Octopus Energy - what is going on?

Afourteen

Has anyone else had issues transferring to Octopus Energy in recent weeks?
I've just (well Feb '21) switched to Octopus Energy from E.on. Read the meters and sent them the readings then several days later they reply disputing my readings quoting some industry body - Independent Data Collector - quoting figures much lower than my readings. I've supplied them with photo's of the electric meter taken shortly after that reply.
Today they are asking for more meter photo's. Those will be taken and sent.

Also when I set up the account I put in an amount for the Direct Debit for a sum which I believe will be in excess of what is needed yet Octopus have seen fit to disagree with that sum and have increased it without my agreement by over £18.

I in the past used Octopus energy for a member of the family and was very happy with their service and non of the hassle I'm having at the moment.
Presently I'm not a 'happy bunny'!

bagand96

The secret life of an opening meter reading | Octopus Energy

Gerry1

As usual, dozy Ofgem is to blame for allowing this madness.

Many meters can be quite difficult to read, so it's quite reasonable to allow a sanity check of the closing / opening reading.  It's easy to get a digit wrong with the old dial type (one forumite gave a reading that was 10,000kWh too high) and the latest smart ones often display umpteen readings (only one of which is relevant) and it's all to easy to miss the microscopic decimal point.  In the Octopus photo in the link above many people would probably think the reading is 82699 but it's actually 81589, so the bill might be about £160 too high !

But it's unforgivable to call customers liars when they have photographic evidence that confirms their readings are correct.

If a reading is outside the expected limits, it should trigger an automatic 'Are You Sure?' message, and this should happen within seconds, not six weeks, it's only a computer algorithm for heaven's sake.  If the customer stands by their figure(s) then a meter reader should visit, at least in normal times.

niktheguru

In my opinion if there is such a dispute where they ask you to send a photographic meter reading and they still dispute it they should get off their behind and send an independent meter reader to come and read the meter and settle it once and for all. Otherwise it puts undue stress on the customer.

Tallerdave

If the Octopus unit rate is cheaper than the Eon one then you'll actually be better off with the lower reading.  However, it's appalling that these answerable-to-nobody organisations are able to override the reality of your eyes & camera. Since they're effectively suggesting the meter is going backwards you'd think they might want to come and check?
[You can understand them sticking to their guns when they get photos of meter readings a lot lower than they estimate. But in your case, by rejecting your photos of a higher reading they either think you've cracked time travel or your meter is going backwards! This assumes you're not misreading a pointy needle meter.]