“Two complaints, same mess every time
I keep hearing Octopus advertising their amazing customer service on the radio. I’ve dealt with them properly twice and both times it has been horrendous.
First time, they failed to bill my gas for months, then suddenly added nearly a year’s charges in one go. I had been sending meter readings and their own records showed that, but customer service kept blaming missing readings.
While the account was under complaint, they tried increasing my Direct Debit from £133.44 to £328.97. They later agreed a £317.87 credit, then closed the complaint before the final bill and change-of-supplier readings were sorted. When I made them reopen it, I was told the credit would have to be removed.
Now I’m dealing with them again over a missed-payment marker on my credit file, despite Octopus previously telling me in writing that no adverse marker would be added while the dispute was open.
Again, same pattern. Twice they said they had not heard from me when I had replied. They told me to check their website for the marker, then admitted it cannot be seen there. They said the removal had been sent to TransUnion, then hours later said I needed a Direct Debit for it to be removed.
Their emails sound polite, but nobody properly reads the history. You end up correcting them and doing their job for them.”
“British Gas has its issues, but Octopus Energy is on a whole other level of awful
Like many people, I spent years putting up with sub-par support from British Gas, but one particular interaction with an especially rude and annoying customer service agent on the phone was my absolute breaking point. I just thought, 'I've had enough now,' and started looking around to switch providers. Ironically, about a week after I started the switch, a British Gas representative called me back offering a better deal. To be fair, she was actually really nice on the phone—a stark contrast to the agent who drove me away in the first place—but it was too little, too late. I told her I'd made up my mind and went ahead to Octopus Energy.
To start with, Octopus was great. I even had occasion to talk to someone on the phone who was really nice and helpful, and I thought I'd made the right choice. I stayed with them for about five months. However, being self-employed, I unfortunately got ill and ran into a brief cash flow problem, leaving me owing about £80 for that month. I figured I'd work it out shortly.
Instead, about six weeks later, I got a phone call from a guy at Octopus. I explained the situation, and he bluntly told me, 'I should tell you, sir, but we've taken your account to collections,' and added that if I didn't pay it immediately, it could screw up my credit score for six years. Over an £80 shortfall for a single month! I couldn't believe it.
Within 10 days, I paid Octopus everything I owed and got out of there. I realized that even though British Gas is pretty bad, it is a hell of a lot better than Octopus. I'm back with British Gas now—I'm not particularly thrilled about it, BUT If anyone is thinking about switching from British Gas to Octopus, take my advice: stick with what you know, because Octopus was an awful experience."
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“Absolutely shocking regarding the…
Absolutely shocking regarding the information you are given. Promises of call backs, they don’t happen. Promises of emails with documents for that day, they don’t happen. One person gives you certain information speak to someone else they give you different information, then you receive an email with totally again different information. They all seem to be reading of different scripts and all trained differently but in turn messes you around not knowing what the hell is going on.”
“Had to contact Octopus today as having issues with my EV and Omhe charger no longer communicating, Ben was very patient and talked me through the reset up between to the two apps so that Octopus was communicating directly wth the charger instead of the EV, which was causing scheduling conflicts. Thank you Ben.”
“Contacted Octopus with a question regarding the move of my excess solar to the grid. Ben gave me the information that I required almost immediately he then followed it up with an email detailing the process to get me up and running. In all a pleasant experience which is the same any time I have to contact Octopus.”
“Said that I should get a complete bill including electricity which still hasn’t happened. Had to call again today 10th, spoke to Adam who still can’t give me an answer, said there seems to be a problem with the 2/3G Smart technology which I have. Doesn’t seem such problem to be resolved yet by you and replace with 4G system”
“The member of staff I spoke to was Ben. He was very helpful and changed my tariff for me as I couldn't find do it online due to technical issues. However, the quality of the call was terrible. I couldnhardlynhear Ben but his neighbouring colleague came through to me loud and proud.”
“Ben was very helpful. He explained that e-mails concerning payments were computer generated. He listened to my concerns and recommended a solution that it appears will address them. He also recommended a better gas tariff - which was not expected but much appreciated. Generally, I would say that Ben is a credit to the company.”
“This company is the best company ever, I recently lost my job and couldn't afford my monthly direct debit, they asked me what i could afford and gave me a month free, brilliant!!!!”
“Absolutely horrific experience with this company
Before COVID I thought they were brilliant, no problems at all, then they began to hike up their prices and since having a smart meter fitted I am over £3k in debt with them
Despite having energy efficiency works done to my house and being more energy conscious
Makes absolutely no sense
They try to change my DD amount without my consent and put me into unplanned overdrafts
Whenever they make a suggestion that might actually help me and I agree, I never get a follow up!
They just continue to try and palm me off to UC or other charities that I've told them over and over again I am not eligible for
AVOID for your own sanity, I've never been in debt with anything in my life and this has caused an unbearable amount of stress, there is literally nothing I can do than I'm not already doing, yet my bills get higher and higher!
Absolute hell”
“I am very disappointed with Octopus Energy and would not recommend them based on my experience.
We were customers for around two and a half years. For over a year, I repeatedly contacted them because our electricity bills seemed extremely high. Every time I raised concerns, I was told usage was high, but it wasn't. However, when I spoke to neighbours in similar properties, many of them were paying roughly half of what we were paying.
There were only two people living in the flat. One person was out from morning until evening, and the other was usually out from midday until late at night. Despite this, our electricity costs were often around £120 per month. If we were extremely careful and practically lived in the dark, the bill would drop to around £90. On one occasion, only one person lived in the property for an entire month, and the bill was still around £90.
What made things even more suspicious was that the electricity monitor would sometimes show significant usage at 6 a.m. when both of us were asleep. We have no idea where that electricity was supposedly being used. The only appliance running continuously was a standard fridge. All light bulbs were energy-efficient. The cooker was gas, and the hot water was also gas.
Despite our repeated concerns, nobody at Octopus ever seemed willing to send an engineer to properly investigate the issue. Given the building's age, we suspect we may have been paying for part of another flat's electricity usage, or that there was an issue with the wiring or meter setup.
Customer service was also frustrating. They seemed very happy to collect higher direct debit payments while leaving large amounts of credit in the account. If you wanted your own money returned, it became a lengthy process that could take around 10 days.
The financial impact was significant. We spent months worrying about electricity costs, constantly trying to reduce our usage and feeling uncomfortable in our own home just to keep the bills down. The lack of investigation and support from Octopus left us feeling completely ignored.
Very disappointing experience.
We moved out of that place, and now we are paying a normal price with another company.
Update:
It's been 3 weeks since we switched to another Electricity Company in a different place. Same people, same usage, same amount of laundry, and in 21 days we only spent £34 on electricity! I wish we could change it then. God knows how much extra we paid to Octopus in the last 3 years.”
“I am only leave a 2 star review as I am still awaiting an answer to my bill, I believe you are still investigating so it’s is not good timing to ask for review when I have not received feedback to the issue.”
“Appalling customer service. How disappointing that Octopus energy seems to have gone the same way as the other big energy providers. I have been with Octopus for many many years and recommended them in the past. However, two recent experiences have shown that with their growth has come an attitude that they are too important to care about their customers, their professionalism, or even their own competence. Their customer service reps are rude and arrogant and treat customers with contempt.
I will never recommend them again.”
