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How to fix login issues or error messages with your online account

How to fix login issues or error messages with your online account

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I am trying to create an account but it keeps telling me my details are wrong and it can’t be recognised? But it has accepted my email address to get me that far so I don’t understand why it won’t recognise me when I enter the rest of my details.

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Evening @Hellsbells1987 !

Whoops, that doesn’t sound right to me. You might want to chat with the Support Team in the morning via web chat as they may need to fix a few things with your account.

If that still don’t solve the problem, please stop by here again.

Userlevel 7

Sorry to hear of the trouble you’ve had logging in to your online account, @Hellsbells1987 .

 

Just in case it helps get things sorted without needing to contact the Support Team we’ve got a troubleshooting guide to some common login issue below.

 

 

Let us know how you get on and if you need any more help once you’re in! 😊

Userlevel 7

As mentioned in another thread, I’ve reached out to your directly via a Private Message here, @TH3.

What do we do with the following error?? The Ovo portal is down for over a week now for anyone accessing it from outside the UK:

503 ERROR

The request could not be satisfied.

The Lambda function associated with the CloudFront distribution is invalid or doesn't have the required permissions. We can't connect to the server for this app or website at this time. There might be too much traffic or a configuration error. Try again later, or contact the app or website owner.
If you provide content to customers through CloudFront, you can find steps to troubleshoot and help prevent this error by reviewing the CloudFront documentation.

Generated by cloudfront (CloudFront)Request ID: Dymko7MRpjJcp8NSzmRkh9IYekbGquyDC16LvntczXzGRTNspxOdAA==

 

Userlevel 7

Sorry to hear about these login issue, @roryj.

 

We’ve seen really high traffic to our online platforms this week so I’m wondering if this error message is related. In order for me to pass this on to the team I just need to check, is this error message appearing on the browser or app version of your online account? Are you logging in using the email address registered to an OVO UK energy account? And what device/browsers are you using to attempt a login?

 

Once we’ve had these details confirmed I’ll get this raised to the tech team to check whether this is a known bug.

 

Thanks in advance. 

Hello @Jess_OVO 

I am also getting the same error message as @roryj 

I am logging in from a desktop using Google Chrome Browser (Version 100.0.4896.75 (Official Build) (64-bit)) and using my email address registered to an OVO UK energy account.

Thanks. 

I have tried with my Chrome, Brave & Firefox browsers at home, and my Chrome and Edge browsers at work.  The OVO portal website is hosted by amazon, and they have misconfigured their Cloudfront settings. They just don’t seem to know how to fix it though

Userlevel 7

Thanks for confirming those details, @roryj and @SLee.

 

I’ve passed this one on to the team and will pop back as soon as I hear more. 🙂

Userlevel 7

Just a follow-up question from the team on this one.

 

Is this error message appearing before or after your login details are entered, @roryj and @SLee ?

Just a follow-up question from the team on this one.

 

Is this error message appearing before or after your login details are entered, @roryj and @SLee ?

This is after the (successful) login. They have confirmed on Twitter that this just does not work for anyone outside the UK (- they don’t know how to configure their Cloudfront settings correctly). and suggest you use a VPN to pretend to be in the UK to use the portal...

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Actually, it’s worth me stopping by here for a second as someone who knows a lot about this stuff.

That error message is deliberately generic on Amazon’s part, so as to not be too descriptive and give away clues as to how things are set up, which can otherwise be a security risk. The only way to see the true data is to have access to the raw logs directly. That error could otherwise mean literally anything. A quick lookup of the HTTP 503 status code reveals something more useful though. https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/HTTP/Status/503

This isn’t config related based on the status code. It’s possible that the server in front of MyOVO really was overloaded, but that doesn’t always mean OVO is at fault.

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Just a heads up. I’m starting to think this is a more general issue related to AWS CloudFront than anything OVO is doing. I’m seeing a ton of CloudFront issues today across a lot of websites that are totally unrelated to OVO.

Amazon probably messed up something.

Userlevel 7

Not sure if you’re both still having login issues, @roryj and @SLee?

 

I’ve been in touch with our tech team who are looking in to an issue they’ve identified when trying to access your online accounts from Australia. Just to clarify, this is an unexpected technical issue only affecting this area and the team are currently investigating the root cause. They mentioned Lamda functions which goes a bit beyond my technical understanding, any ideas what this means, @Blastoise186?

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Ah yes, AWS Lambda. It’s not something I know a ton about, partially because AWS has literally got a bazillion products and services these days and it’s practically impossible for anyone to fully understand all of them.

But my understanding of the basic concept is that Lambda lets you run small programs that can rapidly fire and spin up an instances based on certain events such as (for example) anytime someone logs into MyOVO or submits a meter reading, you could fire up something in Lambda to handle it and after it’s done, the instance is torn down and the instance in the container is destroyed. It’s basically like running a virtual machine, except that you’re only using the very top layer rather than absolutely everything. Nothing persists at all between runs, which is useful if you want to make absolutely sure that nothing sensitive is left on the system between runs.

I suspect that what’s happening here, is that these Lambda instances are only allowed to fire off in very specific AWS Regions, most likely eu-west-2 (London) but AWS CloudFront is trying to access them from outside of that, such as ap-southeast-2 (Sydney) where the Lambda functions don’t exist and Lambda isn’t allowed to run them outside of eu-west-2 or access the AWS S3 Bucket that also lives in the eu-west-2 region. By default, cross-region activity isn’t allowed if memory serves and you have to explicitly set that up if that’s what you want it to do.

I have never used AWS myself so all of this comes from me diving deep into tons of documentation over several years (I like my light bedtime reading!). It doesn’t mean this is exactly how OVO has their instances set up either!

@Blastoise186  That’s pretty impressive background knowledge!

@Jess_OVO I just tried logging in again just now and it still gives the same error message unfortunately. I’m also a technological dinosaur so the suggestion of VPN is quite beyond me. 

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Don’t worry about using a VPN, they're not usually worth the hassle anyway. I’m also more of a fan of solutions that work for everyone, rather than just one person.

The Tech Team will probably be able to figure out a more permanent solution that works for other members as well. It’s an unusual edge case because every other Australian member we’ve had on this forum is actually a member of OVO Australia rather than OVO UK. And you can probably understand why OVO UK never thought anyone would access the UK version of MyOVO from over 3,000 miles away!

My knowledge of things like AWS mainly stems from curiosity about how it works more than anything else. I don’t ever plan to actually use it because it is VERY easy to slip up and accidentally rack up a £3,000+ bill if you're not extremely careful with it. And naturally, Amazon won’t always tell you that because they want you to spend as much money as possible. You can run a few things on there pretty cheaply, but I don’t think I’d want to risk it myself.

Userlevel 7

He’s knowledgeable, is our @Blastoise186!

 

Just to clarify, @SLee - the team are still working hard to fix this one so I’ll pop back to let you know when you should be able to log back in.

 

Thanks for bearing with us. 🙂 

Is anyone else unable to view their accounts at all? Ever since I had to reset my password to upgrade my account, I get a page not found on the web, and the app just says “thank you for joining, we’ll complete your set up by [today’s date]
 

This combined with my smart meter stopping communicating means I’ve got no idea what my usage etc is like, and I’d quite like to be able to view my account!

Userlevel 7

Sorry to hear you’re having trouble logging in to check your account, @NikkiH.

 

Just in case it helps we’ve got a trouble-shooting guide to common login issues above.

 

As you mention and upgrade to your account, I’m wondering whether an account-specific technical issue might have cropped up during this process. If you haven’t already reach out to our Support Team who’ll be able to dig a bit deeper into what might be causing the issue.

 

Let us know if this helps get things back on track. 👍

Update.

After posting a complaint here 2 days ago, the direct debit has been changed back to the amount previously agreed.

 

Still cannot access the account, though. It has been 1 month now.

 

@TH3, since October? OMG. I still have a long way down the road then. Most likely I stop using their services before they fix this issue.

It’s a good ideia to take notes of readings frequently for future reference. 

 

Good morning, It’s been now nearly 3 months without access to my OVO account. Can’t submit readings or view the balance.

Unbelievable! It seems I will have to take more serious measures to solve this issue.

 

@TH3 , did you contact ofgem? Did they sort your problem out?

 

 

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Hi @matheushen ,

Even if your online account isn’t working, you can still manage your account by phone on 0330 303 5063. You can also use option 1 to submit a meter reading 24/7 even when the office is closed.

If you haven’t already, I’d suggest letting the Support Team know you’re struggling to access your online account. And if you have, I’m afraid you can’t go to Ofgem as they won’t handle the matter. More details of what to do next are at https://www.ovoenergy.com/feedback

Hi @matheushen ,

Even if your online account isn’t working, you can still manage your account by phone on 0330 303 5063. You can also use option 1 to submit a meter reading 24/7 even when the office is closed.

If you haven’t already, I’d suggest letting the Support Team know you’re struggling to access your online account. And if you have, I’m afraid you can’t go to Ofgem as they won’t handle the matter. More details of what to do next are at https://www.ovoenergy.com/feedback

We have been through this before my friend as per previous messages. 

 

I’m afraid I can, on Ofgem’s website they advise to contact the supplier first, which I did 3 months ago many times, and then “Complain to the Energy Ombudsman if eight weeks have passed and you still aren’t happy with the company’s response.”

Whether they will handle the problem or not, I believe it’s up to them to reply.

Thank you.

As a new customer to OVO, I have spent some time trying to reset the online password, both through the webportal and speaking to a couple of OVO representatives. Still unable to get a reset password email to be sent out, the OVO representative sent an email to my address to confirm their email system was operational, which worked. But the request to reset the password to my email address has failed. When I asked for the problem to be raised to technical support, the OVO representative said it will take a couple of weeks for the problem to be addressed !!!! How can OVO function properly if it takes technical a couple of weeks to reset a customers ID and email address to accept a new password ? Even requesting a paper invoice two weeks ago has not been successful either. I received a ‘Final Reminder’ letter to pay a bill I have had no invoice for and unable to login to my account, as the system does not respond to a reset password request ! OVO need get more technical help staff and provide a better service.

Userlevel 7

I’m so sorry to hear of the difficulty you’ve had trying to access your online account@BG1.

 

I’m wondering if the advice in our trouble-shooting guide above might help:

 

Haven’t received a password reset email?


There are no known issues with the password reset platform and reset emails are typically delivered within seconds.


If you haven’t received the email then it’s usually caused by the following:

Your email inbox hasn’t refreshed


The email may have been delivered but hasn’t synced on the member's device/browser. This could be due to a network issue or because their email client is set to refresh on a schedule, e.g. every 15 minutes. Try refreshing this manually.

The email has been filtered as junk/spam


You should also check that you haven’t accidentally marked us as ‘Spam’ or blacklisted emails from hello@ovoenergy.com or noreply@ovoenergy.com.


The email address you’ve got registered has recently been changed on our systems and hasn’t had time to update on your online account


If you've changed your registered email address it can sometimes take up to 24 hours for this to update. In this case, try and request a password rest email the following day.

 


If none of the above is successful


Check you’re using the most recent version of the app (try deleting and re-downloading for Android and iOS) or Google Chrome browser if logging in to your online account.

Try disabling any password managers that may be interfering with the login details you’re entering.

You should also try:

  • Logging in via the app if you can’t login via a browser (or vice-versa).

  • Using a different device or browser (Chrome is recommended).

  • Clear cache/cookies on browser.

  • Clear cache and app data then uninstall/reinstall the app.

  • Waiting a day for any changes you've made to update across all systems.

 

If you've followed all of these steps and you're confident there's still a login issue with your online account or the OVO App then contact the Support Team. If you can provide as much of the the following information as possible we’ll then be able to forward this on to our Tech team if required:

 

  • Mention all actions you have taken already.

  • The correct email address that you’d would like to use.

  • Are you trying to login using the app or browser?

  • What device, OS and browser are you using?

  • Are there any specific error messages? This does not include 'Wrong Email or Password'.

  • How long has this been occurring?

  • Relevant screenshots are always welcome and useful.

 

Hope we can get things sorted and you logged back in ASAP. :ok_hand:


 

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