Octopus Energy (OE) - Dissappointed

Mosef41

We have been with OE for some years and have been quite happy with the service and cost of energy. However in January, this year, I received an email saying:

"Whilst checking the billing on your account, we found that there's a chance you may be submitting your night and day readings the wrong way around.". The subject of the email was "space test" and they wanted me to, basically submit some up-to-date readings. When I told them that I have never submitted readings as I have a smart meter, though was happy to provide readings, I did so happily.

After some back and forth over the following months and more than one "space test" request (meter readings to us mere mortals), my previous OE balance of over £1,700 was reduced to what is now £400. I have asked for explanations as to why this happened and for assurances that things are now in order and that they can actually now read my meter remotely and these have not been answered. What I have received back after various interactions about the problem I wasn't even aware was a problem, is that I have received three new "energy statements", these are 11, 9 and 4 pages long respectively cataloguing charges and credits dating back to August 2023. In the 11 and 9 page statements, there are like for like itemised charges for the exact same period, but with different amounts.

I am at a loss as to how to make head or tail of these long and detailed statements (how do I validate their accuracy?) and given the discrepancies, I have lost confidence in how accurate they actually are.

I have followed the guidance on the statement and escalated to an Operations Manager because of the failure to answer my questions. They have come back with their explanation of why this happened (apparently when the meter was installed it was installed in a way that the readings were being provided the wrong way round (even though they were pointing the finger at me for providing them the wrong way around in the first place!!), though they have not explained why it has been three years before an alarm was raised and whether they can actually read my meter accurately now. I now have further issues regarding the accuracy discrepancies and the sheer weight of information they have sent to me, quite nonchalantly, without any explanation, not to mention the woeful customer service throughout.

So, I am writing to this forum to ask if anyone else has been in a similar situation, particularly relating to the 24 total pages of energy statements and how, if at all, any sense can actually be made of these to restore confidence in OE and that the £1,300 which has now been taken is true and fair? Is there anything specific I should be asking OE to do to here? Thank you in advance for any tips or guidance.

TroubledTarts

Surely if the readings were the wrong way round and you were using economy 7 efficiently you would be due a refund.

That said with a built up credit of £1700 that could be considered to only be 9-10 months of a whole years use by many and perhaps you just were not being billed.

So many questions but ultimately do you have the readings when you moved in or switched to Octopus and from there you can work out your usage and costs and then work out how much money they have taken and if it it is close.

Swipe

I keep stating this, but this is another example why people should keep spreadsheets with their current tariff info and a forumula to work out their usage and own bills. Update it weekly or monthly with your readngs and you'll then know what your correct bill should be before it arrives. Energy companies cannot be blindly trusted anymore.

squirrelpie

Octopus customer service can be dreadful. I have similar experience of asking specific questions and having them ignored. (About a different subject, I should say). In my case it has been over 8 weeks since I first complained to them, so it is now with the Ombudsman.

At least you have managed to escalate to an Operations Manager. In my case requests to escalate have just been ignored.

In terms of your problem and assuming you're on an E7 tariff:

(1) Establish which reading is used during the day. Do this by reading the physical meter and checking which reading increases during the day.

(2) Check that the daytime reading is now being used to bill for daytime consumption.

(3) Check the arithmetic and understand what has happened in the historical bills and the various revisions. If you have trouble with this, maybe somebody can help you, or you could post details here and people can help (don't post any personal information).

Once you've understood the situation, it may be worth checking if you're using the best tariff for your usage.

TricityMan

Octopus is one of those companies that has grown beyond its ability to offer practical and timely customer service. That is usually the last thing they think of as they grow but it turns into the most valuable customer retention points. It has to be said a lot of the 'smaller' energy providers do customer service a lot better.

squirrelpie

At least you have managed to escalate to an Operations Manager. In my case requests to escalate have just been ignored.

A quick update to what I wrote. Now it's with the Ombudsman, Octopus have escalated to a 'Complaint Specialist'. But there seems to be a common misunderstanding at Octopus that Alt-HAN is only for gas meters and not for IHDs. I wonder how that arose?