I have been trying to get help via the Chat with us option at OVO Energy Customer Help and FAQ. After going through the ID checks, the bot asks if I would like to talk to an agent, to which I answer Yes. Four times now, the next steps are these:
Stuck. I’ve tried in a private window, so there’s no interference from existing cookies etc. What am I doing wrong?
Best answer by Ben_OVO
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!
@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:
Message Us Business said Hello, I’m OVO’s digital assistant and I’m here to help. 10:06 AM Business said I just need a few details first for security. Providing this will help me get you the right support quickly, whether it's self-serve you're after or connecting you with the right team 10:06 AM Business said Are you an OVO customer? 10:06 AM You said Yes 10:06 AM Business said What is your first name? 10:06 AM You said Noel 10:06 AM Business said What is your last name? 10:06 AM You said Burgess 10:06 AM Business said Please confirm the email address of your account. If you don't know your email address, enter # 10:06 AM You said jn****.com 10:06 AM Business said Please confirm your account number. If you don't know your account number, enter # 10:06 AM You said ****627 10:06 AM Business said Please tell me what you need help with? I’ll use this information to try and get you the right support. 10:06 AM You said half-hourly usage data 10:07 AM Business said Are you looking to ask when an engineer will arrive for an appointment? 10:07 AM You said No 10:07 AM Business said Do you already have a Smart meter? 10:07 AM You said Yes 10:07 AM Business said Are you having an issue with your smart meter or in home display (monitor)? 10:07 AM You said No 10:07 AM Business said Do you want to change how often your smart meter sends us meter readings? 10:07 AM You said No 10:07 AM Business said If you still need help, would you like to talk to one of our agents? 10:07 AM You said Yes 10:07 AM Business said All messages are stored to help us provide a better service. 10:07 AM Business said Do you have a Pay As You Go meter that you top up to add credit? 10:07 AM You said No 10:07 AM Your conversation has ended September 16, 2025 10:07 AM 4f3e53718ad6925980666d4929558d2c
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?
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?
… your Windows 11 25H2 is still an insider/beta release …
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.
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.
9:13 AM Business said Did you get the help you needed?
9:13 AM You said No
9:13 AM Business said Were you able to access your MyOVO account?
9:13 AM You said Yes
9:13 AM Business said Let's connect you to someone to help with that.
9:13 AM Business said All messages are stored to help us provide a better service.
9:13 AM Business said Do you have a Pay As You Go meter that you top up to add credit?
9:13 AM You said No
9:13 AM Sent
Your conversation has ended
September 19, 2025 9:13 AM
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.
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?
... 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 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 😐
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.
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!