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New self-service reward - what's changing?

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M
Rank
There seems to be so many customers in this same position - I'm currently in credit (£310) and have tried to do this to cover off the winter months and in the past I've ignored OVO's request to up my DD payment ... (their payment algorithm is naff!) but it would appear now that their "in credit" customers are going to be penalized when they don't pay OVO's recommended payment. My contract ends in February and probably like many others will leave OVO - a real shame 😠
K
Rank
Userlevel 1
Any chance of a reply on this ?
S
Rank
Userlevel 1
How do I Get OVO to reply to my question please?
Thank you
Nancy_OVO
Userlevel 6
Hi @susanecarroll1, @Keith B, @mr.nevednats, @KevinJH,

I've moved your comments over to this thread where customers are discussing the changes to the Self Service Reward. You should be able to find all the information here.

Thanks
Your guiding light(bulb)
Rooty
Rank
Userlevel 4
Wow! I'd not noticed the sharp practice of forcing people to accept Ovo's demands for money via direct debit. Dear oh dear.

I've still got 11 months to go with my current contract, but I'm rapidly heading for the door market New Energy Supplier. 😠
A
I have just increased my monthly direct debit by £5 per month to cover the loss of the monthly discount. Although the reward will be paid if I meet the terms and conditions, the first reward payment is not due until mid January 2019, so I want to ensure my credit balance is maintained at the same level it would have been if this change had not been made.

It is still not clear (despite all the questions and answers on this thread) how this reward will be applied and who will get it and who wont. The Ovo terms and conditions say one thing (eg only emergency contact) and the Ovo Community team on this and other threads are saying another (e.g. contact is OK if you cannot resolve a problem using MyOvo). I cannot believe that in January, Ovo staff will be reviewing every account and any communications in detail to decide who gets the reward, I assume it will be automated i.e. have you met the terms and conditions Yes or No, which does not allow for any interpretation.

I cannot see any benefit to Ovo customers from this change and I am sure it will cause more problems than it solves.
G
Rank
Userlevel 2
And they have given up replying.
Rooty
Rank
Userlevel 4
@Phil_H If I were designing the software I'd use these simple rules:

Has one of our call centre operatives ticked the box:
o to say customer wasted our precious, precious time by phoning?
o or selfishly used email to get in touch?

And finally:
o Has the customer overpaid their direct debit as the automatically generated computer formula demands? Better in our bank than the customer's.

If any of those conditions apply:
o Computer says: You lose £15.
A
@Phil_H If I were designing the software I'd use these simple rules:

Has one of our call centre operatives ticked the box:
o to say customer wasted our precious, precious time by phoning?
o or selfishly used email to get in touch?

And finally:
o Has the customer overpaid their direct debit as the automatically generated computer formula demands? Better in our bank than the customer's.

If any of those conditions apply:
o Computer says: You lose £15.

Which makes the reward arbitary and subject to even more problems. I’m sure inconsistent application of a reward would be worse than anything, no one would know where they stand and although the number of regular communications would decrease the number of complaints would rocket.
Darran_OVO
Userlevel 7
It is still not clear (despite all the questions and answers on this thread) how this reward will be applied and who will get it and who wont. The Ovo terms and conditions say one thing (eg only emergency contact) and the Ovo Community team on this and other threads are saying another (e.g. contact is OK if you cannot resolve a problem using MyOvo). I cannot believe that in January, Ovo staff will be reviewing every account and any communications in detail to decide who gets the reward, I assume it will be automated i.e. have you met the terms and conditions Yes or No, which does not allow for any interpretation.

Hey Phil_H, to answer some of your questions here, the reward will be applied as a credit to your balance, so if at the end of the quarter you have a balance of £100, and you have met all the terms and conditions along the way, £15 will be added to your balance, so you'll have £115.

We track customers Direct Debit payments as part of our obligation to help you manage your account, so can see month on month if customers have an active Direct Debit in place and the amount they are paying. We can also see any contact you made over the quarter to confirm if its contact where you could have self served, therefore didn't really need to call for that etc.

Hope this helps clear up some of your questions.

Darran
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Rooty
Rank
Userlevel 4
The choices are quite clear:

o stay, suck it up and never contact Ovo again, because it's going to cost you £15.
o change energy supplier
o move to the £60-a-year more option and feel free to ring and email Ovo as many times as we wish

I know which formula I'll be using when deciding my next energy supplier.
A

Hey Phil_H, to answer some of your questions here, the reward will be applied as a credit to your balance, so if at the end of the quarter you have a balance of £100, and you have met all the terms and conditions along the way, £15 will be added to your balance, so you'll have £115.

We track customers Direct Debit payments as part of our obligation to help you manage your account, so can see month on month if customers have an active Direct Debit in place and the amount they are paying. We can also see any contact you made over the quarter to confirm if its contact where you could have self served, therefore didn't really need to call for that etc.

Hope this helps clear up some of your questions.

Darran

Im sorry Darren but the question you are answering is not the question I am asking

It is still not clear (despite all the questions and answers on this thread) how the reward will be applied (ie how OVO decides who gets the reward) and who will get it and who wont. The Ovo terms and conditions say one thing (eg only emergency contact) and the Ovo Community team on this and other threads are saying another (e.g. contact is OK if you cannot resolve a problem using MyOvo). I cannot believe that in January, Ovo staff will be reviewing every account and any communications in detail to decide who gets the reward, I assume it will be automated i.e. have you met the terms and conditions Yes or No, which does not allow for any interpretation.

The reward terms and conditions are black and white ie the only allowable contact is in the event of an emergency or if making a complaint, but the Ovo community team on these threads are saying its Ok to contact if its something that cannot be resolved using My Ovo. These are two completely different things which contradict each other.

Either I can only contact Ovo in an emergency (eg a gas leak etc)

or

I can contact Ovo where I cannot resolve the issue using MyOvo
S
Rank
Userlevel 1
To Darran OVO

I am sorry but I have just spent another 2 hours looking at My OVO, this forum and your T&Cs. I cannot find an answer to my simple question from yesterday.

I am £124 in credit, with my monthly £70 payments, this always covers my bill. Your recommended DD is £82 each month. If I don't pay this I will lose "my rewards"
Over the years I have rarely contacted you but you have to understand that not every answer to your customers questions are contained in your webpages. Also I don't have the time to trawl through looking for obscure information. So if you dont reply to this, I will then have to call the customer help line and be effectively charged £15. This is not rewarding your loyal customers. I have stayed with you over the years because of your service, despite you no longer being the cheapest energy company.
Please let me know if I have to raise my DD even though I am in credit.
Thank you
S
Rank
Userlevel 2
@susanecarroll1 and @Phil_H

Both of you start your most recent posts by saying you're sorry. Please don't. The people who should be apologising are the Ovo representatives who time & time again do not answer the questions put to them.
K
Rank
Userlevel 1
Hi @susanecarroll1, @Keith B, @mr.nevednats, @KevinJH,

I've moved your comments over to this thread where customers are discussing the changes to the Self Service Reward. You should be able to find all the information here.

Thanks

Mmm.... well, you may have moved my message but still unable to see a satisfactory reply - something I assume you were unable to do ? This is the first occasion I've had to come to the Forum - I don't think I'll be bothering in future.
Darran_OVO
Userlevel 7
Just to clarify; after being an online customer for a number of years now, never missing a payment, always getting the readings in on time, keeping ample £'s in credit - just in case - but paying just £10 p.m. under your recommended amount - I'm going to lose the reward ? Seems a little unfair to me or have I missed something ? Why try and fix something that's not broken ? Kevin

HI Kevin, to try and answer your question, providing you are paying your direct debit, if there is likely to be any shortfall by the end of your contract, i.e we calculate based on your usage and what you are currently paying, that you will be in debt at the end of it, we will contact you to advise and then eventually amend your Direct Debit for you if you don't change it yourself.

If you don't receive any communication from us that you need to increase, if you are paying slightly under the recommended amount we won't penalise you for that.

As you can see from the many questions on here, every customer is different hence why its impossible for us to put every single scenario in the terms and conditions. We will apply fair discretion to all customers around the reward based on how you have managed your own account over each quarter.

It's great seeing customers discussing this between them, as that's the point of the forum. We monitor the forum but only step in as and when we need to, this is a space for customers to help and support each other.

Darran
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G
Rank
Userlevel 2
if you are paying slightly under the recommended amount we won't penalise you for that.


This is getting ridiculous now. That is not what your terms and conditions say. The T+C's are crystal clear. Why bother with T+C's and why should we believe you and not the Terms and Conditions in our contract?
A
Some interesting news

The latest survey of domestic energy suppliers' customer service from Citizen’s Advice (April to June 2018:-

https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/about-us/how-citizens-advice-works/citizens-advice-consumer-work/supplier-performance/energy-supplier-performance/compare-domestic-energy-suppliers-customer-service/


Ovo are ranked 15 out of 33 with an overall score of 3.45 out of 5. The score is an average over a number of categories and Ovo score best on fewer complaints, easier to contact and clearer bills, which are keeping their overall score up.

I don't think the change to a “reward” are likely to improve things….
T
Rank
In the new reward scheme, it says you must pay the Recommended Direct Debit payment each month. Note the word "Recommended".

My annual estimated bill comes to just under £1428, which is just under £120 per month. I am currently paying £126 per month. The graph showing electricity and gas costs per month plus my current DD and recommended DD shows the recommended DD should be about £140. The £ scale only shows £40 increments, so I cannot be sure of the exact amount.

So to achieve my rewards, do I need to increase my DD per month, and if so, what would be the correct amount?
G
Rank
On the rewards new conditions it states you must use electronic means to contact ovo so why on the next line does it state you cannot contact ovo by email you will lose your reward I thought email was electronic?
NinjaGeek
Rank
Userlevel 7
Badge +2
Hi @Turnitoff Looking at my account I am paying what the recommended DD should be. I would say to do the same if this is what is needed to be applied into the Self Help Reward Scheme.
Renewable energy + EV enthusiast
Rooty
Rank
Userlevel 4
I don't think the change to a “reward” are likely to improve things….

Wow! Worse than British Gas and Utility Warehouse

Takes a note of "So Energy" for when my contract runs out. :D

I can recall when Ovo were well liked. Sad.
Nancy_OVO
Userlevel 6
Hey @Turnitoff - I've moved the chat to this thread where you can keep up with the discussion on these changes.
Your guiding light(bulb)
T
Rank
Thanks Nancy. Darran's comment above probably answers my question.
Darran_OVO
Userlevel 7
On the rewards new conditions it states you must use electronic means to contact ovo so why on the next line does it state you cannot contact ovo by email you will lose your reward I thought email was electronic?

Hey Geo1, an email is still a contact method and as I've said previously if you need to email us that's fine, just make sure you double check first that you cannot self serve the issue or question you have first. For example (and there are so many), if you emailed to give us meter readings, and then one of our agents has to input that for you, but you could have done that online via your account then you'd lose the reward. However, if for some reason you are unable to do that online, i.e the system is down etc, then you can still email and you will still get your reward.
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