ovo.co.uk 

Overall Shocking

Never been able to top up electric smoothly - always been one issue or another.
Hard to reach on the phone, I have spent over 3 hours on the phone with no electric.
No help or support if you are out of their 9-5 hours (even if you are off supply)

Ah, this must be the page where we get a realistic representation of what customers really think of Ovo. On the other page Ovo has over 15k negative 1 Star reviews, but this absolute shower of a company is trying to bury that by artificially pumping in automated positive reviews. A dishonest practice that should be banned!

I've had the misfortune of having three accounts acquired by Ovo from SSE. Ovo's appalling customer service has already lost them two of these to other suppliers. The third is hanging on by a thread for the moment because Ovo 'misplaced' nearly £400 credit on the account when they took over.

So far Ovo:
- Have sent threatening letters demanding payment to the wrong address in the name of someone who does not exist
- Told me that my SSE account number is wrong, even though I have decades of bills showing it
- Come up with their own SSE account number which I have never seen before. Conveniently it had no credit
- Failed to transfer the online account from SSE, which leads me to believe they are hiding something
- Told me the clear photographic evidence I have sent which shows credit, name, address and account number is worthless
- Told me the complaint had already been closed, with a date given that is a full 5 days before Ovo's first response!!!
- Told me I accepted a goodwill payment instead. Except the first I heard of this was when Ovo threatened to take it back if I continued the complaint!!!

This is fraud. 'Complaint Resolution Specialist Carol' has had every opportunity to prove otherwise but has been nothing but petty and deliberately difficult for the fun of it. A bad apple on a tree rotten to its roots!

7 weeks ago I register with ovo to supply me electric at my new property, As of yet, I'm still not on Economy 7 tariff, witch I need to be on, has my property has Storage Heaters for heating and a EmerGen heater for hot water, all of witch need to come on at 12:00 Midnight until 7am using economy 7 timers, (Cheaper Tariff 2) to heat the brick up in the storage heaters, so they can function correctly, and provide heating through out the day as and when required and the EmerGen heater heats up my water, so I have hot water through out the day,

Every time I ring ovo electric, over the past 7 weeks, I find my self repeating the same problem over and over again, and being passed from one person to another, and no one actually solving my issue, Ovo have sent out the same engineer twice in the past few weeks, who as told me that he can not put me on economy 7 at the meter, and that ovo need to put me on economy 7 at the ovo tariff department.
The second to last person I Spoke to was finally telling me the truth, that they can't put me on economy 7 tariff because they don't have the technology todo so at this present time, why wasn't I told this sooner? 7 weeks of phone calls, instead I was nothing less then being fobbed off every time, and to really hit the nail in the coffin, Last week a ovo representative rang me, blatantly lying to me telling me I was now put on tariff 2 (Economy 7) when I wasn't. All of this has caused me unnecessary stress and Anxiety, the cold weather is having a impact on my Asthma as I'm unable to put the storage heaters on due to the expense of £12.60p per day on standed tariff, because I'm not on economy 7, heating up the water for 1 hour alone, to be able to wash or have a bathe or even wash my pots on a day to day bases, is costing me dearly, I have a disability and health problems.

I didn't want to have to write this, but I feel I have no other choice even an email too ovo complaints department, about my experience didn't receive a reply.

I Feel people need to know what sort of company they are, 7 weeks on and countless phone calls to ova and still no resolution to solving my issue. and of course being lied to..

Very unprofessional

1 star is generous.
Mother-in-law (70yo deaf and partially sighted) was force moved to this shockingly incompetent company after her original supplier shut down.
I could write a long detailed description of the experiences we've had dealing with the insurmountable balls-up of a switch over Ovo have(not) provided with absolutely 0% empathy and customer service.. but reader, I won't bother wasting your time, so don't you either.

I had the misfortune to have been transferred to OVO from SSE. Fortunately, after being locked out of my new account with OVO after the initial transference, I decided that I was not going to go with OVO and took my account to another electric supplier. Then my nightmares with OVO commenced!

I had paid SSE £51.00 in advance for the month of August. I then received a final bill of £28.88 from OVO for the period of 21 August - 30 August. I was in credit of £119 with SSE which had transferred to OVO my DD of £51.00 had transferred to OVO from SSE. So therefore I was £170 in credit for which OVO took £28.88 and eventually sent me a refund for the £141.
I complained to my bank when OVO had reimbursed this amount plus had taken another £51 DD. I got this £51 back through my bank. No apology from OVO about this.

I then had a another bill from OVO for £11 (presumably as this was not made clear on the bill), for the same period in August which I duly paid. When I realised that it was for the same period I complained to OVO asking for a refund of £28.88 OVO said they would look into this. I then received another final bill from OVO. Which had credited my account with 15.71 and somehow had £3.98 left in credit in my account. They deducted £4.00 from my initial payment of £28.88 as they now made this first bill as £24.88

Why have they kept my account open with £3.98 in it? This does not make sense as I am no longer with this terrible company! Since having left OVO I now keep receiving letters from them addressed to "the occupier" at my address stating that they are the electric company supplying electricity to my property from 31 August. Is there no limits as to how low this company can stoop to to obtain money? I have since complained to OVO after having received two letters addressed to "the occupier." They have assured me that there will be no more of these letters coming my way!

Customer services are useless and keep putting you on hold every five minutes. My advice to anyone else is to avoid this company like the plague, they are the pits!

AVOID. I was with these guys in my previous property. My bill leapt up from £83 to £200+ despite me living alone working 40 hours a week. I booked to get a smart meter installed. I chose a time slot. They turned up an hour earlier and then charged me for not being in when I was busy running errands before they arrived. And then I moved into a new place, previously supplied by OVO, and got a bill through for £138 - let me reiterate I had just moved in! There's no way I was paying for electric I obviously had not used. Fighting a losing battle with them once again and am switching companies. Terrible prices and customer service. Join Utility Warehouse instead.

Worst Customer service i have ever expeienced ,they made error after error on a simple matter of closing an account ,8 months later i am still calling them to correct their mistakes ,change your supplier to avoid a lot of time cosuming hassle

Original post (made after speaking with OVO Bereavement Team as they could not help).

It appears that Ovo charge bereaved families a penalty rate for gas and electric supply in some cases. If the direct debit to OVO ceases because the deceased person's bank account is frozen (which is normal procedure) OVO will charge a higher rate until the bereaved family are able to get access to the deceased's account and set up a fresh direct debit. Furthermore, it does not appear to change their approach if the deceased's OVO account was well in credit.

Response to my post from OVO ( apparently to whitewash the post and make it look like they are dealing fairly with the issue).

Hi Paul,

Thank for for taking the time to leave a review. I'm really sorry to hear of your recent experience with us and I'm sorry for you loss.

Our Bereavement team are in the best position to help with this query.

You can reach them on 0330 175 9683

Thanks,
Erikah

Please compare with the subsequent response from OVO complaints department shown below

.Your complaint
I spoke with you today as your complaint had been escalated to the Advanced Resolution Team. You explained your concerns were
• The direct debit discount had been stopped on the account of your deceased mother, due to the direct debit stopping
• You were wanting to know, in your words, how many deceased families have been impacted by this policy in the last three years
My investigation
After receiving the details of your complaint I
• Confirmed that the direct debit discount can and will only be active for the duration that there is an active direct debit on the account, regardless of its status
• Confirmed we would not be able to provide you of the requested statistic, as that is not something we would keep a metric of, nor is it something we would approve, as it pertains to the data and circumstances of other accounts-making it sensitive information
All bereavement and direct debit processes are part of our company policies and are relevant to every customer.

Literally the worst customer service department in the world. They seem incompetent in every aspect. They haven't replied to multiple emails to multiple email addresses they provide. I've been passed around customer services, overcharged, and 6 weeks since raising an official complaint and following up, it hasn't even been acknowledge.

This company is a disgrace they are not able to find their rear ends with both hands one star is over generous everything is scripted no supervisors take away the scripts and ovo will collapse, they have my son demented trying to as a new tenant to get pre payment meters installed, I have fired off two emals to them I've no doubt the reply if I get one will be one of their scripts as they can not answer a question that is not on the script.

Just moved into a property supplied by OVO. Their website asks me to call them to set up new account. tried 3 times in 3 days on hold for over 30 minutes each time, i finally get through on the 3rd attempt guy asks for my postcode give it to him then puts me on hold....................................................give up what a bunch of wasters!

Well let's just say I can see why this company is so poorly managed.

Rude customer service agents who laugh at you and treat you like a fool. When their the fools, they need training in customer service skills. Run by a bunch of donkeys, all they do is laugh at you.

Made 2 payments in November for them to say I haven't when it is in black and white. Refused to make more payments to them until they find my money. I have sent proof.

This company is an utter joke and I will be leaving as soon as they find my payments I've made to them. Robbing b*******!!!

This company is the worst for customer service, in my experience they thrive on ripping you off. Not answering calls and messages. Their dodgy app hasn't been working for months. When you raise a complaint, and it's closed without any form of explanation. Stay far away from this rip off company.

I have been trying to get OVO to come and fix a faulty meter for months. I have sent 6 emails in a row and no response. Very frustrating company to deal with. Natasha please reply to my emails.

Would be minus stars if possible...That it is without a shadow of doubt the worst experience I have EVER experienced in dealing with any company! Never have I dealt with such incompetence in all areas!!! Nobody has been able to understand any of the countless administrative errors made on your behalf! So trying to rectify any of the many issues that have arisen in the short time I've been a customer have been impossible. Disgusted with OVO and once I have got back the money I am owed by OVO I will be leaving. Nothing will make me consider ever being an OVO customer in the future and I cannot recommend strongly enough to anyone to stay well clear of such a circus operation!

OVO Left my pregnant fiance cold and powerless for almost 12 hours whilst I was passed around department to department on the phones, running around trying to get a new key sorted for the meter!

Disgraceful OVO!! What have you to say for yourselves??

Been querying the same bill for over a year, I'm a single woman in a studio who's bill is apparently £1400 - I'M AT WORK 10 HOURS A DAY HOW IS THIS POSSIBLE. They promised me if I got a smart meter fitted my bill would go down THEY LIED. PLEASE DO YOURSELF A FAVOUR AND NEVER EVER CHOOSE OVO ref number #2260892

Reaping me of so bad so expensive, I’m single and I have spent £115 on electric only since 04/11/23 in only 23 days

Awful company to deal with. Over complicate things. Have been querying my bill regularly. When I raised the same query as I was still unclear they threatened to retract an £80 credit. Asked to speak to a senior person. Was told it's not their policy to escalate phone calls. Can't see any bills pre August on my online account. They can't tell me why. I have emailed at least 3 times asking for all my historic bills to be emailed to me so I can go through them. No replies, no acknowledgment and now threatening me with late payment charge.

Worst electricity company I have ever been with! I had no issues in 4 years when with sse but since they moved me to ovo I have had nothing but problems. Top up can take an hour before it goes to the meter (when the app actually works that is) even when going to the shop and topping up with the card it's the same. The meter asks for the code which you enter and EVERYTIME it will say code already used!
Also I have just been waiting for over an hour to speak with someone and when they finally answered and asked my address and then put the phone down on me!!!

Since having an account with them for over a year now:
At first they couldn't set up Online account in a straightforward way, finally with all the mess we had to close the first one and open a new one and set direct debit.
Since that day and continuing- every time they send us submit reading reminder- you ATTEMPT to do that online and the system gives an error STEP 2- Contact the useless Chatbot who THEN connects to a form and THEN you submit the readings, it confirms that I have submitted so & so readings
You CANNOT see it on the website when you receive the reminder NEXT TIME, SAME drill- try to submit directly- shows that you have not submitted one since over a year...same circle again.
Attempt to contact them, pointless.
On top of that they make their own virtual appointment with you to fit their Smart meter, send a human knocking at the door when you are about to go to something urgent...
What is the point of having an online account with direct debit going to them every month when the site doesn't even allow to submit reading in a straightforward way...