“I find the company very difficult to speak to somebody and I have told them the house they are billing me for is empty so I need only pay the standing charge, but they still insist on me reading the meter, and sending a bill for estimated?! This situation will all be sorted out when the property is sold so it is wasting my time and theirs haviong these conversations - so please do not estimate the account for an empty property!!”
“Slashed my solar feed-in tarriff from 7c to 2c and electricity rates have got up 40%. Absolutel ripoff in 2024. They offered better rates in 2023, but there are much better deals to be had in the market. I've moved to Alinta and taken everyone I referred to Ovo with me. Avoid and seek out a better deal - regardless of whether you have solar panels or not.”
“Had a bill to pay was paying what i could as i am on benefits and disabled got a letter saying they would pass my account to a debt agency that got me p off so told them never threating me again they send letters out dated say on the 17th you get letter on 24th then it say's from the date of the letter no bloody way it's from the date i get the letter i have told them if a agency comes round they will not get a very warm welcome i was on SSE but a deal was in place with OVO never asked me bunch of idiots and that's been kind cannot say what i think to rude.”
“Very confusing company not at all. Helpful I stated one year fixed dial energy.and had to keep saying I did not want greener energy with the add ons . So simple to understand even a five year old could understand that .I hope now it's all been sorted one year fixed tarrif without greener energy and add ons which I cannot afford thanx .”
“They are withholding a compensation payment which is rightfully mine had nothing but trouble and stress from them since sse switched me over disgusted with them should be ashamed of themselves I have copd and classed as vulnerable.”
“My daughter had no choice but to go over to ovo due to sse selling out to them,nothing but problems,unable to top up despite letter from ovo stating everything set up,contacted ovo this morning to be told her meter had not migrated? Therefore she must let balance drop below £1 then make call again for someone to come to her meter? She has very small premature twins in her care and urgently needs assistance to enable her to ensure a constant supply of both gas and electricity to her home,to this end she was told its dangerous to send someone to assist if meter has more than £1 supply never have i heard so much twaddle in my life ovo get your act together a.s.a.p. or customers leaving will become the norm and your company will go the same way a few others have went recently,disgusting customer care.”
“Shocking prices with Ovo, the worst ever. Never again. I am swapping suppliers How on earth they can charge me £171.00 during the summer when i never have heating on???.
A total rip off, and prior to that they just took £500.00 from my bank account. Shocking. Rip off merchants and rubbish.”
“I was passed to OVO from SSE with the sale, without prior warning or information. I received glowing emails from OVO expressing the excellent points of their company. Then the truth emerged -
I emailed in meter readings, and waited for a emailed bill. (silly me) I complained - a person rang me, I discovered that I was expected to read meters EVERY MONTH! and keep logging on the site to get bills. I have only ever paid quarterly. I explained this and the person did not say I couldn't, and said my next reading would by June 8.
Logging on I saw that estimated debits were being created based on last year's higher usage. I sent meter readings and paid to that date. There is still a debit amount showing that makes no sense at all.
I tried the on-line chat (silly me) queues of 34, 54 (!) and 25 mins. I tried ringing- queue of 12 mins. I wrote a letter and posted it just before Easter - no reply. Today I received a letter asking me to pay my bill!
I am moving elsewhere!”
“If you get the right person customer service can be fine. But often the response doesn't seem to deal with the matter raised - if you get one. The system seems to give the impression of being in disarray.”
“To be fair - OVO were really good up until something went wrong. Customer service however was good.
New Years Day - their smart meter failed at midnight (so a software fault) and my gas supply was cut off. Left with no gas central heating in winter with a 2 and a 4 year old in the house. Gas finally restored on 4th January but on a pre payment meter (but not provided a top up card). To make matters worse - was now stuck with OVO as my new supplier wouldn't take pre payment meters. Had to fight OVO to install a credit metre again over around 5 hours of phone calls - at the moment, I'm stuck on out of contract rates with OVO due to no fault of my own.
Update - the meter is now being replaced today - however, my switch to a new supplier has had to be cancelled - I have now had to signup to a new supplier (at higher rates than offered before Christmas and I will be on Out of Contract rates with OVO until that delayed switch takes place - REALLY NOT IMPRESSED”
“We've been with OVO for a number of years. However last year, after a switch to a smart meter, we found our bills became very high. I'm a physicist so I did some tests on our side of the meter and things didn't look right so I ask OVO to review our meter. OVO's customer service was so poor we ended up at the Ombudsman who upheld our poor customer service complaint.
During the whole process, we could get a single person at OVO to take ownership of the problem, and promises that it would be escalated to management were broken. We are now leaving OVO as the metering problem has still not been addressed.
OVO has grown considerably and they are highly dependent on their automated systems. This is a problem when things go wrong.
OVO are at the cheaper end of the market and like everything in life you get what you pay for.”
“Tried to raise our direct debit for gas & electric from £45 to £105. When we complained we received a very short reply which was very unsatisfactory. I then switched to another company & they then phoned me & said I was on the wrong tariff & all sorts of discounts. Needless to say "to bloody late".”
“As a customer in receipt of disability benefit my income is quite rightly: the minimum the government has assessed is needed for me to live on.
Therein, obtaining maximum value for money on my utility bills is vital.
After joining OVO Energy on the recommendation of freinds & family & the 'Which?' Award, I signed up to their lowest tariff.
A year later this expired without my knowledge & OVO failed to tell me.
My account had switched to the standard rate & subsequently began to accrue a debt.
OVO allowed this to continue in this state for nearly 8 months by which time the account became £160 in the red. I only became aware of this when I applied for a Smart Meter to be installed.
OVO reviewed the account & without notice, put my monthly direct debit up 60%!!
So that is twice they breached regulations & thirdly, they lied to me on the phone by telling me the new amount reflected my increased usage.
In fact, their computer had factored the debt into the equation aswell.
I explained to them that I was unable to afford the new payments & that I had applied for the 'Warm Home Discount' - (the Winter Fuel Allowance equivalent) for people on low incomes & that this would help pay off the majority of the debt.
They then threatened me with installing a pre-paid meter & referred me to a scheme they run in conjunction with the Citizens Advice Bureau, which checks your eligibility before awarding their charitable funds to clear the debt.
I duly applied & was told OVO were taking longer than usual to approve applications.
Unbelievably, the government approved my Warm Home Discount in the meantime & OVO illegally applied it to the debt!
2 months later & surprise, surprise - there is still no word of their fund award & I now have nothing to help me with my winter fuel costs.
AVOID OVO AT ALL COSTS!!”
