“Unable to get through to a human on the phone, automated system gives you milliseconds to input your answers using the keypad, confusing menu set up with no number to press to pay for the bill using a card till you get through a second stage just by holding on as a 'vulnerable customer' or an emergency, clear as mud. When got through, Payment rejected as there was an issue with confirming the account/identity, despite me inputting the correct information. I know they obviously don't want people paying by card and would rather I use the web and direct debit to pay but I'm trying to pay on behalf of my elderly mother who isn't a fan of online anything. Also they switched from quarterly payments when she was with SSE to monthly payments even though their own website still says you can pay quarterly and the letter they sent specifically said it will stay as it was with SSE. Incidences of ignoring meter readings submitted and using estimated readings instead, confusing bills and excessive paperwork. Bills received a week and a half late (not postal strike) giving you a day or two to pay the bill before they send reminders, all in all pretty stressful to deal with and clearly not there to aid it's customers, seemingly more interested in deterring them from contacting them in any way for any reason. What a shame this was forced upon her, may have to look around for a different supplier, but they all seem a bit rubbish. Could they be ANY worse??”
“When we moved into our current house in Sept 2017 we joined Ovo and our first gas meter reading was 12611. In March 2022 our gas meter reading was 18449. Six months later I sent a new reading which was 18770. Ovo then sent me a bill for September based on an "estimated" opening reading of 8944 and an actual closing reading of 18770, claiming that in that one month we had therefore used 108,863 kwh of gas and therefore owed them £8,150. I emailed them the previous bills and meter readings recorded by them on my on-line account, these clearly showed the actual meter readings I refer to above. No response to the queries raised, only a request that I send them another photo of the meter. In response to the photo I duly sent (again) I received a request from someone else at Ovo for a picture of the meter. This cycle was repeated four times with the same request from four different operatives at Ovo, none of whom then emailed back to explain what they would then be doing to follow this up. I called and on each occasion the Ovo representative was unable to understand that billing me on the basis of an "estimated" opening reading that was far lower than any reading taken since we moved in could not be correct. On each occasion the representative couldn't find a record of the emails sent by me using their portal, or previous phone calls I had made to try to resolve the issue. I was put on hold for long periods of time and then cut off by Ovo on two occasions. I have however had several emails from Ovo urging me to both settle my "debt" with them and to increase my monthly DD to over £700 per month. I have complained but received no response. This issue has been caused by an error which is completely, and demonstrably, down to Ovo. Yet it is impossible to get them to resolve this. All they have to do is look at their own records which I have actually sent them copies of. The lack of accountability or care on their part is deplorable. Having read other posts here I realise that such incompetence is a common experience amongst their customers. I will be pursuing my issue via the Ombudsman. The evident reluctance of this company to address what is clearly a clerical error on their part makes me feel as if they are intentionally trying to steal from us. Don't open an account with them. If anything goes wrong you will find yourself without any help whatsoever. They do not care.”
“For 6 months i send gas meter reading on the 24 each month even photo of gas meter ovo saying issue with readings so just bill me for standing charge now saying trouble with gas meter its been ok with SSE for years what aload of lies from ovo---- ie its not a smart meter”
“I’ve been getting billed on the wrong meter from June since this incompetent company. I made them aware June and still they have not resolved my complaint and continue to bill me for the wrong meter! Ombudsman complaint raised 3 months ago and STILL this cowboy company has not contacted me or done anything to resolve this. I have over £1500 debt on my account that is not my meter.
Three years with SSE no issues what so ever 4 months with this company and it’s a nightmare! Avoid at all costs!!! Even British Gas would be better than this company. I think they work from a shed!! Worst customer service I’ve ever experienced! Cowboy company!!”
“Customer service needs to be trained up
They took my money to move the gas meter but never booked it in which caused me to cancel builder for months terrible excuses”
“I'm fairly sure that SSE transferred my account data accurately when they partnered with OVO Energy Ltd. But after six months of silence from OVO Energy Ltd in response to my many requests for account accuracy I've had enough stress, thank you very much. If a company consistently fails in the most basic operations, they cannot be trusted to continue receiving public monies. I receive statements requesting payment owed for non-existent accounts. Duplicate statements are sent each month...why? Is OVO Energy Ltd creating fictitious accounts to show an inflated customer base for some advantageous financial gains? With energy costs soaring this would be a good time for an Energy Company to gain a greater customer base by providing the best service possible to clientele. Never be so complacent as to think the general public doesn't pay attention to public ratings...pricing, customer service ratings, etc. I've telephoned...emailed and written letters to the head honchos offices. I've deliberately stapled the duplicate statements together (but not the payment cheque) when posting payments. Nada response from OVO Energy Ltd.”
“Awful company to deal with, they are still charging me 57p per Kwh of electricity nearly a month after the price cap has come into place. I have sent multiple emails and called them multiple times... I am always told I need to wait 10 working days. Meanwhile, I am haemorrhaging money. Disgusting. I have now moved to Octopus.”
“Ovo have systematically increased our direct debit despite being nearly £500 in credit. For the third time since we said our DD does not need to go up because our main source of heating is logs, they have increased again to nearly £200pm which we cannot afford and do not need to do. They are not taking calls and when I asked their Bot to put me through to a human I was told I was 201 in the queue! I actually have a job to do rather than spending all day on the phone to repeat the request we can already made. DO NOT PUT OUR DD UP!!!! You have more than enough of our money already.”
“Got moved from SSE to OVO so gone from A+ customer service to a 0 customer service have found ovo very unhelpful and very little knowledge as how to help customers wouldn't recommend this company to anyone”
“THis company is absolutely awful. They used to be such a lovely, customer focused and people were able to talk easily and get questions answered from a lovely team. NOT ANYMORE! They are now a bloated, profit focused and non-customer service orientated money grabbing energy business. They never answer the phones, when they do (rare) they clearly do not want to deal with calls and make you wait for a second time. There business model is to pass you around the houses until you are bored and give up. They increase direct debits based on fictitious figures - don't ever look into previous bills and how you run up massive credits - not interested. They just need your money to generate interest in their bank account. Don't get me started on the FIT Team - they have not returned a call in over a month of trying - absolutely awful - PLEASE AVOID and those reviews which say they are lovely - sorry they just cannot be valid.”
“Made a final payment when closing account in JAN 22 but somehow this payment was ignored and my balance remained the same (even though they took the money).
* I have sent six emails in the last 10 months to hello@OVOenergy.com with proof of payment attached but never get a response
* OVO keep ringing me for the past 10 months about an outstanding payment which I already paid and have proof of payment. I try to explain but their phone staff are absolutely clueless.
OVO Staff I have spoken to are Amanda, Daniel, Zethembiso and many others.”
“Have been stuck in migration for 6 months. Theyve stopped taking direct debits and also taken my credit from SSE in the process. I am at my wits end with it all. No one replies even after making complaints”
“OVO energy took £200.00 off my bank account 2 weeks too early. They will not refund till 10 days. Leaving us with only £20.00 in my bank account.When I told them they didn't care. Looking for another provider. That's how bad they are. I am living on UC.”
“If I could give this company no stars or minus stars I would. An absolute sham of a business. Took me over an hour to get through to someone in customer service, she then was on a very poor line and spoke pigeon English at best. Yes we are in difficult times but they have done nothing but over estimate our consumption since they took over from SSE. Our direct debit has increased every quarter even though we have pleaded for them to be more understanding in these difficult times. We can no longer afford to heat our own property and yet they still want more and more money. They are nothing but a big greedy uncaring business with only profits on their minds. It was a dark day when they took over from SSE for more than one reason.”
“This is the poorest customer service I have received from any Company ever. Currently on hold to speak to a Manager and Sandile who doesn't understand what I'm saying won't put me through. Trying to sort Bill out. Spoke to them on 5.9.22 was told Billing would be in touch to sort issues out. Never heard from them but received a default notice. Still on hold trying to sort out. I guess I will have to ring off which is what they want! Absolute appalling Company. Senior Managers really need to step in and sort the Company out!!!”
“M. Fell.
This must be the worst company in UK for customer service. I have sat in the house all day waiting for an engineer who was supposed to be here between 10.00am & 2.00pm, never turned up and no text or e mail to say why. Tried several of their phone numbers but they were only to leave meter numbers. I used to be with SSE for ten years & no problems. I was transfered to OVO who seem useless. I did not want a smart meter, know too many people having problems with them. One was put in and apparently has not been working. I was told I did not need to read the meter with these so haven’t. I received an e mail to say I needed to pay an extra £22.40 per month to avoid going into debt.
However when I checked I was £784 in credit!! I did what everyone else should & got most of it back, they insisted I left £182 in as that’s what I pay per month. They must be the most inefficient company in the UK!. Think I will delete the one star I have shown, not worth it.”
