Octopus Energy

BellaBlondykeTheThird

It does seem like the shell customers are having quite the time of it. What a shame as since we have been with Octopus it's been flawless. So a real shame not everyone receives the same level of service.

LeesArt

Chrysalis said:

There is a lot more to Octopus than customer support.

Of the top of my head.

They support variable direct debit (not all suppliers do).

They have daily wholesale tariffs which have been considerably cheaper than anything else for over a year.

They have a time of use tariff which offers the ability to save huge some of money.

They have specialised tariffs for those with certain tech such as cosy.

They supply electric blankets to their poorest customers.

They provide SC payment holidays for their poorest customers.

They have the octopus mini which is a nice enhancement for those with smart meters, much better than the standard IHD, instead of having to walk to the IHD the info is on a smartphone app.

They are lenient on fixed direct debit under payments.

They have a good track record of not doing enforced pre pay meter replacements.

The variable DD was a deal maker for me

They no longer offer electric blankets according to their website

SC payment holidays just create debt, better to not charge SC to any customer

Don't know what this "mini" thing is but I suspect it needs a smart meter

Being lenient on fixed DD is the wrong thinking, it is YOUR money, YOUR budget and I have yet to find an energy company that estimated correctly. 

If I know things are tight the first thing I do is turn off the heating and set the boiler temps to the lowest possible to prevent even the keep alive activity of my boiler.  So I would be using less than expect and no computer is psychic so they will have no idea of my plans. 

That is why I pay by variable DD, it means I don't owe them any money except for the time it takes them to take the DD.  Note that when I paid them the balance they transferred from Shell (because Shell did not take the DD) the money was in their account instantly.  

I am glad to hear they are not forcing pre-pay but that might be because they are moving people to Smart Meters as part of debt management.  I heard a BBC radio segment that questioned a reduction in forced prepayment meters, so they asked how many new smart meters had been installed and put in prepayment mode within 6 months.  It was clear they were just avoiding a the term prepayment meter. 

I don't actually have a problem with them offering such customers a debt incentive to take the smart meter but I feel that they need to full explain that a percentage of every payment they make for heat will have monies taken for debt.  This forces them to accept a certain level of debt while other creditors may be disadvantaged or the customer deprived on spending money on baby formula and nappies so that the energy company get's their wedge. 

LeesArt

BellaBlondykeTheThird said:

It does seem like the shell customers are having quite the time of it. What a shame as since we have been with Octopus it's been flawless. So a real shame not everyone receives the same level of service.

To be fair to them no energy company can swallow 1.4m customers without a lot of bumps, especially as Shell's IT system was honestly SO awful and most of it's staff very poorly trained.  I had one issue where Shell said they could not do something, I fought with them for 10 months asking why every other energy company had always been able to do it. 

In month 10 I called again and a chap said "oh yes we can do that" I asked him if this was a new feature and he said they had always been able to do that.

I have had a few issues with Octopus but they or their system are chipping away at them.

Netexporter

Don't know what this "mini" thing is but I suspect it needs a smart meter

Rather the other way round. You get better functionality from you smart meter, compared to the standard IHD.

Gassed

I am so so glad that there are some more people out there who share my view on sometimes woeful Octopi customer service and at the same time their peculiar billing, or non-billing service; along with other issues which I’ve not yet suffered. I was beginning to get a bit paranoid especially having read the reviews on Trustpilot and seeing some of the comments on this site praising them to the high heavens and suggesting this was the most wonderful utility company in the world.

 It would seem then that the glowing reviews on Trustpilot and some users opinions on this forum may not perhaps be entirely justified and do not, after all is said and done, give a truly accurate picture of the Octopus Energy company..

Now of course I know they aren’t the worst out there but neither perhaps should they be on the pedestal that some would have us believe they should be on.

 

 

BellaBlondykeTheThird

Gassed said:

I am so so glad that there are some more people out there who share my view on sometimes woeful Octopi customer service and at the same time their peculiar billing, or non-billing service; along with other issues which I’ve not yet suffered. I was beginning to get a bit paranoid especially having read the reviews on Trustpilot and seeing some of the comments on this site praising them to the high heavens and suggesting this was the most wonderful utility company in the world.

 It would seem then that the glowing reviews on Trustpilot and some users opinions on this forum may not perhaps be entirely justified and do not, after all is said and done, give a truly accurate picture of the Octopus Energy company..

Now of course I know they aren’t the worst out there but neither perhaps should they be on the pedestal that some would have us believe they should be on.

 

 

Of course noting that very few people will come to the energy forum to say how wonderful their supplier is.

Most people come here with issues and problems that they need help with so of course all the bad will be in one place.

What you can do is put your review on trustpilot 

Gassed

Already done that Bella - I was looking for honest advice and guidance on this site.

BellaBlondykeTheThird

Gassed said:

Already done that Bella - I was looking for honest advice and guidance on this site.

That's good, as long as everyone puts their view on trust pilot both good and bad then that should be a good barometer. Unlike a forum like this which will generally be 90% issues and bad feelings towards suppliers imo.

I think looking at your post you have had honest advice and guidance, people in the same boat, some with other issue and complaints and then some that haven't.

Looking around those 1.3 million Shell customers are also having a rocky time of it with the Octopus takeover. Perhaps they are emailing like yourself and finding the same issues. They should also put in some trust pilot reviews. Octopus seem to value their 5 star study pilot score so perhaps that is the best place for people to make their feelings known and they will love quickly to sort those issues out to protect their score?

It is a shame if Octopus are letting customers down with their customer service.

Spoonie_Turtle

LeesArt said:

Chrysalis said:

There is a lot more to Octopus than customer support.

Of the top of my head.

They support variable direct debit (not all suppliers do).

They have daily wholesale tariffs which have been considerably cheaper than anything else for over a year.

They have a time of use tariff which offers the ability to save huge some of money.

They have specialised tariffs for those with certain tech such as cosy.

They supply electric blankets to their poorest customers.

They provide SC payment holidays for their poorest customers.

They have the octopus mini which is a nice enhancement for those with smart meters, much better than the standard IHD, instead of having to walk to the IHD the info is on a smartphone app.

They are lenient on fixed direct debit under payments.

They have a good track record of not doing enforced pre pay meter replacements.

SC payment holidays just create debt, better to not charge SC to any customer

They use the term 'SC holiday' for a period where it's reduced to 0.  Not delaying a charge creating debt.

Ry88

I'm appalled by Octopus & the utterly disgraceful treatment I've had from them after being forcibly moved from Shell (who I found surprisingly good, after I was transferred from Green who went under).

Octopus persistently refuse to accept that they have my peak & off readings the wrong way round as I don't conform to their 'average user' - I'm a night owl, retired & careful - so I NEVER use kettle, cooker, washer etc. during peak rate, ONLY during cheap rate (midnight-5am; 1-4pm; 8-10pm GMT).

After 10 hours arguing with them over several days, they have now actually taken to downright lying, saying Shell interpreted my readings the same - no, they didn't, they just had day & night boxes to fill in, not R1 (my offpeak on E7) & R2 (my peak) which Octopus use & have assigned wrongly. If Shell were "the same", why did Shell only charge me less than half what Octopus say they intend to, despite Octopus actually having lower prices for both day & night usage??!

They persistently refuse to send a meter reader round; and their 'system' apparently won't accept a 46Mb file incorporating an 18 secs uninterrupted video clip of me reading the meters + time and date.

Appalling company.  My stress levels have been on the ceiling for days now as a result of this. The Energy Ombudsman won't deal with cases until the complaint's been ongoing for at least 8 weeks! (why? when customers like me don't have enough money to pay Octopus what they intend to illicitly take from my account at the end of month for consumotion I haven't used?!).

I've contacted Which? & have booked a phone appt. with one of their legal team. The magazine have said they'll do a report on my experience too.