Our electricity was cut off with no prior notice !

I’m sorry @Blastoise186 , I did not mean to force you to anything. I spent hours on phones and webchats yesterday, and was losing my patience. My words may have come over in a way I didn’t see.

I know I’m not an expert, but I do know it was my electricity that went off.

Philie on the webchat apologised for my GAS going off !.

If OVO can’t even get this right, what hope have I got of getting a straight answer ?.

My comment about the watchdog error is because I know what the meter might do when one occurs.

Many years ago, when solid state meters were being introduced, I worked for a company that designed and built them. I worked in the test engineering dept, building the rigs that tested the meters.

The metrology engine had a watchdog, and when it triggered the meter restored the latest known good snapshot.  Snapshots were taken every 6 hours. This meant the meter might lose upto 6 hours of energy usage, but that was better than having a dead meter !.

This was on a simple meter, with a single microprocessor, and no comms or power switching.

I should expect that modern meters like the SGM1411B have far more complex hardware and software, so the response to a watchdog error could be more complex as well.

@Emmanuelle_OVO said “… it sounds like maybe the meter defaulted back to pay as you go “

A watchdog error is just the kind of event that might make a meter default to the wrong mode. It just depends how much effort the software designers put into error recovery, and from my experience over years of software development I know error recovery is the least of their concerns.

Also, as Emmanuelle suggested the meter ‘defaulted back’, is that because she knows of other times a meter misbehaved like this ?

@Emmanuelle_OVO 

It does look like I ran out of credit, but I thought I was on Pay Monthly !

Earlier this year I requested to move from PAYG to Pay Monthly.

The meter then changed to Credit mode, as did my IHD. Everything looked like I was on Pay Monthly. There was no ‘Balance Remaining’ feature, and no beeping when it was low.

I had been on PAYG for years, so I know exactly what happens when it runs out. The IHD shows a red bar, and the meter beeps a lot and offers EMC. None of this happened on Saturday morning.

Yesterday I spent hours on the phone to my new supplier, and in webchat to OVO/BOOST, but am still no clearer as to (a) why my switchover is still ‘in progress’, and (b) why the power went off.

My experience with OVO/BOOST these last few days has not been happy.  I was told the best way to communicate with OVO was through the webchat. I did that, was on for ages, but lost all confidence when the agent apologised for the problem with my GAS supply. When I pointed out it was my electricity that had the problem, she said she would phone me, and immediately closed the chat. I never got a call back.

Hey @Buzby,

Sorry to hear of the issues you’re having,

There is the option to raise a complaint. From what you say, it seems like the switch from Boost to OVO was never made, so you remained on pay as you go. Energy prices have increased, and we’re in winter so it’s completely feasible the payments you were making to Boost are no longer enough to cover your usage. 

We don’t have access to your account on the Forum, so I can only cast assumptions based on the information you have provided. 

I’m not sure why your switch isn’t going ahead, it might be due to you signing up to a pay monthly plan when your meter is in pay as you go mode? 

@Emmanuelle_OVO 

The problem I have with the switchover is now ( nearly ) solved. It is because I had a Pay Monthly debt that I knew nothing about !.

It was caused by a combination of events, starting with when I phoned BOOST earlier this year to change from PAYG to Pay Monthly.

The agent who handled it told me I would change to an OVO account, and that everything would ‘just work’. I did not receive any infomation about this new OVO account.

I did see my meter and IHD change from PAYG mode to Pay Monthly, and assumed everything was OK. The payments carried on being taken every month. The meter/IHD never beeped again !.

What I didn’t know was that the payments BOOST were taking were not going into the OVO account !.  ( I had no information about this OVO account until the last few days, after the flurry of calls about my cut-off. )

So all I have to do now is pay off the debt and the switchover should happen automatically.

I will pay this debt when OVO send me a corrected statement, not the one they sent yesterday. ( See my thread about 20p )

Also, I do have to now contact BOOST to find where my payments have gone !

Regarding my second problem, the unexpected cut-off, we are no nearer an answer.

If I was on PAYG there should have been beeps before the cut-off from the meter/IHD, with an option to access emergency credit.

If I was on Pay Monthly there should have been letters and emails saying I owed money. Maybe even a phone call chasing the debt. Cut-off would not have happened out of the blue.

When the debt is paid, and the switch to the new supplier is complete, I may decide to make a complaint. It will be two pronged. One about the cack-handed way BOOST changed me to OVO, the second about the cut-off with no warning.

My experience with OVO has not been good, and it’s not getting better.

Today I decided to setup my online account, but it wouldn’t accept my details.

I phoned, and was told there are problems with the system that won’t be fixed untill January !

:(

Actually, for the most part once you’ve switched away and received the final refund, you can no longer complain to the former supplier because your relationship will have ended. Any open complaints may also get automatically closed out (with no Ombudsman intervention) at that point as well.

If you wish to raise one, it’s strongly recommended you do while still with them.

I’m glad to hear your switch is progressing @Buzby, it sounds like there have been a few stressful account related issues you’ve experienced. 

It might be worth speaking to a Boost agent on chat, that way you can send them this link to the Forum. That way you won’t need to explain yourself again:

• Find answers or chat with Boost at boostpower.co.uk/help
• Or call them on 0330 102 7517.

The power to the above property has been cut off, with no prior notice.  

Our belief is that OVO (formerly  SSE) are the electricity supplier.  If that is the case, please explain why the power has been cut off, and what steps need to be taken to reinstate it?. *edited by moderator*

Kind regards,

Nigel *edited by moderator*

Hi @nkallen553 ,

In the first instance, please call 105 for all electricity failure issues. Your DNO may be able to explain what happened and how long before power is restored.

Also, are you Pay As You Go or Pay Monthly? I can help with diagnostics as a forum volunteer, but which type you’re on will change the path I go down.

Thanks

Hi, Blastoise186,

The account was pay as you go, and assume it still is.

nkallen553

In that case, are you sure you’ve got credit on the meter?