Hi Vicky,

Today, Octopus has announced that it will acquire Bulb. You don't
need to
do anything, and we've answered all the questions we think you might
have
on our blog <http://bulb.co.uk/blog/bulb-update-for-members>.

But yesterday

== Please set up a Direct Debit ==
It looks like we don't have an active payment method for your account.
Please add one as soon as you can to stop your account going into
debt.

AND

then when I paid
Thanks for topping up £222.54. We've taken your payment from your
debit
card
You'll see it in your Bulb Account as soon as it's gone through.

Speak soon,
Team Bulb

+++++++++++++++

Speak soon sounded odd. And why ask to have DD set now?

Vicky <vicky.ayech@gmail.com> wrote:
> Hi Vicky,
>
> Today, Octopus has announced that it will acquire Bulb. You don't
> need to
> do anything, and we've answered all the questions we think you might
> have
> on our blog <http://bulb.co.uk/blog/bulb-update-for-members>.
>
> But yesterday
>
> == Please set up a Direct Debit ==
> It looks like we don't have an active payment method for your account.
> Please add one as soon as you can to stop your account going into
> debt.
>
> AND
>
> then when I paid
> Thanks for topping up £222.54. We've taken your payment from your
> debit
> card
> You'll see it in your Bulb Account as soon as it's gone through.
>
> Speak soon,
> Team Bulb
>
> +++++++++++++++
>
> Speak soon sounded odd. And why ask to have DD set now?
>

As an Octopus Energy customer, I usually see ‘Love and Power’ these days.

--
Toodle Pip, Mike McMillan

On Sat, 29 Oct 2022 11:52:23 +0100, Vicky <vicky.ayech@gmail.com>
wrote:

> Hi Vicky,
>
> Today, Octopus has announced that it will acquire Bulb. You don't
>need to
>do anything, and we've answered all the questions we think you might
>have
>on our blog <http://bulb.co.uk/blog/bulb-update-for-members>.
>
>But yesterday
>
> == Please set up a Direct Debit ==
>It looks like we don't have an active payment method for your account.
>Please add one as soon as you can to stop your account going into
>debt.
>
>AND
>
>then when I paid
> Thanks for topping up £222.54. We've taken your payment from your
>debit
>card
> You'll see it in your Bulb Account as soon as it's gone through.
>
> Speak soon,
> Team Bulb
>
>+++++++++++++++
>
>Speak soon sounded odd. And why ask to have DD set now?

They mentioned this on MoneyBox today (item started at approx 12.23).
Sorry, I was slightly tied up at the time (readers of uk.d-i-y will
know why) so I didn't take it all in but I did glance at my watch at
the time.

Hope this is of some use.

Nick

On 29.10.22 11:52, Vicky wrote:
> Hi Vicky,
>
> Today, Octopus has announced that it will acquire Bulb. You don't
> need to
> do anything, and we've answered all the questions we think you might
> have
> on our blog <http://bulb.co.uk/blog/bulb-update-for-members>.
>
> But yesterday
>
> == Please set up a Direct Debit ==
> It looks like we don't have an active payment method for your account.
> Please add one as soon as you can to stop your account going into
> debt.
>
> AND
>
> then when I paid
> Thanks for topping up £222.54. We've taken your payment from your
> debit
> card
> You'll see it in your Bulb Account as soon as it's gone through.
>
> Speak soon,
> Team Bulb
>
> +++++++++++++++
>
> Speak soon sounded odd. And why ask to have DD set now?

I have been with SSE for a few years. Apparently they are now OVO. I
have a contract with SSE which entails quarterly invoices which I then
pay. Apparently a benefit of OVO is that to keep on top of the energy
costs they will be sending me monthly invoices - which is not what I
agreed when I commenced the contract. Can they impose such a change?

--
Kosmo Richard W
www.travelswmw.whitnet.uk
https://tinyurl.com/KRWpics

On 29/10/2022 13:00, krw wrote:
>>
>
> I have been with SSE for a few years.  Apparently they are now OVO.  I
> have a contract with SSE which entails quarterly invoices which I then
> pay.  Apparently a benefit of OVO is that to keep on top of the energy
> costs they will be sending me monthly invoices - which is not what I
> agreed when I commenced the contract.  Can they impose such a change?

E-on did that to me. Just sent an e-mail saying they were now E-on Next
and that I had agreed to pay monthly by DD. I wrote back saying I had
agreed no such thing (I have always paid quarterly) and didn't wish to
do so. They ignored me.

I recently had reason to query something with Argos. They ignored me.

More recently I had reason to query something with Sainsbury. They
ignored me.

--
Jenny M Benson
Wrexham, UK

On 29.10.22 13:43, Jenny M Benson wrote:
> On 29/10/2022 13:00, krw wrote:
>>>
>>
>> I have been with SSE for a few years.  Apparently they are now OVO.  I
>> have a contract with SSE which entails quarterly invoices which I then
>> pay.  Apparently a benefit of OVO is that to keep on top of the energy
>> costs they will be sending me monthly invoices - which is not what I
>> agreed when I commenced the contract.  Can they impose such a change?
>
> E-on did that to me.  Just sent an e-mail saying they were now E-on Next
> and that I had agreed to pay monthly by DD.  I wrote back saying I had
> agreed no such thing (I have always paid quarterly) and didn't wish to
> do so.  They ignored me.
>
> I recently had reason to query something with Argos.  They ignored me.
>
> More recently I had reason to query something with Sainsbury.  They
> ignored me.
>

I understand from the good lady wife that once you reach a certain age a
woman becomes invisible. I know she has not reached that age because I
can still see her and hear her. Although not this week as she is in
Spain and I should not be here either - but my plans were cancelled
(well postponed but in consequence will be replanned so the original
plans will never be executed).

--
Kosmo Richard W
www.travelswmw.whitnet.uk
https://tinyurl.com/KRWpics

On 29/10/2022 13:00, krw wrote:
> On 29.10.22 11:52, Vicky wrote:
>>   Hi Vicky,
>>
>>   Today, Octopus has announced that it will acquire Bulb. You don't
>> need to
>> do anything, and we've answered all the questions we think you might
>> have
>> on  our blog <http://bulb.co.uk/blog/bulb-update-for-members>.
>>
>> But yesterday
>>
>>    == Please set up a Direct Debit ==
>> It looks like we don't have an active payment method for your account.
>> Please add one as soon as you can to stop your account going into
>> debt.
>>
>> AND
>>
>> then when I paid
>>   Thanks for topping up £222.54. We've taken your payment from your
>> debit
>> card
>>   You'll see it in your Bulb Account as soon as it's gone through.
>>
>>   Speak soon,
>>   Team Bulb
>>
>> +++++++++++++++
>>
>> Speak soon sounded odd. And why ask to have DD set now?
>
> I have been with SSE for a few years.  Apparently they are now OVO.  I
> have a contract with SSE which entails quarterly invoices which I then
> pay.  Apparently a benefit of OVO is that to keep on top of the energy
> costs they will be sending me monthly invoices - which is not what I
> agreed when I commenced the contract.  Can they impose such a change?
>
>
I believe that a contract can not be altered without the agreement of
both parties unless the contract states that one party can make
(presumably limited and specific) changes unilaterally. Of course, if
they have a good reason (from their perspective) to make the changes
that you disagree with they can probably ask you to stop being a customer.

--
Ric

On 29/10/2022 11:52, Vicky wrote:
> Hi Vicky,
>
> Today, Octopus has announced that it will acquire Bulb. You don't
> need to
> do anything, and we've answered all the questions we think you might
> have
> on our blog <http://bulb.co.uk/blog/bulb-update-for-members>.
>

Thanks for that Vicky. I have been thinking about switching back to
Octopus as they seem to have better overnight rates than Bulb.

The only reason I switched was so that I could get FIT payments - no
mention of these on the webpage, just Export payments paid 6 monthly.
Mine are paid quarterly and are just for notional export, so hope that
continues....

Jenny M Benson <NemoNews@hotmail.co.uk> wrote:
> On 29/10/2022 13:00, krw wrote:
>>>
>>
>> I have been with SSE for a few years.  Apparently they are now OVO.  I
>> have a contract with SSE which entails quarterly invoices which I then
>> pay.  Apparently a benefit of OVO is that to keep on top of the energy
>> costs they will be sending me monthly invoices - which is not what I
>> agreed when I commenced the contract.  Can they impose such a change?
>
> E-on did that to me. Just sent an e-mail saying they were now E-on Next
> and that I had agreed to pay monthly by DD. I wrote back saying I had
> agreed no such thing (I have always paid quarterly) and didn't wish to
> do so. They ignored me.
>
> I recently had reason to query something with Argos. They ignored me.
>
> More recently I had reason to query something with Sainsbury. They
> ignored me.
>

Who said that?

--
Toodle Pip, Mike McMillan

Jenny M Benson <NemoNews@hotmail.co.uk> wrote:
> On 29/10/2022 13:00, krw wrote:
>>>
>>
>> I have been with SSE for a few years.  Apparently they are now OVO.  I
>> have a contract with SSE which entails quarterly invoices which I then
>> pay.  Apparently a benefit of OVO is that to keep on top of the energy
>> costs they will be sending me monthly invoices - which is not what I
>> agreed when I commenced the contract.  Can they impose such a change?
>
> E-on did that to me. Just sent an e-mail saying they were now E-on Next
> and that I had agreed to pay monthly by DD. I wrote back saying I had
> agreed no such thing (I have always paid quarterly) and didn't wish to
> do so. They ignored me.
>
> I recently had reason to query something with Argos. They ignored me.
>
> More recently I had reason to query something with Sainsbury. They
> ignored me.
>

We were with N-Power for many years and one day just received an email
informing us we were now with Eon (with all their bloody silly emoticons,
strange interpretations of the Emglish Language as she is spoken by many
people in good ol’ Blighty) and a strange style of addressing customers and
greeting them too. We never did get on well with Eon; every communication
seemed to be thrown into a pot and anyone in the office with an almost
unpronounceable name might reply - as long as they weren’t the person who
communicated in the last round. In over threee years of trying, we could
not get any sense out of Eon about our dumb smart meter nor on having
readings taken more often than perhaps once in 18-24 months.
Eventually we ditched Eon in favour of Octopus Energy - we have never
looked back. They speak English, they communicate sensibly on any subject
thrown at them and I think they care too!

--
Toodle Pip, Mike McMillan

On 29.10.22 14:19, Mike McMillan wrote:
> Jenny M Benson <NemoNews@hotmail.co.uk> wrote:
>> On 29/10/2022 13:00, krw wrote:
>>>>
>>>
>>> I have been with SSE for a few years.  Apparently they are now OVO.  I
>>> have a contract with SSE which entails quarterly invoices which I then
>>> pay.  Apparently a benefit of OVO is that to keep on top of the energy
>>> costs they will be sending me monthly invoices - which is not what I
>>> agreed when I commenced the contract.  Can they impose such a change?
>>
>> E-on did that to me. Just sent an e-mail saying they were now E-on Next
>> and that I had agreed to pay monthly by DD. I wrote back saying I had
>> agreed no such thing (I have always paid quarterly) and didn't wish to
>> do so. They ignored me.
>>
>> I recently had reason to query something with Argos. They ignored me.
>>
>> More recently I had reason to query something with Sainsbury. They
>> ignored me.
>>
>
> We were with N-Power for many years and one day just received an email
> informing us we were now with Eon (with all their bloody silly emoticons,
> strange interpretations of the Emglish Language as she is spoken by many
> people in good ol’ Blighty) and a strange style of addressing customers and
> greeting them too. We never did get on well with Eon; every communication
> seemed to be thrown into a pot and anyone in the office with an almost
> unpronounceable name might reply - as long as they weren’t the person who
> communicated in the last round. In over threee years of trying, we could
> not get any sense out of Eon about our dumb smart meter nor on having
> readings taken more often than perhaps once in 18-24 months.
> Eventually we ditched Eon in favour of Octopus Energy - we have never
> looked back. They speak English, they communicate sensibly on any subject
> thrown at them and I think they care too!
>

Octopus are clearly not accepting new customers judging by their website
at the moment. Are any suppliers both accepting new customers and
utilising traditional quarterly billing patterns?

--
Kosmo Richard W
www.travelswmw.whitnet.uk
https://tinyurl.com/KRWpics

Jenny M Benson <NemoNews@hotmail.co.uk> wrote:
> On 29/10/2022 13:00, krw wrote:
>>>
>>
>> I have been with SSE for a few years.  Apparently they are now OVO.  I
>> have a contract with SSE which entails quarterly invoices which I then
>> pay.  Apparently a benefit of OVO is that to keep on top of the energy
>> costs they will be sending me monthly invoices - which is not what I
>> agreed when I commenced the contract.  Can they impose such a change?
>
> E-on did that to me. Just sent an e-mail saying they were now E-on Next
> and that I had agreed to pay monthly by DD. I wrote back saying I had
> agreed no such thing (I have always paid quarterly) and didn't wish to
> do so. They ignored me.
>
> I recently had reason to query something with Argos. They ignored me.
>
> More recently I had reason to query something with Sainsbury. They
> ignored me.
>

Further to my previous messages on the subject of Eon being ditched, they
made such a horse’s arse out of meter readings and arriving at correct
annual consumption figures, we decided to take their highest estimate and
submit that to Octopus for the purposes of initial billing and getting us
on to the system. Ever since we have been amending downwards as the actual
figures are considerably lower than Eon thought. We even had a good will
payment back from Octopus as it took them a few days longer* than normal to
amend our monthly DD amount; they apologised and put a substantial sum into
our account in compensation!

*This was during the gummints bombshell announcement that the tariffs were
to be capped and that our suppliers would inform us where we were going
with all that that entailed. Good Ol’ Octopus Energy I say!

--
Toodle Pip, Mike McMillan

On 29/10/2022 14:19, Mike McMillan wrote:
> we could
> not get any sense out of Eon about our dumb smart meter

I take almost no notice of my smart meter, other than to shout at it
variations on the theme of "OF COURSE I'M USING A LOT OF ELECTRICITY -
I'M BOILING THE KETTLE!". However, I couldn't help noticing the other
day that it showed a figure like £178.96 where it usually has a figure
well under £20. Just above this it says "Meter balance."

I don't know whether it's always said "Meter Balance". Does this mean
it's now showing me some sort of long-term total rather than "amount due
since last monthly bill payment". (Haven't deliberately changed
anything, but it has fallen off the shelf at least once recently.)

The chappie who set the thing up did go through a whole raft of
instructions about how to change all the settings but I couldn't
remember any of it within 2 minutes of him leaving. Up until this
slightly disturbing reading I haven't found it necessary to know
anything about how the blessed thing works or what it can do.

--
Jenny M Benson
Wrexham, UK

On 29/10/2022 14:24, krw wrote:
>
> Octopus are clearly not accepting new customers judging by their website
> at the moment.  Are any suppliers both accepting new customers and
> utilising traditional quarterly billing patterns?

British Gas bill quarterly. SSE haven't told me they don't.

--
Ric

On Sat, 29 Oct 2022 15:20:21 +0100, Joe Kerr <joe_kerr@cheerful.com>
wrote:

>On 29/10/2022 14:24, krw wrote:
>>
>> Octopus are clearly not accepting new customers judging by their website
>> at the moment.  Are any suppliers both accepting new customers and
>> utilising traditional quarterly billing patterns?
>
>British Gas bill quarterly. SSE haven't told me they don't.

I registered a few years ago as a vulnerable customer and we are meant
to be read by a meter reader every quarter but read it monthly
ourseves too. They usually over estimate gas use 3 or 4 days after I
sent a reading and the meter reader is usually close to our readings.
They under estimate electricity a tiny bit though. We could be around
£5-£10 in credit after the last payment.

I get the £67 a month credit too, as all households do, and today got
a letter saying I will get £500 winter fuel payment this year as I'm
old :). I think that might apply to a few other umrats.

On 29-Oct-22 13:43, Jenny M Benson wrote:
> On 29/10/2022 13:00, krw wrote:
>>>
>>
>> I have been with SSE for a few years.  Apparently they are now OVO.  I
>> have a contract with SSE which entails quarterly invoices which I then
>> pay.  Apparently a benefit of OVO is that to keep on top of the energy
>> costs they will be sending me monthly invoices - which is not what I
>> agreed when I commenced the contract.  Can they impose such a change?
>
> E-on did that to me.  Just sent an e-mail saying they were now E-on Next
> and that I had agreed to pay monthly by DD.  I wrote back saying I had
> agreed no such thing (I have always paid quarterly) and didn't wish to
> do so.  They ignored me.
>
> I recently had reason to query something with Argos.  They ignored me.
>
> More recently I had reason to query something with Sainsbury.  They
> ignored me.

1. Are you sure you aren't my Wofe?
She's been having much the same experience of late (though with
different organisations).

2. They must all be having a jolly good time.
(Since ignorance is bliss.)

--
Sam Plusnet

On 29-Oct-22 18:18, Vicky wrote:

> I get the £67 a month credit too, as all households do, and today got
> a letter saying I will get £500 winter fuel payment this year as I'm
> old 😄. I think that might apply to a few other umrats.

There might be an umrat or two who do not qualify - probably by not
being UK-resident.

--
Sam Plusnet

On Sat, 29 Oct 2022 19:34:00 +0100, Sam Plusnet <not@home.com> wrote:

>On 29-Oct-22 13:43, Jenny M Benson wrote:
>> On 29/10/2022 13:00, krw wrote:
>>>>
>>>
>>> I have been with SSE for a few years.  Apparently they are now OVO.  I
>>> have a contract with SSE which entails quarterly invoices which I then
>>> pay.  Apparently a benefit of OVO is that to keep on top of the energy
>>> costs they will be sending me monthly invoices - which is not what I
>>> agreed when I commenced the contract.  Can they impose such a change?
>>
>> E-on did that to me.  Just sent an e-mail saying they were now E-on Next
>> and that I had agreed to pay monthly by DD.  I wrote back saying I had
>> agreed no such thing (I have always paid quarterly) and didn't wish to
>> do so.  They ignored me.
>>
>> I recently had reason to query something with Argos.  They ignored me.
>>
>> More recently I had reason to query something with Sainsbury.  They
>> ignored me.
>
>1. Are you sure you aren't my Wofe?
>She's been having much the same experience of late (though with
>different organisations).
>
>2. They must all be having a jolly good time.
>(Since ignorance is bliss.)

When organisations ignore emails they often respond on twitter.

On Sat, 29 Oct 2022 13:19:51 -0000 (UTC), Mike McMillan
<toodle.pip1@virginmedia.com> wrote:

>We were with N-Power for many years and one day just received an email
>informing us we were now with Eon (with all their bloody silly emoticons,
>strange interpretations of the Emglish Language as she is spoken by many
>people in good ol’ Blighty) and a strange style of addressing customers and
>greeting them too. We never did get on well with Eon; every communication
>seemed to be thrown into a pot and anyone in the office with an almost
>unpronounceable name might reply - as long as they weren’t the person who
>communicated in the last round. In over threee years of trying, we could
>not get any sense out of Eon about our dumb smart meter nor on having
>readings taken more often than perhaps once in 18-24 months.
>Eventually we ditched Eon in favour of Octopus Energy - we have never
>looked back. They speak English, they communicate sensibly on any subject
>thrown at them and I think they care too!

Good to hear someone else is pleased with their electricity supplier.
I have been with EDF (Electricité de France) for quite a few years,
and I am very happy with their service. We agree with what I am using,
and what I should be paying. They consider me to have a "complex
meter", so I have a different telephone number to call, and usually I
get straight through. I also get emails in excellent English from a
named person in the "complex metering team", so all good.

I was rather amused to see this, in their reply to my latest email:

"Le 05 octobre 2022 08:57, John Armstrong <email> a écrit :"

On 29.10.22 21:33, Vicky wrote:
> When organisations ignore emails they often respond on twitter.

Less and less these days. Network Rail recently told me to email the
page on the website - which at least gave an answer. Most of the
twitter contacts seem disconnected from the company concerned and have
no way of passing requests back to base.

--
Kosmo Richard W
www.travelswmw.whitnet.uk
https://tinyurl.com/KRWpics

Mike McMillan wrote:

>Eventually we ditched Eon in favour of Octopus Energy - we have never
>looked back. They speak English, they communicate sensibly on any subject
>thrown at them and I think they care too!

I have been with Octopus since Avro failed, and they do seem to
be pretty competent.

I've just got my first bill with the new rates, and it took a bit
of understanding. Instead of simply showing what they are now
charging, they have lines reading, for instance:

Energy Used (Day) 228.8 kWh @ 61.13p/kWh £139.84
Energy Price Guarantee 228.8 kWh @ 21.98p/kWh -£50.28

If you want to know the actual rate charged, you need to do the
subtraction, and then add VAT.

I was surprised to find that my E7 night rate has actually
fallen, back to around what I was paying last February, which is
good news for EV charging.

When I checked at
<https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/energy-price-guarantee-regional-rates>

it explained:
"Note that for customers on multi-register tariffs such as
Economy 7, suppliers have flexibility to apply slightly different
discounts to the individual rates within the tariff, helping to
balance-out the reduction of more expensive day rates with
cheaper night-time electricity rates. Each supplier will approach
this differently."

Chris
--
Chris J Dixon Nottingham
'48/33 M B+ G++ A L(-) I S-- CH0(--)(p) Ar- T+ H0 ?Q
chris@cdixon.me.uk @ChrisJDixon1
Plant amazing Acers.