Hi @Customer666 ,

I’ve let the forum moderators know. They’ve asked the forum volunteers such as myself to flag cases like this one. If they see the alert today, they’ll aim to respond.

“Call Help” indicates a serious meter fault, it’s always vital that you immediately call the supplier if you ever see that warning.

In the meantime, I strongly recommend that you keep talking to Support via Live Chat at https://ovoenergy.com/help 

Hi @Customer666,

Yes I’m sorry to say ‘Call help’ on the gas meter display means that gas meter needs to be replaced. Please contact our Pay As You Go Support team directly when you can to arrange this engineer visit: 0330 175 9669

If there have been any missed appointments for this previously when you weren’t given at least 24 hours notice, you will be owed compensation which can be arranged either during or after the call to arrange this engineer visit. 

I have the same problem been without supply for 5 days they keep telling me someone will be out within ¾ hours and no engineer yet called 3 times today 

Hi @Catherine mcc 

I’m really sorry to hear about this, have they been out to you yet or are you still off supply?

As Tim_OVO said, if they’ve been missing appointment’s without any notice, you may be entitled to £30 compensation for each one they’ve missed without letting you know.

Finally after yet more calls the engineer is just away and we’re back on 

Hi I can’t quite believe the situation we’ve been left in.

we have a traditional pay as you go gas meter. Earlier this afternoon (Christmas Eve) the meter started displaying “call help”. The meter was very low on funds (below £2) and would not allow me to top up. I believe this is caused by a fault in the valve in the meter.

i called the emergency OVO line but they informed me that they would not set up an emergency call out until I had ran out of gas, and to phone up when I had. I repeatedly made the point that although I hadn’t ran out, I soon would so couldn’t see the point in delaying the call out. But no, two separate advisors refused and breezily told me to phone back when I’d ran out of gas.

An hour later, and we’ve ran out of gas, but OVO have closed all helplines for the evening. I’ve tried the national gas helpline (who also couldn’t believe the advice OVO had given me, but said because it was a meter fault, they couldn’t help.)

I literally can’t believe those advisors sat there, knowing that I would lose supply to my home in a matter of minutes and did absolutely nothing.

So here I am. Christmas Eve. Two children under the age of 5 in my household (which OVO ARE aware of, gale force winds, and zero gas.

Is there anybody out there that can help?

Hi @Andy55 

I don't work for ovo, i am just a customer like you.

You could try the OVO twitter or Facebook pages

 I don't know if they are working or can action this.

The ovo staff their have access to accounts

If sending a direct message rather than a general post on Facebook or Twitter include your name, address, account number and date of birth to get past security. Include the word Emergency along with any other message.

https://www.facebook.com/ovoenergy

Else it is a matter of waiting until 9 am in the morning for the phone lines to be open

Have tried the twitter route thanks, god I hope it works. Can’t believe have been left in this situation.

Hey @Andy55,

I’m so sorry to hear this,

Did you manage to get it sorted?

Hi Emmanuelle. I eventually got sorted yes. But I really think OVO need to look at their protocol on this and feel like I was treated poorly by the two advisors I spoke to.

they both said I would have to phone back when the gas completely ran out, but neglected to say “the whole of OVO is clocking off for the night, so there will be nobody to help you when you do”. I repeatedly explained that we were so low on credit that I would run out by the time an engineer was available anyway, but felt like the whole attitude was ‘not my problem’. As I said earlier, even the advisor at the Nation Gas helpline was shocked at the advice I’d been given.

on a separate note, I know they’re not direct employees of OVO, but the engineer who attended on Xmas day was friendly, positive and brilliantly quick.

The snag there is that it seems to be not just OVO that works this way - pretty much all suppliers seem to require the supply to be off before they can book an emergency job.

To me this looks link a “Computer says No” issue, and that it will keep saying no and not let an emergency appointment be booked until the supply is off completely.

Such computer programming issues are frustrating for both the customer, and the support agent who can't override the computer and get it to say Yes and allow a booking to be made.

I agree, I can see why the proviso is there, and if I even had enough to see me through the evening it wouldn’t have bothered me. But it was clear I was going to run out well before any engineer got to me even if they were well within the 3 hours response. So instead of just sorting it out there and then I spent Christmas morning shuttling kids to relatives for a wash, phoning the line to report the fault and then waiting in for the (admittedly cheery for working Christmas) engineer.

Also, when I was on the line to OVO, I repeatedly said “so will I need to phone back later this evening when I’ve ran out”, the advisors just agreed with me, instead of helpfully pointing out, look, we close at five so if it’s not addressed before then, it’s a morning job. Perhaps I should have been aware of this, but it’s Xmas eve, I’ve two small people, etc. From a customer service point of view, pointing this out to me would have helped me and saved a lot of frustration later. As it was I just felt a bit fobbed off.

I can well see your point there. they should have said something.

(Maybe they thought you'd run out more quickly? Before they went home? That's not a real excuse though).

“Hello Police

 Yes, hello, I’m in the woods and being chased by a seven foot bear.

Has he caught you yet?

No

Ok, phone us back when he has”

Sorry everyone, I do have a working meter now and all is well, so realise I should just settle back on the sofa. Thank you to all for the advice on here and best wishes all for the rest of the holiday.

Paddy and Mick are out hunting together in the woods. Suddenly, Paddy’s gun goes off unexpectedly and Mick crumples to the ground. Paddy, distraught, calls 999.

Paddy: I think I’ve killed my mate. It just went off in my hand. 

Operator: Calm down a minute please, Sir.  Let’s make sure he’s dead first. 

… Brief pause, then BANG!

Paddy: OK, now what?

We’ll all be back to normal next week, but meanwhile, Happy New Year 

Hey @Andy55,

I completely understand your frustration, 

It is our policy that an emergency appointment is booked if a customer is off supply, however I absolutely agree you should have been advised the office would be closed.

There is the option to raise a complaint about the misadvise you were given. 

Hi I’m trying to put my credit into my meter and it just says call help??

Hi @TraceyReeves ,

Please contact OVO directly about this. More info at the thread below.

Hey @TraceyReeves 

Did you speak with the Support Team about this like Blastoise recommended? This is the only option to take in this scenario I’m afraid. 

Let us know how you get on.

Had an absolute nightmare with OVO for past week. My traditional prepaid gas meter (pay as you go) was changed on Monday 16th December as the old one was showing 'call help'. Engineer that changed the meter has not informed me that the new gas card is needed and that I have to call OVO for it. I have topped up the old card as always on 20th December. To my surprise the old card was not accepted on the meter. I have called OVO helpline. Firstly I was told that new meter needs to be updated and I need to wait for an hour and try the card again. After over an hour the card was not working. I called OVO again, and they told me to go to the nearest pay point after 3H, take card from them and register the card on the meter. The card was working on my meter but when I went to shop to top up the card, they couldn't as it was showing that the card was invalid. I was told to do the same thing 4 times, received different TAG numbers, even someone from OVO was talking with the man from the shop. None of the cards were working in several different paypoints. Finally on Sunday OVO sent an engineer who came after 3H and only done £30 emergency top up and said that the meter looks fine and I only need a new card. So next day, I have called OVO again requesting new card for the meter. Was getting stressed as the Christmas were near and I was afraid that I will be left without gas. I have received new card by post but the card still wasn't working, now showing Error6002 in paypoint. I have called OVO AGAIN and asked them to send someone to check what is the problem as I already had 5 different cards and none of them was working. Engineer came after 3H and said that he cannot do emergency top up as I still have £2 of emergency gas on the meter. I have asked him if he could check the meter to see what is the issue to what he replied that he was only send to do top up and I need to call OVO tomorrow to send someone else. I ran out of gas the next day and couldn't top up. After spending over an hour on the phone with OVO they have send another engineer who done emergency top up again and said that the meter is fine and we need a new card. The issue last for a week now and nobody seems to know how to resolve it. I have called OVO 15 times, spend hours on the phone, every time received different information from different customer advisor. I am absolutely disappointed with OVO at the moment and spent Christmas time stressing over gas supply.

Hi ​@olgakrzy ,

I have asked the Forum Moderators to review this thread. Please wait until Monday for them to return.

​@Bradley_OVO any chance you’ve got a second? ^^

Hey ​@olgakrzy 

Did you get this sorted? I’m sorry this sounds like such a stressful situation. 
 

I found this guide which might be helpful to you. 

If your meter says HELP Please call us right away so that we can send out an engineer to reset your meter before it runs out of credit and disconnects.
 

How to get in contact about my OVO Pay As You Go account

• The best way to get in touch with us is via chat here. Just click the green chat icon on the bottom right of your screen. We’re here to help anytime from 8am to 8pm Monday to Friday and 9am to 5pm on Saturday and Sunday.
• Or call us on 0330 175 9669 - Opening hours: Mon-Thu 8am to 8pm, Friday 8am to 6pm, Sat-Sun 8am to 5pm.

If you need to contact the team on a Sunday, our Social team is able to support you. Send us a message on Facebook or Twitter from 9am - 5pm. This team is also able to schedule an emergency meter appointment if needed. More info on what to do in an emergency here.
 

There is also the option to raise a complaint if you aren’t getting the help you need.

Please keep us posted with how you get on.