Switched supplier: Economy 7 smart meter not sending reads and IHD needs re-configuring?

Hi Jessica

Jeez - you really couldnt make this up could you

I contacted Ovo and said this would become a formal complain on 09.11.23 (three months after SSE migration). I was then requested not to do this as their investigation involved a specialist team. Having read your post, I get the distinct impression Ive been fed nonsense, so come 09.12.23 I will escalate without further notice.

The crux of my complaint will be:

(i) Inverted tariffs like you sufferred from migration to around 10.10.23

(ii) Since then being charged E10 rates but having E7 timing changes

(iii) Most importantly, I havent had a single sodding bill that is on the same planet as being correct. According to Ovo, my last three bills have been £17, £24 and £Nil. Thankfully Im not stupid enough to believe these are correct but is it too much to expect to get an accurate verifiable monthly bill?

Im not one for the compensation culture we live in, but there sure as hell better be a reasonable ‘goodwill gesture’ heading my way for having to deal with this nonsense

………...and breathe…...

Hey @MikeMilf,

So sorry to hear this, 

If you are unhappy with the timeframes then the option to escalate your complaint might be best in this scenario. This kind of issue would need to be dealt with by a specialist team, so it sounds like it’s been raised internally and in the process of being resolved, but it sounds like you’re concerned with the time this is taking to resolve. 

You can find the full complaint procedure on the website. 

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

@MikeMilf The verdict is in.  After allowing Ovo to submit their evidence, the Ombudsman has delivered a verdict (took a grand total of 1 working day for them to decide this, its that clear cut).

Complaint upheld on both counts - The meters are being billed incorrectly - we know this but Ovo’s representatives still tried to convince the ombudsman that they’d fixed the problem and I’m complaining about nothing. (I had the same from my ova complaint handler from the specialist team who actually accused me of lying and not being able to read my electricity meter and bill!  I do hope someone listens back to that call as part of an internal de-brief on this!)

Second complaint about shocking customer service and deliberate inaction to resolve the issue also upheld.

Ombudsmans required resolution:  28 days to resolve the issue or face further action and a higher bill credit than I had originally been offered.  The clock starts on those 28 days as of tomorrow, place your bets whether Ovo will actually meet the deadline or whether this will fester on even further.

OVO are currently the worst supplier in the country pro rata for the number of complaints escalated to the Energy Ombudsman and Citizens Advice.

So I am not completely surprised at the time it is taking.

I’m sorry to hear of the experience you’ve had @JessicaRose, I’m glad that the Ombudsman are taking action.

Hope this gets sorted as soon as possible for you.

Well im speechless lol

Rather than ignore the matter I have sent two emails to Ovo suggesting that my billing is totally incorrect. Short of laying it out to them in Janet and John fashion, theres no more Im prepared to do

Ive had two replies, the latest just now saying they have carefully reviewed the account, the credit balance is correct, and the billing issue has been resolved.

Either Im being emailed by AI simpletons, incompetent humans, or Im being straight out lied to!

Id love to claim the credit balance and have it sit in my bank account whilst waiting for them to realise the clanger they have dropped. However as I refuse to give these clowns a DD authority, I fall foul of their “No DD, No Rebates policy” which surely shouldnt be allowed?

Im off to the off licence now to get some booze and raise a glass to Ovo Energy! lol

Re-reading through this fascinating saga to see if there’s anything that might be helpful to another customer in similar circumstances. I stopped short here:

… or indeed more wrong, IMO.

TPR 374 is an offpeak E10 time pattern, matched by TPR 375 for peak timings:

It rather sounds as if this is exactly the current (at the time) configuration of your meter. R1 was recording offpeak usage, R2 peak usage. So the metering team was quite justified in taking no action 🤷🏻

The problem is, as far as I’m aware, that DCC won’t have it. The first register (here R1, I’m guessing Tier 1, too) must record peak usage, so by extension R2 is for offpeak usage. 

I was in a similar situation and managed (with a little help) to persuade OVO’s metering people to swap the TPRs over, after which R1 is recording peak usage, R2 offpeak and all is rosy.

There might of course be other considerations that we’re not aware of, but I would have thought it worthwhile at least trying to swap the registers - the result could hardly be any worse than the current situation.

So in the absence of me having a science degree from NASA in order to understand all this stuff, I am stuck with my meters changing times according to an E7 clock (when it should be E10). As well as this I am stuck with hopelessly incorrect billing despite three separate people from Ovo saying they have “carefully investigated my account and all is absolutely correct”.

This is quite definitely the worst customer service I have received from any company ever. It is definitely the sort of ineptitude the ombudsman should be made aware of, but I am losing the will to live here. Perhaps the consumer money pages of a sunday broadsheet might be interested??

Sorry to hear this, @MikeMilf. It’s really tricky for us to comment with anything of value here if your verdict is that the advisor you’re speaking to is wrong.

You’re able to request that this complaint is escalated within OVO, and if a resolution can’t be reached the Energy Ombudsmen can mediate between the Complaints team and yourself till a resolution is agreed. 

I hope we can get things sorted out with minimal further effort from you.

Im an accountant so am used to dealing with figures day in day out.

Fact of the matter is, if any member of Ovo staff had genuinely investigated my account, they would have seen the issue in about 5 seconds flat. Anyone who cant see that I havent been been billed for any usage for nearly four months shouldnt be working in a billing team. For that reason alone I feel I have been lied to.

Maybe I should keep quiet and just let a huge bill build up? I bet the minute they realise their error, they will want their money immediately. Thankfully I have the financial discipline to set money aside away from Ovo, but any poor sod who takes Ovo emails at face value would be royally screwed.