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I have tried contacting Boost repeatedly. They are absolutely useless, which shocking customer service. So I am now trying this, as it is ridiculous the amount of time and stress a company I am not even a customer of is causing.

We recently moved house (in mid May). The previous homeowners were supplied by Boost. We had the misfortune of being supplied by Boost temporarily whilst waiting to switch to our own supplier. Boost were useless in that short period and caused us a lot of stress. We have been with our own supplier since the end of May.

Yesterday we received a hand delivered letter from Engage following an apparent visit when we were not home, stating “This is our final notice before we apply for a Right of Entry warrant”, which is “on behalf of Boost Energy to look at your faulty meter/s”, along with how much this visit cost us and mentions of warrants to enter our home.

A few issues with this:

  1. We are not a Boost customer
  2. We have not reported a faulty meter
  3. If we had reported a faulty meter, it would have been to our own supplier, not Boost
  4. The account number written on the letter is not the account number we were given during those unfortunate couple of weeks we were forced to be supplied by Boost

We have received no other letters or communication from Boost or Engage prior to this “final notice”.

I contacted Boost when I got home from work (after their phone cut off times) using their live chat, who were absolutely useless. I was told to contact Engage. I advised that I would not be doing this as I am working during the opening times given on the phone number and more importantly, I am not a Boost customer so Boost would need to contact Engage and work out what had happened. I was told they do not have the authority to do this.

My question to this was, why are Boost unable to contact Engage regarding this, when Boost must have been the one to pass our details on? The answer I got given was to contact Engage …

I advised that it was not my job to sort out Boost’s mistakes and again I do not have time, especially when I am not a Boost customer. AGAIN, I was told to contact Engage. I asked for the details of a manager or someone with more authority. I got given a link for the forum where I can make a complaint. This link did not work and I got the same repeated answers from the live chat. 

I found my own way to the complaints page (just as I had to figure our top up numbers out during those unfortunate couple of weeks in May because we were given the wrong numbers) and have submitted a complaint, but of course, haven’t yet had a response. I have also contacted Boost and Ovo on Twitter. 

 

So, could somebody please advise how I can contact somebody at Boost with some sort of authority to sort this out with Engage, as I am not wasting any more of my time dealing with this awful company, or debt management companies, and I am certainly not going to do Boost’s job for them!

Updated on 08/09/23 by Emmanuelle_OVO

Hi @ShockingService and welcome to the OVO online community,

 

I’m so sorry to hear of the issues you’ve been having with our PAYG sister company, Boost.

 

Unfortunately as we can only give general advice here, this does sound like it needs more account-specific help. Just to double-check have you been in touch with your current supplier to confirm your switch was completed? As I’d be surprised to hear that Boost are still getting in touch to discuss a faulty meter, unless they believe the supply is still with them.

 

Without access to your account we’re fairly limited to help here but I’m hoping our Social teams have already responded to your message. The best contact channels for the Boost team can be found here.

 

I hope this helps get things sorted.


Hello,

Has anyone had a letter from Boost Energy?

I received a letter with my address, but not in my name or my account number. 
I contacted them using the phone number provided and they were not very helpful, the letter informed the person named that they wanted access to the meters due to payment discrepancies as they are pre paid meters. Both my meters are smart meters and I pay by direct debt. 
If this is happening OVO, who they said they are working for and supplying energy to have a disregard for GDPR. I informed them of this and did not disclose any personal information apart from my OVO account number. Just wondered if I was the only one. 
Thank you for your comments. 


Hi @Camper Sue

I suggest you double check to be absolutely certain there isn't an erroneous transfer going on with your meters

Check who is officially registered as your supplier at the moment. 

https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/information-consumers/energy-advice-households/finding-your-energy-supplier-or-network-operator

Also was there any meter numbers on the SSE letter and if so are they the same or different to your current meters?

 


Yes I am definitely with OVO as my energy supplier. I was transferred from SSE to OVO. What they said was that Boost supplies OVO with  electricity. I’ve never had Boost as an energy supplier


Yes I am definitely with OVO as my energy supplier. I was transferred from SSE to OVO. What they said was that Boost supplies OVO with  electricity. I’ve never had Boost as an energy supplier

OVO and Boost are sister companies. Both owned by the same company. 

Boost offer PAYG 

https://www.ovoenergy.com/boost

It is not unknown for erroneous transfers to start without customers knowing which is why it is important to check.

https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/information-consumers/energy-advice-households/finding-your-energy-supplier-or-network-operator

If you have already done the check then great. 


Hey @Camper Sue,

 

This sounds very unusual indeed!

 

I’d advise calling Boost Energy on the number you find on the website as opposed to the letter incase it’s a scam. 

 

This particular bit sounds quite odd, Boost is a sister company of OVO as pointed out by @Jeffus they run our pay as you go side. Are you able to send us a screenshot of the letter without including any personal details?

 

Let’s get to the bottom of this!


I am a Pay as you go customer. I had a Smart Energy Tracker installed by SSE a few years ago and was able to ring one of their customer services operatives when I needed to transfer money from my Electricity account to my Gas account, which they managed to do for me with ease. Now the company has been taken over, not only can I not get though to anyone to speak to, when I use their Web Chat I’m left finding it most disheartening day after day being told I am no. 568, sometimes even longer in the queue, they then say Thank you for your patience …. What’s going on? Does anyone know? 


Hey @Zeliha ,

Did you try 0330 102 7517 as well? It sounds like you need Boost rather than OVO.


Hi @Zeliha and thanks for reaching out. 

 

First off if you were moved to OVO, you’ll have been contacted multiple times to advise. This will be an email or a letter, from the previous supplier then twice from OVO. If you’re prepayment, the volumes who joined  are very small at this stage. So it’s more than likely that you’re still with your old supplier. Contact them here to request a move of credit from one smart meter balance to another. 

 

If you are with OVO PAYG, they have a dedicated number to call here: 0330 175 9669


Hi Tim,

Thank you for your reply, yes, it would appear I am still with SSE.  Many thanks for explaining the situation so clearly! 


Sorry to start another topic but I’m getting desperate and don’t know what else to do. 

Boost are SO useless and I can never get through on their phone or web chat - I have topped up several times this month but they aren’t showing on the meter. So then my supply gets cut off. I called them and told them to fix it, but it’s happened again today. I also haven’t received my government support payment yet for December. I asked to switch away from PAYG over to pay monthly in October, and they said they would sort it, but still waiting. They told me someone from OVO would call me the next day… two months ago! I have used their complaint form and contact them all the time but they constantly ignore me and fob me off with excuses. 

They have caused me so much stress and I just want to be done with them but I’m stuck! Is there anything OVO can do? Please help me, i’m getting desperate.


Hi @ColdHouseTwoCats ,

You should be able to get Boost to migrate your account over. Let me flag this thread with @Emmanuelle_OVO and I’ll ask her if there’s any options.


Hey @ColdHouseTwoCats,

 

Firstly, I’m sorry for the issues you’re having, that sounds like a very frustrating situation.

 

The process of changing from pay as you go (Boost) to pay monthly (OVO), is handled entirely by Boost. I can only assume they meant OVO could give you a quote but usually they’d transfer to call through to an OVO agent. I’ve not hear of call backs for this reason.

 

I’m really sorry but the only option in this scenario is to contact Boost, we don’t have access to customer accounts on the Forum and OVO agents wouldn’t have access to your account until your account moves over. 

 

It’s worth mentioning you’ll need to have a smart meter installed before you can change to OVO. 

 

Keep us posted with how you get on. 


Thank you @Emmanuelle_OVO but I have tried contacting them but they keep fobbing me off. I called them to switch back in October but they’ve done nothing.

And every time I do try to contact them I spend hours waiting on the phone, and when I do they say they’ve sorted it but nothing happens. And their web chat is even worse - it just always says to try again later. I can’t be the only one who is fed up with Boost! 

I also used their complaint form but that’s been ignored too! 


Hey @ColdHouseTwoCats,

 

Sorry for the issues you’re having,

 

Boost are open today business as usual hours, you can contact them as ask about the progress of your complaint. I’d advise calling, as this minimizes chances of your issue continuing. 

 

Let us know how you get on. 

 

 


Still nothing from Boost - I called just before Christmas as they cut off my electricity again (I didn’t receive the government support payment and my top ups weren’t showing on the meter. 

They said they’d call me back, but surprise surprise, they haven’t. I escalated my complaint on 12 December and I’ve heard nothing. I really don’t know what to do at this point. I can never get through on web chat - it just says ‘try again later’ and every time I call it’s at least an hour wait every time. I really don’t know what else to do


Unfortunately, no-one here has any way to access Boost stuff at all. Your best bet is try to call in again. OVO can’t touch the account until Boost kicks off the transfer process.


Hey @ColdHouseTwoCats,

 

Really sorry to hear this, sounds like a stressful situation to be in.

 

Was your complaint escalated? If so you can find out more about the Complaint Procedure here, someone should get back to you. 

 

Boost would have been really busy yesterday after the bank holiday, but you may have better luck getting through today.

 

Keep us posted with how you get on. 


Hi @Emmanuelle_OVO 

I managed to speak to someone yesterday and they said my complaint has been escalated and I should hear from someone from OVO between 3-5 days. So we shall see! I’m not going to hold my breath.

As for the December payment, they said apparently they had sent a voucher but it never arrived. No idea why it was a voucher as I have a smart meter and previously it has been added straight onto the meter! Would have been nice if they’d told me this! 


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