Tomato Energy

[tsedge]

What I'm liking about Tomato Energy is that you get billed for the electricity you've used, and not an over inflated monthly set payment where the provider gets to bank it and get the interest on it.

Are bills coming through reliably now? This is very attractive to me as I am completely fed up with smoothed billing with Octopus - this was the only piece I have been waiting for people to confirm before switching.

 

[mystreet]

Are bills coming through reliably now? This is very attractive to me as I am completely fed up with smoothed billing with Octopus - this was the only piece I have been waiting for people to confirm before switching.

Hi, My bill was on time for October and November on the 4th, paid on the 14th. Have not got this month's which is for the month of November.

The readings are showing in the MyWatts panel.

 

[Gadget Geek]

November's bill came through yesterday (9th December). The money for October's bill wasn't taken out until 3 weeks after I recieved the email. You just have to remember to keep the money ready in your account.

Edit: The myWatts app seems to be a lot more stable now and is really useful for showing your usage and how much it has cost.

 

[Susanna]

I transferred to Tomato Energy on 23rd September. I am still awaiting a bill, and there is no usage information on ‘mywatts’.

I have spoken to them many times, and they keep saying that they are able to read my smart meter, and it will be sorted soon.

I also have the ‘Hugo’ app, which shows my usage and costs, but I don’t understand why it’s taking TE so long to bill me!

 

[emmrecs]

Re: billing by Tomato Energy.

In earlier posts to this thread I commented on the fact that I joined Tomato on September 7th this year but am yet to receive a bill. myWatts doesn't work properly for my meter (many days are shown as Your data will be available soon).

As a result of no bills and very little data I raised a formal complaint. Then @johnb80 posted the item from Facebook (earlier in this thread) and it confirmed that, as I suspected, my SMETS1 meter was the problem!

This morning I received a phone call from Tomato Customer Service confirming that they could not get the correct data from my meter and offering me two options: 1, to transfer to their standard tariff (no cheaper than my previous supplier and no cheap rate period); or 2, stay as I am and accept that bills will arrive "eventually" and to ensure I have saved enough money to pay them. The latter I had already accounted for but, in addition, I was told that if no bill was produced within three months of my joining date (that anniversary has already passed!) I would receive a 15% discount; if the wait was 6 months the discount would be 50% and if 12 months or more it would be 100%!

Needless to say I chose option 2!

The Customer Service agent confirmed that, eventually, my meter would have to be upgraded to SMETS2 but, at the moment, Tomato cannot offer to carry out this but are actively seeking to be able to do so at some point in the future.

Overall, I think this shows quite exceptional customer service!

 

[Susanna]

@emmrecs I had a Smets2 meter installed by Octopus just a couple of weeks before joining TE, and I was told it takes 5 or 6 weeks for a new energy company to successfully access your meter.

From your very helpful information above, I shall just wait patiently, without prompting TE again!

 

[MDWMG]

What I'm liking about Tomato Energy is that you get billed for the electricity you've used, and not an over inflated monthly set payment where the provider gets to bank it and get the interest on it.

What I'm liking about Tomato Energy is that, so far, it's been free!

I switched from Octopus Go at the end of September and have yet to receive a bill, so at this point I've had 70 days electricity from them without payment.

MyWatts shows estimated data (which is utterly wrong) for the first 16 days of October, and "fetching data" from then on.

As its a time of use tariff, I assume they are still working through the issue with meter readings being half an hour out from what they expected and my bills are in the work in progress pile.

 

[mystreet]

Re: billing by Tomato Energy.

In earlier posts to this thread I commented on the fact that I joined Tomato on September 7th this year but am yet to receive a bill. myWatts doesn't work properly for my meter (many days are shown as Your data will be available soon).

As a result of no bills and very little data I raised a formal complaint. Then @johnb80 posted the item from Facebook (earlier in this thread) and it confirmed that, as I suspected, my SMETS1 meter was the problem!

This morning I received a phone call from Tomato Customer Service confirming that they could not get the correct data from my meter and offering me two options: 1, to transfer to their standard tariff (no cheaper than my previous supplier and no cheap rate period); or 2, stay as I am and accept that bills will arrive "eventually" and to ensure I have saved enough money to pay them. The latter I had already accounted for but, in addition, I was told that if no bill was produced within three months of my joining date (that anniversary has already passed!) I would receive a 15% discount; if the wait was 6 months the discount would be 50% and if 12 months or more it would be 100%!

Needless to say I chose option 2!

The Customer Service agent confirmed that, eventually, my meter would have to be upgraded to SMETS2 but, at the moment, Tomato cannot offer to carry out this but are actively seeking to be able to do so at some point in the future.

Overall, I think this shows quite exceptional customer service!

My son had the same (nearly) call today. Was told that there is a problem with the SMETS1 meters and that it should be sorted out by the 31st December. He also opted for option 2.

 

[johnb80]

What I'm liking about Tomato Energy is that you get billed for the electricity you've used, and not an over inflated monthly set payment where the provider gets to bank it and get the interest on it.

And it's cheaper
And theres no messing with flaky software scheduling
And you can talk to the CEO
And, theyve really got Octopus rattled (Octopus insisted that Tomato didnt call their agile tariff Agile, how ridiculous)

 

[Gomev]

..
And, theyve really got Octopus rattled (Octopus insisted that Tomato didnt call their agile tariff Agile, how ridiculous)

That's simply protecting a trade name for the tariff, not exactly unheard of by all brands and I'm sure it's not because Octopus are 'rattled'. It's not an agile tariff it's a tariff that changes price by the time/wholesale cost and is called Agile by Octopus.
Imagine a burger joint opening up and calling one of it's burgers a Big Mac or a Whopper. Would you be surprised if they were challenged ?

 

[Gadget Geek]

That reminds me of a fast food establishment in Upper Gornal near Dudley, it was called "Kent's Tuck In Fried Chicken". Guess who objected to that.

 

[salty]

That reminds me of a fast food establishment in Upper Gornal near Dudley, it was called "Ken's Tuck In Fried Chicken". Guess who objected to that.

Macdonalds?

 

[Gadget Geek]

My mistake, it was "Kent's Tuck In Fried Chicken". I've just looked on Google Street, and it's still there! (although the name is slightly different)

 

[salty]

My mistake, it was "Kent's Tuck In Fried Chicken". I've just looked on Google Street, and it's still there! (although the name is slightly different)

Always think it's really petty, when a big corporation like KFC. Objects to things like that. (How do they actually find out about it) As though they are a threat.
It's just a laugh really.
Pathetic.

 

[johnb80]

That's simply protecting a trade name for the tariff, not exactly unheard of by all brands and I'm sure it's not because Octopus are 'rattled'. It's not an agile tariff it's a tariff that changes price by the time/wholesale cost and is called Agile by Octopus.
Imagine a burger joint opening up and calling one of it's burgers a Big Mac or a Whopper. Would you be surprised if they were challenged ?

I disagree, what about 'EV' tariff, 'GT' versions of cars etc, IMHO it's a class of tariff like economy 7 or Dual Rate. You say it's not an Agile tariff, what is an Agile tariff?
Octopus are sensitive to the number of people leaving going to Tomato and this is showing just showing they're feeling the niggling little pain that TE are causing.

 

[Gomev]

I disagree, what about 'EV' tariff, 'GT' versions of cars etc, IMHO it's a class of tariff like economy 7 or Dual Rate. You say it's not an Agile tariff, what is an Agile tariff?
Octopus are sensitive to the number of people leaving going to Tomato and this is showing just showing theyre feeling the niggling little pain that TE are causing.

Of course you disagree. EV tariff and GT are generic terms. If you'd read my post carefully you would also have seen my description of What the Octopus Agile tariff is, but to further help you it's also a time of day tariff where there is no regular fixed price by time.
Perhaps TE should call one of their tariffs GO, that would have Octopus positively quaking in their boots.
We all know you hold a grudge against Octopus and dis them at every opportunity but do you really believe that Octopus is rattled by TE. Until TE do an 'Octopus' and transform the sector with innovative technology or something revolutionary they are just another small company like SO energy or Utility Warehouse reselling electricity.

 

[Gadget Geek]

I disagree, what about 'EV' tariff, 'GT' versions of cars etc, IMHO it's a class of tariff like economy 7 or Dual Rate. You say it's not an Agile tariff, what is an Agile tariff?
Octopus are sensitive to the number of people leaving going to Tomato and this is showing just showing theyre feeling the niggling little pain that TE are causing.

I suppose, being gramatically accurate, Agile Octopus, with an uppercase "A", is a title for a copyrighted tariff.

The Agile Octopus tariff is an agile tariff.

Edit: Although a tariff called "Agile Tomato" might be construed by lawyers as being deliberately misleading and infringing copyright (as was Kents Tuck Inn Fried Chicken).

 

[johnb80]

Of course you disagree.

No of course involved, I just don't agree with your statement

EV tariff and GT are generic terms.

And why wouldn't agile be a generic term?

If you'd read my post carefully you would also have seen my description of What the Octopus Agile tariff is, but to further help you it's also a time of day tariff where there is no regular fixed price by time.

Surely that's what agile is? I feel I must be missing something obvious here but I just don't see it.

Perhaps TE should call one of their tariffs GO, that would have Octopus positively quaking in their boots.

I doubt it but I'm sure they're noticing an impact, I would say the majority of Tomato customers have come from Octopus.

We all know you hold a grudge against Octopus and dis them at every opportunity but do you really believe that Octopus is rattled by TE.

A grudge isn't quite right, I feel let down by Octopus and no longer promote them. As I said above, I feel Tomato are an annoyance to Octopus and they're keeping a close eye on them. Greg Jackson is not the energy Evangelist that's portrayed and Octopus are far from squeaky clean in their operation.

Until TE do an 'Octopus' and transform the sector with innovative technology or something revolutionary they are just another small company like SO energy or Utility Warehouse reselling electricity.

I hope TE never try to transform sectors with flaky technology like Octopus do and the gimmicks like cinema ticket, free energy, free coffee etc all which is marketing hype, just keep it simple, low prices etc. Interesting how agile users that were gloating about free power a few weeks ago are now squealing at the 95p per kWh that seems to be forecast for the next few days.

 

[johnb80]

I suppose, being gramatically accurate, Agile Octopus, with an uppercase "A", is a title for a copyrighted tariff.

The Agile Octopus tariff is an agile tariff.

Edit: Although a tariff called "Agile Tomato" might be construed by lawyers as being deliberately misleading and infringing copyright (as was Kents Tuck Inn Fried Chicken).

Agreed, I don't see why Tomato couldn't have used the term in the description though. Anyway, no matter now, they have chosen another name.

Now I must get on with hoovering up, where's my Dyson?

 

[mystreet]

Just had my November bill in. Again it is roughly £30 cheaper than expected.

I then looked up last years bill from Octopus for the (nearly) same period. I used 100 kWh more than last year and it cost £29.67 less.

I know that prices have dropped a bit, but I'm still happy with the smaller bill.