Failed smart meter installation, what next?

Lots of people worked yesterday so personally i don't think that is any excuse especially as they made the booking.

You are being very understanding... 

Just spoke to them Jeffus and she didn't let me speak to the person who sent the email.  Apparently I have to wait until the 14th.  She has made another appointment but on their past record not at all confident they will actually turn up.  Also spoke about the compensation they have paid me.  A total of £90 which is not correct given they actually applied it well after the 10 day time limit.  Was told she would pass it on to this elusive Deborah.  I did make clear my disgust at their total lack of customer service.  Not to the call handler of course.  Not her fault but to the company in particular.   That all has sent my blood pressure through the roof.  😁😁

Certainly 5 missed appointments if they miss the next one would be a lot based on other examples seen on the forum…

So sorry to hear about it, @Scotia121. Just on the compensation point, the payment is £30 if you’re not given 24 hours notice or more, and if it doesn’t get paid within 10 working days it gets doubled to £60. 

Glad to hear this is booked in again!

Hi Tim  I wasn't given any notification on any of the missed apps.  And since this relates to each from January through to yesterday  and was only credited to my account in the last few days, it is well past the 10 days.  Seriously thinking of the Ombudsman and Energy Scotland can apparently help me with that.  Have zero confidence they will actually turn up in May though.

OFGEM did get involved many years ago. 

https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/publications/ovo-energy-pays-ps54000-after-agents-missed-appointments

£30 Compensation is payable when

• An engineer misses an appointment that has not been cancelled
• An engineer arrives outside of the scheduled 4-hour time slot.
• An appointment is cancelled giving you less than 24-hours notice.
• An engineer is unable to do the job because they arrive with the wrong equipment

Compensation needs to be paid within 10 working days of the appointment , else another £30 is payable. 

Well today I just received a text cancelling the app on 4 May!  Citing engineer availability apparently.   Yesterday I phoned Energy Advice Scotland and they assisted me to submit a complaint to the Ombudsman because I received an email from Ovo telling me that they haven't resolved my complaint within 8 weeks.  Would that be the reason they have cancelled the appointment do you think?  Nearly fell off the couch when I read that text.

Honestly. No I really just think it was a coincidence. It is a shame the OVO systems and processes are not seemingly clever enough to highlight your appointment really should be a priority. 

The Bank Holiday on the 1st and 8th May likely mean there are a lot of people taking that week off as holiday I personally suspect. 

Have they given you a new date yet? 

No they said they would be in touch in yet another 10cdays but the elusive person who is apparently meant to be handling my issue is supposed to phone tomorrow.   The thing that gets me is, if they had just sent someone out to change the meter in the first place none of this would be necessary. 

I'm hoping the Ombudsman doesn't take too long.  The helpful guy I dealt with at Energy Advice said they tend to be fairly quick.  So will see what this Ovo person says tomorrow.   If she actually calls that is.

Iv had 4 appointments missed with no compensation received? I was 2 hours on the phone before giving up again. No one wants to come out

Hi @Anniefloss 

Welcome to the customer forum, i am just a customer like you. 

Sorry to hear that. 

Definitely claim if you qualify. 

£30 Compensation is payable when

• An engineer misses an appointment that has not been cancelled
• An engineer arrives outside of the scheduled 4-hour time slot.
• An appointment is cancelled giving you less than 24-hours notice.
• An engineer is unable to do the job because they arrive with the wrong equipment

Compensation needs to be paid within 10 working days of the appointment , it should be automatic, else another £30 is payable, so £60 for each eligible case if appropriate. 

If you think you are eligible, list the dates and times etc. on a email to Complaints.  Make it clear how much you are claiming. 

complaints@ovoenergy.com

https://www.ovoenergy.com/feedback

Don't let OVO close the complaint until you have actually had a successful appointment. If this is not within 8 weeks of the complaint then you can ask the Energy Ombudsman for help 

As of today, I've had 5!  Send them a written complaint via email and keep a record of it.  Also all the emails from the failed appointments. My sympathies.  I know exactly how you must be feeling.  Raging!

Hi Tim  just spoken to the lady who is handling this case.  She will book an appointment with their own engineers,  not the sub contractors.   She seems very confident that they will turn up when they say they will.  We'll see.  I also raised the issue of the missing compensation and that none of them, bar one, had been paid within the 10 working days of the failed appointments  so should have been doubled.  She went off and spoke to her manager and said quite clearly that is not the case.   Is that true?

Oh and this is after the the booked appointment for May was cancelled again!

@Scotia121 from Ofgem themselves …

The current supplier Guaranteed Standards are found in the Electricity and Gas (Standards of Performance) (Suppliers) Regulations 2015, which superseded the requirements on suppliers under the Gas (Standards of Performance) Regulations 2005 and the Electricity (Standards of Performance) Regulations 2010. Currently they set compensation at £30 per missed appointment or if an appointment is not kept on time, and £30 further if not paid within ten working days.

Thank you for that info.  I have just sent her another email with your info and also a link to the regulation.  Will let you know what response I get.  

It is also on the OVO website.... 

https://help.ovoenergy.com/article/240adfd6-644f-4757-b908-6ea3863c8b31-orion

Posters on the forum have got it in the past and the ovo moderator @Tim_OVO has highlighted it many times..…

Sounds like a training need in the complaints team @Tim_OVO ?

Compensation payment

If we need to pay you compensation because we didn't meet the GOSP, we'll do this within 10 working days. If we miss this 10-day window we'll pay you an additional £30.

This payment can be added to your account, sent via cheque or added onto your prepayment meter.

There are a couple of amendments made to the order since, one relating to incorrect contact details and the other for issues ‘outside the suppliers control’ but they would need to be significant I expect. 

As OVO already agreed the first £30 is eligible, the second should be automatic.

There was nothing in the charges that modified that.

We have seen the 60 paid before on the forum 

You would think so but she denied that it was even the case.  Perhaps they are not familiar with their own website.   🙄😁

@Scotia121 

If they refuse again, ask for a deadlock letter and submit it to the Energy Ombudsman. The average goodwill compensation aet by the Ombudsman for complaints against OVO is currently £80. So if the Ombudsman set it at this level it would be £60 for each eligible missed appointment/payment outside the time limits, plus another £80 goodwill compensation. 

Already have a deadlock letter and submitted to Ombudsman and I won't be cancelling that till I see the whites of an engineer's eyes!  

I have been booked to get smart meters three times this year. 
Nobody showed up to today for the third time. Is this all an actual joke. I’ve got a job Monday to Friday and had to get someone else to go and sit in my housing waiting for someone not to show up again today and no contact at all. 
I am starting to think it was a bad idea to go with swalec which then switched to ovo, as they won’t even let me input my actual meter  . Firstly because they were switching over and then because they said they already had readings for today. (Completely made up readings that don’t even match what is on my meter 🤦‍♀️) 
I don’t know what nonsense all of this is. I haven’t had so many issues with other companies before.

Hey @Greycat,

Really sorry for the issues you’re having,

If your appointment was cancelled last minute, or the engineer didn’t turn up, you may be entitled to £30. Find out more on this similar topic:

If your meter readings don’t look in line since your switch you may be eligible for a read dispute, you can find out more about read disputes in this similar topic below:

• Meter Reading Disputes - What are they? F.A.Q.