“AVOID!!! Do not take out a home service plan with OVO. I had a boiler service booked and the cancelled 2hrs before the end of the timeslot. They said they will call and rebook. 2 weeks passed and not contact made. I then contacted customer services who said someone will be in contact. Another 2 weeks passed and still no contact. I then received my renewal with a price increase of nearly £60. I called to complain about the increase and lack of service. I chose to cancel my renewal and therefore my direct debit as my final payment had been taken. I was then sent an email saying my service is suspended. When I called I was told by a patronising customer services operative, "you need to keep an open direct debit until the 29th" even though there is no further payment and my contract ends on the 28th. When I asked why I told "just because you need to keep an open direct debit". So even though Ive paid in full, there are no more payments left to be paid and I refuse to reinstate my direct debit, I got told "well we will just leave it suspended and your agreement ends". So I will not get my boiler serviced!!
They never answered why you are required to keep an open direct debit!”
“Shocking. Live chat agent left the chat when they were found to be lying about the amount they were demanding to take via Direct Debit. I'm £230 in credit with every bill this year under £30. Current DD is £40 and they're demanding I increase to £100. Disgraceful, just so they can sit on huge customer balance and rake in the interest!”
“Horrendous company. I have a holiday chalet which only has electricity and i only spend some of my time there alone. I have been getting bills for £176 per month when the average bill for that category is £58 per month.
Then when you try to sort it out, you spend 15 min utes talking to a machine before being connected to a foreign call centre, where they fail to do what you asked or even hang up.
Absolutely criminal. I will be taking legal action”
“Oh my goodness… DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY. After renewing a 2 year tariff I agreed a new direct debit amount. 3 days later they sent new direct debit details that was £83 a month higher. All this and I am already £549 in credit. The direct debit team were awful and said that’s how it is no matter what I’d been told. Even though I had an email from an advisor saying they would reduce it and I have substantial credit. But they wouldn’t. The complaint department have been equally poor apologising but then saying they understand my frustration but will not change amount to what was agreed. £83 increase a month when you are in credit is horrendous. I want to just cancel the direct debit but they have said it will be even more expensive. They are crooks.DO NOT be fooled by those saying they are helpful. They may appear to be but the advisors must be trained by a dictatorship because when you need someone to dig deep and really listen they won’t. If you use OVO get them to confirm your monthly amount prior to agreeing! But my advice would be look for an alternative supplier. I am progressive to the ombudsman!”
“I’ve had a few bad experiences with their customer service teams/advisors. Today I tried to ask an advisor a question about my bills (I was simply wondering why my direct debit has gone up even though I am using less energy), but they didn’t even try to answer my question, they were just asking about my finances instead as if they hadn’t even read my question, it was incredibly frustrating.
I feel like instead of me being in credit, they would rather put my bills up by over £20 a month to keep me in debit… it makes no sense to me (I have hardly used any electricity or gas this summer).
Considering switching asap.”
“BEWARE BEING IN CREDIT WITH OVO ENERGY, THEY ARE BEING TAKEN OVER LATER THIS YEAR BY EON, DEMAND ANY REFUND OF OVERPAYMENTS NOW AS YOU MAY FIND DIFFICULTY IN GETTING MONEY OWED BACK FROM OVO ONCE THE TRANSFER HAS TAKEN PLACE.”
“They are too incompetent to even set up a new customer account. They told me to put the key in without one, to get the power on at my new flat, and the meter just guzzled a £25 top-up without adding credit. They then gaslit me that I hadn't any money on the key, and hung up. This took 110 minutes because they're too stingy to hire any staff.
Best quote:
"I have no idea what I'm talking about"
(Avoiding accountability right before rudely hanging up on me)
Brilliant.”
“Disgusted at the service at Ovo energy i have been with this provider since 2011 previously known as SSE, last few years has been a awful service by this provider, please DO NOT USE this provider as there service is degrading, they have no empathy towards there customers when they can’t fix the problem, I have been without gas and hot water for hours on some days.”
“Appalling customer service. You state your query clearly, answer all.the security questions,and then the staff randomly start insisting on tidying up account phone numbers, ask how many people live in the house, steer you towards smart meters a d you have to constantly ask them to please stay focused on your query. It is all smoke and mirrors. They want to avoid dealing with matters regarding giving refunds if your account is in credit, avoid dealing with anything to do with them adjusting your direct debit. It's like being in some dystopian game. They are desperate to avoid dealing with your query, you are desperate for being heard and your query be dealt with. I wasted 90 minutes today. I wasted 60 minutes a week ago. I was entitled to a refund, met the criteria, yet had to fight for it. This is criminal. I will be taken by it further”
“Tried to change correspondance address for my mother's account acting under an LPA which i had registered with ovo some time ago. The woman said cannot be done without speaking to my mother (sho sadly has no mental understading). Then put on hold and in the end they disconnected me. OCTOPUS very helpful as usual so have initiated a change of supplier.”
“Disgraceful Company and experience with OVO. After receiving my final bill and refund, they contacted me months later claiming I owed £554.47 due to an alleged “mistake.” Despite repeatedly asking for evidence and a clear explanation of how they calculated this amount, they have failed to provide any meaningful documentation.
They now claim they never received my final gas meter reading, even though I submitted it through their app when I moved out. Instead of properly investigating my complaint and addressing the evidence I’ve provided, they continue to send payment demands and discuss payment plans without answering my questions.
I don’t object to paying money that is genuinely owed, but I do expect transparency and evidence. So far, OVO has not provided either. Very disappointing customer service and complaint handling.”
“Absolutely abhorrent service. The staff are fine but the system is broken. We switched when we first moved into our new home from them to another provider, they sent us a final bill, we paid, then another final bill, then credited us, then ANOTHER final bill. Three final bills? We talked to them on the phone in between and they assured us it was sorted, to get a refund of £0.97, to then get ANOTHER bill?! It's absolutely ridiculous. They just send you in circles trying to get it sorted - we're not even 100% sure we sorted it now. We've been told our account is closed - who knows, we'll probably get *another* bill next week. Avoid them like the plague if you want to switch easily later on or if you want clear communication on where you stand.”
“I changed to British Gas from Ovo on 26th June. Meter readings were sent to both these companies on this date and I expected to receive my credit balance of over £230 within the 10 days as stated in the Ovo website. I phoned Ovo and was told it will take 10 weeks to clear as British Gas had not sent readings to them. I contacted British Gas who said they had. Ovo seem to forget that this is my money, no theirs.”
“One of the worst company I have dealt with. They are so incompetent it's laughable. I asked to be put through to their complaints department and I was told they refusing to take my call. If you don't want to be stressed do not use this company!?!!”
“The one star is only to allow me to write a review about OVO. Do not use this company. They are inept. They are rude. They are avaricious beyond limit. They inflict nothing but stress and worry. PLEASE DO NOT USE OVO FOR YOUR ENERGY.”
“If 0 stars was an option I would choose that.
I have been receiving letters for 15 months for the old tenant. They are still charging him despite me paying British Gas.
I have emailed 5 times, calls 5 times, sent 50+ letters back. All the replies do not address the issue or provide any explanation. The last advise from their customer service representative was to put the letters in the bin.
The previous tenant received a letter from a collection agency which said 'if you are not the named recipient call us' which took me half an hour to sort out with the added worry of Bailiffs possibly turning up to demand payment. No apology from OVO. No sign of a resolution.”
“I moved out of a property with an OVO account in my wife’s name. OVO had our new address, phone number and email address.
After we moved out, OVO opened an account in my name without telling me. I did not authorise it and had no idea it existed. I only found out when debt collection started. By then, my credit file had already been affected.
This has been an exhausting and upsetting experience.
OVO has since provided documents in response to my Subject Access Request. Those documents confirmed what I had been saying: an account was created in my name after I had moved out, I was treated as financially liable, and the matter was passed to debt collection. OVO later accepted that I was not liable, deleted the account, cleared the balance and requested a credit file correction.
I appreciate that these steps were eventually taken. But they do not answer the most important question: how was this allowed to happen in the first place?
OVO still has not properly explained where the inaccurate information came from, who or what created the account in my name, what checks were carried out before debt collection began, or why my wife’s account was later changed to show an incorrect move-out date and balance.
For me, this is the most troubling part. A customer should not discover that an energy company has opened an account in their name only after debt collectors become involved. It should not take months of calls, emails, complaints and data requests to get basic answers.
Mistakes can happen. But when a mistake affects someone’s credit record and causes serious stress, the company should be transparent about what went wrong and how it will prevent it from happening again.
OVO appears to have corrected some of the consequences, but has still not explained the cause. I am still waiting for a proper explanation and fair resolution. I also hope the Energy Ombudsman and ICO can help establish what happened.”
“OVO ENERGY IS IN THE PROCESS OF BEING SOLD TO EON, IF YOU ARE AN OVO CUSTOMER AND HAVE BUILT UP A CREDIT BALANCE NOW IS THE TIME TO DEMAND A REFUND, YOU MAY NOT HAVE THE OPTION ONCE EON HAS TAKEN OVO ENERGY OVER, IF NECESSARY BRING IN THE ENERGY OMBUDSMAN AND OFGEM AND LAUNCH A COMPLAINT.”
