I’ve been having ongoing issues since our migration from SSE on 20th February. Still getting nowhere and have made 3 phone calls to the customer service team. Made a formal complaint and all they could say was they can’t access my account as it’s still in the migration period. It will take another 10 days for my complaint to be resolved even though my previous complaint (10 days ago) hasn’t been resolved yet.
can you tell me what the complaints procedure is? The guy I spoke to at resolutions was super creepy and told me to go and look after my kids
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Hi @Jfbowe , this is a customer forum with users trying to support each other. No-one has access to your account and there are no ‘named’ direct links .. sorry
That sounds really frustrating, @Jfbowe. Sorry to hear this.
If your complaint has already been escalated to the ‘Complaints’ team, you’re in good hands and this is the highest point of escalation within OVO. Our Support team or any moderators here on the forum wouldn’t get involved to offer help at that stage so that the Complaints team can be the one channel to a resolution. It helps to avoid inconsistencies and sets expectations correctly.
Some customers have reported success escalating to the ovo CEO as a very last resort. His name and the ovo address is in the public domain on the ovo website
Feel free to post more details of your issue in case any of the regular posters can offer some support
That sounds really frustrating, @Jfbowe. Sorry to hear this.
If your complaint has already been escalated to the ‘Complaints’ team, you’re in good hands and this is the highest point of escalation within OVO. Our Support team or any moderators here on the forum wouldn’t get involved to offer help at that stage so that the Complaints team can be the one channel to a resolution. It helps to avoid inconsistencies and sets expectations correctly.
Really hope we can get this resolved for you quickly.
I have been through the scenario of the complaints team once and still have been unable to get the issue sorted!
Hey @Jfbowe,
I’m sorry to hear this,
If the complaints team are unable to offer a resolution you’ll be able to escalate the complaint further.
The link shared by Tim shows a breakdown of the full complaint procedure.
Hope this gets sorted for you.
Hi,
looking for some advice. Received final bill from SSE after recalculation on 20/09 stating due refund of over £2000 and that cheque would be issued.
I do not have OVO energy account as changed supplier. I have tried using webchat service but they keep telling me to contact SSE (who’s website directs me to contact OVO).
Can anyone advise who best to speak to about this please?
Hi @Murray Ogilvie ,
It’s definitely OVO in this case - all SSE data has been migrated over and OVO is able to access it.
Hi @Blastoise186
I agree and there is no way for me to contact SSE anyway. Am I better calling OVO helpline?
I agree and there is no way for me to contact SSE anyway. Am I better calling OVO helpline?
Worth a try if you are struggling via webchat which obviously isn't great.
I assume from your post you haven’t received the cheque?
Also under the ofgem rules you are automatically entitled to £30 compensation if you haven't received the refund without 10 working days of the final bill.
You are allowed another £30 if that compensation is not then paid within 10 working days.
I have sent complaint as webchat unable to assist.
Fingers crossed it will get sorted quickly @Murray Ogilvie
If you post how you get on, it may help other ex SSE customers having difficulty with the webchat.
Did anyone actually manage to get a response from OVO about a billing complaint? How do I escalate a complaint when I get no response with the complaint process on OVO website, anyone has any other email address?
Please don't send me back to the OVO complaint email, the chat or the customer service phone,.I've already done that and still havent received any response at all.
I will go the ombudsman route if that's the only way, but would like to get even an attempt of a response from OVO first.
Hi @Cap
Sorry to hear that. I am just a customer like you.
Have you tried this?
Make sure you send any emails from the email address you have registered with OVO. Including any complaint emails.
What date did you put in your complaint?
No thanks I actually didn't see that one, I have just forwarded them my email to the complaint team, thank you!
My complaint email was only sent a month ago, but before that I have tried contacting them by chat and phone, and I'm only getting random answers (I think they just guess to get rid of me). Then I'm told "I'll forward your case to the billing department" and never hear back.
I’ve tried the get in touch with our CEO about my billing complaint and still heard nothing. OVO Support have taken an interest in my complaint and I’m waiting to see if that helps. If it doesn’t I will have to go to the ombudsman.
No thanks I actually didn't see that one, I have just forwarded them my email to the complaint team, thank you!
My complaint email was only sent a month ago, but before that I have tried contacting them by chat and phone, and I'm only getting random answers (I think they just guess to get rid of me). Then I'm told "I'll forward your case to the billing department" and never hear back.
@Cap
It is worrying that there has been a steady stream of customers struggling with the complaints process over the last few days.I would say more than I usually see as a regular poster on the forum.
Hopefully something will come out of this longer term
Work out the date you can go to the Ombudsman , then every time you interact with OVO tell them this date.
I’ve tried the get in touch with our CEO about my billing complaint and still heard nothing. OVO Support have taken an interest in my complaint and I’m waiting to see if that helps. If it doesn’t I will have to go to the ombudsman.
Fingers crossed you will see some progress.
I would work out exactly when the 8 weeks is up to go to the Ombudsman, then every time you interact with OVO tell them this date.
@Cap
I see you mentioned a month for your complaint. Once 8 weeks have passed you can go to the Energy Ombudsman
Work out the date you can go to the Ombudsman , then every time you interact with OVO tell them this date.
Yes, it's definitely worrying and we will be looking to swap provider as soon as we can.
My issue with the 8 weeks timeline is that Ovo billing department is obviously not waiting for that length of time to escalate things on their side. They already want to double our DD to cover the debt, I don't want it to get worse whilst they blissfully ignore my attempts to contact them!
@Cap
I see you mentioned a month for your complaint. Once 8 weeks have passed you can go to the Energy Ombudsman
Work out the date you can go to the Ombudsman , then every time you interact with OVO tell them this date.
Yes, it's definitely worrying and we will be looking to swap provider as soon as we can.
My issue with the 8 weeks timeline is that Ovo billing department is obviously not waiting for that length of time to escalate things on their side. They already want to double our DD to cover the debt, I don't want it to get worse whilst they blissfully ignore my attempts to contact them!
If you haven’t already, try calling the collections team and ask them to freeze your DD at the lower level for 3 months
0800 0699 831
The ovo moderators often recommend that. I don't know enough about your issue to know if they are likely to do that, I haven't read all your posts.
All I would say is OVO are far from the worst supplier looking at Trustpilot, Which and Ofgem ratings so be careful if you decide to switch based on this issue you are having.
OVO process and procedures don’t and you can’t get to speak with anyone!
Bought a new property where OVO is the electricity supplier and the previous owner left a debt. How you can leave a huge debt when it’s a pre-paymnet meeting I don’t undertand, but that’s another matter...
Tried to take over the supply and get the debt cleared using website / web-chat / email but none of this achieved a result.
Tried calling, but placed on hold for one hour and then cut-off.
How do I get the eletric switched on and how do I get the previous owner’s debt cleared?
This comment was left by an independent forum volunteer
This is actually quite common - and the problem is not OVO. You’re calling on a Monday, so it’s predictable that the lines of every energy supplier in the UK will be absolutely rammed to the max. Try again later in the week and it’ll be easier.
Please use Webchat for the fastest results.
You need to set up an account before you can do anything else - this will enable the debt to be wiped as it’s not yours, and in turn restore supply.
This comment was left by an independent forum volunteer
This is actually quite common - and the problem is not OVO. You’re calling on a Monday, so it’s predictable that the lines of every energy supplier in the UK will be absolutely rammed to the max. Try again later in the week and it’ll be easier.
Please use Webchat for the fastest results.
You need to set up an account before you can do anything else - this will enable the debt to be wiped as it’s not yours, and in turn restore supply.
Sounds like he has already tried all options so not sure why you keep making excuses for Ovo’s shocking customer service.
I went 30 years with SSE without the slightest problem and within 2 weeks of migration had 2 massive errors, one of which I have been fighting for 8 weeks coming up on Friday. It’s shocking how many customers are having to resort to the Ombudsman before they seem to get any results.
I rue the day SSE sold out to OVO
On the other hand, I had massive problems with SSE for three years that OVO managed to fix within days. The massively overly-complicated phone tree was the least of those problems…
But one of the things OVO does have which barely any other supplier in the UK has - and SSE definitely never did have - is a community forum like this one. We’re able to come up with unique and creative solutions that go beyond the scope of what a regular support team does, or at the very least make you better off informed that can help you later.
If you’re having a problem, please, by all means create a thread on the forum and we’ll try to advise you as best we can. However, if you don’t tell us what your problem is, then unfortunately we haven’t invented a TARDIS yet and cannot predict your question. But as far as I can tell Maureen, you have posted a lot of comments on the forum, but have yet to post a question that I can find.
In actual fact, as a Forum Volunteer here, I have access to additional information that helps to tell the story from angles you might not think of. It’s all the angles combined that form my opinions.
Not everything you see in the news or on this forum tells the full story. Once you’ve been here for a couple of years, you start to learn the real story - that people might be happier than what you see publicly.
The biggest problem with a PAYG debt like this one is when the meter is left spinning for long periods during a void property - it gets into a debt state and digs deeper. That’s not OVO’s fault, that’s just because no-one’s feeding the meter!
As for SSE? I’ll echo the thing I’ve said a great many times on this forum. They wanted to quit the market since around 2017 and OVO was their second attempt at it. The deal with npower fell through in 2018 and got abandoned. Perhaps it was for the best that npower didn’t take it on…?
There are a number of ways of looking at energy supplier customer service. Here are a few.
