Ovo Energy Reviews: Give your feedback

N5girl · 1 June 2013 at 3:48PM

We have used them for a couple of years. I get the odd call 'offering' to change our direct debit but we have never been forced to accept it.

Offworld · 1 October 2013 at 9:42AM

I've decided to switch to OVO Energy

Not the cheapest or longest fixed deal - but current customer reviews are excellent & it means one more person has moved away from the Big 6.

Let's see how smoothly the switch-over goes.
Will I get my credit balance back from current supplier without any fuss?

What will OVO set my starting direct debit at?

My current DD is set to £60 per month - but due to price rises etc I estimate £74 per month (to be my average over the year).

Because we are starting the winter months then I think that OVO mightl suggest £85-£90.

I have been with my current supplier for about 7 years and have always been happy with them - but OVO are cheaper.

Let's see if I've made the right decision.

INSPIRED · 1 October 2013 at 4:19PM

Offworld, I do hope you have made the right decision. We have been with OVO for awhile and are extremely happy with them. The DD is a tad high but the credit balance on the account is earning 3% interest.

Website is easy on the eye and full of useful information. Statements are clear and concise. Staff are very helpfull.

Our current fix is coming to an end and I am investigating the opposition. Do not want to move but need to keep down our costs. I am hoping that OVO remains the best deal!

oldagetraveller · 1 October 2013 at 5:23PM

Been with OVO for two years now. The second year "fix" finishes mid November. Just received a renewal invitation letter by e-mail for the next year. I did a couple of comparison site checks and only a couple of suppliers are a tiny bit cheaper. So all things considered it will be another year with OVO. Mainly because of their excellent customer service and very easy to understand billing. Oh, the 3% paid on credit balances too.
The change from previous supplier was totally trouble free also.
I have no complaints about them at all except for one small niggle that their C.S. are not available over the weekend.

jamesperrett · 2 October 2013 at 1:56PM

I've been with OVO for nearly 3 years with a rather mixed experience. The switching process and the first 18 months were great but halfway through the second fixed period they found out that they had been charging me for the wrong type of gas meter and I ended up with my direct debits nearly doubling.

Once the second year had finished they offered me a new deal but I wanted to check out the market before confirming the renewal. I hadn't read the small print which told me that the prices were only valid for a few days. When I came to renew they offered me a worse deal so I declined and went onto their standard variable tariff.

I decided to switch suppliers about 6 weeks ago and the switch apparently went through on the 23rd of September. I sent in my meter readings to the new supplier which seemed to be accepted but I've just found out that, despite being in credit, OVO have taken another direct debit after the account was switched.

I've just come off the phone to them where they blamed the way their automated systems have been set up. They offered me a partial refund which would take 5-6 days to come through but I would have to wait for a full refund until their systems have confirmed the final readings.

That's the sort of excuse I'd expect from a large unwieldy utility company - not a small company like OVO are supposed to be.

I have since spoken to a team leader who said they might be able to refund the whole balance sooner but we shall see....

Edit... just realised she wasn't being as generous as first appeared - they still want to hang on to £200 of my money for a few more weeks.

Divitwifie · 9 October 2013 at 2:44AM

I've been with OVO for 3 years now. I switched as the rate was good, the easy to understand tariffs and they offered 3% on any credit I had in the account. Since I couldn't get a better instant access savings bank account. I decided to treat it as a mini savings account as well. I've overpaid every month to build up a substantial credit. I then took out £500 of the credit to help pay for my daughters trip to Peru! When I phoned up to get this overpayment back the staff member I spoke to couldn't have been more helpful. The money was in my account within 48 hours and they even said that they hoped that my daughter enjoyed her trip! Quick and excellent service. Of course if you don't have the money to overpay then the extra costs may mean it's not the best supplier for you. I must admit the easiest and responsive utility company I've ever dealt with.

Another benefit - the call centre staff are based in the UK and when I've called I've been able to speak to someone quickly - no myriad of number options just to speak to someone. Overseas call centres often drive me mad as they struggle to understand my Scottish accent.

unsure · 9 October 2013 at 11:10AM

Sorry to go against the grain but we are almost certainly switching away from Ovo in the next few days at the end of our one year contract.

We joined in Nov 12 and by January they were telling us that our duel fuel direct debit was too low and would be unlikely to cover our bills. We were convinced to raise the direct debit by £25. I've recently checked ahead of the contract end and we are nearly £800 in credit!

I haven't been doing regular monthly readings but their estimates are very close to the real figures which suggests they must know we've been overpaying hugely. While they were very quick to push us to (unnecessarily) raise our direct debit we've had absolutely no contact about a big credit surplus which suggests that their original estimates were way off, that we didn't need to increase the payments and that they've been happy to hold on to our money without saying a word. They do pay 3% interest on credit which is something. But overall I'm not best pleased.

My only question is whether to leave immediately and grab the best offer, or wait a month and avoid paying the £60 exit fees (which we could recoup with a Scottish Power cashback fix currently available).

They are easy and pleasant enough to deal with and use 0800 numbers, but if they get the sums badly wrong (in their favour), push you to increase payments but then forget to mention rising credit, I don't think they are doing a good job for the customer.

MillicentBystander · 9 October 2013 at 11:21AM

Divitwifie wrote: »

I've been with OVO for 3 years now. I switched as the rate was good, the easy to understand tariffs and they offered 3% on any credit I had in the account. Since I couldn't get a better instant access savings bank account. I decided to treat it as a mini savings account as well. I've overpaid every month to build up a substantial credit. I then took out £500 of the credit to help pay for my daughters trip to Peru! When I phoned up to get this overpayment back the staff member I spoke to couldn't have been more helpful. The money was in my account within 48 hours and they even said that they hoped that my daughter enjoyed her trip! Quick and excellent service. Of course if you don't have the money to overpay then the extra costs may mean it's not the best supplier for you. I must admit the easiest and responsive utility company I've ever dealt with.

Another benefit - the call centre staff are based in the UK and when I've called I've been able to speak to someone quickly - no myriad of number options just to speak to someone. Overseas call centres often drive me mad as they struggle to understand my Scottish accent.

What would happen if, Heaven forbid, OVO went mammaries skyward? I'm suspecting you would be a long way down the list of creditors. Whilst I accept that the 3% interest on any (small?) credit balance is a decent offer, I really wouldn't treat it as a risk free investment to pump money in to :eek:

jamesperrett · 10 October 2013 at 3:41PM

unsure wrote: »

My only question is whether to leave immediately and grab the best offer, or wait a month and avoid paying the £60 exit fees (which we could recoup with a Scottish Power cashback fix currently available).

My switch happened on the 23rd of September but I've just had a letter from them asking for another direct debit in November! That's despite being over £300 in credit at the time of the switch and they even had the cheek to take another £200 after the switch.

It feels like they're the Hotel California of energy companies!

If you initiate a switch now, it is unlikely to happen for at least 3 weeks and probably longer.

unsure · 10 October 2013 at 4:36PM

After another phone call with Ovo I am much more likely to leave. Trying to reclaim nearly £1000 credit, they advised leaving two months payment (£450) "because of the time of year" rather than the one month required by contract. When I said "no thanks" they then said that in order to process any credit of over £600 they needed a picture emailed of the meter readings and the meter serial nos. I pointed out that it's the same meter they've been happy to accept overpayments on and they'll still have several hundred pounds of my money so it sounded like putting unnecessary obstacles in the way of customers reclaiming the money they've been pushed into overpaying. "That's our policy" was the only answer. When I asked to speak to a manager they said nobody was available but they would "try" to get somebody to call sometime in the next 24 hours.

I'm getting more and more unimpressed with this bunch by the day!

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