OVO didn't put my our DD up so now we're in debt and stuck with them

Ashmil

Hi all

Would appreciate a bit of advice. OVO's last statement had us at £676 in the red with them (based on a lot of estimated reads). This was reduced to £312 when I phoned through the actual reads the other day.

My gripe with them is that they never adjusted our DD amount from £98, even though we were racking up a large balance with them over the course of the year (based on estimated reads, but still)

Our 12 mths fixed price with them is coming to an end. Thing is, because they didn't adjust our DD, we're now stuck owing them £312 which we don't exactly have lying around. We'd like to now change to another supplier to try and keep costs down, but unless we cough up the £312, we're stuck with them, eh? Doesn't seem fair - OK, I could have phoned them up and increased my DD amount, but isn't it their job to keep tabs on that? Well that's what it says on their statements.

So their neglect of this is going to cost us money because we're going to have to stay with them until we can pay off the amount.

Does this happen a lot? Anyone have any advice on this? I'm going to phone them up and moan a bit, but I don't suppose it'll do much good...

Any advice appreciated.

DUTR

Why? You could have submitted actual customer reads as you go along, to be fair many companies would have done similar, you canmanage the account as much as you expect the energy company to do so.

withabix

Submitting meter readings to OVO is REALLY EASY.

I know, because I am a customer.

This is your own fault I'm afraid.

moonrakerz

1. You could have given them the correct readings.,
2. You didn't notice that the wrong amount of money was being DDd ?
3. YOUR neglect is going to cost THEM (actually other customers) money, not the other way round - you have an interest free loan from them !!

victor2

Ashmil wrote: »

So their neglect of this is going to cost us money because we're going to have to stay with them until we can pay off the amount.

So you were happy to be given your utilities in advance, when you could see you weren't paying enough - what exactly do you want them to do now? Write off your debt so that you can take your business somewhere else?

Sorry, you've dug yourself into a hole and will have to pay for it now.

Ashmil

wow, didn't take long for you guys to jump in and tell me off good and proper! "Sorry, you've dug yourself into a hole and will have to pay for it now"?? Enjoying my comeuppance a little too much there my friend...

OK fair enough I could have phoned them and asked them to put my DD up. What can I say, it's been a tough year. I overlooked this. My mistake. However it does say on their literature that they will keep tabs on consumption and adjust my payments to reflect this. They did not. Their mistake too.

The meter readings have nothing to do with it. Whether est. reads or real reads, they should have tweaked my payments to reflect the accumulating balance. Like they said they would.

Look guys I'm not asking for anyone to wave a magic wand and make it all better. I could have been more proactive, sure. I wasn't. But nor were they. I just came on here to ask for some advice. OK looks like I'll have to cough up. But I'm surprised by the gloating and judgmental tone.

victor2

Ashmil wrote: »

OVO didn't put my our DD up so now we're in debt and stuck with them

....So their neglect of this is going to cost us money....

Your OP was a little judgemental, what did you expect?

moonrakerz

Sorry Ashmil, but I don't think anyone is being particularly harsh.

It is common knowledge that most of the large utilities companies can be pretty inept when it comes to running the millions of accounts they have to deal with. To be fair, I suppose they do a reasonable job, but where they invariably fall over is when something happens that doesn't fit into their "script" or "system".

I have recently done my annual energy move; I told my new supplier that I was previously paying £90 a month - he put me on £10 a month ! It took me two more attempts to get him to put the correct DD in place. I read my meters on the day of changeover - good job too, as the figures that appeared on my final bill were hopelessly inaccurate. That too, took me several tries to get it rectified.

All right - it was a bit of hassle, must have taken me a total 20 mins to sort out - but I owe no one anything and am paying the "correct" amount now.

If you don't want to hear the solution to your (future?) problems why post here ? It WAS their fault to start with, but it was very easy for you to have spotted this and got them to sort it. Would a pile of posts in response to yours, saying: "well done", "aren't they useless" have made you feel better ? It may have done - but it probably wouldn't have prevented you ending up in the same pickle again.

DUTR

Ashmil wrote: »

wow, didn't take long for you guys to jump in and tell me off good and proper! "Sorry, you've dug yourself into a hole and will have to pay for it now"?? Enjoying my comeuppance a little too much there my friend...

OK fair enough I could have phoned them and asked them to put my DD up. What can I say, it's been a tough year. I overlooked this. My mistake. However it does say on their literature that they will keep tabs on consumption and adjust my payments to reflect this. They did not. Their mistake too.

The meter readings have nothing to do with it. Whether est. reads or real reads, they should have tweaked my payments to reflect the accumulating balance. Like they said they would.

Look guys I'm not asking for anyone to wave a magic wand and make it all better. I could have been more proactive, sure. I wasn't. But nor were they. I just came on here to ask for some advice. OK looks like I'll have to cough up. But I'm surprised by the gloating and judgmental tone.

No one is telling you off and no one is judging you, this is how I'm looking at it, we are adults with bills to pay, there are no loopholes and we know they are coming, so it's best to plan to deal with them when they arrive. (especially for the winter months)
I know with my npower they review every 6 months, that is too long for my liking, so I continue to submit every 3 months, last year they sent a letter to suggest the DD reduce £5 pm, I told them just leave it as is, my gas I send in a reading every month and pay the bill every month, yes winter was tough, but now the bills are dropping a good amount for the BST as expected.
No company is going to hold your hand without charging you admireably for the pleasure, it just does not take long to check meters and balances especially as we are online often :beer:

DVardysShadow

Ashmil wrote: »

... The meter readings have nothing to do with it. Whether est. reads or real reads, they should have tweaked my payments to reflect the accumulating balance.

Your problem is an accumulated debt which is too much for you and rightly you don't like it. The debt you think you have is the difference between what you have paid and the cost of estimated units. But there is also a difference between your estimated units and your actual units which could be a credit - or it could be another debt.

So actual meter readings have everything to do with it. And if you keep your bills up to date with actual readings, you will at least always be able to see how much debt you are accumulating and keep the amount to hand, even if the DDs are wrong.

Ashmil

Actual meter readings are not the problem here, although of course I agree it's a good habit to make sure they get real reads regularly, and to scrutinize one's statements more proactively. Lesson learned!

I'm merely questioning the fact that as far as they were concerned I racked up £600+ on my balance but they did not adjust my payment like they said they would. Clearly I will have to be more watchful in future, and it was naive of me to not expect them to make mistakes, because after all every utility company does - a lot.

Anyway I appreciate the input. I got a bit defensive because there was a finger-wagging tone in some of the posts - it was the phrase "Sorry, you've dug yourself into a hole and will have to pay for it now" from a complete stranger, more than anything. The implicit assumption there is I that I was trying to pull a fast one, or am generally disorganised or irresponsible. A slightly more chilled and friendly tone makes all the difference.