OVO won't let me switch to cheaper tarrif within OVO

Shellby100

I switched to OVO from NPower via the MSE Energy Club mainly because NPower's customer service was so terrible and error ridden.

My issue is with OVO though. I received an Energy alert from the club and on the list, just a couple of months after my switch, was my same online tarrif only cheaper.

As I have no early exit fee with OVO I phoned and asked to switch 'within' OVO to the cheaper tarrif (as I have done with other suppliers before and with no issues) and I was told I was not allowed to because they were a smaller company and if I insisted then I would forfeit all other discounts - online discount etc. This would have rendered it an expensive action, so impossible.

Seems stupid and unfair. Instead of staying with OVO at the cheaper rate for the same thing I'd have to switch away from them to another company. I don't want to be switching company every few months.

I continue to get the Energy Club alerts with the same issue.

Is this normal? Anyone else having this issue?
Anything I should do?

An email from them said it is in the T&Cs but I can't find it.

System

This is a new one on me. Just a couple of observations:

Ovo are very keen that online accounts are managed online and not via the phone.

6.2. If you agree to manage your account online, you’re agreeing that you’ll only contact us, or make enquiries or changes to your account, using MyOVO or the OVO App unless there’s an emergency or if you can’t carry out the requested action using MyOVO or the OVO App.

9.3. We will not change the prices you pay under your contract while you are on a Fixed Plan.

I would suggest that you e-mail Ovo and point out that (a) you are not asking to change the prices on your present Fixed Price Contract and (b) you accept that you would be entering into a new Fixed Price contract for 12 months.

The advantages to Ovo are (a) they keep you as a customer for longer and (b) they do not have to bear the cost of switching.

My guess is that the Ovo rep hadn't come across this type of question before.

FWiW, I was able to change tariffs during the 'cooling off' period.

Shellby100

Hengus wrote: »

This is a new one on me. Just a couple of observations:

Ovo are very keen that online accounts are managed online and not via the phone.
...

I would suggest that you e-mail Ovo and point out that (a) you are not asking to change the prices on your present Fixed Price Contract and (b) you accept that you would be entering into a new Fixed Price contract for 12 months.

The advantages to Ovo are (a) they keep you as a customer for longer and (b) they do not have to bear the cost of switching.

My guess is that the Ovo rep hadn't come across this type of question before.

Thank you. I do manage the account entirely online and via the App but I was unable to see any way to request such a switch within my account, hence the phone call.

I did receive this reply in an email from OVO:

"Thank you for contacting us today! As requested please our terms and conditions at this link:

(Sorry! Had to remove the Link they supplied to the relevant T&Cs as this forum won't allow me to post with it - as a new user - so here is the full section:

10. Cancelling your contract early
10.1. You do not have to pay us a Termination Fee if:
10.1.1 you are leaving OVO (which means you don’t initiate a switch back to OVO within 3 months of initiating the switch away);
10.1.2 you are moving from a Variable Plan to a Fixed Plan;
10.1.3 you are moving from one Variable Plan to another; or
10.1.3 you are moving from Better Energy to Greener Energy.
In all other circumstances, OVO reserves the right to charge a Termination Fee, and this clause 10.1 will survive termination of your contract.

)

Specifically, section 10.1 deals with the issue we discussed. Furthermore, with regards to your queries about where tariff hopping was mentioned, it would have been during the sign up phase which clearly stated that you were entering in a fixed 12 month contract for your energy supply."

but that does not address what I was asking. I simply wish to get the better rate for the same product within OVO as the price reduced just after I switched. I'll try to explain that I am happy for the 12 months contract to start again or whatever.

I'm outside the cooling off period unfortunately. What I am asking does not seem unreasonable and is surely not as costly to OVO as if I switch to another supplier. I find it an odd barrier.

As you say - maybe they don't understand - but I think I was very clear on the phone and via email.

Do you have a more effective email address I could use, other than the online contact form? If I reply to the email above it'll be the same agent who replied before.

System

I always use hello@ovoenergy.com. It is rare to get the same CS Rep. I still think that this is just a CS rep who has never been asked this question before.

System

The more research that I do on this, the more I think that the advice you have been given is correct. Ovo has waived exit fees but it reserves the right to charge a termination fee if you return within 3 months. What the termination fee might be is undisclosed. The argument used in some press releases is one of paying for energy in advance. The bit that I am struggling to get my mind around is the cost to Ovo of a customer switching to a new company compared to the cost of retaining a customer, albeit on a slightly lower tariff, but for a longer period.

This might be one for MSE CEC to investigate as my listing still shows an Ovo fixed tariff that I can switch to.

System

I found this hidden away in Ovo's FAQs:

Joined after 3rd March 2015?

On 3rd March 2015, we scrapped exit fees for moving away from OVO as we want customers to stay with us because they want to, not because they have to.

You can also upgrade your plan with us – from Better Energy to Greener Energy (the 100% renewable option) – without paying a penny in fees.

What’s more, if you’re on Simpler Energy, you can move to another OVO plan whenever you want – without paying exit fees. That’s because you’re not tied into a 12-month contract.

As we pay for your energy a year in advance you unfortunately can’t downgrade or switch mid-contract to a lower price on the same tariff *

From Greener Energy to Better Energy

From Better Energy to Simpler Energy

* Downgrading is defined as Greener Energy to Better Energy, or from either Greener Energy or Better Energy to Simpler Energy. If a customer wants to downgrade or switch mid-contract to benefit from a lower price, this is ‘tariff hopping’, and isn’t allowed according to our T&Cs. We advise customers that if they still wish to do this OVO will not offer them the online account management discount, worth £60 per year.

Customers who choose to leave us and then switch back are not ‘tariff hopping’ if their new supply date is over three months after the date we stopped supplying their property.

I am struggling to see where this is specifically mentioned in Ovo's ts and cs.

JJ_Egan

Personally i cannot see any recent Ovo price cut .

Shellby100

Hengus wrote: »

I found this hidden away in Ovo's FAQs:

Joined after 3rd March 2015?

On 3rd March 2015, we scrapped exit fees for moving away from OVO as we want customers to stay with us because they want to, not because they have to.

You can also upgrade your plan with us – from Better Energy to Greener Energy (the 100% renewable option) – without paying a penny in fees.

What’s more, if you’re on Simpler Energy, you can move to another OVO plan whenever you want – without paying exit fees. That’s because you’re not tied into a 12-month contract.

* Downgrading is defined as Greener Energy to Better Energy, or from either Greener Energy or Better Energy to Simpler Energy. If a customer wants to downgrade or switch mid-contract to benefit from a lower price, this is ‘tariff hopping’, and isn’t allowed according to our T&Cs. We advise customers that if they still wish to do this OVO will not offer them the online account management discount, worth £60 per year.

Customers who choose to leave us and then switch back are not ‘tariff hopping’ if their new supply date is over three months after the date we stopped supplying their property.

I am struggling to see where this is specifically mentioned in Ovo's ts and cs.

This seems to be the issue affecting me. I don't want to downgrade. The type of plan I have is:
Better Energy (all online)(Pre 28.04.2015)
Early exit fees: £0
End date: Jun 2016

In my Energy Club list it has the same tariff but post the price cut so cheaper but otherwise the same. I checked with OVO and was told of '£60 penalty' but had I just tried to switch via the link, I wonder if I'd have been penalised.

Surely if such a switch is not allowed without penalty then ideally it should not be in the MSE Cheap Energy Club list of switch options for me... I posted here because I could not see a way to query this with MSE CEC.

Like you, I can't see where in the T&Cs it states this - 10.1 does not state this. Thanks for finding it in the FAQ.

System

JJ_Egan wrote: »

Personally i cannot see any recent Ovo price cut .

They reduced the tariff last month. Worked out at as £30 saving on a £750 pa fixed term contract. It came though on one of the many newsletters that I seem to get and it appeared in MSE CEC about two days later. The CEC listing indicates that there is no cash back but there is no caveat about it being for non Ovo customers only.

JJ_Egan

Thanks i remember now it actually worked out slightly dearer for me .

footyguy

Shellby100 wrote: »

I switched to OVO from NPower via the MSE Energy Club mainly because NPower's customer service was so terrible and error ridden.

My issue is with OVO though. I received an Energy alert from the club and on the list, just a couple of months after my switch, was my same online tarrif only cheaper.

As I have no early exit fee with OVO I phoned and asked to switch 'within' OVO to the cheaper tarrif (as I have done with other suppliers before and with no issues) and I was told I was not allowed to because they were a smaller company and if I insisted then I would forfeit all other discounts - online discount etc. This would have rendered it an expensive action, so impossible.

Seems stupid and unfair. Instead of staying with OVO at the cheaper rate for the same thing I'd have to switch away from them to another company. I don't want to be switching company every few months.

I continue to get the Energy Club alerts with the same issue.

Is this normal? Anyone else having this issue?
Anything I should do?

An email from them said it is in the T&Cs but I can't find it.

Why not ask them for further details if you are still unsure?