Octopus Intelligent - A Warning!

SimonBirtwistle

Magnitio said:

Do you have all the evidence from the apps controlling the battery, car charger and heat pump to show what your actual on/off peak usage was?

I could extract the consumption data from my battery app as it has its own independent measure on the electricity import/export, but I can't correlate that with Octopus as only they know whether each window was peak or off peak.  Plus I think it's unlikely they would accept it as it's not "official" meter reading data.  They also don't seem to have tools internally to do something like that - I had to point out spreadsheet formula errors they made during my conversations with them.

SimonBirtwistle

Netexporter said:

brianposter said:

The fact that Octopus T & Cs are clear does not make them fair. The problem appears to be well worth pursuing.

You could go to law and challenge them under the Unfair Contract Terms legislation but I'm pretty certain that Octopus would have taken legal advice, to make sure they do comply, before publishing the terms.

Honestly I'm tempted to take them to small claims court if the Ombudsman rules against me, the fees aren't particularly large for this amount, and it would cost them at least as much as they owe me.  I would probably lose, but I am feeling "wronged", since I shouldn't have to pay through the nose for my smart meter going wrong.

MWT

SimonBirtwistle said:

  I would probably lose, but I am feeling "wronged", since I shouldn't have to pay through the nose for my smart meter going wrong.

I guess you are unlikely to agree, but I see the contract term as the quid pro quo for being able to get 99% of your consumption at 7p/kWh for the vast majority of the time...

This is a beta tariff, the bugs are not all out of the smart meter system in general and the supplier cannot depend 100% on being able to get the data they need.

Yes, it is frustrating, and yes it shouldn't take 3 months to get it fixed, but they also didn't have to give you a reduction in the bill either...

Octopus are not alone in having this sort of language in their contracts, there is something similar in all the half-hour tariffs I've looked at. 

SimonBirtwistle

MWT said:

I guess you are unlikely to agree, but I see the contract term as the quid pro quo for being able to get 99% of your consumption at 7p/kWh for the vast majority of the time...

Well, I have no issue with paying them what they are owed, I even said I would agree to a split between peak and off peak which I knew was dramatically in their favour (e.g. 75% off peak vs my usual 99%).  Plus, it's not like they lose money on this tariff when it's operating normally - this is windfall profit for them because my smart meter broke.

However I don't know how the average person is meant to be using these tariffs under a constant risk that they might get an unexpected bill for £1000.  Smart meters get enough bad press without adding this sort of risk into the bargain.

MWT

SimonBirtwistle said:

However I don't know how the average person is meant to be using these tariffs under a constant risk that they might get an unexpected bill for £1000.  Smart meters get enough bad press without adding this sort of risk into the bargain.

To be honest, these tariffs are not for the 'average person', this is why they come with the warnings that they do:

"Intelligent Octopus Go is reliant on the UK's smart meter network, which means there can occasionally be issues we don't have control over.

Some industry-standard tech (like In-Home Displays) might not work perfectly, and some processes like installations may take longer than we'd like.

This product is right at the cutting edge of energy tech, so very occasionally, some things might not work the first time."

... and most people don't have your level of consumption so the exposure is more limited. 

... but there are risks which is why vigilance is always advised, these are not tariffs you can just pick and forget about. 

Eventually they will be, but they are not yet there...

Right now though I couldn't be happier with IOG, even with the risks attached...

Bendo

I don't think that billing based on SVR if they can't get the data is unfair as such.  That said,  not warning the customer the they couldn't get the data is potentially pushing it that way. 

It would seem sensible to build an automated alert that they can't pull the data and if it doesn't sort itself out then they will be billed at whatever rate. 

mmmmikey

To my way of thinking the main issue here is taking 3 months to replace a faulty meter so it doesn't really seem appropriate to hide behind a clause that describes this as a beta tariff (although I'm not sure if Octopus have). Surely there ought to be some kind of Ofgem ruling on this to incentivise better service e.g. customer is charged at favourable rate until meter is replaced or automatic compensation if it takes too long? It just doesn't seem right that in these circumstances the customer should be out of pocket and at the mercy of the supplier. 

QrizB

SimonBirtwistle said:

  lus, it's not like they lose money on this tariff when it's operating normally - this is windfall profit for them because my smart meter broke.

I think you're mistaken here.

If Octopus can't retrieve the half hourly data from your meter, they can't use it for settlement purposes. They have to base your bill on legacy metering index readings and consumption profiles.

This is likely to cost them considerably more, costs that they then recover by charging you at the SVT.

pfpf

this can't be right. i was on tracker for a while and had my share of "averaged bills" due to a missing half hour reading.
this case is very different, OP advised OE within 2 weeks of the fault being detected and it took 3 months to get the meter fixed?
now the OP has to pay for those 3 months? i don't know the answer but this just doesn't sit right at all.
good luck OP.

debitcardmayhem

I think that whether it’s a beta product, or not, Octopus have the ability to flag up missing data for everyone whether they are on a TOU tariff or not. I think 3 days is reasonable time to raise that as a concern. 
They want to be at the front of innovation but not following through with their goals. I didn’t get my export statement last month, because they were missing a day’s worth of data, I contacted them and pointed this out and the CS staff did a pull and got it populated, but still no statement. Now 3 days short of getting my latest statements/bills so will see.