Octopus Final bill for £2K cannot be right

MWT

WBCPB said:

I have just checked my 3 registers and Octopus seem to be using both RO1 + RO2 since i rejoined in April this year, where as previously ALL usage was on RO1, so this will present a problem similar to OP should i decide to switch suppliers.
Formal complaint will be sent to try and bottom this out ASAP.
Could any other Octopus customers on TOU tariffs check to see if this is widespread please?

Not sure what in that warrants a 'formal complaint'...

They are entitled to use the registers as they see fit to bill you according to the requirements of your tariff.

WBCPB

MWT said:

WBCPB said:

I have just checked my 3 registers and Octopus seem to be using both RO1 + RO2 since i rejoined in April this year, where as previously ALL usage was on RO1, so this will present a problem similar to OP should i decide to switch suppliers.
Formal complaint will be sent to try and bottom this out ASAP.
Could any other Octopus customers on TOU tariffs check to see if this is widespread please?

Not sure what in that warrants a 'formal complaint'...

They are entitled to use the registers as they see fit to bill you according to the requirements of your tariff.

The only way to miss the untrained frontline customer service bots agents reading from their scripts and the AI sending customers round in circles. Hopefully someone higher up the chain of command will be able to sort my problem.

Pat38493

WBCPB said:

MWT said:

WBCPB said:

I have just checked my 3 registers and Octopus seem to be using both RO1 + RO2 since i rejoined in April this year, where as previously ALL usage was on RO1, so this will present a problem similar to OP should i decide to switch suppliers.
Formal complaint will be sent to try and bottom this out ASAP.
Could any other Octopus customers on TOU tariffs check to see if this is widespread please?

Not sure what in that warrants a 'formal complaint'...

They are entitled to use the registers as they see fit to bill you according to the requirements of your tariff.

The only way to miss the untrained frontline customer service bots agents reading from their scripts and the AI sending customers round in circles. Hopefully someone higher up the chain of command will be able to sort my problem.

I know this is completely crazy, but I have found that if I message Octopus on X (formerly Twitter), I get much better service and usually get someone who knows what they are doing.  Not sure how long this will last but it’s always worked so far.

In fact that’s the only thing I use my X/Twitter account for these days.

Pat38493

MWT said:

WBCPB said:

I have just checked my 3 registers and Octopus seem to be using both RO1 + RO2 since i rejoined in April this year, where as previously ALL usage was on RO1, so this will present a problem similar to OP should i decide to switch suppliers.
Formal complaint will be sent to try and bottom this out ASAP.
Could any other Octopus customers on TOU tariffs check to see if this is widespread please?

Not sure what in that warrants a 'formal complaint'...

They are entitled to use the registers as they see fit to bill you according to the requirements of your tariff.

In theory, if you have  a reliable working smart meter, there is no need for Octopus to use multiple registers as their Kraken billing system can use half hourly readings for billing - however as we have seen in this thread, if they then have to fall back to manual readings or daily smart meter readings rather than half hourly ones, that’s where there may be issues with any future handover to a new supplier.

However the other issue is that I have a feeling from past threads I have read, that it’s impossible for them to “merge” the registers and force them all to the same one - they can only put everything on the same register going forwards.  I.e. they cannot alter the history of what happened they can only change what happens for future use.

WBCPB

Pat38493 said:

WBCPB said:

MWT said:

WBCPB said:

I have just checked my 3 registers and Octopus seem to be using both RO1 + RO2 since i rejoined in April this year, where as previously ALL usage was on RO1, so this will present a problem similar to OP should i decide to switch suppliers.
Formal complaint will be sent to try and bottom this out ASAP.
Could any other Octopus customers on TOU tariffs check to see if this is widespread please?

Not sure what in that warrants a 'formal complaint'...

They are entitled to use the registers as they see fit to bill you according to the requirements of your tariff.

The only way to miss the untrained frontline customer service bots agents reading from their scripts and the AI sending customers round in circles. Hopefully someone higher up the chain of command will be able to sort my problem.

I know this is completely crazy, but I have found that if I message Octopus on X (formerly Twitter), I get much better service and usually get someone who knows what they are doing.  Not sure how long this will last but it’s always worked so far.

In fact that’s the only thing I use my X/Twitter account for these days.

I do not do X, Facebook or Whatsapp and as stated previously i do not get involved with any energy suppliers ` frontline customer service carnival, i find a formal complaint usually focuses the minds as it can impact on their bottom line.

MWT

Pat38493 said:

MWT said:

WBCPB said:

I have just checked my 3 registers and Octopus seem to be using both RO1 + RO2 since i rejoined in April this year, where as previously ALL usage was on RO1, so this will present a problem similar to OP should i decide to switch suppliers.
Formal complaint will be sent to try and bottom this out ASAP.
Could any other Octopus customers on TOU tariffs check to see if this is widespread please?

Not sure what in that warrants a 'formal complaint'...

They are entitled to use the registers as they see fit to bill you according to the requirements of your tariff.

In theory, if you have  a reliable working smart meter, there is no need for Octopus to use multiple registers as their Kraken billing system can use half hourly readings for billing - however as we have seen in this thread, if they then have to fall back to manual readings or daily smart meter readings rather than half hourly ones, that’s where there may be issues with any future handover to a new supplier.

However the other issue is that I have a feeling from past threads I have read, that it’s impossible for them to “merge” the registers and force them all to the same one - they can only put everything on the same register going forwards.  I.e. they cannot alter the history of what happened they can only change what happens for future use.

True, but if you are on a 2 rate tariff then it is also inherently more reliable to just use 2 registers so missing half-hour readings are less of an issue. Can handle up to 4 rates that way, but to my knowledge Octopus are only using 2 at most. 

The entire industry needs to sort out the problems that arise when switching having used both registers at some point in the past. 

cannugec5

I have recently had my third smart meter installed, with neither of the first two being able to communicate. Smart meters #2 & #3 were both installed by Octopus. 

I had never been on a multi rate tariff in my 24 years in the property. 

Smart meter #2 had 2 registers which I noticed by accident. I submitted a single reading each month through the app, using the total use of the 2 registers. 

When meter #3 was installed last month the installer submitted my final reading for meter #2 but he only used one register not the total. His reading is out and under by approximately 6000 KWh. 

Meter #3 is working perfectly, shows a single register and reset everything to zero from the date of installation. 

However I have not received a bill since installation as they are struggling to comprehend July’s usage! Customer Service suggested it will be worked out by an estimate. 

So I am another Octopus customer who was on a 2 rate meter for absolutely no reason and Octopus themselves were oblivious. It makes me wonder if it was a particular model that each of us has had an issue with? 

Scot_39

Does your supply number / MPAN begin with 01/1 or 02/2 ?

Should be on every bill.

It often simply doesn't matter what tariff you were on or for how long 

cannugec5 said:

I had never been on a multi rate tariff in my 24 years in the property. 

When meter #3 was installed last month the installer submitted my final reading for meter #2 but he only used one register not the total. His reading is out and under by approximately 6000 KWh. 

Meter #3 is working perfectly, shows a single register and reset everything to zero from the date of installation. 

However I have not received a bill since installation as they are struggling to comprehend July’s usage! Customer Service suggested it will be worked out by an estimate. 

So I am another Octopus customer who was on a 2 rate meter for absolutely no reason and Octopus themselves were oblivious. It makes me wonder if it was a particular model that each of us has had an issue with? 

As often if you were being billed on single rate on old profile class 2 meter - then you tend to get a profile class 2 meter by default when switch supplier or upgrade - if you dont force the point.

Its the old meter / MPAN (or hidden codes behind it) not the applied tariff thats the key.

And the only way around that is - if you really want permanent single rate - is to get your supply registered as single rate / profile class 1.

The meter you had set to 2 rate can do single rate - it just defaulted to old meter / supply coding.

Chrysalis

To be frank I think the billing staff at Octopus are a bit ..., I do apologise for the statement as it is insulting, but I can only draw that conclusion from my dealings with them.

However what doesnt help matters is we have smart meters that have multiple ways of measuring usage.  The suppliers then at their conveniance move between one and the other.  I can only speculate this legacy way of collecting readings was kept so the suppliers didnt have to update their billing systems for legacy tariffs.  
I can confirm as a Octopus customer, if on a legacy type tariff, they will still collect 30 min data (but ignore it and not even use it in a billing dispute when the standard reading is unobtainable), and vice versa if on a smart tariff, they do still grab the standard readings, and seem to be used for validation purposes, as the dates always match up to billing dates.  Also used for final bill purposes.
It falls apart when there is discrepancy between the two and the outcome is an inflated bill for the supplier.
I call them out, as they fail to recognise obvious problems like this, as an example when I used to work for british gas, and my role was on metering, I was told to ignore customer readings that generated an unusually high bill, it was actually company policy to assume something was wrong and to not bill the customer for the usage.  This kind of common sense seems to be completely lacking.  There should be alarm bells ringing when an automated smart meter usage measurement has that kind of deviation from a submitted reading taken around the same time.

cannugec5

Scot_39 said:

Does your supply number / MPAN begin with 01/1 or 02/2 ?

It starts with a 1.