Octopus and GDPR

Bluecat43

Good Afternoon Everyone.

I recently contacted Octopus, asking when I could expect my in-home display. Long to short, the courier could not find my residence; being solution-focused, I suggested I supply photos depicting my front and my flat doors. Octopus turned this suggestion down due to GDPR. 

It's bonkers, and I wanted to know if anyone else had experienced this madness.

With my very best wishes to you all.

John

Netexporter

I can understand their caution. When I was working we were sometimes required to get photographic evidence but we had to be careful not to include such things as even family pets.

I'm surprised the courier didn't phone you, if they couldn't find the entrance.

Peter999_2

Try and get yourself an Octopus Mini, I like them a lot more than the IHD as it interfaces with the app to give live electric data.

mmmmikey

Hi - perfectly right and proper for Octopus to decline to handle pictures of your home if they don't have the security in place to do that in a way that is compliant with GDPR laws. Some may argue that GDPR laws are a bit OTT (although I don't share that view myself). But whilst those laws are in place it really is incumbent on Octopus to comply with them and in my view this demonstrates professionalism on their part rather than a lack of good service. But this is a contentious area and I suspect views on this may differ

Netexporter

Peter999_2 said:

Try and get yourself an Octopus Mini, I like them a lot more than the IHD as it interfaces with the app to give live electric data.

I'd forgotten I'd ordered a Mini. I wonder if the postie is still looking for my gaff?

smugwalrus

Why not give them a "what 3 words" location instead for the main door? Far easier than photographs and a courier having to match up a photo to a door

born_again

Bluecat43 said:

Good Afternoon Everyone.

I recently contacted Octopus, asking when I could expect my in-home display. Long to short, the courier could not find my residence; being solution-focused, I suggested I supply photos depicting my front and my flat doors. Octopus turned this suggestion down due to GDPR. 

It's bonkers, and I wanted to know if anyone else had experienced this madness.

With my very best wishes to you all.

John

Octopus are not delivering the item, so what use is it to them? While they could pass them on to the courier, they then have to pass that to the delivery depot & delivery driver, who in many cases are self employed, & they will not know just who is going to deliver the item. 
Sadly if a delivery driver can not find a address, they are not going to spend time looking at a picture & driving down streets to find a match.

Perhaps asking if they will send via RM if you get normal post would be a option.

Bluecat43

Good Afternoon Everyone,

Thank you for your responses, which I found inspiring! So much so that I have telephoned the delivery company who are looking into my problem.


In closing, prior to posting my challenge, I contacted the Energy Ombudsman who suggested I contact Ofgem, Which I did, and what came across from their response was "It has nothing to do with us".

With my very best wishes, to you all.

Stay safe, stay well.

John 

Gerry1

As @smugwalrus suggests, using What3Words is probably your best solution if your property can be hard to find.  You could embed it into your house name and then it will always reach the courier.

However, many companies ask you input your postcode and then choose from a drop-down list, so you'd need to register your revised address with your local council who will then update the national database accordingly.

ArbitraryRandom

Yes, if you can manually input the address then I sometimes use the house name/second line of address to give some direction (in previous properties that's been 'not X crescent' or 'the house with the skip in the drive') 

Bluecat43

Home Display Arrived Today, 10 weeks after requesting one. However, I had to email Octopus yet again for instructions on how to set it up and how to use it.