When will I get access to my online account?

I really get the feeling that OVO are just waiting until we all get so fed up, we will switch suppliers. Surely creating a new account is the best option, when we have been waiting almost a year for online access to be restored.

It was bad enough to be told that access would be available by the end of 2023, but now almost 2 months in, there is no definitive update and people are mentioning September.

I completely understand your frustration, any updates we get we’ll let you know on this topic. 

In the meantime, advice remains:

It’s now two months since I switched from this useless company (because of a year with no online access).

Guess what? They still haven’t refunded my hefty credit balance, which I urgently need to pay my (excellent) new supplier. To add insult to injury, they keep sending a bill every month for imaginary gas/electricity consumption. (Luckily I cancelled the direct debit.)

I know there is a 6-week limit to get a “final bill” (and refund, presumably), so I called them just after the 6 weeks and they said they would do something but it could take another 30 days! It’s now been more than 8 weeks since switching and nothing has happened. Judging from recent experience, nothing is going to happen. How can I get them to refund my much needed money? It’s a simple thing to do.

How slow can customer support get?

Not having access to my on-line account I had to contact customer support about getting quit a large refund. I want to put my credit into Premium Bonds rather than giving OVO free money as they now longer give interest on credit balances.

The initial response was quite quick, but I was requested to send in a photo of my meter. This is the first time I have ever been asked to do this even although I have had several refunds over the last few years.

Photo sent, then nothing.

Surely OVO could automatically recognise the people with no access to their accounts and expedite any communications.

Ah, but that would need a software team that could actually code.

And you can build a better system by yourself? If so, then I challenge you to do so. It’s definitely not something you can do on your own.

Have you tried simply cancelling your direct debit? It would probably take a few months to reduce your credit balance to zero but may be quicker than waiting for a refund!

(I now wish that I had done this a few months before leaving ovo.)

This is the key point. Assuming that people (including me) are leaving ovo and other unsuspecting/gullible people are switching to ovo, it must be possible to close accounts on the old system (“apollo”?) and open accounts on the new system. Therefore, it must be a simple matter for ovo to do this for each of the 1000 hapless customers left on the old system.

This may not be a very good idea. Cancelling the DD will cause an immediate change to a higher tariff, because of the surcharge paid by on demand customers. It’s about £56 a year for electricity for the average customer.

A customer with healthy credit should be able to reduce the DD significantly, even down to the minimum of £5 (required to keep the DD alive).

It’s also worth noting that Apollo has been terminated in the context of adding and/or setting up new customers. Absolutely no-one is being routed to it anymore so “unsuspecting” customers will definitely not end up on the inferior system.

And as I’ve said before, there’s almost certainly a reason why you’re still on the old system. You do the switcheroo method entirely at your own risk.

The support team are able to initiate refunds if you have surplus credit, I understand that it’s very frustrating not being able to initiate these actions through the Online Account.

But an agent can issue refunds, email bills and submit meter readings on your behalf.