My current supplier have raised an objection to my changing to OVO - can anyone help?

I’ve moved your post here, @Kang Ma, it sounds like your current supplier has object to our switch request, check out the above info!

Objections are put in place for many reasons when a switch is in progress.

These include if there is an outstanding balance on the account or if you are still in contract when requesting a switch. It might be worth checking that we have applied for the correct address, or that there's not also a switch request coming in from a third supplier, which can happen if you sign up with two different companies very close together.

I hope this helps! 

And may I also please point out @Kang Ma that switching gas and electricity are two separate processes. The electricity switch is handled by ECOES which is the National database for electric meters, whilst the equivalent for gas is Xoserve.

If you’re no longer within contract with your Old Supplier, you still have the right to use the Complaints Procedure of the New Supplier, which in your case is OVO.

I have checked this with the Office of the Energy Ombudsman several times. It does not imply that the New Supplier is at fault. It’s just that this is the correct route to ensure your consumer rights are protected.

Hi Ovo

On 30 August 2021 I received a ‘Welcome to Ovo’ notification following my application to switch my account for dual fuel from Eon Energy to Ovo.

On 1 October 2021 I emailed as I had received no further contact despite the assurance that switching should take 21 days.

On 25 October I received a phone call from one of your staff regarding my enquiry as you could find no record of my switch application. I forwarded the ‘Welcome’ notification at 15:38 on that date to you and that chap confirmed receipt and advised me that he would begin the switch process. At 17:02 an email confirming this was sent to me.

At that stage my online account showed the plan for both gas and electricity and I submitted meter readings to both Ovo and Eon Energy on an ongoing basis - including photos of both meters at your request on 15 December 2021. I started paying by direct debit on 12 November 2021 at a rate higher than the predicted monthly payment under the agreed plan - as advised by the chap who called on 25 October - with the understanding that that would be reduced at a later date.

On 10/01/2022 you emailed me to advise of a meter reading dispute with Eon.

Another was received 24 February 2022. I replied to the latter with photos of both meters, plus the photos taken and sent 15 December 2021. On the same date Eon advised that they had no dispute for the gas and had transferred the service to Ovo. They stated that the issue with the electricity was down to the fact that I had an outstanding balance [despite the fact there was a direct debit mandate in place that would have cleared any final balance owing]. I paid the balance on that date. Receipt of the photos was confirmed on 24 Feb and I was informed you would contact me within 47 working days.

On 28 February you contacted me to tate that the gas was all in order and advised of my balance.

On  18 March your emailed to advise that the meter reading dispute had been sorted and an opening reading had been agreed for gas.

All bills emailed to me up to and including the one received 16 March 2022 included entries for both gas and electricity. Thereafter you have dropped all mention of electricity and my online account plan did the same at roughly the same time.

On 12 April i called you to chase the switch for the electricity supply. One of your CSAs showed a level of concern and investigated further and advised me that the issue was due to the supply being associated with the account number I had when I was previously with you, prior to moving to Eon. That CSA emailed to confirm this and that my “account has been sent to the relevant team to have the old electricity details removed from when you were supplied by OVO previously. Once this has been done, you will be able to ring us so we can go through a quote and request your electricity supply again. You will need to agree to a tariff when bringing your electricity over, then once your electricity is on supply with us, our billing team will be able to backdate your tariff to the plan you are currently on”.

That email was followed shortly afterwards by one from one of your Transfer Agents, who stated:

“Due to a fault that occurred at the time the switch was attempted, we were not able to gain the supply.

I can confirm that I have removed the contract for you for the electric, this can me added on in the future to line up when we gain the supply.

To confirm, I have raised this issue with our tech team and they will work on this as soon as possible, but there is no timeframe for when this will be resolved.”

I made a call to follow the above suggestion of ‘going through a quote and request request your electricity supply again’ and subsequently received an email on 27 June 2022 from one of your Transfers Agents stating that you were ready to take over the electricity supply and that I needed to call you again, which I did and signed-up to one of your current deals on the undertanding that that would be back-dated to the agreed deal from my original switch request.

On 19 July you emailed to confim that agreed plan and on 23 July you emailed again to advise that all I needed to do was send a meter reading and all would be set. I have submitted reading on 23 and 25 July and again on 1 August but only the latter is showing against my meter reading history - presumably due to an error on your website.

Subsequent phonecalls on 1 and 4 August to check progress have resulted in me being advised that the supply is still with Eon Energy [confirmed via the UK Power Networks website on 14 August]. On both of these calls I was cut-off for no apparent reason. When calling Eon on 4 August I was advised that they had received no application to switch my account from you.

This account misses out a number of phone calls that I have made to both Ovo and Eon, which have been ever-increasingly frustrating as your CSAs I have spoken to since April have shown no interest in coming off-script and actually trying to get to the bottom of the problem. In particular, there appears to be no escalation process so that a senior member of staff can take over and case-hold until the problem is sorted out.

As an example, I asked the first CSA I spoke to on 4 August to put me straight through to your Switch Team, which she did. The person who I then spoke to advised that you do not have a Switch Team! On clarifying that, given I had had emails from Transfer Agents, they may be known as the Transfer Team, I was cut off.

Given the length of time this has taken I finally gave in and submitted a complaint via your website on 4 August. Your complaints process states that someone should contact me in around 5 days. I have neither received an email confirmation of the fact I had made a complaint, nor a call from your Complaints Team.

Please could someone advise why a switch that should take 21 days has still not been completed after almost a year?

Thanks

Lee

Hi @L-E-E and thanks for taking the time to outline this experience. It really helps to save you having to explain it any more times to anyone else. I’m sorry to learn about it though. 

You’ve described gas reading disputes, electricity objections from Eon due to debt, all sorts of issues with the electric supply on OVO’s side. A real mess. 

I’ve asked our Forum_Support team to reach out to you via a private message, in order to either get this resolved there and then, or to escalate your complaint to our dedicated Complaints team. That’s the highest point of escalation within OVO. 

Look out for that private message,

Tim

Dear Ovo

STILL no resolution to my issue mentioned above.

NO response to my complaint made via your online form 4 August.

NO repsonse to my follow-up email to your complaints team [sent 1 December].

NO response from your team in relation to Subject Access Requests made 6 & 15 December [I resubmitted as I couldn’t remember whether I clicked the confirmation link for the first one].

NO reply to my last query to Forum Support 3 months ago

What is happening with my switch request for electricity, which should have started 12 November 2021 in line with the gas supply that you have switched?

Failure to resolve this soon will regrettably mean I will have to waste more of my time submitting a complaint to the ombudsman.

Thanks

Lee

Hey @L-E-E,

Really sorry to hear this,

I’ll get Forum_Support to reach out to you. Please keep an eye on your private messages. 

@Emmanuelle_OVO 

Thanks, but the only advice was to call in. Just tried that and for the third time in a row was cut off - this time without even getting to speak to someone.

So situation normal, really...zero concept of customer service.

Hey @L-E-E,

Sorry to hear this,

If you’ve exhausted all channels of communication, there’s always the option to raise a complaint. You can find out more about our Complaints Process online.

Hope this helps. 

@Emmanuelle_OVO 

Thanks, but I’ve already done this - 4th August via your online form and a chasing email sent 1st December.

I’ve received no acknowledgement from Ovo for either one...

why is it so hard to add gas to my OVO account, all i like is duel fuel with OVO, Think i try British gas move my electric to them