost minimum £14 Pm but no standing charges .
  • footyguy
    footyguy Posts: 4,157 Forumite
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    edited 23 September 2017 at 2:32PM
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    drbanni wrote: »
    ... Prices are astoundingly low,...

    Not really

    I just did a check on my usage - needed to assume I was on a single rate electricity tariff as they don't offer E7

    Anyway, on that basis for us (as low users) we were quoted £488.50pa via their website (price includes their membership fees)

    Consulting a comparison site (I used EHL) I could obtain the same gas & electricity on the same basis from another dual fuel supplier for just £484 pa.

    When I look at seperate suppliers, the total annual cost reduces to £478pa according to the output from EHL.

    Also these rates from EHL are fixed, so no chance of the tariff increasing for 12 months.
    (In the unlikely event of someone coming along later with a cheaper tariff, the dual fuel supplier at least allows switching without incurring any early exit charge)

    Edit1: I'm not sure if the VAT is inclusive in the supplier quotation (it is in all prices from EHL) as their terms clearly state:
    6.4 We’ll add VAT to our charges at the applicable rate (currently 5% for energy usage, 20% for any other charges).
    Anyway, even if we look on the positicve side, the supplier's charges are far from astonishingly low, being easily beaten by others (at least for us, assuming a single rate electricity meter) by reference to any comparison site
    (we save even more by being on E7)
  • drbanni
    drbanni Posts: 2 Newbie
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    For me it looked promising as I'm a high user.
    However, when I engaged in a web chat, the guy on the other end (one mentioned in the testimonials) was working off his phone, so at home I guess, and in the course of the chat mistakenly sent me a link to a very expensive Swiss watch site !
    As is stands, I suspect this is 3 or 4 wealthy finance guys looking to make a killing - very personal service now which might well not be the case if it catches on.
  • footyguy
    footyguy Posts: 4,157 Forumite
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    drbanni wrote: »
    For me it looked promising as I'm a high user.
    ...

    Hmmm...:cool:

    Did a similar comparison based on 4000kWh of electricity and 20,000kWh of gas (well above average usage)

    Your "promising" supplier quotes £1116.99 based on the Eastern supply region
    Yet a quick look at any comparison site shows the same gas & electricity could cost as little as £1089 from a dual fuel supplier.

    But carry on plugging away...

    Good luck!
  • Neil_Jones
    Neil_Jones Posts: 8,913 Forumite
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    edited 24 September 2017 at 7:39PM
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    This doesn't show up on the Energy Club but I can get access to it through USwitch.

    Uswitch seems to suggest there are standing charges which I presume go towards the "Energy Hero Club Membership". An article on utiliyweek.co.uk says "[Head of operations Brad] Goodfellow said for a monthly membership fee and a standing charge, customers will be able to buy electricity directly at wholesale prices." (my emphasis)

    Crunching the numbers for a low user like myself in the traditional manner using the USwitch figures, this would save me £22.23 on my bills. However the Outfoxthemarket site "quote me figures" tells me £500 a year as a low user which doesn't tally with my own calculations - in fact its the best part of £130 below what I worked it out to be on the uSwitch figures.

    Something doesn't seem right to me. However electricity unit price wise, knocks everything else out the park and the prices are marked on USwitch as variable but the site suggests they're fixed for 12 months.
  • griffb
    griffb Posts: 168 Forumite
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    Coming to the end of my Avro fixed term, I have been looking at Outfoxthemarket as they popped up on Uswitch as being one of the cheapest (along with Iresa). I'm resigned to having to pay significantly more than I am on the current contract, and would probably give them a try for a few months, were it not for the eye-wateringly large standing charge, sorry I mean "membership fee" of £168pa. Does it really cost them so much more to service a "heavy" user? If so why? If that charge were at a more reasonable level, ie the same as a "light user" it would provide a cushion against price rises on the variable contract
  • System
    System Posts: 178,094 Community Admin
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    griffb wrote: »
    Does it really cost them so much more to service a "heavy" user? If so why? If that charge were at a more reasonable level, ie the same as a "light user" it would provide a cushion against price rises on the variable contract

    Might there be a clue in the words 'membership fee'? Lots of low users with many membership fees may be a more attractive business model than a few customers who use lots of energy.
  • runningman100
    runningman100 Posts: 3 Newbie
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    I think the main appeal that has been missed here is that, as long as they do what they say they will do, there will be no need for an annual renegotiation of rates.

    If they simply sell you wholesale rates and add a membership fee to cover their overhead each month then in theory you get cheap energy every month (when I say cheap I mean tied to actual supply prices) and there will be no chance of being pushed over to an expensive standard variable tariff at the end of any fixed period.

    I personally think it's a very good idea, remains to be seen if they can deliver on their promise but surely it must be a sustainable model if they simply charge variable wholesale prices and a membership fee to cover the running costs, if the business is loss making you simply raise the membership fee and in theory wholesale rates should never be uncompetitive.
  • levineg10
    levineg10 Posts: 17 Forumite
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    Just signed up with https://www.outfoxthemarket.co.uk/Home.aspx and I am very impressed.

    First contact through web Cust was really good. They were very helpful, professional and polite. I look forward to going live with them on the 6th January 2018.

    They have no standing charge on either fuel. The membership fee is attached to the electricity. From what I can make out, there is no contractual term meaning you can switch to another provider if you’re not happy.

    The feedback on https://www.trustpilot.com is very good too. This is why I decided to switch to them.
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