What compensation would be reasonable to expect from Octopus?

FlorayG

I finally got my smart meter installed on Friday and had this from them this morning;

"Now it's time we start discussing compensation for this whole complaint and look to begin resolution. I'd prefer to wait two weeks just to make sure the new meters are fully functioning and all the necessary details have come through but for starters, please illuminate what your expectations are at this stage and what you believe would be a fair and reasonable compensation for the many issues you've had to get this sorted."

The issues were;
From me moving in August 2023 they were trying to fix my smart meter remotely
Eventually in November 2023 sent out an engineer, he was here 2 hours, couldn't fix it, said I need a whole new dual band system both gas and electric, they're out of stock, give us a call in February
Called in Feb, still out of stock
Back in stock made appointment for June to have fitted. Engineer turns up, instructions to repair the meter, didn't bring the new one, spent two hours, called CS himself to explain and make a new appointment. Takes 6 weeks to get an appointment, BTW.
Next engineer turns up - doesn't have a new meter, has been sent to fix the old one. Didn't bother trying. I called CS and gave them grief. They insist they send the notes to engineering, engineering says they don't have any notes. 
Make another appointment - the fourth -  engineer doesn't even turn up. Basic apology received via email next day after waiting in all previous afternoon
Make ANOTHER appointment - engineer turns up, same one as came third time, bl**dy good job too because he had been told to fix the electric meter and install a new gas hub and off his own bat brought both because he knew that was the actual job. Fits meter, all working
Saturday I get my bill from Octopus, £843 for November 1st to 28th. Absolutely threw my toys out of the pram via email as you might expect, hence the grovelling apology this morning

What would you be asking for in compensation for lost time and aggravation?

EssexHebridean

Taking the emotions and annoyance out of it for the moment, how much actual time do you estimate you have spent trying to get things sorted out? 

FlorayG

EssexHebridean said:

Taking the emotions and annoyance out of it for the moment, how much actual time do you estimate you have spent trying to get things sorted out? 

With all the waiting in and having engineers here, about ten hours

la531983

FlorayG said:

EssexHebridean said:

Taking the emotions and annoyance out of it for the moment, how much actual time do you estimate you have spent trying to get things sorted out? 

With all the waiting in and having engineers here, about ten hours

How much of that ten hours has cost you money? I work from home so I am here anyway, waiting in would cost me £0. 

EssexHebridean

la531983 said:

FlorayG said:

EssexHebridean said:

Taking the emotions and annoyance out of it for the moment, how much actual time do you estimate you have spent trying to get things sorted out? 

With all the waiting in and having engineers here, about ten hours

How much of that ten hours has cost you money? I work from home so I am here anyway, waiting in would cost me £0. 

That doesn't necessarily mean that time doesn't have a financial value though - it might not be at someone's standard commercial chargeable rate (if their job role carries that) but the phrase "time is money" isn't entirely wide of the mark! 

I think in Floray's position I would be looking at setting out a clear timeline to Octopus of exactly what has happened - again, just clear facts, and then saying that in the light of the protracted nature of the issue and the time involved in sorting it, I actually feel that Octopus should be opening negotiations by making a suggestion of what they think is a fair offer, and that I will then review that for reasonableness. 

Octopus do sometimes seem to be far more reasonable in terms of compensation than a lot of suppliers, so what you don't want to do is pitch a suggestion of £100, for example, which they will then beat down. Better for them to pitch first, and you can then give reasons why you feel that is too little (if you do).

My suspicion is that if this went to the Ombudsman, £100 is likely the most you would get. Anything above that is a win! 

MattMattMattUK

FlorayG said:

I finally got my smart meter installed on Friday and had this from them this morning;

"Now it's time we start discussing compensation for this whole complaint and look to begin resolution. I'd prefer to wait two weeks just to make sure the new meters are fully functioning and all the necessary details have come through but for starters, please illuminate what your expectations are at this stage and what you believe would be a fair and reasonable compensation for the many issues you've had to get this sorted."

The issues were;
From me moving in August 2023 they were trying to fix my smart meter remotely
Eventually in November 2023 sent out an engineer, he was here 2 hours, couldn't fix it, said I need a whole new dual band system both gas and electric, they're out of stock, give us a call in February
Called in Feb, still out of stock
Back in stock made appointment for June to have fitted. Engineer turns up, instructions to repair the meter, didn't bring the new one, spent two hours, called CS himself to explain and make a new appointment. Takes 6 weeks to get an appointment, BTW.
Next engineer turns up - doesn't have a new meter, has been sent to fix the old one. Didn't bother trying. I called CS and gave them grief. They insist they send the notes to engineering, engineering says they don't have any notes. 
Make another appointment - the fourth -  engineer doesn't even turn up. Basic apology received via email next day after waiting in all previous afternoon
Make ANOTHER appointment - engineer turns up, same one as came third time, bl**dy good job too because he had been told to fix the electric meter and install a new gas hub and off his own bat brought both because he knew that was the actual job. Fits meter, all working

What would you be asking for in compensation for lost time and aggravation?

On the basis of five appointments, if they were missed it would be £30 per appointment, although they attended the appointments were no use because the correct parts were not available, I would say the £150, then maybe a further £50 as a "gesture of goodwill", so £200 in total. 

FlorayG said:

Saturday I get my bill from Octopus, £843 for November 1st to 28th. Absolutely threw my toys out of the pram via email as you might expect, hence the grovelling apology this morning

I am not really sure how throwing your toys out of the pram is an adult things to do, not would I expect that from an adult. Have you established why the bill was £843 and was it actually incorrect, or was it catching up based on the meter being replaced and that resulting in an actual reading?

kempiejon

but for starters, please illuminate what your expectations are at this stage and what you believe would be a fair and reasonable compensation for the many issues you've had to get this sorted.

So this is an opening of negotiations, they'll know what figure they are working towards, you would like as much of that as possible.
At this stage I would bat it back. suggest that you tell them this has been at least 10 hours of your time wasted, considerable inconvenience, loss of trust in the company and you are interested in what they would like to do by way of compensation for distress and inconvenience.

I'd guess their first offer will not be their best. 2nd probably not either but until negotiations start it's hard to guess. Staying firm, declining is the best way to push towards your best outcome.

Someone up thread said the ombudsman might set £100 - I have no idea if that is right - but if that is a maximum taking it to them would offer that doesn't appear to be the best direction to take this. Keeping a firm but reasonable dialogue with Octopus, not specifically telling them what you want and suggesting their offers are not not sufficient until you think you're at the top end. You might be able to get more in credit against a bill rather than just cash compensation.

37pisntenough

FlorayG said:

I finally got my smart meter installed on Friday and had this from them this morning;

"Now it's time we start discussing compensation for this whole complaint and look to begin resolution. I'd prefer to wait two weeks just to make sure the new meters are fully functioning and all the necessary details have come through but for starters, please illuminate what your expectations are at this stage and what you believe would be a fair and reasonable compensation for the many issues you've had to get this sorted."

The issues were;
From me moving in August 2023 they were trying to fix my smart meter remotely
Eventually in November 2023 sent out an engineer, he was here 2 hours, couldn't fix it, said I need a whole new dual band system both gas and electric, they're out of stock, give us a call in February
Called in Feb, still out of stock
Back in stock made appointment for June to have fitted. Engineer turns up, instructions to repair the meter, didn't bring the new one, spent two hours, called CS himself to explain and make a new appointment. Takes 6 weeks to get an appointment, BTW.
Next engineer turns up - doesn't have a new meter, has been sent to fix the old one. Didn't bother trying. I called CS and gave them grief. They insist they send the notes to engineering, engineering says they don't have any notes. 
Make another appointment - the fourth -  engineer doesn't even turn up. Basic apology received via email next day after waiting in all previous afternoon
Make ANOTHER appointment - engineer turns up, same one as came third time, bl**dy good job too because he had been told to fix the electric meter and install a new gas hub and off his own bat brought both because he knew that was the actual job. Fits meter, all working
Saturday I get my bill from Octopus, £843 for November 1st to 28th. Absolutely threw my toys out of the pram via email as you might expect, hence the grovelling apology this morning

What would you be asking for in compensation for lost time and aggravation?

I had a very similar experience with my meter. 
I waited 6 weeks and when the 3rd party engineer turned up (3 hours late!) he said he didn't have a dual band meter in stock and I'd have to reschedule. I wasn't prepared to wait another 6 weeks as the old meter wasn't functioning correctly. Maybe I shouldn't have but I gave him a bit of grief about how long this had been going on and that he should have known it was a dual band meter. He did come back two days later and install the correct meter. 

I was offered £50. £30 pounds for the inconvenience and £20 for a failed promise. I accepted this but probably could have squeezed another £20. 

If I were you I'd go for £50 for each appointment. For 4 failed appointments I'd go for £200 and a bit more (£100?) as a token of poor customer service. I'd also request a formal letter of apology.

With regards to your mis-billing I'd wait and see what your normal consumption is over a few weeks and then ask them to rebill based on that. Again I've been through this and you really need to be firm about what you want. Having the current consumption gives a baseline to argue from if it needs to go any further. in my case they initially billed £2900 and when recalculated it came to £850. 

Good luck.

FlorayG

37pisntenough said:

FlorayG said:

I finally got my smart meter installed on Friday and had this from them this morning;

"Now it's time we start discussing compensation for this whole complaint and look to begin resolution. I'd prefer to wait two weeks just to make sure the new meters are fully functioning and all the necessary details have come through but for starters, please illuminate what your expectations are at this stage and what you believe would be a fair and reasonable compensation for the many issues you've had to get this sorted."

The issues were;
From me moving in August 2023 they were trying to fix my smart meter remotely
Eventually in November 2023 sent out an engineer, he was here 2 hours, couldn't fix it, said I need a whole new dual band system both gas and electric, they're out of stock, give us a call in February
Called in Feb, still out of stock
Back in stock made appointment for June to have fitted. Engineer turns up, instructions to repair the meter, didn't bring the new one, spent two hours, called CS himself to explain and make a new appointment. Takes 6 weeks to get an appointment, BTW.
Next engineer turns up - doesn't have a new meter, has been sent to fix the old one. Didn't bother trying. I called CS and gave them grief. They insist they send the notes to engineering, engineering says they don't have any notes. 
Make another appointment - the fourth -  engineer doesn't even turn up. Basic apology received via email next day after waiting in all previous afternoon
Make ANOTHER appointment - engineer turns up, same one as came third time, bl**dy good job too because he had been told to fix the electric meter and install a new gas hub and off his own bat brought both because he knew that was the actual job. Fits meter, all working
Saturday I get my bill from Octopus, £843 for November 1st to 28th. Absolutely threw my toys out of the pram via email as you might expect, hence the grovelling apology this morning

What would you be asking for in compensation for lost time and aggravation?

With regards to your mis-billing I'd wait and see what your normal consumption is over a few weeks and then ask them to rebill based on that. Again I've been through this and you really need to be firm about what you want. Having the current consumption gives a baseline to argue from if it needs to go any further. in my case they initially billed £2900 and when recalculated it came to £850. 

Good luck.

Thanks. It was wrong and I could clearly see the mistake they had made- when I called them they immediately agreed and corrected it, they had charged me £724 for the electricity I had EXPORTED to the grid. Next thing I know their algorithm emails me saying they're going to vastly increase my DD payment because of my high usage! ANOTHER 'phone call to correct that!

grn99

I wouldn't give them a figure, let them make the initial bid and see how close that is to the figure you believe it should be...they'll only work downwards from ANY figure you give them. For all the disruption and poor CS/comms they should be looking at a minimum of £30 for each event plus a goodwill of between £50-£100. Having now witnessed some very basic admin errors on both my accounts, they don't seem to learn very quickly....left and right hand frequently not talking.

born_again

grn99 said:

I wouldn't give them a figure, let them make the initial bid and see how close that is to the figure you believe it should be...they'll only work downwards from ANY figure you give them. For all the disruption and poor CS/comms they should be looking at a minimum of £30 for each event plus a goodwill of between £50-£100. Having now witnessed some very basic admin errors on both my accounts, they don't seem to learn very quickly....left and right hand frequently not talking.

As someone in customer service. Not the best idea, as odds on the person you are speaking to have a limit they can go to. So if OP said £200 & explain how they got that figure, they might go with that. Not saying anything will see a low ball offer. Which then cause more unrest.