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Gas meter - 3rd fitting appointment missed

  • 14 November 2023
  • 16 replies
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G
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We’ve installed a new gas pipe and now we’re trying to get ovo to fit a meter. They failed to attend on 19 October, 13 November and 14 November. I asked for an emergency appointment on morning of 14 November which they gave me. But they didn’t show so I called back and they say they can’t do an emergency appointment for a new meter. The next available appointment is in January but we can’t book until they open tomorrow. 
 

We’ve paid our plumber £3400 for a new boiler and half his fee. He booked out next week to do the work. We are on oil now but there’s a minimum order amount of 500 litres which would be £400 plus the costs to remove any oil left in the tank. We have very little oil left and have been purchasing it for double the price in 5 litre tanks. 
 

Ive complained to ovo using the CAB letter template. By this ovo should have to sort it out by 14 December. 
 

we’ve been trying to get on the gas system since April. It’s been a nightmare. What can we do? ovo told me to call cadent to fit a temp meter. They don’t do this and suggested we use British Gas if we want to get anywhere. 

ovo suggested I call tomorrow and say I want to get an appointment through the complaints system to try to get an earlier appointment. I’m not sure I trust them to ever turn up now  

No sign of the £30 compensation. 

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Best answer by Emmanuelle_OVO 15 November 2023, 12:13

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16 replies

Emmanuelle_OVO
Rank
Userlevel 7

Hey @GrownHandbag,

 

Sorry to hear of the issues you’re having,

 

Can I assume that you have an existing electrcity supply and are with OVO?

 

When it comes to new connections this is the process outlined internally:

 

The New Connections team will carry out eligibility checks to ensure that we can support the New Connection. Afterwards, they will raise a form that will go to another team to register the supply, create the account, and book the appointment. 
 

It takes 2 working days for the account to appear on our system. An appointment will be booked for 18 working days to 25 working days time. The customer will receive confirmation of their exact appointment date within 3 working days of calling us. 

 

  • We'll complete a few checks and confirm the date with the customer
  • If we arrive and can't complete the new connection, we'll let them know why and next steps needed to resolve the issue
  • We'll install smart meters by default, and they'll be in pay monthly

 

My advice would be to contact customer support and speak to the ‘new connection team’ they’ll be able to advise if there are any issues preventing the appointment from going ahead. 

Renewable Energy? Big Fan.
Jeffus
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Userlevel 7
Badge +2

We’ve installed a new gas pipe and now we’re trying to get ovo to fit a meter. They failed to attend on 19 October, 13 November and 14 November. I asked for an emergency appointment on morning of 14 November which they gave me. But they didn’t show so I called back and they say they can’t do an emergency appointment for a new meter. The next available appointment is in January but we can’t book until they open tomorrow. 
 

We’ve paid our plumber £3400 for a new boiler and half his fee. He booked out next week to do the work. We are on oil now but there’s a minimum order amount of 500 litres which would be £400 plus the costs to remove any oil left in the tank. We have very little oil left and have been purchasing it for double the price in 5 litre tanks. 
 

Ive complained to ovo using the CAB letter template. By this ovo should have to sort it out by 14 December. 
 

we’ve been trying to get on the gas system since April. It’s been a nightmare. What can we do? ovo told me to call cadent to fit a temp meter. They don’t do this and suggested we use British Gas if we want to get anywhere. 

ovo suggested I call tomorrow and say I want to get an appointment through the complaints system to try to get an earlier appointment. I’m not sure I trust them to ever turn up now  

No sign of the £30 compensation. 

Have you made progress @GrownHandbag 

G
Rank

They made another appointment for today 8-12 but they haven’t turned up again. 

Jeffus
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Userlevel 7
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They made another appointment for today 8-12 but they haven’t turned up again. 

That is frustrating @GrownHandbag 

You should get £30 for each missed appointment and another £30 if not paid within 10 working days.

Am sure @Emmanuelle_OVO can give you more information about how to claim this if you still haven't received any

G
Rank

Thanks. I called them and they said the appointment is still on the system and to wait until 1pm. I think I’ve got one £30 payment on my account under GSOP. No others yet. 

Jeffus
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Userlevel 7
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Thanks. I called them and they said the appointment is still on the system and to wait until 1pm. I think I’ve got one £30 payment on my account under GSOP. No others yet. 

FIngers crossed they will turn up @GrownHandbag 

You are also entitled to compensation if they turn up late or turn up with the wrong stuff and can't complete the work.

Abby_OVO
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Userlevel 6

Hey @GrownHandbag 

 

Sorry to hear about this.

 

Did the engineer arrive yesterday?

Location: Electric Avenue
G
Rank

No the engineer didn’t come yesterday. I called ovo and they made me an appointment for 18 dec. They also said the complaints dept would be calling as I set up a complaint and the my may be able to move the appointment earlier. Then I called the installer company direct and they allowed me to make an appointment for 30 nov. They said the missed appointment yesterday was due to not enough engineer availability in my area. I’m planning to call them first thing on appointment day to make sure they are coming and get my appointment to the top of the list hopefully. 

kopweb
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Userlevel 2
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From @GrownHandbag’s posts there seems to be a recurring problem around gas appointments. Although mine is not a new connection, I have a related issue and wonder if @Abby_OVOor @Emmanuelle_OVO could point me in the right direction. 

I won't bore you with the whole saga, but my SMETS2 smart elec meter suddenly stopped communicating back in June. Eventually Ovo replaced it but the SMS engineer could not commission my smart gas meter to link to the new meter's HAN.

So far I've had two no-shows to fix the gas meter. I got a GSOP for the first and was promised another for the second (but no sign of it so far). 

After the second no-show, Ovo advised me to contact SGN to re-arrange the appointment, and gave me a phone number and case reference. But SGN knew nothing about it and told me they do not do that sort of work.

I emailed Ovo 8 days ago to try to sort it out, but got no reply other than acknowledgement. At various times I have tried email, online chat and phone calls, always have to explain the whole thing again, but get no action.

Is there any way to get direct to the team who can actually sort out this type of issue?

Emmanuelle_OVO
Rank
Userlevel 7

Hey @kopweb,

 

Sorry to hear of the issues you’ve had,

 

This sounds very frustrating indeed. For a commissioning job, this should just be booked as a 17 working day appointment through the support team.

 

If you’re having issues, there is always the option to raise a complaint. 

 

@GrownHandbag Unfortunately around this time of year, there is less engineer availability and reduced working hours due to holidays. Emergency appointments are prioritized which means that maintenance appointments are cancelled. 

 

This topic gives more information about the £30 compensation payments:

 

 

I hope that you both have more success with your next appointments. 

Renewable Energy? Big Fan.
kopweb
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Userlevel 2
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Thanks for that @Emmanuelle_OVO. I’ve just spent another frustrating hour and a half on chat. To be fair, the advisor’s network crashed. I’m now waiting for a call back in the faint hope I get an emergency appointment.

I know maintenance appointments get cancelled for more ‘urgent’ jobs (what exactly is an ‘emergency’ smart meter appointment?). But there is no excuse at all for complete no-shows. Or for repeatedly unanswered emails, not to mention sending me on a wild goose chase with some random company.

There are significant process issues around the booking system. Twice now I have been told the advisor was blocked from arranging a new appointment because the existing booking is still on the system - even if unfulfilled. The advisor apparently then has to remove the old booking, raise a new ticket, and then go to the back of the queue.

At this stage I’m not sure I can even be bothered raising a complaint or writing to Raman. I’ve been 6 years with Ovo but suspect it has grown too quickly for its own good, and its systems are falling apart under the strain. My lone voice is unlikely to have much impact.

I will wait a wee while to see if I get some action this time. If not, I’m off to Octopus.

 

PS I’m still waiting for that ‘call back’…
PPS Sorry to vent on the forum, but as you can probably tell, I am seriously hacked off.

G
Rank

My first missed appointment was 19 October so I’m not buying the excuse of lots of holiday at this time of year for any of the missed appointments so far. I asked about the delayed gsop when I called and they had never heard of it. They then said that if it were true, it would have to be 10 working days from when they raised the request which is clearly wrong. They now owe me £180 and rising. Plus the £30 I already have. I’m so angry about this. There’s nothing I can do. I can’t even take my business elsewhere! I’ve tried BG and they said ovo have to do it. I tried Crown and same answer  Ovo say I can’t change to another supplier until they’ve fitted the meter. It’s a half an hour appointment!! That’s all!! 

 

It’s absolutely ridiculous. I’ve been trying to sort this since early September when there should not have been any issues but they’ve made it a ‘holiday’ problem now. 

Emmanuelle_OVO
Rank
Userlevel 7

@kopweb that sounds really frustrating, did you get your call back? 

 

Hey @GrownHandbag,

 

Really sorry to hear this,

 

Have you got another appointment booked in currently? I’m really surprised they hadn’t heard of GSOP! If you speak to them on webchat feel free to send them a link to this topic. 

 

If the engineer failed to attend without at least 24 hours notice of a cancellation, you may be eligible for a standard £30 compensation known as Guaranteed Standards of Performance (GSOP) payment.

 

Before this can be applied, we’ll have to make sure that you meet the full eligibility for this industry regulated compensation. Examples of when we would pay GSOP are: 

 

  • An engineer misses an appointment
  • An engineer arrives after the agreed appointment time (outside the 4-hour time slot given to you)
  • The installer or OVO cancels an appointment at short notice (less than 24 hours before the agreed start time on a working day)
  • The engineer is unable to complete the work because they were missing ‘standard’ equipment or arrived with the wrong equipment (when there had been prior notification of what was needed - this must be cross-referenced with the booking to ensure it was booked correctly)
  • An appointment did not go ahead due to an agent booking error
  • System errors such as auto cancellation and not receiving cancellation notification.

 

What isn't GSOP?

 

  • If an engineer arrives early -  You can accept or decline the engineer's offer to arrive early - either way, no GSOP will be paid. If an engineer arrives early and it’s not convenient for you, they’ll pop back at the booked appointment time.
  • Technical abort - If an engineer was unable to complete the install due to an issue with your current supply set-up, this wouldn’t qualify for GSOP unless the installers were aware that special equipment/extra time etc. would be required at time of booking and they didn’t bring the correct equipment/ allow for the extra time required.
  • Severe weather conditions - We wouldn’t provide GSOP for an appointment that’s missed due to severe weather conditions or other  situations that are deemed out of an engineer’s control. 
  • Unable to find an address - If we’ve failed to provide our contractors with enough information, our Support Team may be able to discuss a goodwill gesture rather than GSOP.

 

We'll have 10 working days (after the missed appointment) to double check these eligibility criteria. If you're owed GSOP compensation, you’ll receive an email confirmation and will be able to see the £30 applied via the ‘Billing History’ page of your online account or OVO app (download for Android or iOS).

If you’ve not seen the payment applied after 10 days reach out to our Support Team. If you’re eligible but the payment is delayed you might be owed double! 

Renewable Energy? Big Fan.
kopweb
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Userlevel 2
Badge +1

Hi @GrownHandbag. Holidays are always a convenient excuse aren’t they? It was the excuse I was given back in August and here we are on the cusp of Christmas hols.

The real answer is more likely that suppliers and their contractors simply don’t hire or train enough technicians/fitters (engineer is such a misleading term), or make the job attractive enough to retain them in the industry. Similar story with heat pumps.

But Ovo’s creaking booking system doesn’t help either. I wonder how many ‘emergency’ appointments are actually to replace missed routine appointments where the user is getting shirty? Those in turn bump other routine appointments, and so it goes on…

Oh and by the way, @Emmanuelle_OVO, I did get a call back last night - but only to say she couldn’t get hold of anyone yesterday afternoon and ask for longer to sort it out. I’m now waiting for another call today.

G
Rank

Agree there aren’t enough fitters. The meter fitting is free but I would willingly pay for it if I could get it done in a reasonable time. 
 

they had heard of gsop, just not the double payment if they didn’t pay within 10 days 

 

 

Emmanuelle_OVO
Rank
Userlevel 7

Hey @kopweb,

 

I’m glad you got your call back, I hope the agent manages to get this sorted for you.

 

Sorry, I should have clarified earlier, ‘emergency’ refers to customers who are off supply.

 

Hey @GrownHandbag,

 

I’ve found an OFGEM article relating to the compensation if the GSOP is delayed. 

 

Hope this helps. 

Renewable Energy? Big Fan.

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