How do I contact OVO Customer Services if I need some help?

Thanks tried the email complaint route and it seems to have got lost in the system again, it will be heading to the energy ombudsman if OVO don’t step up soon as another estimated bill for c£400 has just landed.

Hey @pierrerreip,

Sorry to hear this,

What error message are you getting on the website? Are you able to upload a screenshot? Please don’t include any personal information. 

Hi @pierrerreip @Emmanuelle_OVO 

I have the same problem, I think someone is messing with our accounts. is there a solution to it?..I did message them on FB and Twitter about this

Thanks for confirming, @Katie B B B. It sounds like our Support team need to communicate with you clearly on why we aren’t adding the credit, or give you a clear time frame on when. My advice would be to chase up your complaint via a web chat today here. I’m sorry we can’t offer more support. 

@Tim_OVO

Every time I have tried that avenue I get ……….

Sorry we are exceptionally busy at the moment. The team you need to speak to currently aren’t able to take your message. We are still here for you. Please contact us by telephone on 0330 303 5063.

As I said I get nowhere via chat or phone :(

@Tim_OVO

I was just looking through my messages and on the 18th April. I did manage to talk to someone.

This was their reply

I will complete a defect form for our Back Office to have this sorted out for you. I need to make them aware that there's still credit missing on the meter. I sincerely apologize for the inconvenience this may have caused.

Thank you how long will this take please

This will take about 24 to 48 hours. I don't think this form was completed 2 weeks ago because this would have already been sorted out.

@Tim_OVO

I have just spoken to someone again he said ………. 

Think because of the bank holiday it will take a bit longer as it is not 8 working days yet , I can see the email that was sent and the reply though so they are working on it

The reply was on the 25th , its only 6 working days today excluding the holiday and obviously the weekend

So they should contact you on the 8th

I sent the complaint on 21st April. I received a reply saying they aim to reply in no later than 8 working days.

It will be 8 working days from the 25th as that email was not a reply from complaints

He said he could not see the previous conversation I had on the 18th April, which I sent above.

So fingers crossed.

Thank you for your help

And the wait continues.  Still no reply to my complaint email I sent on the 21st April!

Hey @Katie B B B,

Sorry you’re still waiting for a response to your email. We don’t have access to accounts here at the Forum, so you’ll need to get in touch with the Support Team who’ll be able to help you further. Hopefully they can come to a resolution with you soon.

Hi there, been trying to call OVO for over a week and it keeps saying they're having trouble with communication and to call back later? Anyone know what's happening or have an alternate number? It's 0330 3033063 

Hi @susiep0 , if it’s the standard number you need it’s 

Customer Support  -  tel:03303035063 or

Webchat  -https://help.ovoenergy.com/#contact_us_container

This is all I can see when I log into MyOVO. Tried calling OVO and keep getting cut off whilst on hold. Got through and could hear everyone in the call centre but nobody would speak to me . It was as if someone picked up call and put headset on their desk.

so far really shocking service. Just spoke to customer service and they really don’t know what they are doing .

Try Live Chat instead. It’s faster and more reliable: https://help.ovoenergy.com .

I've recently moved in to a rental property that was on an electric PAYG meter, fitted by the previous tenant. I did NOT want this so went through the process of signing up with a new supplier with a standard direct debit. Frustratingly I was told I would need to sign up with OVO 1st as they own the meter and would need to remove it before I can choose a new supplier.

I put up with the payg top up for my 1st full month (September) and most of October before I got round to calling OVO to make an account and book and engineer to remove the meter. 

This was the point things got strange, the day after I signed up with OVO (pre engineer visit) I received an email bill from OVO for £136 for September. Even though I was PAYG and paid cash for electric key top up! 

Engineer day and I've put just £5 on the meter as I suspected it may disappear (it did). Engineer actually fits a smart PAYG meter as that is what ovo told him to do. He gave me a code I could use to top up so didn't need to go to the shop.

The meter goes onto a £15 emergency credit limit instead of my £5 but he tells me 'it's ok, just call ovo and they will now transfer you to direct debit and credit your £5 and take you off payg' 

Meter installed on Monday 23rd Oct with £15 emergency credit. Wednesday 25th I top up £20 which left my bank but didn't go on the meter. 

I call OVO to get my £25 back (£5 day of engineer and £20 topup) and get switched to direct debit account. OVO now tell me I need to pay £136 outstanding bill for September and £80 outstanding bill for October before they'll switch me to direct debit! Absolutely ludicrous!

After hours wasted on the phone to ovo and refusing to pay for a bill that is clearly not mine, which even the complaints department did not have an explanation for, they agreed to put me on a direct debit as my electric was going to go off. I had to get very direct for this to happen explaining I have children and you cannot allow the electricity supply to go off! What was happening was the meter took my £25 and paid it off the apparent outstanding debt and would continue to do so until the debt was clear. 

I filed a complaint on Thursday 26th October and was given a case number. The 2 outstanding bills have been put on hold for 3 months pending investigation and I'm yet to hear anything from OVO. I'm absolutely disgusted with the service from OVO and I'm fully aware it will not be resolved easily. My next step is to contact the ombudsman and seek independent legal advice to take this as far as needed. And just to add to this the online bills appear to be changing daily and October has now increased further!!

Hi @LukeM and thanks for sharing this experience. Sorry to hear. 

It’s tricky to call out specifics as I don’t know the situation on the ground, but there’s a few guesses I can make which may explain the bill. 

If you move into a property supplied by OVO or anyone else, they will need to know that you have, and the date that you have. In the absence of that we will have an account for an ‘occupier without a name’ or the previous occupier. It’s very possible the house was empty in the weeks or months leading up to your move in. In such a scenario standing charge debt would accrue. This would be for the previous occupier to pay, but again until we know a change of occupier has happened we will send communication of these debts to who we think is the occupier. 

Perhaps I’m wrong about what happened and if so, please accept my apologies. I just thought it might be helpful to understand a typical occurrence for prepayment change in occupiers. This guide might also be helpful. 

In your case as it’s prepayment, we just need to know the date you moved in. That way we can create an account from that date, make sure any standing charges for that period are paid for (there shouldn’t be usage debt to pay off ), and apply standing charge debt from before you got the keys to the previous occupier or whoever was responsible for the property in the interim. That and getting your pay monthly account all set up correctly. Our team will be on hand to help get this resolved or escalated for you. 

Yes, sounds easy to resolve doesn't it! You've clearly never been on the phone to OVO customer services. Unfortunately the call centres are all outside of the UK (bristol line is dead) making it very difficult for both parties to understand and there is clearly a generic response script being used and obvious and excpected feeling that the call centre worker is disconnected from the customers reality. I have been bounced from PAYG customer service to Accounts to Complaints over and over with nobody offering a solution other than to pay the bills and all will be resolved! I'm absolutely fuming about it. 

FYI - I did notify OVO that I moved in on the 1st September

I can see from the 2 bills I've been issued, they have deducted my last £50 top up (energy I used) from the outstanding balance and my £25 added on the account switch over to smart meter so try explaining that. (See highlighted yellow for my payg top ups that came off the bill)

I have also been issued a new September bill so obviously decided to change their mind on the made up usage and pushed for a slightly lower amount. 

Bear in mind, I came off payg on the 26th October and they've charged me £139.13!

So 139.13 plus the new Sept bill 107.49, minus my top ups they think are payments and we reach the grand made up total of £171.62 to pay and clear my name..

I appreciate you commenting, it's actually the 1st sign of human I've experienced so far. If there is anyway you can help to get this resolved I would be really greatful. Even if you can get my account updated to show it's no longer on PAYG so I can leave this awful company asap and stop any further accumulation of invoices that I will be fighting for a long time no doubt. Happy to share my account details etc or give you my phone number. 

Hey @LukeM,

Really sorry for the issues you’ve had,

Unfortunately, we don’t have access to customer accounts on the Forum, but can give general advice. 

The fact that you’ve been issued with a statement suggests to me you’ve been switched to pay monthly. 

I’d advise contacting the support team, they’ll have access to your billing information and can explain your charges in detail. It may be  that you were put in a non disconnect mode during the switching period from pay as you go to monthly which has accrued some arrears. 

The easiest way to get in touch with the team is via webchat. 

How can I accrue debt on a pay as you go meter!

Your IT system is cleary broken and judging by the multiple complaints I've read, I'm not alone and OVO needs to be held accountable for having the ability to get it so wrong and cause immense stress for customers. If I don't now put the work in to resolve this fault, my credit rating is going to be destroyed because of your broken system. It's totally unacceptable and I cannot believe you get away with it.

I can understand not paying a bill and incurring debt/charges but PAYG simply means if I don't top up my electricity goes off. 

This isn’t anything to do with OVO’s IT systems.

Siemens Quantum has been a thing for over 30 years and pretty much all Traditional Prepayment Meters run on it. It’s that which supports Traditional Prepayment Meters and by design, the meter itself enforces debt collections where needed. IIRC the functionality for Free Vend Mode and Non-Disconnect Mode has existed in Quantum from the start. These are just two ways you can rack up debt on PAYG, others being emergency credit usage and insufficient credit to pay Standing Charges.

If you run out of credit, you do NOT escape those charges - they rack up as a debt instead and the meter claws them back over time.

Same story with Smart Meters in Prepayment Mode - the meter itself enforces the debt.

Another trigger is that your Smart Meters are temporarily switched to Credit Mode while changing supplier for safety reasons - any charges racked up during this time get added as a debt on the meter once it switches back. Failing that, you get sent a bill instead if memory serves.

It’s nothing to do with IT systems.

The bottom line is I moved in on the 1st September and paid roughly £30 a week until the 23rd October. It's a 2 bed with 2 adults and 1 child with no heating turned on so there is no way I owe an additional £250 plus for a 6-8 week period. 

If you think the bills are wrong, you’ll need to discuss that with OVO - I can’t access other people’s accounts.

Hi, wondering if anyone can help me. Been on the phone to customer service, call handler told me she’s placed me on a brief hold, she then took me off hold but remained silent and in the back ground I could hear everyone leave the office and even set the security alarm at 6pm!! I’m now still currently sat on a silent call to an empty office…. Anyone else had this experience?