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Is the OVO website really going to be down for the rest of 2023?

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Jeffus
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Having an online account where you can’t access your direct debit, historic bills, meter readings et al is just terrible! No announcement via email up front. Just suspension for 8 months.  This forum was red hot on this topic this morning and I came back to find some links to see if there was any update but it seems to have been wiped. I can’t find it anywhere? 

Hi @Jam 

If you feel strongly about it,  I think if i was in your position I would put in an official complaint

https://www.ovoenergy.com/feedback

As part of the complaint ask for an immediate deadlock letter to be given to you. If they refuse just keep asking for it regularly rather than waiting the standard 8 weeks for complaints. I say that as i suspect there is no possibility OVO will change their mind. 

Go to the Energy Ombudsman as soon as you get the deadlock letter. 

https://www.ombudsman-services.org/sectors/energy

They will ultimately then decide what is reasonable and whether it is acceptable. I honestly don't know what they will say. 

Alternatively simply switch suppliers. 

G
Rank

Ovo send emails to tell me my statement is online but I am being migrated to New system and this will happen end 2023. I have asked and been promised email statement but that hasn't happened. I have no what my usage or balance is. I think I'll cancel my direct debit and talk to them in court.

juliamc
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Userlevel 7
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Frustrating as that might be OVO will just change your tariff to a higher rate !! 

Emmanuelle_OVO
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Userlevel 7

Hey @Grandadshaw,

 

Really sorry for the issues you’re having, 

 

I’ve just asked for an update on this and pdf statements should be going out today, if not Tuesday. 

Renewable Energy? Big Fan.
M
Rank

I am unable to access my online account and each time I try to login I am redirected to a page that tells me that a new website is being developed and I cannot access my account until the end of 2023.  How do I submit meter readings, top up my account and change my direct debit during this time?  I have received no notification of this significant change by OVO.

M
Rank

I’m in the same boat with no access to my online account and despite the helpful information from the forum on accessing my account by the alternative link, still get bounced to the notice advising me that I will be unable to go online for another 8 months. It’s quite unbelievable how poor the communication is from OVO, who I have been with for several years.  Perhaps time to move on.  No way to top up, check usage, check DD, submit readings (my not very smart meter only reads electricity usage).

 

Tried the live chat today and halfway through I received a message saying the chat was now closed!

Emmanuelle_OVO
Rank
Userlevel 7

Hey @MartinGM,

 

Sorry for the issue you’re having,

 

It sounds like you’re on our old billing system. OVO have closed this down and are in the process of migrating these remaining customers onto our new billing system. Self-serve won’t be available for the foreseeable future but you can contact our Support Team to submit readings and you will receive email attachments with pdfs attached.

Renewable Energy? Big Fan.
Emmanuelle_OVO
Rank
Userlevel 7

Updated on the 21/12/23 by Tim_OVO: We’ll be unlocking the new online account for everybody that doesn’t already have access in early 2024. 

 

Hey @MartinGM,

 

Sorry for the issue you’re having,

 

It sounds like you’re on our old billing system. OVO have closed this down and are in the process of moving these remaining customers onto our new billing system as soon as possible. You won’t need to do anything to get your account migrated. We’ll contact you with any next steps once the new website is ready. Online account use 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.

 

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. 

 

Hope this helps. 

Renewable Energy? Big Fan.
C
Rank

….. so can someone who works for OVO please respond here to suggest a way to get in touch?

I top up my account with the shortfall every month online, and need to be moved/whatever is necessary to allow this to continue by the end of this month, not by end of 2023.

Please respond here.

Thanks

Blastoise186
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Userlevel 7
Badge +1

Live Chat will still work. Just tell the bot you are NOT a customer and it’ll put you through. You can then authenticate manually with the agent who answers once they connect.

This forum is not for account specific support as we can’t access them from here.

You don’t get to choose when your account migrates I’m afraid. It’ll be done as soon as OVO is able to finish it.

Securing energy by zapping security bugs... For that is The Blastoise Way!
C
Rank

Didn’t work - chat terminates as soon as email address is put in (as requested)

So phone number doesn’t work, chat doesn’t work, and website is down until 2023 - it actually looks like its been hacked the message is so poor. 

Add to that no comms whatsoever have been issued…. maybe it is just a hack.

Or, can someone from OVO please respond.

Thanks

Blastoise186
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Userlevel 7
Badge +1

I’ve just said a solution that works. Use Incognito Mode in your browser and when the bot asks if you’re a customer, say no and don’t provide any email address at all.

You can’t demand a response from OVO staff here. This is a community forum patrolled by forum volunteers such as myself.

The legacy billing system has been disabled completely and this is intentional. It’s to make the migration easier, nothing else. You should have had an email or letter about it.

Securing energy by zapping security bugs... For that is The Blastoise Way!
Jeffus
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Userlevel 7
Badge +2

Didn’t work - chat terminates as soon as email address is put in (as requested)

So phone number doesn’t work, chat doesn’t work, and website is down until 2023 - it actually looks like its been hacked the message is so poor. 

Add to that no comms whatsoever have been issued…. maybe it is just a hack.

Or, can someone from OVO please respond.

Thanks

Hi @collinsUsername if you want a personal response by OVO via a social media channel, try the OVO Facebook or Twitter site.

Both these are official OVO support channels and are staffed by OVO employees. 

https://www.facebook.com/ovoenergy

Out of interest have you considered switching suppliers if you are not happy. The new industry faster switching service is very quick these days.

M
Rank

Thanks for the reply. I use the online system so that I don’t have to make lengthy phone calls. The chat system is unreliable. Given that OVO has created this problem and didn’t have the courtesy to pre warn customers then I will let things run. If my current credit amount fails to cover my costs in the future then OVO and I will have to have a discussion about the cause of this. And of course this poor customer relations exercise will lead me to consider which energy provider I choose in future.

J
Rank

I did call them as wanted to know more about this but the lady I got couldn’t tell me anymore and no firm timescale. Asked her to check my usage for the month she couldn’t ! Have had my monthly bill sent via email so will just need to check it ties in with my meter readings. Not ideal 

F
Rank

HOW WILL WE PAY OUR ACCOUNT AND GIVE READINGS IF NO ONLINE ACCOUNT UNTIL THE END OF 2023??

How will others deal with this situation … seems quite a nightmare to me   ….W. FROM WAKEFIELDcl

 

Abby_OVO
Rank
Userlevel 6

Hey @Fizzy,

 

Sorry about the problem you’re having.

 

It sounds like you’re on our old billing system, OVO has closed this down, and are in the process of moving customers to the new billing system. The online account won’t be available while this is ongoing but you can still contact our support team, who can help with payments, readings and everything else in between. 

You’re not the only one experiencing this at the moment, there are other topics on the Forum where this same issue has been discussed. 

 

You’ll continue to receive your statements as normal, and you’ll be notified if your Direct Debit needs increased. For any other problems or queries with your account, do contact the Support Team.

 

Location: Electric Avenue
O
Rank

I’m still having trouble even when I go to log in via https://www.ovoenergy.com/ still takes me to this, can someone please help!

 

Abby_OVO
Rank
Userlevel 6

Hey @olly808,

Sorry for the issue you’re having,

 

It looks like you’re on our old billing system. OVO have closed this down and are in the process of moving these remaining customers onto our new billing system. Online account use 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.

 

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. 

 

Hope this helps. 

Location: Electric Avenue
G
Rank

OVO have never ever been able to accurately calculate how much our DD should be, always massively over estimated. How do I get bank details to make top up payment? Without telephoning when your line are always busier than usual, which appears to be 24/7 365. Your chat facility is worse than useless, I don't know what training you give *edited by mod* that I chat with but they never have any meaningful answers.

Abby_OVO
Rank
Userlevel 6

Hey @Grandadshaw 

 

I’m really sorry to hear about the experience you’ve been having.

 

Our bank details are as follows:

 

Bank account number is 83683249 and sort code 20-00-00. 

 

Please remember to include your OVO account number and postcode in the reference field, so we can link payment to your account.

 

You’re post had been edited by a moderator due to the language used. Moving forward please avoid using demeaning or disrespectful terms. We want the Forum to be a positive and respectful place for users to share their opinions in line with the community spirit, and our community guidelines and house rules. You can find these here as a reminder for future use. 

Location: Electric Avenue
B
Rank
Badge +1

Totally agree, incredibly poor customer relationship management. Some possibly helpful comments.

You can still access your gas & electric usage via data from the DCC assuming your Smart Meter has been migrated to the DCC, (see https://www.smartdcc.co.uk/our-smart-network/network-data-dashboard/). You can get the (free) Bright App from Apple (https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/bright/id1369989022) and Google (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=uk.co.hildebrand.brightionic). This shows usage in KWHr but not your cost, as they are not billing you. My best understanding is that the DCC is a government organisation now responsible for collecting all smart meter data who then make it available to Utility companies. (The original SMETS1 Smart Meters only manage a single ownership certificate and hence became useless if the User wanted to switch utility company. Hence now all ownership is transferred to the DCC to eliminate the ownership problem). Personally I found Bright responded very quickly to the registration process which in my case was not seemless.

As Ovo people have said, you can still make Top Up payments via Bank Transfer (https://www.ovoenergy.com/help/how-to-pay) avoiding the need for their website. Hence if you’re ok at maths, you can calculate your own expected bills each month and make sure you keep up with payments.

Personally I’m expecting Ovo’s bills during this time to be (badly) estimated by them (based upon a long track record). Hence I would not be surprised if Ovo’s issued bills during this (long) downtime diverge significantly from the reality of my usage. I am wondering how big a problem that will be. So long as they don’t try and force any Direct Debit changes, I can probably live with that. I will try really hard to avoid waiting in their phone queue system.

I do find it a mystery that Ovo seems to be a well intentioned Utility company, with some good initiatives and on the whole provides a reasonable service, but seems to regularly make a hash of its data systems which should make accuracy spot on. You would have thought that with smart metering data errors should be history! Such a shame, because it creates much more work for itself and its customers by getting the data wrong.

G
Rank

Hi Abby

You are not listening, I CAN'T ACCESS MY ONLINE ACCOUNT. DUH

Blastoise186
Rank
Userlevel 7
Badge +1

Abby is new to the forum and she’s still learning. Please bear in mind that most of us here are volunteers and we’re not perfect. Abby is one of only three staff here but learning the ropes takes time.

Long story short, the answer you seek is:

Bank account number is 83683249 and sort code 20-00-00. 

 

Please remember to include your OVO account number and postcode in the reference field, so OVO can link payment to your account.

Securing energy by zapping security bugs... For that is The Blastoise Way!
R
Rank

If the new website means that access to OVO accounts is not possible until the end of 2023, we cannot submit monthly meter readings; so how will OVO calculate accurate direct debits over the next seven months?

I do not wish to be overcharged by inaccurate OVO estimates.

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