The current (or as some of us say ongoing) glitches/errors in the DD calculator have been noticed, particulary these new ones in the past day or so, and we are discussing it ‘backstage’.

I know that mine currently needs to be £112, but the calculator is saying only £69.
Looking deeper into the data that any customer is able to access (if they know how), I/we can see just why it’s doing that at the moment, but it needs to be fixed in the programming - so all we can do is shout at the programmers to get their act together.

I’ll just fire off another Ofgem complaint … we will be back in the EU before that shower of incompetents even contrives to fix something as simple as the direct debit calculator. 

This has happened before. The calculator is really quite simple and can easily be reproduced in, for example, Excel. One of its simplicities is using the current tariff to predict the next year’s costs. This doesn’t matter so much when rates don’t change by much - it all becomes history whenever a DD review takes place, allegedly at quarterly intervals.

However, in the run-up to a biggish price hike, like now, using today’s rate can be misleading and even harmful to a customer unaware that this is what’s happening. So when such a change is in the offing, as soon as OVO has firmed up its tariffs for the next quarter, the DD calculator is tweaked to reflect the change from the start of the next quarter. I suspect that this is what’s going on now, and they haven’t yet got it quite right. They will, in a few days with any luck. It could be, too, that the revamped app is causing problems, since this is the first time a major price change has happened since it was released.

I’m not quite sure what you mean by an ‘Ofgem complaint’, but whatever that is, it’s not likely to help. At best, no-one will do take any notice. At worst, it could tie up resources that might otherwise be gainfully employed in fixing the problem. I know there’s not much time left for customers to make changes before 1 October, but hang on for a day or two if you really need the DD calculator’s help. 

Ofgem have taken plenty of notice of my previous complaints about OVO's woefully inept billing systems and have repeatedly eviscerated OVO for their failings in that department.

As for tying up resources, what resources would that be? They still haven't addressed the multitude of bugs in direct debits created 12 months ago with the change to 31st March billing cycle.

But you are right, it has happened before and the fact that it continues to happen betrays OVO's crass incompetence and truly shoddy customer service.

OK. I’m sorry to have agitated the bee in your bonnet.

Ofgem are of course concerned if a licenced supplier’s billing system is flawed; it’s one of the licence conditions that bills are accurate. I don’t think they would get involved if a supplier provided a ‘prediction tool’ that didn’t always predict correctly.

A complaint would be eventually directed to those responsible for whatever isn’t working as expected. In this case, whoever did the coding would have to spend time explaining and documenting what was done and why it didn’t do what it was intended to do. That time would be much better spent actually fixing the faulty code.

I wasn’t aware of any bugs in the Direct Debit calculations. I know that they don’t always produce the right result for a few customers (e.g. me), but that isn’t because of a bug in the calculation. You may disagree with the precepts OVO uses to calculate DDs, but that doesn’t mean to say that the calculation is wrong. It makes sense to me to go for a level that will leave a minimal balance in the account at the end of winter - do you not agree with that?

OVO has an Ofgem-mandated and well-established complaints procedure. It has had its problems, not least in the wake of welcoming a few million SSE customers into the OVO fold. Ofgem has pronounced on these failings, and OVO has been taking big steps to address them. If you have a legitimate complaint, then following the laid-down procedure is the path to take.   

It is no about agreeing with precepts … the calculations ARE wrong and the problems are well-documented backstage.

Your ‘don’t complain about them not doing anything in case it diverts their attention from not doing anything’ is quite hilarious and emblematic of the sort of appalling attitude that drove me to ask to be removed from the Plan Zero Heros.

I am perfectly well aware of both the official and unofficial complaints procedures, thanks, and I also have a direct contact at Ofgem for systemwide problems that fall outside of the scope of normal procedures.

Hi @MCH59,

I’m really sorry for the issues you’ve been experiencing, that’s definitely not the experience we want for our customers.

I’m going to have our Forum_Support team reach out to you so they can help you further with this. Look out for a private message here soon:

https://forum.ovoenergy.com/inbox/overview

 

On Thursday my minimum monthly payment was £29. I am currently paying £37 per month, which would supposedly leave me £49 in credit by 31st March.

That all changed on Friday when …..

Through the mobile app, my minimum monthly payment has been showing as £36 – but it still says I'll be £48 in credit if I continue paying at £37. 

On the surface, that's fair enough, because OVO predicted that my increased costs resulting from the tariff change will be £66.36 (i.e. £6 per month) … HOWEVER, the predicted 31st March balance is self-evidently complete nonsense, given that I only have seven payments remaining until 31st of March, so paying only £1 less than the minimum would only leave me around £7 in credit come 31st March, not £48.

Complicating matters even further ….

If I now access my account through a pc browser it tells me a completely different story:

Paying £37 will leave my 31st March balance at £20 in credit, but my minimum monthly payment is still £36. Again different numbers but either the minimum payment or the predicted balance is once again self-evidently wrong, because a credit balance of £20 by 31st March would require me to be paying around £3 a month more than the minimum, not £1. 

Still through the PC browser, if I now go into the calculator itself, it is back to showing me the same nonsensical numbers I got accessing through the mobile app.

The level of crass incompetence simply beggars belief.

 

EdIted to add: If I now change my Direct Debit amount, the 31st March balance on the home screen doesn’t reflect that change … and  whilst the amount in the actual calculator changes, it is self-evidently still incorrect

 

Hi Nukecad

I gave up on the DD suggestion when it left me over £1000 in credit. Through the chat bot ( the answer to all questions is “ I want to speak with an advisor”) I arranged to have my DD put to £30 per month,I  ensure I always have just over my monthly spend in credit by topping up when necessary. I have only had to top up once and it works well for me. I do have to rearrange every few months ( when the DD bot tries to change it) but better the interest in my bank than OVO’s. 

Hi @Sally123,

I’m sorry to hear this.

These threads may be helpful for answering any questions you may have about your Direct Debit: