“I would rate them 0 if I had the option. I have experienced a catalogue of errors since switching to them in May ‘23. There is no customer service and no process for dealing with or escalating complaints. Automated texts and e-mails are sent in isolation and there is no coordination of telephone calls and e-mails. I even involved the Energy Ombudsman but this was a waste of time as Octopus did not action any of the resolutions required. Complete shambles. I tried to communicate across all channels and many of my queries are still outstanding. Do not believe their advertising and keep well away.”
“Used to be brilliant but they've got too big and can't cope. I send monthly meter readings but never get a bill. Constant emails with a promise they will sort things but nothing changes. My DD leaves my account on the 1st of the month but not applied to my account for over a week.”
“THESE ONE STAR REVIEWS SAY IT ALL! I WISH I HAD CHECKED HERE BEFORE I COMPLETED THE UNWANTED SWITCH FROM SHELL.
OCTOPUS(SIES) ARE ABSOLUTE F*CKING THIEVING MORONS AND I AM GLAD TO BE RID OF THIS AWFUL COMPANY!”
“Hi, I am an existing customer, approaching the end of my 3-year contract.
I called at 15:14 on Monday the 5th of August to inquire about cancellation penalty before my contract expires, were I to trigger the switch to Ovo Energy which had the best 12-month fixed at that time. The customer service rep who took my call – lady whose name I don’t recall now but hopefully recording of the call can help to find out – very confidently said that, because my contract expires on the 1st of September, if I were to trigger the switch now (i.e. on the 5th of August) I would be charged the cancellation penalty. Instead, I was advised to wait until 5 days before my contract expiration, call Octopus up again, and ask for the cancellation penalty to be lifted in case of the switch.
So I called up again today, Friday the 23rd of August, at 13:46 and another customer service rep – lady who introduced herself as Dawn – explained that actually I could have triggered the switch 49 (!) days before my contract expiry without incurring any cancellation penalty. I thanked Dawn and asked to log the complaint about the lady who I spoke with on the 5th August, which Dawn said she did.
Coming back home, now I tried to see if the Ovo tariff I was after is still available. It was not. So I seek fair compensation which includes:
my valuable time to file this complaint / find the best alternative which is available now
the difference in the estimated annual costs of the current best Octopus 12m fixed vs original Ovo 12m fixed I was after (I can provide you tariff plan details that Ovo had available at the time or you could get it from them directly – these were also on the record on most comparison websites)
I had to escalate it to public review because reaching out to Octopus directly at provided email address exactly a week ago resulted in radio silence. I hope that Octopus will finally reach out and settle the dispute.”
“Good Morning
I am so enraged about Octopus charging me double exit fees now £300.
I am moving countries fold my house and last minute it got put back a month as the buyer could not make the date I did what I thought was the right thing and told Octopus I would be moving at the end of August and it got changed to the 26th September so I notified you of this and you charged another exit fee.
If this is your way of making more money it’s basically deceit and distortion I have been with Octopus for many years in different addresses and the service was excellent as the years have passed and the company has grown the customer service ability has changed on a downward scale and it is hiding behind a website seeking opportunities to profiteer exactly like this one no consideration to the customer and yet you continually publicise how fantastic your service is as you now have conglomerate status and can hide behind one way T&Cs this can not continue and the country needs to know what your real intentions are with your continuation of making unreasonable profit on essential services this must be escalated to the public.
Many thanks
Kindest Regards
Gary Winkle”
“Stated they would supply a meter on Thursday, by Friday when told to call back, no dates in mind. Absolutely shocking and awful service. A month later no resolution and had to go to OfGem.”
“It is now more than a week emailing with their customer support trying to arrange someone to call me at a specific time to discuss my move to new address. It's a waste of my time and energy.. at this point I'm considering switching providers just for their bad customer service.”
“The worst company I have ever dealt with for energy. They don't respond to emails. They don't send anyone out to fix your gas meter. I have now given them 14 days notice to fix it. Then I will be referring them to the Ombudsman. I have used them before and got a refund. As I work for a reputable Law firm I am going to pursue them relentlessly.”
“Unfortunately the lowest score available is 1 star. I wouldn’t give them any!
Octopus took £500 out of my account without warning in November 2023 then increased my monthly bill to almost double. No sensible explanation except “you’re using a lot of energy“. I have immersion heater on for 1-2 hours daily, don’t use central heating and at the the time working 12h shifts in NHS so rarely home!
Their text messages were extremely juvenile in tone and very unprofessional.
I have repeatedly asked for my money back but they are still holding onto it and say I owe even more (even though I switched companies a month ago)!
AVOID!
Sadly I have to give 1 star as zero is not an option!”
“Awful, as another poster has noted, if you're on Economy 7, you'll be paying horrendous bills. This company never sent me a bill (even though I've been paying £365 a month since Jan 2024) and today I received a bill for over £1000 as I'm moving house and they seem to think that's what I owe them. My heating was barely on, and I lived in a state of panic wondering what my bills would be. Terrible experience, can't see why there's so much hype about them!”
“Pay as you go top-ups do not work. I've been working away quite a lot of times. Three times to be precise. Came home to have no food or freezer. Food left as I a topped up on the top up did not work so every time I always I'm always trying to top up even when I'm not away. It takes me three to four times so it's an absolute joke and I've told them this. I would stay walk there. Watch multiple pounds. Hundreds of pounds on the top-ups are still not working on the smart meter. It says not being updated for 2 days. Same with the gas and electric. I'm now sat here. Trying trying to top up the gas and electric meter four or five times a top-up rejected. Stay wild clay of octopus. That's all I can say. Thank you”
“I moved from Shell, not by choice, and was in credit. No matter what I tell them they insist I own them money. I am going to pay it, just to get rid of them. They reply to emails don't sort out the query. They don' to deserve any stars.”
“Octopus are pure gangsters. I moved property and yes maybe my power usage may change a bit ,but it virtually doubled the direct debit was set at a little more than my previous home utility supplier. But I thought ok . But very quickly i was in debt as the usage seemed to triple my previous costs. Octopus kept with virtually no warning try to increase my direct debt automatically!!! The last time they increased it ,I contacted them and they emailed me a snotty letter showing their annoyance. They agreed to my request for it to remain the same. But 2 days later they took two identical payments from my bank, I was furious, they said oh not sure what's happened, no apology. Then told call the bank to block one of the payments as they Octopus believed it was pending, but it was already in their account. I contacted them back and they said they would not reimburse me . I am sure it was deliberate for me refusing to pay more .”
“I have no idea why this company is supposed to have good customer service. This is up there with the worst I've encountered, and I used be with Scottish Power and lost hundreds of 'your account is in credit' pounds when they went out of business that I was never able to get back from anyone. They've been overbilling me for months due to estimated readings, but when I asked them to recalibrate my bills based on the smart data, somehow (!!) it showed me owing even more, even though every non-estimated usage was lower. Want to complain or even just understand why they think this makes sense? Good luck getting anyone to talk to you ever. Emails unanswered. Staying on hold for an hour just to get cut off. Avoid if you can.”
“Gave one star but really wanted to give no stars,do not fall for the ad campaigns Octopus energy are a really bad company.
I had over £1000 in credit and moved house so asked them to set up a new account for our new property and to return my credit to my bank account.
Wierdly after a few weeks of messaging them and getting no response i finally got an email explaining that as ihad continuosly underpaid my final credit was £48 .
I checked my bills and this didnt make any sense so repeated my messages to them but have had no reply and now in my new house they are putting up my monthly bills even though we use the same amount each month
this company are robbing people of there hard earned money and i tell everyone do not go with these fraudsters.”
“This company SUCKS SHUT IT DOWN. I feel so robbed every month my bill comes out to $400 EVERY MONTH. I have TVs, the microwave unplugged until we get home at 6 everyday. & it’s still sooo high.😡 I’m a Widow trying to raise 4 boys every month I get a bill puts me more into a depression.😭 I DO NOT RECOMMEND OCTOPUS ENERGY. I’d rather light candles then stay another month. Switching to TXU they minute I pay this stupid bill.🤬”
“Signed up to Shell Energy and paid quarterly on variable rate- without even informing us we found ourselves with new suppliers Octopus Energy. Had no clue we were expected to pay monthly as never requested monthly pymts- although bills under my name they did not send bills to my email address so ended up twice paying on reminder message. Recently seen that they have registered late payment on my credit file - clearly not something that I have done intentionally as my credit rating is only 5 points from top score. I complained but they will not remove. On one occasion I rang to pay my bill and I was asked where the money was coming from- ermm-"the bank account I am paying you from!!??". Avoid switching to this energy supplier at all costs!!!”
