Octopus Energy reviews: Give your feedback

bristolleedsfan

worrywart_3 said:

Is there any referral or cash back for zog anywhere 

Never seen such an offer, always worth doing a comparison via Quidco/TCB Energy Compare to see who comes up with Cashback, https://www.topcashback.co.uk/topcashback-compare-energy/ brief look I had same Tariff prices as going direct to a comparison site plus £22/£44 cashback

Blot

 I have had great service from Octopus , enjoyed their sharp precise service and the slick way they operate, till now, Things have now reached rock bottom due to a problem they cannot overcome which manifests as a smart meter shaped object . We have always had smart meters but they were series 1 and could not communicate although we had a working IHD. Two months ago octopus e-mailed and asked if we would like the meters changed to series 2 , thinking this would save me having to give readings I foolishly said yes!.. 
  Two months on from the meters being installed  only the electricity meter is giving them readings , no gas , no IHD.  I have contacted them umpteen times and only get " they will look into it ".   On their website they say "once the meters are installed you will not need to give us manual readings even if we e-mail you asking for readings" so I am not.  I am starting to think that they have met their nemesis,  strange thing is that although they must know they have a problem their is no communication with me on the subject or what they are doing to resolve it .
 Perhaps I should just stop worrying about it and let things take their own course, it would be nice to have a working IHD though, especially when they and the powers that be have banged on so much about how one will save energy and is  the answer to ........(42)
  

Telegraph_Sam

I can go along with much of that, their service has always been impressive. From somewhere I can't remember I got the impression that Octopus were ahead of the game with smart meters, but mistrust of gimmicks made me resist upgrading from manual readings (which up to now have worked faultlessly). This might in retro have been the right decision. On the other hand what you report might be more to do with a sudden and very significant deterioration in service levels / response times generally  in recent weeks, both via email and phone. I have asked more than once for help in interpreting the Tracker graphs and data but got no response. If the nemesis is nigh then that would explain everything ..... 

masonic

Hopefully it is just growing pains, but a sudden change in service levels like this is a red flag, especially at this time of year. I've found they've been a bit more responsive in the last few days. I've been trying to sort out what is going on with my opening read since joining them - it's been almost 7 weeks and they've not been able to validate it and are now trying to resolve through a dispute with my old supplier. I've come to have a different view of non-smart meters and the infamous Non-Half Hourly Data Collector.

Telegraph_Sam

What are these views - smart vs non-smart meters?

masonic

Telegraph_Sam said:

What are these views - smart vs non-smart meters?

The infrastructure supporting non-smart meters is falling apart. The meter validation companies are incompetent and failing, causing customers to have to deal with disputes between suppliers. Late D0086 flows seem to be common. It should not take over 6 weeks to validate a meter read (and in fact the time limit is 20 working days, yet suppliers cannot follow up until the 6 week point). According to industry audits, suppliers are using 'workarounds' or accepting unvalidated CoS reads due to the failings of NHHDCs and this is unfairly impacting customers (suppliers must provide a final bill within 6 weeks), but customers have no avenue of complaint. It's a failure of regulation. The solution Ofgem seems to be going for is HHDC.

Retired_at_55

I'm in a bit of a quandry as I've been a satisfied  Octopus  Energy customer so far and my 12 months fixed rate is ending soon.  If I am not posting in the correct place I apologize and would someone please move this post?

The three options Octopus offer to stay with them all involve quite an increase in kWhr rates for both gas and electricity, although I understand that all gas and electricity prices are increasing.  Octopus offer what I think is a huge increase,  in the gas daily standing charge in particular,  from the present, about £65 for 365 days to about £95 for the proposed new gas daily standing charge rate.   I am a low gas user and regret I may have to look for a more favourable dual fuel tariff.  I prefer the ease of dual fuel and I am not keen  to have smart meters..   If anyone has very good customer service from their dual fuel  supplier I would be glad and most appreciative to hear, please.
I find comparisons confusing with some including VAT but not all and some not easy as not seeming to compare like with like.

I will have to learn but it is a struggle.  Any help, suggestions or advice will be very much appreciated, thank you.

Retired_at_55 

masonic

Retired_at_55 said:

I'm in a bit of a quandry as I've been a satisfied  Octopus  Energy customer so far and my 12 months fixed rate is ending soon.  If I am not posting in the correct place I apologise and would someone please move this post?
The three options Octopus offer to stay with them all involve quite an increase in kWhr rates for both gas and electricity including what I think is a huge increase in the gas daily standing charge from the present, about £65 for 365 days to about £95 for the proposed new gas daily standing charge rate.   I am a low gas user and regret I may have to look for a more favourable dual fuel tariff.  I prefer the ease of dual fuel.   If anyone has very good customer service from their dual fuel  supplier I would be glad and most appreciative to hear, please.
I find comparisons confusing with some including VAT and some not easy as not seeming to compare like with like.
I will have to learn but it is a struggle.  Any help, suggestions or advice will be very much appreciated, thank you.

Retired_at_55

Suggest you run a comparison using the Citzen's advice comparison service and actual kWh usage figures to get a guide: https://energycompare.citizensadvice.org.uk/

Using those figures you will be comparing like for like. You would then need to consider whether there is a saving to be had by moving onto one of the specialist Octopus tariffs, such as the tracker, Agile or Go. The latter two would require a smart meter.

FWIW, standing charges across the board seem to have gone up compared with a year or two ago. Running a comparison using your actual usage figures will allow you to factor that in appropriately - someone who has high usage will care less about standing charges and more about unit rates, whereas a low user will see a bigger impact from the standing charges.

bristolleedsfan

Retired_at_55 said:

I'm in a bit of a quandry as I've been a satisfied  Octopus  Energy customer so far and my 12 months fixed rate is ending soon.  If I am not posting in the correct place I apologize and would someone please move this post?

The three options Octopus offer to stay with them all involve quite an increase in kWhr rates for both gas and electricity including what I think is a huge increase in the gas daily standing charge from the present, about £65 for 365 days to about £95 for the proposed new gas daily standing charge rate.   I am a low gas user and regret I may have to look for a more favourable dual fuel tariff.  I prefer the ease of dual fuel and I am not keen  to have smart meters..   If anyone has very good customer service from their dual fuel  supplier I would be glad and most appreciative to hear, please.
I find comparisons confusing with some including VAT but not all and some not easy as not seeming to compare like with like.

I will have to learn but it is a struggle.  Any help, suggestions or advice will be very much appreciated, thank you.

Retired_at_55 

Ask Octopus ideally by Private Twitter message if they could kindly put you on Tariff highlighted in Screenshot, whilst they launched slightly more expensive tariffs on Uswitch last week, Tariff highlighted is still showing as current on list of Tariffs ( say that to them), rates will vary based  on Region,  will be a lot cheaper than best 12 Month Fixed given on renewal which is a whisker away from current energy cap rates, you can still do comparisons with view to switching elsewhere .....

Octopus Energy (@octopus_energy) / Twitter

Retired_at_55

Thank you for that very helpful suggestion, bristolleedsfan.  I have never used Twitter but I'm going to look into it now and your screenshot  is much appreciated. 
Thanks masonic too - I need to get my head down and give time to search properly.

Retired_at_55