No reply from Octopus on Great British Insulation Scheme

lukegormally

I have also been given this email address, which it took them about seven emails and phone chats to give me. Apparently it's the people to contact about the scheme eco.enquiries@octoes.com

powerful_Rogue

lukegormally said:

I am in a similar position. 2 months now and a load of baffling replies from their customer service team, who don't seem to have looked at my application date or have read any previous emails. On Friday I'll be taking it to Ofgem. I have sent Octopus a letter of complaint. I'd be happy to share the template with anyone who wants it.

Please keep us updated, this might be the way to go.

dank_2

lukegormally said:

I have also been given this email address, which it took them about seven emails and phone chats to give me. Apparently it's the people to contact about the scheme eco.enquiries@octoes.com

I tried that email address a few times before, and all I got was an automated reply saying "please note we have received a high volume of applications and it is taking us a little longer than expected to respond to customers."

And then no further reply. I tried emailing the normal Octopus email address for updates and that was pointless, so too was contacting them (and one of their CEO's called John) on X/Twitter as nobody can find out what's going on.

My timeline is as follows:

• 21 Sep - Applied via Octopus website. Told I would receive contact "within 5 working days..."
• 12 Oct - Received an email (15 working days later) saying I passed desktop check and my application would be sent to an installer. They "expect to have your application progressed within the next couple of weeks..."
• 21 Nov - Received an email (5 weeks and 5 days later) saying I had been assigned to an installer and to expect them to contact you within 10 working days to discuss your application..."

I have zero confidence I will be contacted by their installer within the timeframe stated in the last email. 

I raised a complaint about this approximately seven weeks ago, so Octopus has a week to sort this before I go to Ofgem. Their handling of the Great British Insulation Scheme has been pathetic. There's no way this should take 10+ weeks to process.

Gerry1

@lukegormally @dank_2 It's not Ofgem, it's the Energy Ombudsman you would need.  Ofgem do not deal with individual complaints.

dank_2

Gerry1 said:

@lukegormally @dank_2 It's not Ofgem, it's the Energy Ombudsman you would need.  Ofgem do not deal with individual complaints.

That's a good point. Thanks for the heads up. I'm currently drafting my complaint and almost ready to send.

lukegormally

dank_2 said:

Gerry1 said:

@lukegormally @dank_2 It's not Ofgem, it's the Energy Ombudsman you would need.  Ofgem do not deal with individual complaints.

That's a good point. Thanks for the heads up. I'm currently drafting my complaint and almost ready to send.

Ace. thanks for the heads up

lukegormally

So, after more chasing, cc'ing in several senior people at Octopus, getting my councillor involved and forwarding everything to Guardian Consumers I got this. Which I think they think is progress? But is just another variant of "we have processed your application and will be in touch". Seems like the scheme is in absolute chaos and summat weird is either going on at the government end or within Octopus. Find the whole thing pretty baffling.

"I hope you are well. As discussed, I kept monitoring your account and can see that you've recently spoken to Grace, one of the specialists who deals with insulation scheme queries.

I understand you'd rather be informed by the same agent, however sometimes we need to consult with different specialists who may contact you regarding your account.
I agree with you that we have taken longer than expected to fulfil your request and I'll be happy to keep updating your account with the relevant info until it's resolved. We received confirmation that your application has been processed and we are allocating an installer.
I wish I could provide the exact timeline as requested, however at this stage, we can only wait for further updates from our ECO team.
Please be assured that I've added your feedback to our open complaint which is also a way of monitoring our customer service and helps us look at ways to improve in the future.
Please let us know if you have any further questions or concerns in the meantime."

dank_2

I emailed Guardian Consumer Champions, too!  I also emailed my MP, as Octopus is hindering the government’s efforts to protect the most vulnerable across the country. One of his case workers has contacted Octopus, but they've just sent them a generic reply like the one you have received.

However... the installer has now contacted me to arrange a date for a survey - in five weeks' time. So that will be 16 weeks for me from application to survey. I have no idea how long it will be after that before work commences.

When I get a minute this weekend, I will be reporting this to the Energy Ombudsman as it has been so poorly handled by Octopus. At no stage has anyone there been able to say what is going on and its moving at a glacial pace.

QrizB

dank_2 said:

When I get a minute this weekend, I will be reporting this to the Energy Ombudsman as it has been so poorly handled by Octopus. At no stage has anyone there been able to say what is going on and its moving at a glacial pace.

Have you considerd that the problem might not be Octopus?

I don't recall anyone else on the forum having quicker service from other energy suppliers. Maybe it's the government end that's glacial?

markin

Im not sure the insulation, solar companies can hire staff and train them fast enough, many will be worried about growing the company rapidly and then having to fire them all in a year when the gov pulls the funding, The Government could also have hired or used its own staff to deal with it rather than palm it off on Energy companies to deal with. 

When has a government run programs ever been fast and painless?