High estimated bills but the property is empty?

Another call from the collections department today. They had no knowledge that I had raised a complaint, and put the phone down on me (again) when I mentioned it. Ovo appear to be using a low-cost offshore call centre with insufficently trained staff.

​@portland555 I’m really sorry. I’ve never heard of the phone being put down on customers like this.

Please refer your complaint to hello@ovoenergy.com. Request that the Collections calls are listened to, and that the complaint handler looks into whether the call was disconnected both times by the Collections agent. This’ll all need to be taken into account when a resolution is offered.

Let us know how you get on.

I had another call today asking why my DD was closed. I asked about the complaint - apparently it had been closed for no reason. Next step is the Energy Ombudsman. I have never in my life dealt with such an incompetent organisation. I know I will probable be banned for this, but I urge anyone not so sign up with Ovo energy. My family has been caused considerable anxiety and stress by this. This is my last posting here.

​@portland555 I’m sorry that this has happened.

Before going to the Ombudsman you need to give OVO eight weeks to resolve the complaint. Ask for the complaint to be reopened, and for the most recent shortfalls in service to be taken into consideration when a final resolution is offered.

Hi, as the title suggests.

I just moved to this one bed flat by myself.

I actually lived in this flat for a total of 7 days in December, before leaving abroad for work and came back today (3 weeks later). 

I was checking the usage via the app and for the first few days after I left it was normal and as expected by an unoccupied flat. But then usage started going crazy, to the point that some days usage was more than when I was actually in the flat.

Before leaving the flat I checked and everything was unplugged. Also the electric heating was off.

The flat is supposed to be EPC C if that makes any difference.

Any ideas what might have happened?

thanks.

The first questions have to be:

Where are you seeing the usage figures?

Is it actual usage, or is it just estimates?

Do you have a smart meter?

I'm currently on holiday and won't be home for a week. I checked up on my OVO account and the smart readings were expectedly low for the whole holiday (and showing cycling increases which I assume are the fridge/freezer kicking in), but yesterday all of a sudden the electricity used has gone from around 12p a day to £2 in a day - is this likely to be a smart meter issue or do I need to assume there's something funky going on with the fridge/freezer? Everything else was switched off when I left …

Never mind, it looks like it was an error or estimate and has been corrected now!

Hi ​@Luce and a warm welcome to the OVO Forum!

I’m happy to hear it’s sorted now, and the culprit was likely an estimated reading. My advice is to log into your online account or app and check that your reading schedule is set to half-hourly. This will give you the most detailed usage breakdown via the online account, and will mean your bills are accurate as possible. 

You can use the following guide to change the reading schedule:

This is a good page to look at if anyone thinks there may be an issue with actual vs estimated readings

https://account.ovoenergy.com/meter-readings/history/electricity

Readings with Smart next to them are actual smart meter readings. 

Hey ​@Dknksk 

Nukecad asked some good questions here already, would you be able to give us some more information so we can help and advise as best as possible here.

The questions asked and the answers will help us, or let us know if you’ve already contacted the Support Team for help with this.