octopus

melanchthon

This is my experience with Octopus.

1. The customer service is awful if there is a problem.
2. There seems to be an AI response because they do not reply to emails addressing a specific issue.
3. I needed a new meter and smart meter following disconnection for a heat pump installation which has taken 10 weeks to complete and a lot of grief.
4. The Ombudsman took on my case very quickly but the data management services were the people who eventually got a response from Octopus because they could not collect electricity data.
5. My dedicated case worker appeared disinterested, went on a two week holiday at the end of the year but appeared not to inform anyone at Octopus. Those two weeks were very cold and I could not control my electricity usage. Their management and communication systems are dire in my experience.
6. The company is fine if it has no problems to solve but is full of gimmicks which does not help if my electricity consumption cannot be tracked.
7. I was awarded a £75 goodwill gesture to be applied to my account. I did accept it but believe it should have gone into my bank account not left with Octopus.
8. I am an OAP able to explain my issues but for less capable people it will be very difficult to get a favourable response from this Company. They did challenge the Ombudsman’s decision and lost.
9. My health has suffered – sleepless nights and a feeling of powerlessness. 
10. The lack of a meter and increases in tariffs mean my bills have increased 3-fold.

BeerSavesMoney

As an Octopus customer, I must agree that their email support has gone downhill rapidly.

By email I received generic responses to which I replied to and never received any further responses. 

I also raised my concerns through their issue resolution email address but also never received a response. I wasn’t able to get through by phone either. 

The only way I was able to have my queries resolved was by creating a X (Twitter) account and contacting them through there, the support I received through messaging them directly there was fantastic. 

Something has obviously gone very wrong with their email support. 

Scot_39

Octopus have gone from a small startup to being one of the Big in the Big 6.

I see an increase in complaint posts - probably as a direct result. 

Many firms now hide behind chatbots - you cannot even easily find contact numbers on some websites.

But also see  posts saying they have been proactive in dealing with problems too and far better than other past suppliers - so a bit of a mixed bag.

And some of the OPs complaints probably in hands of others.  Like DCC and third party meter teams unless Octopus now do their own installs. 

But suspect they may still have a long way to fall yet to match some other firms out there.

Last Feb they were doing better than many according to Ofgem.

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/news/2023/02/energy-regulator-urges-suppliers-to-improve-customer-service/

EOn actually had to pay some customers c£8 last year as part of the regulators findings.

I didn't get it despite 2 problems with EOn customer services taking 3.5 months in one case to resolve.

Maybe there will be an update for this years Ofgem review soon.

jak22

Everyone's experience will be different - so far a couple of replies have been very quick - but they were simple queries and a change that ought to have been available on the dashboard.

If people have been customers a while and are now seeing a worsening then its valid comment even if there'll be posts with reasons it might be happening.

I'm more bothered by their website/dashboard. It could be decluttered and  in particular the My Energy page isnt working well. Apart from only showing gas in m3 not kWh/£, it defaulted back to current date after a cookie clear which it cant actually show. It's then difficult to see historical - only the custom tab is working. The app is better for this but seems cluttered too. Ive noticed the site to be slow to load - or even not at all - on a few occasions.

Another recent irritant is the Change Tariff page link being removed when you take a fix even with no early exit fee,

born_again

Part of the problem is they have grown to fast, taking on too many other companies (Bulb for one) & not having enough staff to octopus previous std to cope, as they will have taken on many of the other companies support staff who will not be up to the same std.

Largs

Saying owt negative about the gold plaited, on a pedestal Octopus Energy really does not go down well here. Octopus is always right here, even when it's wrong. 

Tucosalamanca

As a heads up, I was told during a phone call that if you email repeatedly, you are knocked back in the que and the wait starts all over again.
So if you send an email, don't receive a reply and then chase up a few days later with another email, you might never actually be answered.
I always waited five working days before chasing, which should be more than adequate for them to respond.
hello@octopus.energy & issueresolution@octopus.energy seem to go to the same people.

I found them difficult to deal with and behind the 'jokey' responses, the customer service was far from acceptable.
No one took ownership and the flakey two line responses soon became tiresome.
My problem took four months to resolve, many calls and emails, ending with me going through complaints procedure.
I terminated our agreement and gave plenty of notice, they even confirmed that the contract was ending, yet I was billed for a further three months, with direct debits taken each time.

They're on my 'do not deal with' list now. They'd need to be exceptionally cheap to win me back as a customer...

bristolleedsfan

Tucosalamanca said:

As a heads up, I was told during a phone call that if you email repeatedly, you are knocked back in the que and the wait starts all over again.
So if you send an email, don't receive a reply and then chase up a few days later with another email, you might never actually be answered.

Email has been hit and miss for a long time, some appear to get stuck in system, do not get seen unless customer phones or communicates via a different channel,. person answering then sees email that has been sent.

I usually communicate via twitter message as others have said fantastic service, I sent email reply to Octopus end of tariff email on 2nd have not chased it up - no reply.

WBCPB

Give them another year or two and they will no doubt be on the same level [ customer service wise ] as the remaining "Big 5".
I just put any of my queries as a complaint now and so far have been contacted within 48 hours.

Regards

BellaBlondykeTheThird

Definitely service is getting worse.

Growing pains hopefully.

That said they have allowed me some leeway on the tracker formula change.

Consistently inconsistent 

Spoonie_Turtle

I have had the frustration of the AI e-mail replies.  If you get sent a 'how did we do/are you satisfied?' e-mail after one of those 'exchanges', respond and send specific feedback.  A human should pick up unhappy ones, that's how I got my last non-urgent (but still time sensitive) issue sorted.

The Twitter team are amazing, it's just unfortunate what the current owner of that platform is doing to trash the place.  But seriously, they are almost miracle workers there at times.  I got an e-mail from the smart meter co cancelling our smart meter fitting (which had to be done that specific day), tweeted in a panic, and in just over 2hrs after the tweet they'd reinstated the appointment.

Octopus' reputation was built through genuinely being the best.  Alas growing pains seem to see that slipping - they're probably still had and shoulders above the rest, but the gap is currently narrowing (and not because the others are getting better).