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Why did OVO collections team contact me despite my recent payment?

K
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I’m interested to hear from SSE former customers and if it resonates Ovo Energy customers.

I transferred from SSE mid January 2022. My billing cycle was quarterly and bills came not long after the billing period. My bill was paid by a direct payment.

At transfer Ovo Energy placed me on a monthly cycle running 13th of the month to the 12th of the following.

Upon transfer my bill fell at transfer and I paid SSE. The money was transferred to Ovo, however my previous billing and usage with SSE was and still is not visible.

For the period 13th March to the 12th April, I viewed my bill electronically I have smart meters and paid on the 13/4/22 shown on my bank statement as the 14/4/22. I paid modestly over the due amount and was in credit at the start of the billing period. A week later I received a bill from a Ovo indicating a debt.

This debt was imaginary as their system appeared not to acknowledge my payment, even though my account did. For that period and into the next. I was harassed by txt and email.

I tried to contact via chat, that system was not available, I tried to call excessive wait times. Eventually frustrated with their harassing communications. I left a trust pilot review and received some rather pointless communications through that platform. That my experience will be taken up with the billing team.

As the next billing period approached the most recent I paid Ovo on the date my bill appeared in my account. There was no notification that my bill had been issued. Instead I receive a rather harassing text message from collections for a debt that had been over due for more than a month. This was and is not the case.

It is likely I will formally complain through Ovo’s complaints process. They have eight weeks to address my complaint. After that it is the Energy Ombudsman…..all in from a consumer perspective it appears fruitless and time consuming. As there is a clear issue with Ovo’s billing process and procedure.

The other option is to transfer to British Gas.

Thanks for reading and commenting if you do.

 

Oh! a screenshot of my account is attached, yes I’m in debit by a few pounds, I’m in a billing period. Sorry wouldn’t allow the screenshot.

 

 

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Best answer by Tim_OVO 23 May 2022, 11:49

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Blastoise186
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Hi @Kenyon graham ,

In on my phone right now and can’t respond properly. However, you may want to try calling 0345 0260 712 on Monday as this will get you through to a dedicated team handling former SSE customers.

Securing energy by zapping security bugs... For that is The Blastoise Way!
Blastoise186
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Userlevel 7
Badge +1

Ok, I’ve found a PC now.

I think your SSE account might still be accessible for another two months, so please check back there for any existing SSE bills. It’s possible that your payments went there and paid off a bunch of SSE related billing and this may explain where all your payments went to. Going from quarterly to monthly billing can after all, sometimes cause a few temporary quirks. To be honest, switching to British Gas will just give you an even worse experience and in my personal view, isn’t worth the hassle.

Admittedly yes, sometimes big migrations don’t always work completely flawlessly, but once OVO is made aware of the issue, it will be resolved. This is what the complaints process is designed for and very capable of resolving. I’ve not seen anyone else mention this exact issue on the forum before, but it is account specific and best raised to the Support Team as they’ll have access to your account.

Please try to avoid posting personal information such as account numbers though. I’ve had to ask a moderator to edit your post to protect your privacy. I’ve asked them to try and edit the screenshot if possible to preserve the rest of the content in this instance.

In the meantime, I’ll be checking in on this thread every so often and may reply again.

Securing energy by zapping security bugs... For that is The Blastoise Way!
K
Rank

Hi Blastoise186, thanks for the interest,

SSE transfer was relatively painless as was the indirect billing between SSE-Ovo.

The issue is with Ovo billing, nothing else. Payments made to Ovo not SSE are the issue.

Ovo have not resolved the issue. I did have direct contact through Trustpilot.

As far as experience is concerned it would be hard to be worse. I’m sure it could, nonetheless.

Thanks for the dedicated SSE number.

I‘ve spent to much time already on it.

Tim_OVO
Rank
Userlevel 7

Updated on 17/04/2024 by Shads_OVO

Thanks for flagging, @Kenyon graham 

 

 

For the period 13th March to the 12th April, I viewed my bill electronically I have smart meters and paid on the 13/4/22 shown on my bank statement as the 14/4/22. I paid modestly over the due amount and was in credit at the start of the billing period. A week later I received a bill from a Ovo indicating a debt.

This debt was imaginary as their system appeared not to acknowledge my payment, even though my account did. For that period and into the next. I was harassed by txt and email.

 

It’s very odd to see that the payment seems to have affected your balance, as shown in your screenshot, but hasn’t stopped collections activity for account debt. It may be worth contacting our Collections team by web chat from 8am-6pm Monday to Friday and 9am-2pm Saturday, and by phone (0800 0699 9831) from 9am-5pm Monday to Friday . Start a webchat conversations or or call with our Collections team here. Also you can see our page on payment support here.

 

Carbon neutral - we need a community to get there! My green tech: Aclara SGM 1411-B smart meter, Chameleon IHD6
C
Rank

KG you are lucky you have a bill to pay, I was transferred last year and have still not had a usage bill. Its impossible to get anywhere with Ovo they cut you off, lie to you and make it almost impossible to get through to a human being. Over an hour on the phone today and cut off after three transfers!! As soon as this is sorted I am switching, I never asked to move to Ovo and will never forgive SSE for switching me. Ombudsman for me also...

C
Rank

What do I do? I am one of the poor souls pushed from SSE to Ovo last September, since then I have not had a bill with a reading because my account has still not migrated (since last year) its almost impossible to talk to someone at Ovo who can actually help rather than just state the account has not migrated. I have left Twitter messages/DMs sent emails and even written to the CEO who pushed me onto Jon Tibbo who passed me to :-

Sorrell Tennick

Senior Advanced Resolution Specialist

She will not answer my emails nor give me anything other than a generic email address.

Today I spent over a hour on the telephone getting transferred three times, each time going to the back of the queue , only to get cut off at the last person.

I am getting threatened with debt collection for an account that is not according to Ovo even migrated yet, this will impact my credit rating.

I am at my wits end with these clowns, any idea what my next step should be?

  •  
Jess_OVO
Rank
Userlevel 7

I’m really sorry to hear of the issues you’ve had with your account since it joined us from SSE, @ColinS.

 

As this sounds like an account-specific issue I’ve requested some account details via a Private Message to see what we can do to help here. Access and respond to this message by heading to the top-right hand corner of any forum page.

Powered by Re-knowable Energy!
Y
Rank

Been dumped by Swalec onto OVO, and then never received a bill by post or email for over 4 months. Still haven’t. Never had a problem with Swalec.

I login, download the bill (as pdf which I still have) on the 27th May. The bill covers to period upto 9th May, and says I own £902.70. Well, that’s life. I pay on the 30th May £903.00. The website days thanks, and I am in credit to £0.30. I get a receipt by email.

The NEXT day I get an email saying I still owe an extra £ 178.35, its very overdue, and if I don’t respond, they’ll pass my details to their debt collection agency. WTF ?!

I login again, and download the invoice again for the same period. Apparently overnight for the same period ending 9th May, the new total has been added. HOW CAN THE SAME INVOICE FOR THE SAME DATE HAVE A DIFFERENT TOTAL ?

Absolutely terrible way to conduct business. I paid what I was invoiced. Paid. PAID.

As soon as this mess is sorted, I’m moving to Another Even if it costs more. The one my parents are with (also begins with O) send clear, detailed bills, send clear, multiple emails, and my parents seem happy with them.

OVO in mere months have made sure I want to leave. And post here telling others why, so they know they aren’t alone with this attitude OVO has.

Blastoise186
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Userlevel 7
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Hi @Yeti ,

I’m sorry to hear of your problems, but I’m afraid this forum isn’t the right place to get them resolved. No-one here is allowed to access your account and as the forum is mostly patrolled by forum volunteers like myself, we’re not in a position to take any actions.

If you still need assistance, please contact the Support Team via https://help.ovoenergy.com where you’ll find all the available contact options.

If you are still having trouble despite this, please see https://ovoenergy.com/feedback for the next steps.

I will not respond to this thread again for the time being.

Thanks for understanding

Securing energy by zapping security bugs... For that is The Blastoise Way!
W
Rank

This company seems to be a shambles, I made a payment of £140 on 13th August which would have cleared my balance, the payment was done by bank transfer.

Guess what...OVO have lost the payment. Ive sent them proof of bank transaction on 19th August, phoned them 3 times to ask what the hell is going on, nobody knows.

Then today, 31st August I received an email from collections basically threatening me that if I didnt pay my over due bill it would affect my credit reference.

Absolute shambles and a shocking way to treat someone.

 

Emmanuelle_OVO
Rank
Userlevel 7

Hi @Whyt,

I’m really sorry for the issues you’ve had. When our support team receives details of a missing payment it is raised to our payments team who usually locate the payment within 3 working days. It may be that they are missing some information they need to locate the payment such:

1. Date and amount of payment

2. Method of payment  (direct debit, BACS, card payment) and any possible reference. With BACS (bank transfer) they ask for sort code and last four digits of bank account) and any reference that was used for the payment.

 

3. Proof of payment - screenshot of the bank statement

 

It might be worth contacting support again but through a feedback form with those details. They should be able to put a collections hold on your account until this is sorted. 

Renewable Energy? Big Fan.
M
Rank

i recently switched from boost prepayment to ovo variable tariff my first bill was estimated they said the meters were not in contact with ovo i cant understand why its the same company the bill was grossly over estimated since july i have been trying to get ovo to put the bill right.

i have now received a email from the collections department asking me to settle the outstanding amount even though i have made payments of £160.00 for the last two days i have made two calls the first call was answered after 40 minutes i explained the situation and was asked to hold after 10 minutes i was cut off i received a call back but when i answered the connection went dead today i tried again after been told the wait was less than 10 minutes after 30 minutes of not getting a answer i rang off iam now at a loss what to do.

is this standard ovo treatment if it is i will probably look for another supplier !!!!

F
Rank

I rang ovo last week to make a formal complaint about the harassing emails my 87 year old mother was receiving. My mum stated she felt bullied and harassed. 
 

In July my mum was sent debt collection email before she even received a bill. In august she was sent a debt collection email even though they acknowledged they had received a cheque payment. And today she has received another debt collection email for the same bill. 
 

I explained that she paid every month by cheque. Which if they checked her account they would see. 
 

she is not able to pay at the post office any longer and there no longer any NatWest banks open nearer than 20 miles away. She is distrusting of direct debit. So she wishes to pay by cheque and should be allowed to do this. 
 

I was on the phone for 45 minutes. they agreed that no further debt collection communications would be sent. That a written apology would be sent. Yet Tonight she has received a debt collection email for the amount they had already acknowledged they had received. 
 

this worry is making my mum ill. Ovo have failed to do any of the things they promised. We are at our wits end. 
 

what do we do ? 

 

M
Rank
Badge +1

It will take some weeks for the complaint process to complete. Paying this way will cost an average customer over £200 more than Direct Debit once October’s price hike applies. If mum doesn’t trust fixed Direct Debit, perhaps paying actual bills by DD would be acceptable instead? The distrust of DD is going to be quite expensive.

Eon and EDF customer. Don't think smart meters are worth the expense.
F
Rank

Thank you, it’s such a worry it’s making my mum ill, feeling so let down by Ovo customer services and the promises they made. 
 

it’s my mums choice not to pay by DD. She is distrusting of them and now Ovo and it seems with good reason as they have failed to do what that promised. 
 

im beginning to wonder whether they took any action at all 

L
Rank

I don’t understand why I have a collections email for £39 and yet I made a payment recently of £155 and then when I look on my OVO account I now owe even more…. how are they even making up these figures?

You can’t respond to the email - helpful.  I was on hold on the phone today when it said over 10 mins I think they meant over an hour as I gave up at about 48 mins… I have more important things to do than sit on hold.

The collections mention they have sent me prior email/letter and I have nothing apart from the last bill for £155… honestly it’s a real joke.

L
Rank

also don’t tell me to do monthly DD or get a smart meter.  I want to manage my money not line the pockets of energy companies who appear to make up their own rules and I had a smart meter removed from a previous property due to causing headaches and I am already a cancer patient…. where is the option for someone to call me back rather than just hold???

H
Rank

I’ve had a similar experience. 
I received an email from collections last month and paid the bill immediately, which was the last quarter of SSE + 1 month of OVO. 
The I received an email from collections on a Friday (nice, ruin your weekend)  saying I still hadn’t paid the bill they’d emailed me about last month. But the balance they showed was usage for 27th July to 27 August. So clearly the bill had been paid but just haven’t bothered updating collections team! 
You can’t reply to email (unhelpful) and the only other option in my account or on email is to write a letter ( what century are we in?!). 
I waited for about 45 minutes this morning to speak to someone, to be told it was probably an error. But they can’t share information about the balance because the account is actually for my 93 year old mum. She’ll have to call to add me to the account.
I do understand why this policy is in place and that it’s for our protection but I’m just not sure what anyone else would gain from checking my mums electricity balance?!

As with all big companies these days they push everything towards internet/online and don’t really care how elderly will cope, and even for those who have support they don’t make it easy.  Maybe I’ll tell her to send a letter as that seems to be one of the two preferred contact method!! 

I only got the details for this forum from listening to on hold messages for so long!

The support agent did confirm that there was no chance of her electricity supply being switched off at least, which gives me time to sort this out. 
 

Rubbish experience OVO! . Regardless of high or low energy prices, don’t be complacent about customer service. Especially when you you’re chasing payment that’s already been made so the root cause lies with you and your process, not us!

 

L
Rank

OMG Helen that is even more crazy!  I will wait for them to contact me again - I don’t have time or energy to spend hours on hold…. 

Emmanuelle_OVO
Rank
Userlevel 7

Hey @mitiebob,

 

I’m sorry for the issues you’ve had since switching to OVO from Boost. If you’ve had your meter exchanged to a smart meter recently there are a few possibilities that could result in a large estimated bill, as advised in these similar threads: 

 

 

 

As we aren’t getting readings from your meter you can submit one on your online account to make sure your bills aren’t estimated and complete a smart meter health check (SMHC).

 

 

Once you have completed your SMHC please send it to our support team. You can contact them through web messenger. They can put a collections hold on your account until the issues with your meter are resolved. 

 

I hope this helps.

Renewable Energy? Big Fan.
Tim_OVO
Rank
Userlevel 7

Hi @Flicky and thank you for flagging this to us on the forum. 

 

I’d like to offer some help and advice from the outside in, just in case it’s helpful. 

 

If your mother is not on a fixed contract plan, a Direct Debit isn’t necessary. She’s able to pay on receipt of the bill, by cheque or via the online account. 

 

The tricky situation is that whenever a bill is generated and the cheque is sent, there’s a large delay between the balance dropping below £0 and the cheque reaching the team who process it that day and add the credit balance to the account. This can prompt automated letters about the debt. It is these automated letters she’s had, and by the sounds of it, we’ve paused ‘collections’ activity because of it. Eventually that pause will end. 

 

I would advise her to disregard any letter about a debt that she knows she’s paid by cheque. It’s just a delay with what she knows compared to what the account balance is showing as. I would however also advise that she makes the payment online if possible. It’s so much quicker and easier. A direct debit is of course the easiest but by the sounds of it, she’s dead set against it. These pages are also worth a look:

 

Price rises: we're here to support you

 

Here’s the latest information on rising energy prices, and how we can help 

 

Energy Bills Support Scheme

 

This page has all the information that we and our call centre team have on the Energy Bills Support Scheme right now. 

 

Ways to get financial support

 

If you’re struggling financially or you’re worried about your energy bills, we’re here to support you. Find out about the different ways we can help here.

Carbon neutral - we need a community to get there! My green tech: Aclara SGM 1411-B smart meter, Chameleon IHD6
Tim_OVO
Rank
Userlevel 7

Hi @helendo hi @louise74 and thanks for flagging these experiences. 

 

It does sound like we’re sending out that collections message around the time you’re paying. If in doubt, check that account balance and if it’s at or above £0, happy days! This delay between payments and debt letters is when customers choose to pay on receipt of the bill. There can be a period where a debt exists which prompts a letter, but actually the payment is on its way. If you don’t already, I’d recommend paying via the online account which is quickest. 

 

For GDPR reasons we can only discuss account specifics with someone named on the account. See how to get this sorted here:

 

 

To get your mother added to our Priority Services Register, complete the form here. 

Carbon neutral - we need a community to get there! My green tech: Aclara SGM 1411-B smart meter, Chameleon IHD6
L
Rank

Tim your bills don’t make sense, everytime I go online there is another figure and another bill and no history of the payments I have made!! I am moving soon and need to make sure everything is in order before I leave…. I don’t have time for this or to be on hold for an hour at a time!  OVO need to sort it out! 

Emmanuelle_OVO
Rank
Userlevel 7

Hi @louise74,

 

Sorry for the issues you’ve been having.

 

We have a live billing system so whenever a meter reading is submitted by you or received from a smart meter your account balance will update, which might be why the amount on your statements is different from your account balance. Here is a guide about this topic you might find helpful:

 

 

If you are on the Simpler Variable Plan on demand you can pay on receipt of the bill, but with any other plans you would be chased by collections if you don’t have a direct debit set up. 

 

How are you paying for your bill? If you are paying by cheque there might be a delay between when the collections emails are sent out and when we receive payment. If you have been paying by bank transfer we would need you to add your OVO account number and postcode as reference. 

 

All of your old bills are available in your OVO account. To find them, click on Billing history. You can view them, and download them too.

 

Hope this helps. 

Renewable Energy? Big Fan.
L
Rank

Hi

But it doesn’t make sense and I can’t validate all these numbers you are just expecting me to pay. I will be so glad when I move and don’t have OVO to deal with honestly I have never been so confused by anyone’s billing system than yours and from all the other reviews I am not alone.  

I am paying by faster payments using bank transfer so there should not be a huge delay.  Feels like you are once again just pushing DD and smart meters on everyone!

I will wait to pay my last bill until I am satisfied that everything is in order and all my payments are showing.

Thanks,

Louise

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