Octopus energy complaint

JamesMckk

Please help me with my complaint with Octopus. I feel like I have been banging my head against a brick wall since October.

Engineer Visit & Communication:
Engineer's visit on October 10th, I was informed their job with the smart meter couldn't be completed as the mains board needed to be replaced. This was confirmed from the engineers report by Octopus and they would book the date. Despite 7 follow-up emails, I received no further contact.
On December 13th, I called Octopus and was told my emails were being received but their replies were not being sent out due to an issue on their side. My email address was changed, and communication resumed. However, staff had noticed the failed emails but did nothing. This issue wasn’t escalated, and I’m still unclear on why their emails weren’t sent for weeks.

Engineer Report & Delays: After re-establishing contact, I asked about the engineer's October 10th report, initially told it was missing, but it was later found during our call. The report stated the meter needed replacement and this would be book and confirmed within 48 hrs, but no action was taken. Despite promises, I received no follow-up, and after more delays, the second visit was eventually booked for January 2nd, 2024, but was postponed to February 5th. Meanwhile, I was informed that my bills were estimated due to unresolved meter issues.
In February, I was then told that on 10th October the smart meter had been decommissioned and recommissioned remotely in the background so I would have never seen an engineer and this remote work had fixed the issue.
This was the same day the engineer was on site, who couldn't complete the job as the meter needed replacing. It's even on his report "tried decomm and recomm, meter needs replacing" 
If this was fixed in October, why am I only finding out in February and why have Octopus been trying to send another engineer.

Customer service : C/S has been unhelpful and dismissive in addressing my complaint. When I requested evidence of the decommission/recommission and the engineer's report, they refused, citing commercial reasons and later inaccurately claimed GDPR prevented the sharing of certain documents. He also refused to send my DSAR to a different email, despite this being done previously. They have failed to address my concerns adequately, including the issues with my email account and the delays, and I feel misled about the smart meter's status.

I have put all this complaint through to Octopus and their response has only addressed the smart meter and that it was fixed (nothing about the mains board). They are ignoring the delay, not mentioned anything about their failed email that was on going for 3 months. 
They want to throw a little bit of money at me to resolve it and walk away without addressing my complaint

I have now requested a new complaints handler and I've been told they won't pass this on they can resolve my complaint.


Do I have the right to complain about these issues?
Do they have the right to deny me a different complaints handler?

tacpot12

You have a right to complain about such issues, but no rights to compensation. You are entirely dependent on their goodwill, so if they want to give you some money, I would accept it quickly. 

The issues you had are small and although frustrating for your, I expect that they very ordinary in the experience of the staff at Octopus. You seem to have blown them up to be more than they are.

You don't seem to have lost anything financially. From what you say, your billing seems to have been based on actual readings since October,  and you would have seen this if you had checked your bill.

They can deny you access to a different complaint handler, but this might cause them problems if the complaint handler can't behave professionally, but you also need to behave courteously to them.

FlorayG

WHEEEE join the club. I've been trying to get resolution since last November on a similar issue and I don't know why, but the person who answered my email last month asking if I would be able to claim compensation from them for the costs said she would escalate a complaint. Then I got email from complaints saying, sorry, we'll send out an engineer to investigate the issue. So I said, you already did that in November, I need a new one he told me. She responded that she knew nothing about that, sorry, we will send an engineer with a new hub and he will see if that will work. So I asked did they not have the report from the engineer in November who made very clear what I need? Finally, she came back and said oh, we've found that, yes you need a particular meter probably a dual hub
So...engineer coming with new hub on 10th September and I'm waiting for an appointment for installation of a dual hub. You have to keep telling them stuff that they should know; it seems they don't keep easily available records of what's been happening with your account. I think I've just been lucky to get a sympathetic complaints handler from the start. I think you should be demanding to get your case sent to someone who knows what they are doing. Best of luck

BarelySentientAI

JamesMckk said:

Do I have the right to complain about these issues?
Do they have the right to deny me a different complaints handler?

Yes, you can complain about whatever you want.  No, you don't get to choose who handles the complaint.

You don't have the right to see any of their internal documents or reports unless disclosed for Ombudsman or Court.  DSAR responses do not need to include their engineer's reports.

There are specific compensation amounts for missed appointments, but you don't seem to have had any of those.  Anything else, given that you haven't claimed to have suffered any financial loss, will be entirely goodwill.  Goodwill payments are usually £50 - £100, and the Ombudsman does not tend to award any more.

I don't really know what you mean by the "mains board".  If you mean the wooden board that the meter is fixed to, that's nothing to do with Octopus, so it is no surprise that their complaint record would not deal with it.

The biggest thing to address with your complaint as far as I can see, is working out what the complaint actually is and what you want done about it.

Do you think your meter is not working and need a replacement?
Do you think they are using estimated readings when they shouldn't be?
Is your complaint just "I think your customer service was bad"?

From what you've written, I can't actually tell what is wrong and needs fixing.

elsien

FlorayG said:

WHEEEE join the club. I've been trying to get resolution since last November on a similar issue and I don't know why, but the person who answered my email last month asking if I would be able to claim compensation from them for the costs said she would escalate a complaint. Then I got email from complaints saying, sorry, we'll send out an engineer to investigate the issue. So I said, you already did that in November, I need a new one he told me. She responded that she knew nothing about that, sorry, we will send an engineer with a new hub and he will see if that will work. So I asked did they not have the report from the engineer in November who made very clear what I need? Finally, she came back and said oh, we've found that, yes you need a particular meter probably a dual hub
So...engineer coming with new hub on 10th September and I'm waiting for an appointment for installation of a dual hub. You have to keep telling them stuff that they should know; it seems they don't keep easily available records of what's been happening with your account. I think I've just been lucky to get a sympathetic complaints handler from the start. I think you should be demanding to get your case sent to someone who knows what they are doing. Best of luck

Except in the OP case, it appears that they don’t need a new meter after all and  has been getting accurate bills for some time. 

If they are unsure about this, they could check the meter at regular intervals, compare it to the bills, and raise any concerns about lack accuracy once they have some evidence. 

So the only equivalence with your case would appear to be questionable communication.
No-one one is really in a position to demand who their complaint gets sent to; That is an internal matter. 

Reed_Richards

When the installer came to fit a smart meter he declared that it would not fit and went away again.  So I had to pay an electrician to move some other things around in the cupboard to make the necessary space.  After that I got another appointment and an installer fitted my smart meter.

The moral, to me, is that if Octopus offered to replace anything other than the meter at their own expense you are lucky.  And if Octopus made a promise but then are not sticking to it, then maybe you need to reach into your own pocket and pay an electrician to do the work?