Octopus Energy

Gassed

Once again thanks for the comments. I feel so “silly” niktheguru that after being promised an email service, then not actually being given it, I have the cheek to complain about it. What was I thinking. I should of course have immediately dismissed this fatuous email promise and instead looked at all the other avenues. Which unfortunately don’t suit me as well as email.

“Ask them to email you the outcome of the phone conversation and they will do so”

On email performance so far I obviously find that hard to believe.

Only very very rarely have I ever had cause to contact any previous supplier but when I did my issue was sorted much much quicker than Octopus are dragging this out for.

 

BellaBlondykeTheThird

Gassed said:

Once again thanks for the comments. I feel so “silly” niktheguru that after being promised an email service, then not actually being given it, I have the cheek to complain about it. What was I thinking. I should of course have immediately dismissed this fatuous email promise and instead looked at all the other avenues. Which unfortunately don’t suit me as well as email.

“Ask them to email you the outcome of the phone conversation and they will do so”

On email performance so far I obviously find that hard to believe.

Only very very rarely have I ever had cause to contact any previous supplier but when I did my issue was sorted much much quicker than Octopus are dragging this out for.

 

You can vote with your feet and leave?

Another very happy Octopoid here paying 11pkwh for their electricity and expect when we move to Flux to not pay for much energy at all for 6 months 

Slinky

I've had followup emails from Octopus staff after phone conversations. Either summarising our conversation and the outcome, or giving me their followup course of action if the issue wasn't immediately resolved.

True when I first contacted them by email before joining I didn't get a response for a few days, in the meantime I'd called and got the answer to my question.

Gassed

Too many people now missing the email point I’m making (or trying to)

And yes  BellaBlondykeTheThird (love the moniker) as I said earlier I will be leaving.

Signing off now. Many thanks to all..

bristolleedsfan

Gassed said:

How come Octopus Energy rate so highly for customer service. They advertise that they are one of the very few companies who provide an email address that you can contact them on directly but what’s the point. I’ve sent them 3 emails in the last two weeks and still await a reply or even an acknowledgement – I’ve tried contacting Greg Jackson the man in charge who is supposedly contactable at [Removed by Forum Team] but that’s been a waste of time as well.

I’ve only been with them a short time, having been a Shell customer who was transferred across and I never had any problem contacting them, although they strangely enough didn’t earn the plaudits that Octopus do i.e. a 98% rating from Trustpilot – although only 72% on Which. Have Trustpilot got shares in Octopus😁

I thought when I was moved over to Octopus everything in the garden would be even rosier but it looks as if now they’ve joined the big energy boys, through their rapid expansion, their customer service has gone out the window.

The last time I phoned recorded message suggesting I "hang up and try awesome email service" which as many including long term customers have said over time has shown itself to be extremely poor, my own recent experience poor for 12 calendar days wait for reply and poor for that reply not attempting to answer question asked.

Before anyone suggest I switch elsewhere, my gas is with British Gas, when my electricity tracker fixed term expires on 2nd April I might switch that elsewhere as well. ( as far as I am concerned just different energy billing companies)

MattMattMattUK

Spoonie_Turtle said:

MattMattMattUK said:

I also now have a Octopus Home Mini which appears to be working well (although the "Live" read does appear to have a rounding average based on one minute averages, rather than actually being instantaneous). 

Are you looking on the last 30 min view or the last 5 min view?  I've found it updates quicker (akin to an IHD) on the 5 min view.

I have tried both. As an example if I boil the kettle it has finished boiling before it starts showing in the app. 

ad1927

Going back to the OP. 

I too have moved to Octopus from Shell and I am far from satisfied with the service.

1. The misbilling - I have an invoice that Shell (acquired by Octopus) provided on 3rd February stating that a payment of £288 would be taken on February 19th
2.  A "welcome to Octopus" e-mail that was received by me on 9th February which states - categorically

            7. Your Direct Debit payments will continue as usual

1.  No payments taken on 19th February
2.  A confusing e-mail , received 24th February, stating that I would be paying £383.87 on March 1st.  At this time, I was not monitoring my e-mails because I had serious health concerns.
3.  A second, confusing e-mail, received 26th February, stating that I would be paying £6.18 on March 4th.  Two direct debits over 2 working days!  Completely at odds with the statement in my welcome e-mail stating that my Direct Debits will continue as usual
4. A payment of £383 leaving my bank account on March 1st.  This included energy usage (2nd to 13th February - which would normally appear on my March bill and be paid on March 19th/20th following my wage payment).
5. An additional payment of just £6.18 leaving my bank account on March 4th.  This was for energy usage on 14th and 15th of February, which would have also appeared on my March 3rd bill.  Certainly not a case of my Direct Debit Payments continuing as normal.
6. I had to take time out of work to contact Octopus about this.  During the conversation I was told that I joined Octopus on 14th March - but I had a welcome e-mail on March 9th.  They claimed that it was because of this that they could not take my payment.  OK, but why take an additional two weeks when they could take payment, and why change my DD dates which were set up so that my bills would be paid two days after pay-day.
7. During the conversation, rather than Octopus providing answers or a solution to an issue of their own making, I was told I would need to contact my bank to raise an indemnity.  I had already taken almost an hour out of work, and felt it was inappropriate for me to take more time out of my day to correct an issue created by Octopus.  If issues such as my joining date are incorrect, then I am unsure about the accuracy of all data received by Octopus.
8. I was also told, during the call, that the reason that my date had changed was because I was on a Variable Direct Debit.  This, seemingly, allows Octopus to change the agreed terms of the direct debit as and when it suits them.  The "variable" element of the direct debit is, as per conversations with Shell, about the actual amount that I pay monthly.  After previous experiences with Shell raising my DDs despite me holding significant credit, I refuse to build credit with these charlatans.
9. During the call, my complaint was going to be closed because a solution had been provided (i.e. sort it out yourself with the bank).  I had to insist that the complaint remained open because of the fact that no satisfactory solutions had been provided.  However, they are target driven "100% of complaints resolved in 5 minutes".

Octopus have offered me £100 credit, but I think the above is absolutely despicable. It left me with financial hardship, and now I understand that my next bill, in April, will also cover 6 weeks of energy usage.  They have shot themselves in the foot with the statement of "Your Direct Debit Payments will continue as normal".  Personally, I would encourage anyone in a similar situation to raise a complaint.  I am prepared to take this to the ombudsman, although appreciate it will be swept under the carpet, because how many other, less willing, complainants are suffering from their incompetence?

The fact is that, following all this, I am now checking my bank account regularly to ensure no additional payments are taken at short notice.  Taking £6.18 out for 2 days energy usage just 1 day after taking out £94 additional to my original bill is just ridiculous.  It feels like they can dip in and out of my bank account at will.  It is causing stress, anxiety, and familial arguments as I am trying to cut down even further on energy usage to drag my April bill down.  April's bill will also cover 6 weeks of energy usage.  


 

brig001

To all the people blaming rapid expansion for Octopus’s failings; my experiences predate Shell and Bulb and they were awful then too. It took EonNext two days to fix what Octopus couldn’t fix in three years 

Brian

ad1927

Yep, having been told by Octopus that they would be changing my billing and payment schedules so that I pay them on the same day I used to pay Shell, I've just had a bill to be paid on a new date.

This bill includes 2 days of energy usage that had already been billed (and for which Octopus took a whopping £6 out of my account 1 working day after taking out my other bill).

I have a complaint - they said they would call me back.  "Just tell us a time".  "Friday 4pm please".  "Oh, sorry, our phones get switched off at 4pm on Fridays".  

Shell were bad.  Shell were really bad.  But, this company is terrible.  

They have offered me £100 compensation.  I have refused.  Frankly, I think this should be looked at by the ombudsman because, as it stands, Octopus are completely unfit for purpose.  

I am beyond angry at how appalling this is - it has affected my finances and I wonder just how many elderly, vulnerable people are affected by this gross incompetency.

LeesArt

tlcgrantham said:

LeesArt said:

Gassed said:

Again thank you for all your thoughts and input. I must admit that if I was a customer looking to change from any other energy provider then reading your comments about Octopus would hold a big sway in making a move to join them. However as a current Octopus customer I still only have my personal experience to go from i.e. They have not taken my regular Direct Debit from me this month (due on the 2nd of each month) and given no reason for this and at the same time they have sent me separate emails in respect of Gas and Electricity charges with each email covering a different time frame and reducing my credit appropriately with them. I do have more than enough credit in my account with them to last at least 3 or 4 months without paying anymore by DD or one-off payments to them so that’s not a problem. Just why couldn’t they communicate and let me know why they’ve done what they’ve done. I’m used to and very happy with one DD payment a month  and one Bill/Statement issued each month ; are companies moving away from this  - to be helpful??  

I’ll give them a full month to reply to my emails, which primarily asked them the same questions and if I still don’t get an answer then do not be surprised if you see me appearing on Martins TV program😁

After a month without reply I’ll be off and I won’t need my new company to entice me with a free cup of coffee or an electric blanket.

 

They do have a problem with Direct Debits on Variable rate customers in that they do the DD 10 working days after you submit a read, rather than on your preferred day.  I see no reason why they can't just stick the read in a schedule of pending DD transactions that need to feed into the DD export on the requested day.  

All it would require is a few query changes and a single new table, they would then release the DD transactions into the current feed with an overnight batch.

Their site says that they will not send a bill for 3 months unless you provide a read and that you can provide read as often as you like.  This was not my experience but unlike some energy companies they were extremely flexible in cancelling that bill and my next bill automatically included the dates the bill they cancelled which is what I wanted.

What I really like is that as soon as you submit a read the account shows the balance, sadly it does not allow one to drill down to show the rates used and the math.

This morning I spotted a remarkably cheap fixed tariff in their list of current tariffs. I emailed them asking to switch to it and got a reply within a few minutes. Meanwhile I sent a message on Twitter (X) and got another reply within minutes offering to investigate as they weren’t aware of the tariff. A few more minutes later a received an apology as the tariff was historic and was only listed by mistake + a voucher for £30. 

       To me that’s 1st class customer service.

I agree, sadly it has not been my experience, I have had to call them a dozen times since the switchover, responses took days and basically said RTFW but did not give specific links to the site.

The site has a terrible navigation system, it is actually like 1990's webpage, very few menus and a maze of weblinks within pages.

Trying to find a page you came across before is difficult, so you have to bookmark every page and sort it out later