Web chat not working properly

I can’t seem to reproduce this - it’s working fine for me

Thanks for trying! Were you asked whether you have a PAYG meter? Then, assuming you answered No, what happened next? 

Managed to trigger the route, but it still connected just fine.

​@Chris_OVO Sorry to bother you, but this problem persists. I’ve tried various different queries which all eventually lead to the bot asking if I’d like to talk to an agent. I say Yes, it asks whether I have a PAYG account, I say No and the conversation is terminated. I have reproduced this many times today. Here’s one of the conversations, copied and pasted from the chat window:
  

Note specifically the last three timed lines. Why would the conversation end if I don’t have a PAYG account? Is there perhaps a different process for PAYM customers that I haven’t discovered? 

​@Firedog could you try using it on a different internet browser and see if you get the same issue?

​@Ben_OVO Thanks. I’ve tried two different ones; I’ll try the third tomorrow (too late for today ☹️)

Morning ​@Firedog,

Please let me know how you get on, and also what browsers you’ve used. I’ll get this reported internally for you. Thanks!

Morning, ​@Ben_OVO 👋

I’ve just tried web chat again in two different browsers:

• Microsoft Edge version 140.0.3485.66 (Official build) (64-bit) and
• Microsoft Edge version 142.0.3564.0 (Official build) canary (64-bit) 

with depressingly identical results. The OS is:

• Windows 11 Pro v. 25H2 build 26200.6718 updated 17/09/2025. 

This was the end of the last conversation:
  

It makes no difference whether I launch the chat from the Chat with us button or the fancy little Open Messenger button in the bottom corner of the page OVO Energy Customer Help and FAQ.

Could the fact that I’m on the PSR have a bearing, if there’s some unsuccessful redirection going on?

Hi ​@Firedog  Whilst that does look like an issue in the webchat…..

I will make the observation that your Windows 11 25H2 is still an insider/beta release at this time, so although it is close to official release it is still an unfinished version.
Just to rule it out as a possible cause then maybe try from a machine with a fully released Windows version?

Thanks, but not really. It’s the Release Preview, so unlikely to change before going gold sometime very soon. I can’t imagine how it could have any bearing on how the chat works, and in any case I don’t have another computer to try on. I don’t really see how the browser version could affect the performance like this, either.  It feels as if something’s going wrong with redirection (e.g. to PAYG or PAYM agents), possibly combined with the PSR redirection.

Progress, of sorts:

I bit the bullet and decided to try using my phone. We got one step further before the wheels came off:
  

I’ve been staring at this for half an hour now, though not continuously. 

If no-one else is seeing the same behaviour, I don’t suppose it’s linked to the AI Help trial and it’s just coincidence that both started at the same time. 

Another day, another trial, another failure …
  

I’ve been trying unsuccessfully for days now to make contact with Support. I haven’t tried lying, answering Yes to the bot’s last question, because I suspect that if it worked to connect me to an agent, it would be a PAYG-trained one who wouldn’t have a clue what I was complaining about. 

Any more ideas, people?

I wonder if ​@Ben_OVO didn’t spot my last post because I didn’t tag him? 

I'd go with the ‘saying Yes to PAYG’ option.

If it does connect you to a PAYG agent that's extra information - and if instead it still cuts you off then that points to a different kind of fault.

Thanks for the info ​@Firedog, I’ll get this reported internally. I’ll let you know when I hear back.

I abhor lying! Nevertheless, I followed your advice solely in the interests of science and eventually got through to a PAYG Customer Care agent. I confessed and asked if he could transfer me to a PAYM agent. His response  - “Sure 🙂 No problem” and a few minutes later I reached a Customer Care Specialist in the Zero Carbon Living Team. So far so good - 13 minutes to get this far.

This agent sadly didn’t know the difference between meter readings and usage data, so when I asked if he could retrieve missing data, he eventually came back with meter readings … In the meantime, we had a long (23 minutes!) and unnecessary conversation about Direct Debits. His only advice was to close and re-open the app to see whether the missing data reappeared. I managed to persuade him that he would need help from someone else to get this done, so he transferred me to another agent who didn’t tell me what her rôle is. She eventually agreed to raise a case with ‘the online issues team’ who would take up to a week to get the job done. Chat ended after 1 hour 11 minutes.

It shouldn’t be this difficult to get help. What would have happened if I were off-supply and freezing?

I'd say that as you are a PZH it's not lying but testing.

In this case it's tested the PAYG branch and it works.

So it's the saying “no” to PAYG branch that is broken.

Agreed, so we can probably also agree that this oddity has nothing to do with my browsers or Windows versions or indeed anything else at my end. There must be some combination of account-based factors at the OVO end that cause a legitimate pursuit of a path to Support to be derailed. Let’s hope ​@Ben_OVO’s interlocutors get it pinned down and rectified.

I’m feeling pretty idiotic ATM:
  

I just tried web chat again with a view to solving a meter readings/usage data problem. I got no further than before before the conversation was terminated. ​@Ben_OVO Any ideas? How to find out whether this is just me or whether anyone else is experiencing the same? I can’t ask myself, because agents refuse to chat with me 😐

Hey ​@Firedog 

Ben has raised this internally. He and the other person this has been raised with are onsite this week, so we may be looking towards the end of the week/beginning of next until we do get a response.

I’ve tried to see if this is a known issue elsewhere, or if it’s been raised by anyone else and I can’t see that it’s been flagged by anyone else from what’s available to myself.

Hopefully we get a response on this soon for you! 

Afternoon ​@Firedog, 

Just to let you know Brad and I have managed to track down the colleague I raised this with and we spoke in person just now. They’ve confirmed that the screenshots and interaction ID’s you’ve sent over are currently being assessed to find out what’s happened. So far no other customers have reported the same. Hopefully they’ll be able to provide some answers soon!

Cheers,

Ben

There is a spell on my account - weird things happen from time to time. Thanks for following up 🙇‍♂️