Ovo final bill - no automatic refunds

backfoot

I chased OVO today to ask why my credit balance on my final bill had not been refunded. (£208).

To my astonishment, I was told that they don't automatically refund credit balances. :eek:

They don't have such a facility and it relies on customer's requesting the refund.

So if you deal with OVO please don't forget that they will keep your money if you don't ask for it back.

I am logging a formal complaint regarding this, so that they hopefully will address this Customer Service issue in the near future.

andyrpsmith

Southern electric are the same, in fact they deleted a refund from the account the day before I asked for it. Luckily after a phone call they sent me a cheque.

gt94sss2

backfoot wrote: »

I chased OVO today to ask why my credit balance on my final bill had not been refunded. (£208).

I'd be interested in how your complaint goes.

I also have to claim my refund from Ovo having switched to EDF but am waiting for them to finish appealing against the opening electricity readings Ovo provided them.

According to EDF - "I can see from your account that your previous supplier rejected the reading you provided initial as they felt it was too low"

In my case, Ovo managed to change an actual electricity reading to a much higher estimated reading just a few days later (effectively suggesting almost an extra months usage in a week!).

In addition, I have now got my 'final' gas bill from Ovo which is much closer to my opening EDF meter reading but not identical and they have charged me for an extra week compared to when EDF's online portal says my switch went through..

I suspect it will be a while before I see my final/correct refund from Ovo which is larger than yours..:(

Regards
Sunil

t0rt0ise

That explains then why I had to remind Ovo to send me my final refund. They said they'd send a cheque but in fact put it back in my bank account. I did get a bill last week though from Ovo for use of gas for the two months *after* I'd moved from that address. The bill for just two months was over two and half grand. I called them and they said the current tenant had moved to another supplier so they sent the bill to me.. LOL. Then she said "that's odd, as they hadn't registered with us when they moved in we should have blocked their move to another supplier". And she also wondered why the bill was so large. I left her then continuing to wonder..

MillicentBystander

They don't give you your money back unless you specifically ask for it? Is that even legal?

backfoot

I complained and a Senior Customer Services Manager rang me back. To be fair, they accepted fully that there were weaknesses in their system and they were developing an automated refund procedure.

I asked why, in the meantime, did they not have a manual process or simple IT extract showing credit balances. She said they did, but mine hadn't reached the top of the pile.

I suggested that this was a lack of resources and she had to agree.

There are obvious inadequacies at OVO and they do use the 'we are new' excuse.

What I do like about them though, is a genuine impression that they are trying to improve and that such calls are actually listened to and acted upon.

I left it in that context,stating that I had publicised this current weakness and they agreed to address it.

MillicentBystander

backfoot wrote: »

I complained and a Senior Customer Services Manager rang me back. To be fair, they accepted fully that there were weaknesses in their system and they were developing an automated refund procedure.

I asked why, in the meantime, did they not have a manual process or simple IT extract showing credit balances. She said they did, but mine hadn't reached the top of the pile.

I suggested that this was a lack of resources and she had to agree.

There are obvious inadequacies at OVO and they do use the 'we are new' excuse.

What I do like about them though, is a genuine impression that they are trying to improve and that such calls are actually listened to and acted upon.

I left it in that context,stating that I had publicised this current weakness and they agreed to address it.

LOL! I love it!!

PS I agree with you about their apparent willingness to listen and improve; the fact you got a phone call back so relatively quickly is also a big plus point.

spiro

gt94sss2 wrote: »

In addition, I have now got my 'final' gas bill from Ovo which is much closer to my opening EDF meter reading but not identical and they have charged me for an extra week compared to when EDF's online portal says my switch went through..

The whole point of the new supplier sending the old supplier the change of supplier reading is because the 2 reading must match. If the final reading from OVO does not match the opening reading on your first EDF bill raise a formal complaint and point out that they are obligated to use the supplied CoS reading. If they believe it is wrong they have to raise a dispute with EDF not just change the reading on their own.