Thank you. The automated machine does promise a call back and I waited on one call alone for 66 minutes..

From both phone calls I’ve had no feedback - nor from online contact.

As the account was swapped without landlord’s consent I do not have account details - I’ll try the FB messenger route as well..it’s just very poor service and frustrating but thank you for taking the time to make the recommendation.

I hope also to hear from @Tim_OVO or @Amy_OVO soon. 

@katiep you will likely need to take a photo of the meter with its serial number to help support access so perhaps have that ready in chat (it has helped me often!)

I agree with @Jequinlan that phone contact isn’t the best option in this case.

Personally I’d use email to Customer Services hello@ovoenergy.com because that can be bounced onwards to the best team-member for that particular subject.

You may still get problems with you not being the account holder and therefore not having the account number. But if CS respond with a “standard reply” that they can’t write to you, then please ask us here again and we’ll see if we can find a way around that for you.

Hi @katiep 

I’m really very sorry to hear about your experience of calling and emailing us this week. 

From what you’ve written, it sounds like you called us, and requested a call back. This should result in you getting a call from the agent that picks up your request when it gets to the front of the queue. Call backs are available only when queues and waiting times are long, but even then, we’re talking 30 minutes or less. The fact that you were were in a queue for over an hour shows that we must’ve been very busy today. I will look into this. 

Now let’s try and offer some help here (you may have noticed I’ve tweaked the title and assigned a ‘best answer’, as there will be others to follow with the same question as you. 

Faulty gas meter but no account:

If the property was switched to OVO without the landlord’s permission (I assume you either are the landlord, or their client?), the house is on supply with OVO, and an account needs to be made for the person that’s now responsible for the property’s utilities. If the tenants who initiated the switch are no longer responsible, then the person that is responsible needs to complete this online form, to get an account created. You will then have an account number, which means a trace is left after every call (or missed call back), and the agent who picks up a web chat, email, tweet or Facebook PM can note the account. It helps!

However, if the gas meter fault means you are off supply, this warrants a short notice visit from the engineer. Calling IS the best way to get this appointment booked in. Please complete the online move in form tonight, and call us tomorrow morning as near to 8am as you can: . 

Lastly, please update us on the latest tomorrow - it will help anyone else reading this!

Hi Tim, @Tim_OVO 

I have FB messaged as advised and am putting in an official complaint. If a property has no gas supply during a pandemic this has massive implications. No hot water in a property during Covid-19 raises serious health and safety concerns . I have  been promised a call and email again today after going the FB route but have received neither. I am shocked at the neglect shown by a company when the issue was raised to OVO reps this morning. And still no contact made as promised, and still a property remains without gas. 

It’s scandalous really. I await a reply and customer service. 

Hi @katiep - I think you replied without seeing my full reply. Please see my comment above yours for my recommendation. :)

I have some sympathy with @katiep’s position. During times of coronavirus lockdown there will occasions when a 3rd party needs to contact an Energy Supplier on behalf of an occupant. It might be a Parish Councillor or a Neighbourhood Crisis Coordinator, for example. They wouldn’t have all the usual account details, but they do need a rapid response.

And @katiep are you aware of the Priority Services Register which all GB Energy Suppliers are required to maintain?

Do you happen to know if the vulnerable people in this particular house are on the PSR?

The link to the online form didn’t allow for account opening..and I’m back waiting trying to get through to somebody..on hold on the phone..

Previous callbacks from last week still have not been honoured..a request to have the case passed on to complaints has yet to yield any results either..

Finally got through..an engineer was booked..we were given a three hour slot and engineer not shown within three hour slot..

Back to being on hold..to chase engineer’s visit..no call to say engineer delayed or any pleasantries or customer service..onus on customer to chase customer service constantly..

Suggest you follow that up with an email @katiep.  hello@ovoenergy.com

You may yet need to refer back to a written record of who said what and when.

@Tim_OVOwill be aware that I’m following this story with interest. I want to know what would happen in the event of a household having their energy supplies cut off as a result of a failed software upgrade to a Smart Meter.

This has never happened as far as I can tell. But the efficiency of the response is obviously crucial.

Sending an email across now..I was on the phone again for over an hour before being cut off..an hour and 8 mins..to chase situation with engineer..and no call back.

Concern is for vulnerable adults everywhere who would have to go through this process..I do now have account details etc but it’s the fact that getting in touch has been nigh impossible.

I should be hearing from their complaints team today so can add on the next chapters to the complaint. 

Thanks for keeping us in the loop, @katiep 

If the household is registered with the Priority Services Register, then those vulnerable adults can appoint 3rd parties to act on their behalf. If not, then I can foresee OVO struggling to discuss these issues with you… although I’m pretty sure they’ll try!

Ofgem monitor such issues and all Energy Suppliers are required to keep PSR communication logged separately so they can be audited.

I know that OVO’s smart meter engineers are trying to push ahead with getting all SMETS1 meters in PSR homes upgraded to the National Smart Meter Network asap. They don’t want to be doing this work on those houses in the middle of winter. So vulnerable customer accounts are usually given very high priority.

Thanks for highlighting Priority Services Register as I’ve not come across that before.

We had a support worker at the house for three hours yesterday to cover the engineer visit only for a no-show, so it’s very frustrating. I think if there was telephone contact - I was promised Covid assessment call and visit yesterday and neither occurred..waiting on the online messaging now but no agent available..

If you’re sending in Support Workers to homes, then I’m pretty sure they would qualify for the Priority Services Register, and your organisation can be stipulated as one of the 3rd-party contacts.

Although each Energy Supplier arranges their own PSR (and rechecks it each time the contract is renewed), those addresses are then merged into a national system.

So, for example, when I was observing a field engineering team from Western Power Distribution last year, their foreman checked that all affected PSR customers had been properly notified before a scheduled power cut was executed.

One resident on the PSR told me that she hadn’t received that Notification, and all work was stopped whilst an engineer visited the house to make certain that the resident was safe before work was allowed to progress. (The resident had actually been properly informed, but their impairment had restricted their understanding of the power-cut timing).

This PSR data is taken extremely seriously. After all, a home might be identified as having a dialysis machine in it!

Energy Suppliers may not remove an energy supply from a home registered with PSR, even if there is an outstanding debt. Instead, they are required to make arrangements for that debt to be addressed without the threat of power-loss.

Please use the system, and tell anyone else you know about it if they are caring for vulnerable households. During this time of Coronavirus constraints, HMG and Local Government may yet use it to assist such homes during lockdowns over the winter months.

Ask here if you want any further clarification.

Some excellent support and advice here from @Transparent - and I highly recommend this Priority Services Register is considered. Click on the words and it will take you to the page to complete it online! There’s also more info on this support here

The engineer not showing up - my goodness this can happen but is very rare. Make sure you raise this missed appointment with the OVO agent supporting your query - they can then ensure a process is initiated to check if missed appointment compensation is owed from the engineers. 

Average wait for web chat today is 8 minutes. Please hang on when you’re in the queue to get through to an agent. 

I’m looking forward to your update, @katiep - after you’ve had a call from the complaint handler. Keep us updated, we often only hear about things when they’ve gone wrong, rather then when things are put right...

So @Tim_OVO @Transparent 

The agent couldn’t help as it’s a pay as you go meter so referred back to the telephone line..I’m averaging two hours a day in phone calls and still nothing resolved..still no calls back..still no visit

I’m astonished that your call didn’t get routed through to a member of staff in the PAYG department @katiep 

And I must also apologise that I forgot to check if this was a pre-payment meter at the outset. They do have features which this part of the Forum aren’t familiar with. For that reason all PAYG customers are directed to the Boost Forum.

I also suspect that this is a “traditional” meter with dials rather than a Smart Meter. Do you happen to know if this is the case, Katie?

This is a classic situation where having a Smart Meter would help. It can be interrogated remotely. There is also a facility whereby Smart Meters can be remotely over-ridden if there is an emergency and the customer has no credit. I have no idea if OVO ever use that, but I would like to see some method of this feature being accessible to Local Councils and food-banks.

Remote over-ride wouldn’t help if a meter is actually faulty of course… as seems to be the case with your client.

This is spot on. If the property has prepayment meters, it’s supplied by Boost Power. They have a separate Customer Support team with different contact details and no web chat.

Boost contact details:

Phone: 0330 102 7517  

Email: hello@boostpower.co.uk

Boost Forum

Boost Help Centre

Boost Facebook

Boost Twitter

HOWEVER if the property has a credit electricity meter, and a disconnected prepayment gas meter, this is very much in OVO’s hands to resolve. To please use those contact details in the 'best answer’ (at the top) to reiterate this. 

This developing situation really is like a bit of a horror story - I’m so sorry to hear that it’s still ongoing @katiep 

Yep great advice. If the meter is replaced, it will be replaced with a smart meter. 

For the electricity meter, here’s the link to book in a smart meter replacement if it’s an OVO supplied house. Here’s the Boost link. 

After 45 minutes this afternoon - (on the third call since 13:00) - I EVENTUALLY heard a ring tone, then the phone picked up, laughing was heard in the background, then it was hung up yet again!  If you think this is some sort of service - then not only are you are very much mistaken - but you are not providing a real service, in my humble opinion anyway.

You might consider answering the phone when a customer calls. Today I started to call at 9 am. A lady answered just before 4pm, so it took way over 6 hours, to actually get to speak to a member of your staff, the lady then says she has to call another office for me, as she can't answer questions about my account! Wouldn't it have been so much easier for me, (or any of your other customers), to be be given the correct phone number to call in the first place? Or would that just be making things too easy for the customer?

Hi there @normindurham ,

Sorry for the trouble! This definitely doesn’t sound anything like the experiences I’ve ever had when calling OVO myself. Can I just check what phone number you were trying to call? It should be 0330 303 5063. There’s also a callback feature where OVO can phone you back as soon as you’re at the front of the queue.

OVO has just installed a new phone system last week, so it’s still a little glitchy in places but it’s being worked on rapidly. I think I know why you had to be transferred however but I can’t reveal that here (it’s actually good news!). I’ll PM you in a few minutes to explain that further.

I hope this helps. Sorry if the experience hasn’t been perfect so far, but I’m sure it will improve.

I’m so sorry to hear of your experience when trying to call the Support Team yesterday, @normindurham.

Whilst we’ve just made a change to our phone systems, this shouldn’t have affected your wait times (our average wait time was under 7 minutes yesterday) so I’d like to investigate this one further for you.

I’ve sent you a PM to check a few details which we can pass on to the team to make sure everything’s running as it should be. 

Not sure what this one might be referring to @Blastoise186 - as we don’t have access to check account details here we can’t say why the call needed to be transferred, so best not to speculate.

I hope the issue’s now been sorted, @normindurham. If you still need to contact the team the quickest contact channel is often our webchat which you can find a link to here. 

Let us know if you need any more general advice, particularly relating to the best way to use your online account or OVO app (download for Android or iOS) - we’ve got lots of knowledgeable community members here on hand to help where we can. 

A year on much the same, serious issues on billing through smart meter sync. Long phone calls and no resolution. Battery ran out today after 70 minutes, no call back. Apparently complaints can take 45 days.

I have been trying to get a massive issue with my mothers account sorted since 2nd June.  I have spent an inordinate amount of time on hold, being promised that I will be called back.  That things are being actioned.  Yet still this has not been resolved.

I send emails, i receive the standard bounce back saying ‘5 days’ to respond.  I call after 7 to be told the email has not been received.  How is that possible when I have had a bounce back from you.

I then get a call confirming the email has been received and is being actioned.  I will hear in 48 hours.   4 days later, still nothing.

This morning I receive an email to say the email is not attached to the account?  Firstly I have email confirmation that it is, and it has been verified.  Secondly, you have actioned previous emails that you hadn’t received, but have now have received and are supposedly actioning.  

This morning i rang at 9.20, to be put on hold until 9.49 to be told somebody would call me back within minutes.   Still no return call and back on hold.   It is now 10.20.  

Is it possible to start charging Ovo for my time?  This is beyond a joke now.  

How can one company be so incompetent?