Octopus Energy reviews: Give your feedback

bristolleedsfan

I was wondering if anyone with a bit more knowledge than most Octopus customers can shed light on why the Octopus system that S/M engineers connect to ( or try to) have been down different days and for apparent many hours on various days or is that outside Octopus control as well ?

Matt Green on Twitter: "@RachelMinshull1 @Jazzed_on_Java @Pod_Point @OctopusEnergy Good luck! @OctopusEnergy installed smart meters on 6th May, were unable to completely commission due to back office systems being down and yet despite me chasing they have still not resolved. For a @WhichUK recommended supplier, their customer service leaves a lot to be desired!" / Twitter

MWT

Matello said:

Issues I've had are I made an online payment to my account but my parents received an email receipt for the payment!
Our accounts are not linked. I only recommended them to Octopus.
Octopus never got to the bottom of the issue. not gettingn to the bottom of issues seems to be a common theme these days.

If you have access to multiple accounts you do need to be very careful to make sure you are actually in the right account, especially if you follow a link from an email as the last account you logged into may not be the one the email was for...

I've almost made that mistake a couple of times when responding to web links for my Father-in-law on a PC that was last logged into my own account.

As a rule now I always log out and in again before performing any account specific functions like bill payments, form responses etc.

[Deleted User]

bristolleedsfan said:

I was wondering if anyone with a bit more knowledge than most Octopus customers can shed light on why the Octopus system that S/M engineers connect to ( or try to) have been down different days and for apparent many hours on various days or is that outside Octopus control as well ?

Matt Green on Twitter: "@RachelMinshull1 @Jazzed_on_Java @Pod_Point @OctopusEnergy Good luck! @OctopusEnergy installed smart meters on 6th May, were unable to completely commission due to back office systems being down and yet despite me chasing they have still not resolved. For a @WhichUK recommended supplier, their customer service leaves a lot to be desired!" / Twitter

This blog explains the meter commissioning process which involves Octopus; its Adaptor (TMA/CGI) and the DCC. What could possibly go wrong?

https://octopus.energy/blog/solving-smart-meter-issues-octopus-energy/

What is an Adaptor? Because of the GCHQ-level layered smart meter security, suppliers have to use a sophisticated secure software package to communicate with your meters. Some suppliers have produced their own Adaptor - others, like Octopus, use a third party provider. Before a supplier can send out tariff information or pull meter data, they have to send out bespoke security certificates via the DCC to each meter. These certificates prevent third parties from accessing the meters. 

I am guessing that the reference to commissioning applies to the gas meter. It is the last component to be added to the system and installers are often not prepared to wait 59 minutes to see if it connects to the DCC system. It will time out after 59 minutes. Suppliers can attempt a remote commission but it isn’t always successful. 

Just to complicate matters further, the DCC is responsible for all comms hubs because of the inbuilt security. For example, if an IHD is not showing data then it is likely to be the HAN from the comms hub. Only the DCC can initiate a comms hub reset.

In sum, these meters are a lot more complicated than most people appreciate.

bristolleedsfan

Dolor said:

I am guessing that the reference to commissioning applies to the gas meter.

If you are referring to me, only E meter was being changed as Gas was with a different supplier, initial installer was confident it would  connect to Octopus system,  re reference to commissioning  nothing on the meter after pressing various buttons OES asked me to press before making appointment for last Saturday indicated that it needed commissioning

Telegraph_Sam

I have just received an email from Octopus notifying me that my (manual) meter is approaching its sell-by - no, use-by - date and inviting me to update to a smart. Personally I would prefer to keep things as they are even if this excludes the cheapest tariffs. I don't know whether to interpret this as a gentle invitation or a big stick hinting at consequences if I don't change meters. I am not convinced that they know the age of my meter which in the case of the gas was replaced not so long ago.  Ditto the electrical consumer unit.

Gerry1

Telegraph_Sam said:

I am not convinced that they know the age of my meter which in the case of the gas was replaced not so long ago.

They probably do know, my Neon Reef account shows the exact date that mine was installed.

milgo

Telegraph_Sam said:

I have just received an email from Octopus notifying me that my (manual) meter is approaching its sell-by - no, use-by - date and inviting me to update to a smart. Personally I would prefer to keep things as they are even if this excludes the cheapest tariffs. I don't know whether to interpret this as a gentle invitation or a big stick hinting at consequences if I don't change meters. I am not convinced that they know the age of my meter which in the case of the gas was replaced not so long ago.  Ditto the electrical consumer unit.

Personally I would treat the email purely as a bulk marketing one until such time that they inform you explicitly that should you choose to stay with a non smart meter then your tariff availability with them becomes limited to one of their more expensive tariffs.

Telegraph_Sam

Tks. I'd prefer to make the switch at a time of my own choosing. When I'd have more confidence in their communications capabilities (email).

masonic

If the meter genuinely is reaching end of life, then replacing it would presumably be a requirement of continued supply. I don't know if any suppliers still have a stock of manual meters, but Octopus does not and will only replace an old meter with a new smart meter.

I agree that the email seems to be a marketing one, otherwise it would have spelt out what needs to happen and by when.

[Deleted User]

Telegraph_Sam said:

Tks. I'd prefer to make the switch at a time of my own choosing. When I'd have more confidence in their communications capabilities (email).

Last year, BEIS agreed that suppliers can now fit smart meters when a meter is deemed to be at the end of its life. No consumer permission is required as suppliers already have a legal right of entry under the Gas and Electricity Acts.