Octopus Messed Up Billing from Jan 2023

philtrick123

Hi all,

I sent the email below almost a month ago. Octopus say they are still investigating. Should it take this long? I'm not sure how my account can go from being in credit to being in debt without them giving me a bill. The most recent bill online is from May 2023. All the smart meter data has disappeared. I've chased again today and cc'd in the issueresolution@octopus.energy email address.
What should I do next?

Regards Phil

29/4/24 

Hi Octopus,

I logged into my online account last week for the first time in ages, and saw I was £1017.51 in credit, which didn’t look right.

It also looked like Octopus hadn’t been billing my for over a year even though I’d been paying my direct debit each month.

It also looked like Octopus has been receiving my smart meter data because I could see per half hour usage. Note- I’m on a EV charging tariff with 4 hours at a lower rate overnight.

I spoke to one of your agents on the telephone on Friday morning. They asked for a tariff 2 meter reading which I gave them. They said they would have to go away and fix the account. I asked for a call back when fixed and heard nothing.

I called again in the afternoon and spoke to a 2nd Octopus agent, they said they’d need to speak to a billing specialist. Again I asked for a call or email back when the issue was fixed- nothing.

I logged in today to my account and I’ve gone from £1017.51 in credit to -£1120.84 in debit ☹☹

I can’t see-

1. any usage data online now. I need the past 16 months worth so I can check.
2. there is no bill, even though you’ve charged my account.
3. I can’t see the past smart meter readings to check the billing, I need both day and night time readings.
4. I haven’t been taking any manual readings over the past year from the Smart Meter to verify against.

Octopus haven’t been billing me, or suggested that I increase my Direct Debit- why? Is there no system in place to check that billing is taking place? 

Can you please tell me what happens next, and how Octopus is going to rectify this mess? 

Regards Mr Philip 

MP1995

Have you looked at 3rd party apps like Bright, loop or Hugo they will be able to show your your usage data to backup any complaint you may have.

philtrick123

MP1995 said:

Have you looked at 3rd party apps like Bright, loop or Hugo they will be able to show your your usage data to backup any complaint you may have.

I haven't, can I download the data from these site, I can then plumb into an excel sheet 

glennevis

philtrick123 said:

MP1995 said:

Have you looked at 3rd party apps like Bright, loop or Hugo they will be able to show your your usage data to backup any complaint you may have.

I haven't, can I download the data from these site, I can then plumb into an excel sheet 

Register with the n3rgy site and you can download 30 minute data (90 days at a time) as CSV files which Excel can then import: 

https://www.n3rgy.com/consumer/

philtrick123

glennevis said:

philtrick123 said:

MP1995 said:

Have you looked at 3rd party apps like Bright, loop or Hugo they will be able to show your your usage data to backup any complaint you may have.

I haven't, can I download the data from these site, I can then plumb into an excel sheet 

Register with the n3rgy site and you can download 30 minute data (90 days at a time) as CSV files which Excel can then import: 

https://www.n3rgy.com/consumer/

Thanks. I did this. FYI for anyone looking at this, you'll need your indoor Smart Meter Display MAC code in order to register and access the data. Fortunately I found mind hidden away in a garage box. Also I could only download 13 months of data, and only in 3 month chunks. I tried crunching the data and got a £4k amount for 12 months :-O (I'm only paying £95 Direct Debt each month!!!).

Octopus have now started to ignore my chase emails. Its over a month from my first contact without any meaningful update of what is happening. So much for the excellent customer service. I might try calling them today.

philtrick123

Just a quick update- after lots of chasing and a threat to escalate I think I've got a resolution.
Octopus have credited me a few hundred pound. In theory they have resolved the billing and tariff.
I'm still £650 in debt on my account, but I'm going to increase my DD to pay it off over the next year.
They tried to collect all the outstanding amount, until I call them again. Hopefully once I get my June bill I'll know what I should be paying and if it's all working again.

The whole process has been hard work