Octopus Energy Customer Service

[Deleted User]

Seems to be poor customer service and this is not normal for Octopus Energy.

QrizB

Retired_Saver said:

It is about failure to keep their word, not responding fairly or appropriately to communications, telephone and emails,  is not related to bills, meter readings or smart meters, MikeJXE.  I am not in debt and pay by Direct Debit every month and submit accurate meter readings every month.

And I'm sure you don't have any problems with your supplier, whoever they are.

MikeXJE was trying to help the OP, and I don't see how your financial and billing situation relates to their problem?

Spoonie_Turtle

MikeJXE said:

Mum161111 said:

Until my recent, very disappointing, experiences I would have said exactly the same as you MikeJXE.  Something is going wrong and, in view of their normally very good customer service, it is not looking good for the future of Octopus Energy.

So what went wrong ? 

If you read your meters regularly (monthly) and give that to Octopus and check your bills which should be correct  I can't see what the problem could be.

 Octopus is a supplier of energy and you shouldn't rely on them providing readings, even if you have a smart meter as that is your responsibility, look at the threads on here smart meters are often dumb

Unless of course the smart meter packed up giving readings at all 

If it's about the IHD thats your responsibility too so get yourself another one or don't 

You have absolutely no idea what the original enquiry was about so none of your post is necessarily relevant, and you shouldn't be so judgemental. 

I too have had pretty good customer service from Octopus (stellar, in fact, apart from the AI e-mail replies being useless) but it's been clear the poster here has not had the kind of experience that's earned Octopus its reputation.  And no matter what the query, e-mail responses that never satisfactorily answer the question and repeated broken promises of contact are just not good enough.

Mum161111

It's  really being let down with false assurances, promising returned calls/emails and not kerping their word and not because of bills or meters etc.  Thank you very much for your interest and for the replies.  

TheElectricCow

My experience with Octopus email customer service is very hit and miss, but they do eventually get there. Typically takes me around a month from an initial enquiry to getting a resolution, with response times to each message varying wildly between a few hours and a few weeks.

The best approach I’ve found is to firmly, clearly, and respectfully restate exactly what it is you need as many times as necessary until the issue eventually gets passed on to someone who can/will actually help (following the complaints process and escalating where appropriate if they’re being difficult). I’ve had them blatantly do the exact opposite of what I’ve asked before, despite giving the most explicit instructions possible and providing further clarification several times.

On two separate occasions the first couple of replies from them have been either unhelpful or just nonsense unrelated to the problem. After about 4 attempts I usually end up getting through to someone with better reading comprehension who will give some acknowledgment to actual content of my email and will immediately solve the problem there and then. Personally, they definitely haven’t lived up to their reputation for me, but as far as energy suppliers go I’d say they’re still the best choice.

dealyboy

Hello OP ... (Mum161111) ...

I just wanted to give you my moral support, you are experiencing the decline of service you had become accustomed to, some might say your expectations were too high, but I don't think so.

Whilst it is fair to provide a level of 'slack' to new employees, or to those newly trained. In my view it is never acceptable to breach a commitment and repeatedly so from this company. I think it is perfectly acceptable to contact a company by e-mail or 'phone, in fact companies must provide a postal address for complaints. Indeed I think it is discriminatory to only provide acceptable customer service by 'twitter' or 'facebook', neither of which I am a member.

I'm afraid it would appear from your experience that Octopus are heading towards the disgraceful standards of many of the other energy suppliers.

Mum161111

Thank you very much TheElectricCow and, to dealyboy - your very kind reply is much appreciated.

Gerry1

IIRC Octopus have inherited a lot of Shell Energy staff.

Shell Energy had a poor record and few will miss them, but turning lots of sows' ears into silk purses can't happen overnight !

7984

I signed up to this site specifically to reply to the customer complaining about Octopus Energy, however  I have not managed to figure it out so new thread

 I have been contacting Octopus since 6th January, I did get into an email trail with an advisor but not the information I requested, a phone call was arranged but I waited on vain. I emailed this person again to advise my disgust and was promised all info on email (this was now 11th Jan)
I had lost money from my credit and had over £500 debited to my account over 21 transactions  credits were raised in Jan but there is a deficit and I need explanations.

 I then contacted hello@octopus and was told they were busy and would get to me.  I chased them up and, no reply.
Totally disgusted

elsien

Have you made a formal complaint?