Power Move prize draw - does anyone win the top prize?

Out of scope. Forum Volunteers on the OVO Forum aren’t expected to moderate or curate any content on off-site platforms - the same is true with the Forum Moderators. Since it wasn’t posted here (nor by OVO using official accounts), we’re not responsible for it. If I choose to do so, it is solely at my own discretion.

As I mentioned, you should do your own research. I think it’s best to otherwise move on and not get too hung up on TikTok. Likewise, it is not my place to try and force my views onto you, and I don’t wish to do so.

It’s about OVO. It’s the information you have mentioned. I tried to verify that information. Agree, let’s move on.

If a forum regular reported winning the £2k I suspect that it wouldn't be long until some saddo shouted “Fix”.

I can well understand any winners (of anything, not just a PM prize) not wanting to make their win public.

PS. I've got another £2 this month - so under the current PM rules I'm 2 for 2 for £2 (without even really trying TBH).

Indeed. It’s also why myself in particular would be unable to reveal such a win. There’d be a 5,000% chance someone would immediately call me out over it via insert mean comment here

Even though I obviously cannot influence the draw in any way, shape or form*, the risk to me from revealing such wins - specifically the backlash I’d probably suffer - means it’s not worth saying anything. I’ve already dealt with far too many forum trolls in my time...

I imagine that some other winners don’t want to say anything for similar reasons.

*The way the prize draw for Power Move works is on the list of things that Forum Volunteers are deliberately restricted from knowing much about - we know it exists, but not much else.

Cheers ​@costeek and ​@wkeithg on reflection I think the word “average” is used so that if someone hits only 10 (say) of the 21 weekdays in March, for example, then their daily average would still hold for a pro rata reward.  I’m imagining a scatter of relevant weekday PowerMove %points on a monthly graph plotting Y axis kWh against the X axis weekdays, where a consumer’s average between the diverse points would well be represented by a single horizontal line, which could then be called their average peak hour usage. 
 

Anyway, I guess we all know intuitively what’s meant, and I’ve come round now to understanding the use of the term “average”, as one person’s total of relevant days in any given month, for a variety of reasons, might well not be the same as another person’s  total days, but by using their daily averages one could still compare their PowerMove performance for their relevant days.  

I hope under “saddo” it wasn’t meant anyone particular. 
 

Don’t say information you cannot verify. Especially, when you are in a position representing someone else (even voluntarily). That was my point. 

Not anyone in particular, just serial-complainers / serial-moaners in general.

I'm a forum moderator elsewhere, (a software company forum,) so I do tend to come across quite a few of them.

​@Sparky64 I just received email saying that there were five lucky ones who won the top prize. 

hi ​@costeek, 

Regarding that email you’ve received, every month there will be 5 individual winners at a minimum.

Cheers, and have a great weekend.

Ben

I got the email but when I click the link to “Open the App” I get a “Page not found” page. ???

It works on my phone. Could it be that you turned off mobile internet for apps? I do that when trying to save some data, and get a lot of that kind notifications. 

Thank you, ​@Ben_OVO! 
Originally this thread was questioning about the top prize winners. So, I updated with the information I have. 

The link will only open the app if your are reading the email on a smartphone or tablet where the app is installed.
Are you on a phone/tablet? Do you have the (latsest) app installed?

If you are reading the email on a PC then it will open the Account Portal login page instead.
Of course Power Move is no longer there, it’s in the app..

Thanks, I had been doing it on laptop. I’ve tried it on my current iPhone and all the link does is open up the website in the phone’s browser and gets the same page not found. The OVO app is the latest.

Is your phone browser in the Private mode?

All it should need is a settings change so that links can open in apps instead of just the browser:

See this which is a ‘How To’ for both Android and iOS: https://www.browserstack.com/guide/how-to-open-links-in-app-instead-of-browser

Hey ​@glassey 

Sorry to hear this, have you tried doing it through the app directly instead of through the link? You should be able to just open the app and head to the Power Move section.

Let us know how you get on with that.

Wow, the power of gambling. I seem to be a lone voice but doesn’t anyone think it’s wrong that when OVO change power move to a lottery where over 99% of ‘winners’ are worse off all the discussion is about the big prize and whether the bait is as tasty as they promise.

It must be nice to not care about the money but that’s not me. I used to regularly ‘earn’ the maximum £12, Not much you might think but 15% of my energy bill (electricity and gas) and over 1% of my income. So I’m not happy that in the last three power moves I ‘won’ £4.

As for the idea that the number of losers is commercially sensitive information they’re not allowed to disclose. I find that insulting. Unless it’s commercially sensitive to mention that gambling works because gamblers loose. After all that’s how those who set up the games make their money.

Still if it is to be a fair game they should as a minimum tell their customers the odds. There is a national standard of good practice in the energy industry. OVO were involved in drawing it up. It states reward schemes should be transparent. I looked it up when the power move lottery came in, funnily enough OVO hadn’t signed up to those standards.

As you may guess I never saw the attraction of any kind of gambling. Maybe because I know enough mathematics to understand that overall what’s lost is more than what’s gained. Of course that is for the gambler, billions are made from people who don’t get this.

Also I don’t like being misled. So I instantly disliked all the focus on how the big prize is limited. I think that’s done to give an impression OVO is taking a risk. That somehow it’s customers could get very rich and they could lose in this lottery. I never even thought there could be anxiety about whether they actually pay out. They’d be daft not to. The maths is simple, and really it doesn’t cost them much compared to what they take from over 99% of customers who ‘win’ a lot less. Rather shows up how unfair it is not to say how many don’t ‘win’ at all.

Talking of unfair, the main thing I saw about how the big prize is limited to a year’s energy bill is that the odds are stacked against me then. Also when they say ‘energy’ does that include gas? So much for transparency. Or indeed systems which disadvantage already disadvantaged customers.

If anyone has stuck out reading this to the end you won’t be surprised that I’m leaving OVO. The power move lottery was the trigger for that, both my dislike of gambling and being ten to twelve pounds a month worse off. You can qualify that by probably but it’s over 99%. I’m 64, unlikely to live long enough to win big - it’s nonsense.

At least you don’t have to pay to enter…

And yes, the credit from the prizes in ALL cases can be used for both Gas and Electricity - it gets fed into the main account balance that both fuels pull from, so you can use it however you see fit.

Thanks, good to know I could use it how I like. My question was though what is the upper limit on the ‘big prize’ based on. Is it just electricity or is it electricity and gas?

Power Move only factors electricity usage into the calculations that run the prize draw - gas is completely excluded because there’s no cheaper gas at off-peak periods.

Also do I really not have to pay to enter? It looks to me like I used to be able to rely on earning the maximum £12 a month and now I’m lucky to get £2. 

I know that. It’s still not the question I asked.

If memory serves, the value is around £2,000 depending on what numbers are currently plugged in.

And if I remember correctly the maximum prize is ‘a year’s energy’ not any fixed maximum. Since my bill for total energy is around £960 for the year. Of that around £680 is electricity. So my question is what maximum prize might I expect, £2500, £960 or £680?

Of course I know I’m not forced to play. That’s why, since you replaced a transparent scheme which benefitted me by £12 with a lottery with an overwhelming expectation of £2 or nothing, I am leaving for an alternative supplier. 

While I wait for my fixed contract to end I am trying to clarify for anyone what it is you’re really offering. 

Is it a scheme which is less generous to low usage customers like me? I think it is but I’d like a clear answer.