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How to get OVO to pay what they agree they owe after switching away

  • 4 January 2024
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How to get OVO/SSE to pay what they agree they owe after switching away


After switching the electricity supply away from OVO/SSE in March 2023 it took a while for the closing meter readings to be agreed. Eventually OVO/SSE produced a bill dated 13 September 2023 and headed "Your amended final electricity statement"

The bill says "We owe you £2,220.77. We’ll transfer this amount into your bank account on or soon after 25 September 2023."

However, another bill dated 15 September 2023 (two days after the above bill) credited the account with a goodwill payment of £75, but changed the wording to "Your account is in credit by £2,295.77. We’ll put this credit towards your next statement, so you’ll pay less." As OVO/SSE were no longer the supplier there would never be a "next statement", so this was less than helpful.

We still have these bills as evidence.

Several phone calls have not met with success - varying from "That's an old SSE account number. We can't find the account on our systems" to a round robin of being transferred from one department to another and back to where we started.

Our best attempt so far was a call which was answered by CASEY. I asked her to please not transfer this call to another department, and was pleased when she said "no, I can take care of this for you". Casey said "I have escalated the issue and we will get back to you in three working days." That was on 4th December 2023. It is now 4th January 2024 and we have heard nothing.

So, I am asking advice from the customer community on how to proceed. Should we raise this with the appropriate authorities (Ofgem, or the Ombudsman?) or should we have another go at getting OVO/SSE to respond, perhaps by writing a sign-for letter to the CEO? Perhaps a bit of publicity in the press might get some action?

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Best answer by Blastoise186 4 January 2024, 18:24

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Blastoise186
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Userlevel 7
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https://ovoenergy.com/feedback has your options. Please read the entire page carefully first.

Securing energy by zapping security bugs... For that is The Blastoise Way!
W
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Thanks for that. An email is now on it’s way.

W
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Well that email was a waste of time! Whoever dealt with it obviously did not actually read it. Despite the fact that we were trying to get SSE/OVO to pay money that the final bill agreed that THEY owe, the reply email got totally the wrong end of the stick and said effectively “If you are having trouble paying your bill, please phone in and we can discuss it”!

So far we have tried numerous phone calls, writing to them, emailing to the complaints email address, and yesterday even tried the online chat. After explaining the issue, the response was “In regard to your concern, I would need to connect you over to our Expert team who handle this kind of concern. Just please stay on the chat while I connect you over to them.” and then NOTHING! Another hour wasted!

The options I can think of at this point are:-
Writing to the CEO (perhaps recorded delivery?)
Making it public, either on social media or in Which? magazine
Any suggestions?

Nukecad
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Userlevel 6

After emailing a complaint I would not be bothering with the support phonelines or online chat, you have gone above their heads with the emailed complaint, stick with the complaints team emails.

However, as it’s well past the date that they first said they would pay, and as your complaints are getting nowhere, then personally I think I’d consider raising a complaint with the Energy Ombudsman.

I’ve had to so that myself, against a different energy company that I had left and who then said I owed them a large amount (not OVO), and it isn’t difficult.
While it does still take time you have the comfort of knowing that with the Ombudsman involved things will happen.

You might want to email OVO complaints one last time first, don’t ramble about what has already happened and simply ask them to without further delay pay the money that they admit they owe you or to issue you with a ‘deadlock’ email/letter at which point you will involve the Ombudsman.
A deadlock letter makes it a little bit easier with involving the Ombudsman, but it is not necessary if they won’t give one and just keep stalling for more than 8 weeks.

The trick with any complaint email/leter to anyone is to keep them short and to the point, just say what the problem is and what you want them to do to fix it.
Saying more than is absolutely necessary just gives a chance to confuse things.
(And if they do reply about something else then just repeat what you already said, don’t get dragged off down side paths).

Once the ombudsman is involved then at the very least it will be escalated within OVO, most utility companies have a dedicated Ombudsman complaints team.
When that team get the communication from the Ombudsman they should look at the problem properly and quickly resolve things, but if necessary the Ombudsman will direct them to pay you what is owed.

Today I have zero energy, I plan on going back to bed.
Emmanuelle_OVO
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Userlevel 7

Hey @wfs2023,

 

I’m sorry to hear of the experience you’ve had,

 

I’ll ask Forum_Support to reach out, please keep an eye on your private messages. 

Renewable Energy? Big Fan.
W
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Thank you Emmanuelle_OVO Private message received and I have responded. Let’s hope it is the start of a TWO-way conversation!

W
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Emmanuelle_OVO Thanks for your efforts. I received a private message from OVO_Forum_Support

8 days ago, saying...

Hello,

Sorry for the issues you're having,

Can I please take your name, address and OVO account number? I'll take a look into this for you.

 

I replied, but have received nothing back.

Should I send a physical letter to the CEO? What would be the best address considering this is an SSE Energy Services account rather than an OVO account?

Or maybe it is now time to raise it with the ombudsman. I have made a start, but on the Ombudsman web site it asks me to select the company name from a list. The nearest to “SSE Energy Services” is “SSE (Energy)”. Is that the right one?

Abby_OVO
Rank
Userlevel 6

Hey @wfs2023 

 

I’ve pushed Forum_Support to take a look at this, sorry for the delay.

 

They should now be looking into the matter, and will keep you up to date via PM. You’ll be able to find that here: https://forum.ovoenergy.com/inbox/overview.

Location: Electric Avenue

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