Ovo Energy not taking new customers on

Al_Ross

Hi,

I was in contact with customer service at Ovo a couple of weeks back and was informed by them that they had received an internal memo to say no referral payments would be paid after the 12th of September. My complaint being why were members not informed of this and why did most  members referral links still appear to be as if working. People that have switced via a referral link will be expecting to receive a reward, my complaint has been escalated.

Recently if someone tries to get a quote you get this message instead,

Sorry, we can't give you an online quote today

You've probably seen in the news that wholesale energy prices are incredibly high at the moment. This means we can't offer our usual deals to new members right now.

Hoping to join OVO today?

We'd love to have you. But right now, it's best for customers to stick with their current suppliers rather than switching. If you're on a fixed tariff, it's probably the best deal for you. And if you're on a variable tariff, then you're protected by Ofgem's energy price cap. If you’d still like a quote here's how to talk to us

Already an OVO member?

You don't need to do anything – your energy supply is safe and sound. You can manage your account online or on our app.

Read our FAQs page for more information on what's happening.

[Deleted User]

The whole business of referral fees is something that Ofgem needs to resolve. FWiW, I would do away with price comparison websites; referral fees and cashback in the domestic energy sector. A ‘one stop’ price comparison website funded by all suppliers is all that is needed for consumers to make tariff comparisons. I can hear the Meerkats et al screaming already. 

tghe-retford

[Deleted User] said:

The whole business of referral fees is something that Ofgem needs to resolve. FWiW, I would do away with price comparison websites; referral fees and cashback in the domestic energy sector. A ‘one stop’ price comparison website funded by all suppliers is all that is needed for consumers to make tariff comparisons. I can hear the Meerkats et al screaming already. 

And how would this be regulated? What's to stop one company paying more and going to the top of the list for everyone? All the other suppliers will just pull the funding and that's the end of that price comparison service. Unless you force them and then those costs will be passed on to consumers. Indeed, they could do a Direct Line and claim that as they're not paying commission, they're not on those sites anymore and can save you money (but we know they're not doing this for virtue, they're doing this for profit). And why would they? Back to energy, I can imagine most people will think of a big firm, probably British Gas, get a quote, think it's too much hassle and time to get quotes from competitors and just go with them. It's the psychology that Direct Line uses and it has worked. At least now with competition, if one comparison site biases a company for financial gain, we have others we can still go to for a fair comparison. If we give a monopoly to one with no regulation, it will be an invitation for exploitation to the cost of consumers. I do not like the idea of a monopoly, it harms consumers and leads to higher prices for everyone. It's why we have competition regulations.

Then the biggest insurer and broadband provider will demand the same for their industry too. It will be the end of the comparison site as a concept. Much to the benefit of the leading companies in those fields. It will be the end of MSE as well because they'll be classed in the same realm. Which and Citizens Advice would have to end their advice and comparisons of companies to consumers as to who to switch to and leave consumers to their own devices.

So I lose the ability to compare companies and will likely just go to one because its too much hassle in my busy life to go to all of them (even if they're reduced to half a dozen by next year), which will cost me more. I will lose the ability to claim an extra bit of money back in my pocket and I will face the potential for an monopoly or cartel to develop which will cost me even more money on the back of already rocketing prices that will catch up to us in April. How does your suggestion benefit consumers?

Cardew

We should just have one comparison service run by a government sponsored/financed organisation such as the Energy Saving Trust.

[Deleted User]

tghe-retford said:

[Deleted User] said:

The whole business of referral fees is something that Ofgem needs to resolve. FWiW, I would do away with price comparison websites; referral fees and cashback in the domestic energy sector. A ‘one stop’ price comparison website funded by all suppliers is all that is needed for consumers to make tariff comparisons. I can hear the Meerkats et al screaming already. 

And how would this be regulated? What's to stop one company paying more and going to the top of the list for everyone? All the other suppliers will just pull the funding and that's the end of that price comparison service. Unless you force them and then those costs will be passed on to consumers. Indeed, they could do a Direct Line and claim that as they're not paying commission, they're not on those sites anymore and can save you money (but we know they're not doing this for virtue, they're doing this for profit). And why would they? Back to energy, I can imagine most people will think of a big firm, probably British Gas, get a quote, think it's too much hassle and time to get quotes from competitors and just go with them. It's the psychology that Direct Line uses and it has worked. At least now with competition, if one comparison site biases a company for financial gain, we have others we can still go to for a fair comparison. If we give a monopoly to one with no regulation, it will be an invitation for exploitation to the cost of consumers. I do not like the idea of a monopoly, it harms consumers and leads to higher prices for everyone. It's why we have competition regulations.

Then the biggest insurer and broadband provider will demand the same for their industry too. It will be the end of the comparison site as a concept. Much to the benefit of the leading companies in those fields. It will be the end of MSE as well because they'll be classed in the same realm. Which and Citizens Advice would have to end their advice and comparisons of companies to consumers as to who to switch to and leave consumers to their own devices.

So I lose the ability to compare companies and will likely just go to one because its too much hassle in my busy life to go to all of them (even if they're reduced to half a dozen by next year), which will cost me more. I will lose the ability to claim an extra bit of money back in my pocket and I will face the potential for an monopoly or cartel to develop which will cost me even more money on the back of already rocketing prices that will catch up to us in April. How does your suggestion benefit consumers?

I think that you have completely missed the point. All price comparison websites have to be Ofgem-accredited so there is regulation in place. A single comparison website run by the EST or Citizens Advice would be required to show all tariffs but rather than be funded by referral fees from suppliers it would be funded by all suppliers. This makes sense. Going forward a comparison website will need to a Registered DCC User. This will allow tariff comparisons to be made both on the amount of energy used per year, and when the energy is used. The comparison will be based on historical smart meter usage data.

tghe-retford

Nothing here has calmed my concerns, a single comparison site will only need one company pull out and the rest will go. And a company (a leading one) has every incentive to pull out and make getting a quote via their website a chore that dissuades people going to other suppliers. More difficult to have happen if you have multiple sites.

[Deleted User]

tghe-retford said:

Nothing here has calmed my concerns, a single comparison site will only need one company pull out and the rest will go. And a company (a leading one) has every incentive to pull out and make getting a quote via their website a chore that dissuades people going to other suppliers. More difficult to have happen if you have multiple sites.

Not if Ofgem makes it a SLC!