More like 1,000 left by the time it was turned off. Over 99% of accounts were already off of Apollo by the time OVO had to pull the plug.

Online access wasn’t suspended per se - the entire billing system was turned off.

I am afraid Blasoise186, you are showing a complete lack of understanding of dealing with a large number of customers and also data systems. For a company as large as OVO with 1 million legacy customers to just cut them off without board level knowledge is unforgiveable. Also your comments about only 1000 customers being left should mean that the system designed to handle 1 million should have no problem being run on until those 1000 were transferred to the new system. You also show no understanding of databases compared to email systems. A simple email with just 1 word will be much larger than 10 years worth of one customer every month meter readings with price data. Ovo’s legacy system was not great, especially if you have a 3 phase installation in 1 house when it estimated that I was going to use the same as 3 houses so every 6 months, I had to phone in to stop the system trebling my direct debit but to just cut me off without warning from my account is absolutely out of order. I have also not received a bill since Oct 2023 so I presume there isn’t even an (x3) estimated reading system in operation.

I have 24 years of IT experience and a Level 5 BTEC Higher National Diploma in Computing and Systems Development. I’m more than qualified to know about databases. It took me four years to achieve that alone as I did a two year Level 3 BTEC National Diploma in IT first. Likewise, I have three and a half years of experience on this forum.

In case you’re interested, I updated this comment by using an SQL Script hooked up to CKEditor 4 to modify the forum database. It’s actually quite easy to do too.

I’m also capable of many things when it comes to IT stuff that I don’t talk about for legal reasons. I’m being genuinely honest about that - even if I wanted to, I can’t. All I can say is that I’ve proven my skills to OVO at least once and my doing so was highly appreciated. Likewise, there are also other companies who have thanked me for my assistance. In that particular case, both companies involved reacted positively to my intervention.

But I can tell you now - the Apollo database almost certainly held FAR more data for each account than just “one customer meter reading a month and price data”. It’d have held way more than that.

I also already mentioned it clearly that there weren’t many accounts still on Apollo when that system was turned off. It’s quite possible those were the ones that were either very badly corrupted by Apollo itself and/or had requirements that haven’t yet been added to Orion. Those are very likely reasons why you’re not back up yet but are just my personal thoughts.

It is quite possible your account is on a Billing Hold or Billing Suspension, which is designed to prevent corruption from sending out dodgy bills. Trust me, it’s better that way and is arguably for the best. The last thing you want is corrupted bills being generated, and suspending them prevents that.

We - as the Forum Volunteers - normally recommend in such cases that you either continue making payments as normal, OR put the money aside so you can quickly clear the next bill and entire outstanding balance in one go once billing gets resumed on your account.

But alas, it appears that my advice isn’t getting through and never will, so if you really want to contact the CEO that badly, then so be it. Step this way and you can reach his team. I will advise however, that the CEO himself probably won’t be the one replying.

If you look further down… You’ll see there’s more to that page than first meets the eye.

I use macros programmed into my mouse for certain repetitive tasks on this forum. As it happens, one of them is set to paste in the feedback page and hyperlink it in one go by triggering a macro. It’s not worth my time to customise it for every possibility under the sun and plugging in that page is more useful than plugging in email addresses directly.

Given my activity levels on this forum, automation tools such as macros save me an awful lot of time. Multiply that by several thousand comments and it soon adds up.

And yes, I have seen 5 ¼ floppy disks. I never used them much as I more often used 3 ½ inch disks instead, but I do know about both types. And yes, I have used DOS as well in the past.

Blastoise186 I don’t question your technical expertise but your replies fail to acknowledge that OVO suspended my online access without any prior notification and have failed on multiple occasions to keep me informed when my online access will be restored. 

The Board of OVO should accept responsibility for their failure to communicate with customers.

That doesn’t mean I haven’t been talking about it backstage or seeking answers myself though. My access to the forum is pretty powerful after all - there are more categories here than what you see on the homepage.

I prefer to avoid upping expectations with false hopes - I find it better to only say what I’m able to stand by if questioned about it later.

People get upset by being told they can’t do stuff. People get upset when not told they can’t do stuff. Personally, I’m not sure it would have made much difference either way, but that’s just me.

By the way, I’m not sure if you’re using two forum accounts but it’s best to stick to just one per user.

I appreciate that you are; ‘talking about it backstage’ but after 8 months it is time for the Board to make a public statement including an apology and a commitment to be transparent on the actions they are taking to restore online access.

That's not how I work and besides, you can't just make demands like that.

I have my own unique ways of doing things…

Goodnight 

I received a telephone call this morning from an Advance Resolution Specialist at OVO who informed me that the revised date to restore my on-line access is Q3 2024 but this date is not guaranteed. If my on-line access is restored on 30th September 2024 it will have taken OVO SEVENTEEN MONTHS

Thanks @MarkS1. That’s interesting to know. In that case I will be moving to another supplier ASAP (assuming that OVO doesn’t mess that up too.)

Thanks for the heads up MarkS1. I am thinking the same as Frustrated, 17 months is an absolute disgrace and I will now be looking to move too. The problem I have is a lot of providers don’t handle 3 phase supplies, not that OVO were much better with the old system trying to treble my direct debit every 6 months as it decided I was 3 properties not 1, even though 5 or 6 years of records showed otherwise.

Maybe OVO want the customers on Apollo to leave OVO so that they don’t have to spend the time and cost transiting customers to Orion? 

Like most of the OVO customers on this thread I have had no access to my account on line since April , through a period of huge price hikes when I really needed to monitor things regularly not monthly in arrears 

 I did suggest months ago that my old account should just be closed and reopened , pay me a couple of £100 to compensate the loss of Interest on the new account , job done

but no we are just left to wait with not even an update on the status of the change 

my more recent emails are being ignored which is just rude , yesterday I tried logging in again and still got the message that it should be done by end of 2023 🤬

I am now an octopus customer and really can’t believe  I have allowed OVO to treat me like such a fool

@Hadders52 Gonna be a bit brutally honest here… If this is all you’re going to post every single day, it’ll eventually end up being considered spam and possibly deleted.

Please try to add something more useful.

Hey 

We’re very sorry that you can’t log in to your account at the moment. We’re working on fixing things and will be back in touch in the near future with an update. In the meantime, you’ll continue to get your bill every month by email or post as usual. If you have any questions or need help with anything, please chat, call, or email our support team.

Me too: also now an octopus customer. OVO may be happy to get rid of us.

I will put in at least one complaint eventually. Right now I’m worrying about how long it will take OVO to close my account and refund my hefty credit balance. Any ideas about that?

Six weeks is the normal timeframe.

However, as you’ve left the only complaints you can raise now are those related to the account closure and final refund process - everything else will be rejected as not actionable.

Thanks for that info @Hadders52. It’s quite significant because it’s the first update from OVO in about 9 months.

That’s OK. I wasn’t planning to complain to OVO anyway because it would be like communicating with a brick wall. I will complain elsewhere.

The law is 6 weeks to issue a final bill. If the bill is late you are normally entitled to £30 compensation. If the compensation isn't paid within 10 working days of the event you are normally entitled to another £30  compensation 

The refund should be within 10 working days of the final bill. Again under the law you are entitled to £30 if it is late, and another £30 if the penalty is not paid within 10 working days of the event.

Worth putting a review on Trustpilot if you haven't already 

https://uk.trustpilot.com/review/www.ovoenergy.com

Worth putting a review on Trustpilot if you haven't already 

https://uk.trustpilot.com/review/www.ovoenergy.com

I was actually being sarcastic, but I see this afternoon the holding page has actually been updated. !!!!!

OVO have finally changed the message when customers on the suspended Apollo platform try and log in.

We're working on a new website for you

We're very sorry that you can't log in to your account at the moment. We're working on fixing things and will be back in touch in the near future with an update.

I remain sceptical that OVO are actually; ‘..working on fixing things...’ but if I am wrong then Raman Bhati, CEO, should issue a statement setting out what is being done and commit to a date when online access will be restored.

They are not working on a new website at all. They are SUPPOSED to be transferring us to the system that has been up and running for a while now where all the other suppliers customers were transferred to. My mother was one of these and she had access as soon as she was transferred to OVO. It is, according to Blastoise, just the remaining 1000 that they are struggling with. Nearly a year now so that would be 3 a day, surely not that difficult.

The new website already exists - it runs on the Orion billing platform that you’re being moved to. It’s more a case that your accounts can’t be moved to it yet for reasons that are likely complex.

I meet with some of my OVO contacts roughly once a month and the next one is coming soon. I might be able to find out more then, but I can’t promise whether I’ll learn anything and/or if it can be made public or not.