Question

why is there no out of hours

  • 19 November 2023
  • 6 replies
  • 93 views
S
Rank

Why does ovo not have a out of hours emergency call out, absolute disgrace. Got a meter fault. Only notice at tea time on Saturday night. Calling last night and this morning. So as there is no service with them I now have to wait until Monday at 9am. I have a 5 year old and no heating and a week and a half away from December. Thankfully its mild weather just now. OVO need to get there act together.

6 replies

Blastoise186
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What is the meter fault exactly? And are you PAYM or PAYG? What kind of meter? This is all important stuff for forum volunteers like myself to know how to advise you.

Also, things might be changing next month, but right now only electricity has an emergency service via 105 - gas isn’t considered as critical by the industry, so there isn’t technically a service at this time.

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

Thank you for your reply. I am asking if there is a out of hours. Your response suggests they don't.

Pay monthly digital display gas meter with a dead battery, which has now put the meter into tamper mode and now no gas supply. Not can be done without an engineer to replace the battery, which I doubt will happen as a nightmare to do. So new meter it will be.

This is a thing, so why aren't they replacing batteries after 5 years.

If OVO can buy out SSE then they are large enough to cover out of hours surely.

Blastoise186
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Userlevel 7
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It’s not just OVO. Pretty much no supplier across the entire market has no gas out-of-hours service at this time.

That may change next month though

Securing energy by zapping security bugs... For that is The Blastoise Way!
Emmanuelle_OVO
Rank
Userlevel 7

Hey @Shaun07,

 

I’m really sorry to hear this, sounds like a very stressful experience.

 

In a scenario where the gas meter is faulty and off supply and the energy supplier is closed, the National Grid will be unable to replace the meter. In the case of OVO Energy, our Support team are on hand 6 days a week to help arrange a short notice engineer visit to replace that meter. Our Social team are able to support you as well - send them a message on Facebook or Twitter from 9am - 5pm, Saturday and Sunday. This team are also able to schedule in an emergency meter appointment if needed.

 

 

Renewable Energy? Big Fan.
S
Rank

Hey @Shaun07,

 

I’m really sorry to hear this, sounds like a very stressful experience.

 

In a scenario where the gas meter is faulty and off supply and the energy supplier is closed, the National Grid will be unable to replace the meter. In the case of OVO Energy, our Support team are on hand 6 days a week to help arrange a short notice engineer visit to replace that meter. Our Social team are able to support you as well - send them a message on Facebook or Twitter from 9am - 5pm, Saturday and Sunday. This team are also able to schedule in an emergency meter appointment if needed.

 

Thank you, but the information from web, app and social media team are all conflicting. Not everyone is singing of the same hymn sheet and information is incorrect. Most customers in a desperate situation would get there Hope's up but then their expectations are quickly deflated. 

I have all the screenshots to back these statements up. To add insult to injury, OVO contacted me by email, stating the contact email is incorrect as well as contact phone number. Which is not the case as the human ( very helpful customer service advisor) I spoke to today, and confirmed these to be correct. The Engineers scheduler and engineer both got me no problem when calling today, and there was no missed calls from OVO. So another lie to further insult me. 

I appreciate your help, due to my work I am well versed on energy supplies and meters.

I called the emergency number (SGN) due to the automated message explaining if there is no gas from the meter then to call 0800111999. Again wrong information as this is if there is no supply to the meter. Not a meter fault.

Thank you for everyone's input, very much appreciated and I felt like I was being heard.

To answer my own question and to help others.

There is no out of hour service out with their operating hours. There is no help available on a Sunday. So if you do have an emergency let's hope it's within operating business hours as this was dealt with very quickly. The more people complain the more chance there may be a service, but until then there is no plans to provide this. Or that complaining will influence a decision.

My issue has been resolved. Thank you.

 

Jeffus
Rank
Userlevel 7
Badge +2

Hey @Shaun07,

 

I’m really sorry to hear this, sounds like a very stressful experience.

 

In a scenario where the gas meter is faulty and off supply and the energy supplier is closed, the National Grid will be unable to replace the meter. In the case of OVO Energy, our Support team are on hand 6 days a week to help arrange a short notice engineer visit to replace that meter. Our Social team are able to support you as well - send them a message on Facebook or Twitter from 9am - 5pm, Saturday and Sunday. This team are also able to schedule in an emergency meter appointment if needed.

 

Thank you, but the information from web, app and social media team are all conflicting. Not everyone is singing of the same hymn sheet and information is incorrect. Most customers in a desperate situation would get there Hope's up but then their expectations are quickly deflated. 

I have all the screenshots to back these statements up. To add insult to injury, OVO contacted me by email, stating the contact email is incorrect as well as contact phone number. Which is not the case as the human ( very helpful customer service advisor) I spoke to today, and confirmed these to be correct. The Engineers scheduler and engineer both got me no problem when calling today, and there was no missed calls from OVO. So another lie to further insult me. 

I appreciate your help, due to my work I am well versed on energy supplies and meters.

I called the emergency number (SGN) due to the automated message explaining if there is no gas from the meter then to call 0800111999. Again wrong information as this is if there is no supply to the meter. Not a meter fault.

Thank you for everyone's input, very much appreciated and I felt like I was being heard.

To answer my own question and to help others.

There is no out of hour service out with their operating hours. There is no help available on a Sunday. So if you do have an emergency let's hope it's within operating business hours as this was dealt with very quickly. The more people complain the more chance there may be a service, but until then there is no plans to provide this. Or that complaining will influence a decision.

My issue has been resolved. Thank you.

 

@Shaun07

If you feel passionately there are other things that you can do.

1. Encourage people to write to their MPs. All have many areas they focus on. Lobby to get the legislation changed. A lot of legislation changes start this way in the early days.

2. Look  out for relevant consultations on the ofgem website.

3.Start a parliamentary petition and encourage people to vote for it   https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions?state=open

4.  Switch to a supplier with longer opening hours and better emergency out of hours support. There are suppliers that are better than ovo at opening times if that is a priority for you.

There are lots of ways to compare suppliers including

https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/consumer/energy/energy-supply/get-a-better-energy-deal/compare-domestic-energy-suppliers-customer-service1/

https://www.which.co.uk/reviews/energy-companies/article/best-and-worst-energy-companies/which-energy-survey-results-ajqM43e6ycY8

https://uk.trustpilot.com/review/www.ovoenergy.com

 

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