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Can't access Online Account until 2023? I'm on the old billing system

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Abby_OVO
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Userlevel 6

Hey @3Phasesupplies,

 

I’m sorry that this hasn’t got you any further forward at the moment. 

 

The link for all open channels won’t get you to your bills directly, but it does mean that you can contact one of our support team, who’ll be able to help get the bill sent to you. 

 

The quickest way to do so will be our Support team’s web messaging and WhatsApp opening hours will be:

  • 8am - 6pm Monday to Friday 
  • 9am - 2pm on Saturdays

Hopefully they can come to a resolution on your complaint before it has to go that far. I have also linked our complaints procedure below for you: 

https://www.ovoenergy.com/feedback

 

Location: Electric Avenue
T
Rank
Userlevel 1

I complained to the ombudsman about lack of online access & got a £70 credit to my account.  Maybe OVO should compensate everyone who they’ve ‘cut off’ from their online account servicing in this way.  It might speed up implementation of the upgrade!

 

One question for OVO.  I think i’m going to change my bank account.  Can I stop paying my bills for the foreseeable future while I sort things out?  No?  The why has my online access been removed for an indeterminate period with no end date?  Another question, what would happen if your payroll department upgraded their computer system & simply stopped paying OVO staff until the upgraded system was written?  

Blastoise186
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Userlevel 7
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One question for OVO.  I think i’m going to change my bank account.  Can I stop paying my bills for the foreseeable future while I sort things out?  No?  The why has my online access been removed for an indeterminate period with no end date?  Another question, what would happen if your payroll department upgraded their computer system & simply stopped paying OVO staff until the upgraded system was written?  

Your best bet is to use the Current Account Switching Service which should automatically update any Direct Debits you have open. I’m afraid these aren’t grounds by themselves to stop paying OVO. However, if you’re struggling to pay you can call 0800 069 9831 and the Collections Team can figure something out with you that works for both sides.

As for your other question, that’s a different story. For extremely complicated reasons you can’t just scratch build your own payroll system - HMRC requires you to use an approved one that’s already been built and the one you use has to be from a specific list. OVO couldn’t use a scratch built one even if they wanted to as HMRC won’t allow it.

If you’re migrating from one payroll system to another, you’d keep using the old one until the new one is ready and in the background you’d migrate all data over. Once the new one is ready, you’d flip the switch and move everyone at once.

For a billing system however… It’s massively more complicated...

Securing energy by zapping security bugs... For that is The Blastoise Way!
T
Rank
Userlevel 1

One question for OVO.  I think i’m going to change my bank account.  Can I stop paying my bills for the foreseeable future while I sort things out?  No?  The why has my online access been removed for an indeterminate period with no end date?  Another question, what would happen if your payroll department upgraded their computer system & simply stopped paying OVO staff until the upgraded system was written?  

Your best bet is to use the Current Account Switching Service which should automatically update any Direct Debits you have open. I’m afraid these aren’t grounds by themselves to stop paying OVO. However, if you’re struggling to pay you can call 0800 069 9831 and the Collections Team can figure something out with you that works for both sides.

As for your other question, that’s a different story. For extremely complicated reasons you can’t just scratch build your own payroll system - HMRC requires you to use an approved one that’s already been built and the one you use has to be from a specific list. OVO couldn’t use a scratch built one even if they wanted to as HMRC won’t allow it.

If you’re migrating from one payroll system to another, you’d keep using the old one until the new one is ready and in the background you’d migrate all data over. Once the new one is ready, you’d flip the switch and move everyone at once.

For a billing system however… It’s massively more complicated...

My question was rhetorical, however, the last paragraph states my case perfectly.  “You’d keep using the old one until the new one is ready and in the background you’d migrate all data over.  Once the new one is ready you’d flip the switch and move everyone at once.“  EXACTLY what OVO have failed to do, & as a result they have failed their customers leaving them without ANY system at all.  Little wonder that they’re not the Which recommended energy supplier any more if they treat their customers like this.

Blastoise186
Rank
Userlevel 7
Badge +1

That’s the thing. OVO did build the new system as far as possible before starting migration and has been moving people slowly. The snag is that your account is one that’s probably too difficult to have the automatic tooling move it over cleanly, so the teams have to do so manually. Wherever possible, the old system has remained accessible to customers who are being migrated until their migration is complete. However, the edge cases make that impossible to do for every single account.

It’s faster to do that while the system is offline than it is online. We are only talking a few thousand accounts out of 5+ million here. But with MILLIONS of accounts to shift and the need to involve the industry, it is literally impossible to just do a total cutover migration or any kind of big bang migration - it has to be staged over time.

It’s best to avoid reading between the lines sometimes.

Securing energy by zapping security bugs... For that is The Blastoise Way!
Emmanuelle_OVO
Rank
Userlevel 7

Hey @trainersbuk,

 

It sounds like a very frustrating situation to be in. 

 

We’re in the process of migrating remaining customers onto our new billing system. Blastoise is correct, there is a very small number of customers yet to be migrated with these customers there are additional account complexities which have meant they are harder to migrate.

 

Self-serve won’t be available for the foreseeable future but you can contact our Support Team in the meantime to submit readings and you will receive email attachments with pdfs attached for your bills. This also applies for changing a direct debit amount or date. 

 

You can top up via bank transfer, cheque or by calling 0330 303 5063, you’ll continue to get monthly statements, OVO will contact you if your direct debit needs increasing.

 

For anything else please contact our Support Team. 

Renewable Energy? Big Fan.

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