I have three meters - Why is my Monthly statement wrong again?

Thanks for this update, @TomThumb 

I had an hour meeting with lots of the S2 and ’smart support’ team yesterday. As well as letting me know how the customer and agent can help them to diagnose issues (with a clear picture of the thing that is wrong, and a summary of the info the customer feels should be showing), we also discussed improving resources available. Common faults, screenshots, workflows etc. We’re getting somewhere!

I was surprised to hear of your account upgrade, due to the multiple gas supplies. 

We actually confirmed with the billing platform developers that this wasn’t possible at present. I am not sure what happened in your case, Tom, what you saw and why this changed and changed back. 

One thing’s for sure, it’s never plain sailing with your account is it… Friday update if you can. 

@Tim_OVO  

No need to wait until Friday. 
At present both my smart meters are working well & my gas tariff has now been amended to correctly display my actual gas costs via my IHD.

Even my original thread subject of constantly only being billed on 2 out of my 3 meters has seen a big improvement recently. Hopefully if next weeks bill / statement is correct & on time, I can mark that specific chapter as closed.

As ovo are aware of the limitations of the new billing platform, hopefully system changes can be incorporated in due course.

For reference tho Tim & more for ovo’s attention, 

1:The calorific value on my statements is still showing zero!

2:The ovo app is still showing spurious data usage for the year & what is the data for the remaining months of 2020, Nov-Dec?  (Jan & Feb is correct @ zero, as I didn’t join ovo until March!)

Tom...
 

That old Billing System is licensed from a 3rd-party, @TomThumb  I guess there’s now minimal interaction between them and OVO and little interest in solving bugs.

The Gas Regulations specify that if a Calorific Value is not available, then the Energy Supplier must assume 37MJ/m³ (a low value).

That begs the question as to why the 3rd-party owners of that Billing Software don’t have a default value of 37 in that field. No wonder OVO had to ditch them after an Ofgem investigation.

You can actually view your CV for any range of date/times by visiting Data Item Explorer.

Many Thanks for that info  @Transparent Much appreciated. 
 

Tom...

@Blastoise186  Just to save going off topic with my other post.

• Blastoise186

Haha, so you’re just like me then. Brilliant at breaking absolutely everything!

I’ll tell you what would really help a ton here if you’re able to do it @TomThumb . If you’re able to figure out exactly what steps cause the app to go kaboom and post them here on the forums, that could help a lot. Here’s an example to help you out:

Short Summary - In one sentence, what is the bug you’ve found?

The OVO Energy App on Android can’t old handle accounts with three meters

Steps to reproduce

1. Have an account on the old system with an unusual setup like three meters
2. Log into the app
3. Tap Usage
4. Tap Gas

Expected result - What is it that should happen when you do this?

I can see all the usage readings for both my gas meters

Actual result - What is it that actually happens instead?

App goes kaboom and explodes because it can’t cope

Device and app info - What device(s) have you tried this on, and what are they running (with the version if you can!) Also, what version of the app are you using?

If you’re able to do something like that, it would definitely be helpful in case anyone else wanted to try to test this too…....

For clarification I’m still on the old billing platform & it’s my thinking that my 3 meters are why my account has not been migrated over to the new billing system.

In short, although the ovo app dose reference my 3rd meter, there is no usage history / meter readings shown for this supply.

The usage history that is shown for 2 of my meters is all spurious since the changes to the new billing system a few weeks back.

Ovo via the web  fairs a little better, with no usage history for the 3dr meter,  but meter readings are available across all 3 meters.

 Confirmation from ovo states, that when my account migrates on to the new billing platform, there is still no facility for the app to show any usage data from the 3rd meter.

If or when I change to the new billing platform, I will update my actual data view accordingly.

So at present, the ovo app is not useful in the slightest.

Tom...

Ahh ok. So far, that’s the kind of vibe I’m getting here. And it’s possible my example steps are exactly what you’ve found causes the bug.

I think something else that probably doesn’t help, is the fact that the MyOVO website and app assume you only have the following setup:

• ONE Electricity Meter of some kind (Smart/Dumb, Economy 7/10/Single Rate etc)
• ONE Gas Meter of some kind

Chances are that’s how almost all systems at energy suppliers are built to work off, since it’s the most common setup. I think what’s happened with your own account will probably also help to prevent it happening again though.

As for bugs in the platform, I will admit that there’s always going to be one somewhere. I’ve found quite a few myself too! I’ve put a few bug reports in and hopefully I can hunt down a whole bunch more over time so that they don’t cause more havoc.

If you spot any others, definitely feel free to flag them up. :)

@Blastoise186wrote:

the MyOVO website and app assume you only have the following setup:

No. That’s a temporary constraint whilst the Orion software suite is under active development.

The Development Team in London are very aware of the reasons why some users can’t yet be migrated from the older Accounts software. However, it was the subject of an investigation by Ofgem in 2018 and OVO are understandably keen to move away from it.

That’s why I tend to report “issues” in a positive style rather than berating them for something that’s not right. We’re actually all on the same side when it comes to the Orion strategy.

So true, the pitfalls of having 3 meters.

I know the account can handle 3 meters on paper ( well sort of)  but in practice, some of their systems are clearly not as geared up.
I’m just awaiting what the new billing system has in store for me now.

or not as the case maybe.

Tom...

It’s monthly statement time for me, so here’s an update.

Being in contact with Ovo in regard to non related issues, I couldn’t confirm that my previous  monthly  statement incorporating all of my 3 meters wasn’t the result of a manual adjustment as my account notes had this issue as an ongoing case.

Well I can now confirm that the automated system is broke.

I have again only been billed on 2 out of my 3 meters,  it is my dumb gas meter that has been omitted this month, but as this supply is not needed or used over the winter, the impact is less severe as this meter would only incur the standing charge costs.

On the plus side the statement is now showing the correct figures for the calorific value 

                                                     ………………………………....

(1 account & 3 meters)

Given the old billing platform has limitations with regards to my account, ie billing / no usage history on my dumb gas meter. (Zero chance of any improvement)

What are your thoughts @Tim_OVO on pushing my account onto the new platform to stress test it so to speak.
I previously reported the ovo app was showing a view compliant with the new platform, but then rolled back, last week my account via the web showed a similar snapshot.

If it is my account stopping the migration over to the new system, now is the ideal time to iron out any issues..

                                                    …………………………………………...

The recommended direct debit payments over a few days went from +26% to -1% that can’t be normal.

                                                     ……………………………………….…

I can confirm that my electric smart meter is still in full communication with ovo & that my IHD is continuing to have full functionality, so at least it’s case closed on that front

Tom…

Thanks for the update @TomThumb !

Hopefully you’ll be able to get all three meters caught up and paid off once this gets fixed. You definitely sound like someone who likes to play fair with the system. 

It sounds like there’s at least some form of progress at least. Thanks for hanging in there with us! I honestly wish I had a magic button that could instantly flip your account between the two platforms to see how each one behaves. But unfortunately, that’s not something I have in my toolkit…

But I definitely think that if any account is going to make the new platform implode, it’s almost certainly going to be one like yours! In the meantime, I’d probably suggest leaving the direct debit as-is so that you don’t accidentally break the platform even more.

The more info you’re sharing with us on the forum, the easier it is to help get these issues tracked down and fixed. I really love the new platform myself and I’m pretty sure you will too once you get to try it out.