Forum Topic

OVO Energy nightmare..

HAS ANYONE HAD A BAD EXPERIENCE WITH OVO ENERGY?                                                                                         One of dozens of messages that I have sent to OVO since January 2023. This one was sent on 13-8-23."I have had an 8 month nightmare with OVO. The Ombudsman upheld my complaint against them in May and I still haven't had an apology, compensation or a final bill."The reply I received on 17-8-23 was: "I have requested for these to be sent out via post, please allow 5-10 working days to receive the documents.Thanks,Nikkita."22 days gone by and still no sign of the promised postal delivery. In the meantime OVO has authorised a debt collector to harass me for an alleged debt of £146 +£20 costs. I emailed the debt company with proof of the now 9 months of OVO incompetence and they put the matter on hold until they contacted OVO. Unbelievably I today had an email from the debt company who have been instructed by OVO: "Please continue to chase the debt."OVO is driving me crazy. Next Wednesday I am seeking legal advise with a view to taken legal action against OVO for the now 9 month nightmare and the stress caused by OVO's incompetence.

Neil Milkins ● 597d7 Comments

We were also moved from SSE to OVO but have never had a problem. Except that when we accepted a switch to a 'smart' meter they have never managed to get the smart unit to talk to the meter and display anything of use. But at least they get accurate readings every 30 mins. And I have a plug which tells you power usage of PC, Sonos speakers etc. So now we have 7 smart internet controlled plugs we can turn on/off from our phones to lower vampire device energy consumption. Sonos speakers were particularly greedy when doing nothing. The other day I read about the number of mixups, with energy suppliers billing for your neighbor's supply etc, and checked our gas, electricity and water meters vs the bills. British Gas and OVO were fine, correct meter numbers, but Thames Water (the sewage dumpers) don't bother to put what they think is your meter number on your bills. I tried their 'AI' chatbot which was very dim indeed. But when I typed "You are a very stupid chatbot' it connected me to a human who confirmed they are charging us for the correct meter. Worth a check for everyone who moved in the past 10 years.

Eric Baker ● 591d

You are very fortunate.

Neil Milkins ● 597d

And OVO recently fined £9 million by Ofgem for their incompetence and still can't get it right.

Neil Milkins ● 597d

Agreed. A nightmare.

Jim Lawes ● 597d

It seems you can be unlucky. My provider kept sending me estimated bills although I had a smart meter. I told them and they confirmed the smart meter wasn't sending a signal. They told me to continue sending manual readings. I kept asking for it to be sorted, but after 11 months still nothing. I noticed when energy was going up people were earned against sending in high readings to lower the cost as it was illegal. It seems all weighted in their favour.

Nicholas Beard ● 597d

I don't know what could have gone wrong with both of your accounts. I was switched from SSE to OVO and there hasn't been a problem although, from what you say, there has been in some cases.

Anne England ● 597d

Yes, was transferred to OVO from SSE.  Total nightmare - continually being contacted by them to say I owed them money when bills had been paid promptly.  Threats of debt collection. Used to call them to try to sort things out - would be told that everything OK and I didn't owe them money and then another threatening letter would drop through the letterbox.  After about a year of this I closed my account and transferred to British Gas - with whom I've had no probs at all.  If you look at OVO's Google reviews they are almost all completely dreadful - everyone has these sorts of issues  with them.

Alison Robins ● 597d