Why am I still getting charged for gas? - My faulty gas meter was removed!

I had my gas meter removed by OVO in May  2022 ( free in case you’re interested, they said when removal was booked it would be £106 then said no charge just beforehand!) as changed to ASHP

still charging for gas supply despite hours on phone and chat line on 6-7 occasions, each time told it’s been escalated and sent to meter team or waiting for national database etc . Since early December my account has disappeared from app message says waiting for switch information takes up to 6 weeks and cannot access for readings or useage etc, been with I’ve here for 6-7 years,no switch.

eventually I wrote email to complaints couple of days ago , not expecting much no acknowledgement even.. it’s like Hotel California.. the experience is same as others on here , frustrating, concerning , Hopeless. Friendly , helpful people but totally unable to help so far . I also had a prepayment meter card sent to me 3 months ago for gas that I don’t use and a non existent meter.

also cannot switch now because of all the above, trapped!!

Hi @M.isterW , @hillfort , @Jonpit and others in the “club”

Success??

Recent experience has taught me to be very cautious when dealing with OVO Energy BUT my gas account was removed (again) last Thursday and, so far, it has not returned!! 

That is admittedly only 5 days, but it is 4 days more than on the previous 5 occasions that they removed it!  So, it is just possible that they might have solved the problem, or found a more effective “workaround”.   I am awaiting the next call from my complaints handler but I suspect that she is being equally cautious this time before claiming success.

I wonder, have any of you had any progress recently? If they have found the solution, it should work for us all.    In the meantime, I’ll continue to keep checking in on my on-line account every morning and evening and try to stop doing it with my fingers crossed!

cheers

John

Hi @M.isterW 

Both. I phoned initially, more as a query than a complaint, but as nothing seemed to be happening and I didn’t feel that the people on the other end were taking it very seriously, I emailed it as a complaint. They continued to communicate with me by both phone and email, usually to tell me to which level it had now been elevated and how long I should be prepared to wait for that level to be processed!!

When the young lady phoned me two weeks ago, claiming success, it was the first time that I actually  felt I was talking to someone who had engaged with the issue, rather than just the “complaints process”,  so I really do hope that she is able to claim some credit, if the problem is now sorted.

Yesterday I received an email telling me that they’d had electricity and Gas meter readings that did not tally with my previous useage, please could I send photos of my meters. Not by me they haven’t!

1. I’ve not been able to submit any electricity readings for 3 months as my OVO app still says “ waiting for Switch information “

2. I haven’t had gas meter for 7-8 months now  

have sent photos of electric meter And absent Gas Meter yellow Tag.

maybe something is happening, though no reply or acknowledgement to Email formal complaint yet.

Or Maybe it is automated response to the photos of meters I’ve just sent… probably 

Hi Emmanuelle_OVO

thank you, Any help would be appreciated.

Hey @Jonpit,

Sorry to hear you’re still having issues, that sounds like a really frustrating experience.

Forum_Support will be in touch this week. It sounds like it’s already been raised to the right team but there isn’t a timeframe for this to be sorted, you could try and get this resolved sooner by raising a complaint. 

Really hope this gets sorted for you as soon as possible. 

I have ‘ raised a complaint’ some 10 days ago now but not yet had a response!

i believe I have to wait 8 weeks from above before I could contact the ombudsman!

i reiterate that the helpline staff and everyone I’ve spoken to or messaged at OVO have been amazing, calm and helpful, just that there’s a block in the system that doesn’t allow them to solve this problem.

needs some more work on software, metering or communications , maybe getting the national gas “ grid” to operate effectively.

is this another example of incompetent government systems, and body responsible ignoring our needs or is it just OVO systems?

We had our gas meter removed and capped in June 2022.  Still not removed from our energy account.  In fact, the history of our account has disappeared as far as 2020 and we haven’t had any electricity billing since July 2022. We have gone through a winter of the highest energy costs in history without knowing what our bills will be. After many, many phone calls, emails and webchats, I have had to escalate the issue with the ombudsman. 

Just a tip, though, if you use the webchat, screenshot the dialogue as the transcript request process is also broken!

I have been assured today that it’s all sorted out!

will let you know.

if so Linda and Roy will deserve elevation.

My gas account has now been removed for about three weeks and it appears to be holding. All of the standing charges, from the date of my meter removal, have disappeared, so someone at OVO Energy has sussed out how to do it!

However, they have not yet been back in touch with me to formally clear my complaint and I still have a process going through with the ombudsman.

In my case to the ombudsman I was not seeking any compensation, all I asked was that OVO Energy sort out my account, and then acknowledge that it was all their fault and send me an apology.  As they have, so far, only completed the first of these, I feel justified in keeping the process active.