Anyone have Octopus Electricity?

[ExtremelyFedUpNow]

I won't go into the full complaint (believe it or not this is the SHORT version!!) basically I had a smart meter installed by Octopus when I bought my house over a year and a half ago and it's been an F*ing nightmare ever since. Even though they were direct debiting monthly, I wasn't getting bills from Octopus. I called them to query this and was told 'not to worry', problems with the smart meter, it's all normal.
Months went by and then a year went by and then after about 13 months I was suddenly getting a flurry of emails from Octopus several times per day every single day for weeks. They were bills going right back to the first day the meter was fitted but the bills were repeating and giving different amounts owed.
As an example I received a bill for say 1 November 2023 to 1 December 2024 saying a owed (can't remember exact figure) £1,000 , then I get another email 30 seconds later saying I owed £89 for dates 9 July 2024 to 10 July 2024, then seconds later I get another bill saying I owed £357 for dates 11 July 2024 to 27 November 2024, then seconds later another bill saying they owe me £247, then seconds later another bill saying I owe £11 for 24 November 2024, then another bill seconds later..... and on and on it went for months. None of it made any sense and none of the figures added up.
I called them twice and was told their system was trying to sort it and to be patient. Meanwhile the monthly direct debits were coming out of my account but they didn't seem to match the dates on the bills and it was hard to work out what I actually owed because some bills were days, some were weeks, some were several months and they all overlapped with repeated bills for some days, weeks and months.

I started to email Octopus, as I wasn't getting anywhere with them by phone, and I said I wanted the constant back billing, repeated emails to stop and going forward I wanted to be billed monthly. They initially said they couldn't do that and that I would be billed per day. I've never heard of such a thing and insisted I wanted to be billed monthly. I continued to received constant emails of bills dating back from over a year ago. After weeks of emails I insisted on escalating to a manager and was told that I couldn't speak to a manager. After weeks of pushing I finally managed to get a manager to contact me. He said he would look into it and that it might take some time, it took several weeks. After much going back and forth the manager finally agreed that I could be billed monthly and he chose that my billing period would be the date of my direct debit (so if my direct debit is 5th of the month then I would be billed from 4th of month X to 5th of month Y, that means the day I receive the bill is also the date the money is direct debited from my bank. This made no sense to me but at least I finally had a monthly billing period which seemed to stop the repeated bills being emailed to me from the past year and I could better view what I actually owed and was paying for. It took them months to actually get the monthly billing into place and then it only lasted two months before I was told that they were changing my tariff for some reason.

I was offered £30 to close my complaint but that has never materialised.

Even though I have storage heaters and an electric hot water heating (which work overnight and uses a significant amount of electricity) they have changed me to a flat rate tariff. When I questioned this they responded the same day and said they didn't know what my electrical use was and questioned why I wanted to be on a cheaper overnight rate. :O How can Octopus not know what my usage is?

When I explained that 90%+ of my electrical use is overnight and included pictures of my usage charts from my Octopus account they suddenly went quiet and haven't responded. After waiting a week, and worrying about how much this new tariff is costing me, I emailed their complaints team and also their ceo (it says on their website to email him if you're having problems that are not getting resolved). Again I've had no response. I also haven't been billed for the past 6 weeks so it looks like I'm no longer being billed monthly?

WTF is going on?? I'm getting so fed up with all this and the hassle of having to contact them all the time to figure out what is happening with my account.
Has anyone else had similar problems? I keep hearing how amazing Octopus is but all I've had are problems.
I've heard there is no point in complaining to the Obudsman but I don't know what else to do. I want a monthly bill, not a bill every couple of days or every 3-4 months or repeated overlapping bills that cover 14 months. I don't understand why they can't bill me monthly. I also don't understand why I am not on a cheaper overnight tariff. I've turned my heating down to 14 degrees because I can't afford the flat rate tariff. What else can I do??

I'm thinking about changing suppliers but who to chose if Octopus are suppose to be the best out there how much worse are the other providers??

AIBU to want a monthly electric bill and an explanation as to why they changed my tariff to a flat rate?

(Apologies for the long email I'm so frustrated that it's been like therapy to write this all out :) Thanks for reading.)

But they are getting it wrong on economy 7 even without the smart meter.

My bill actual shows

On one side -the tarrif showing 10p night and 30p day.

Then on the left side, with the actual calculation-units correct under day/night but using the wrong prices! How does that happen? It's like someone typed the whole bill by hand. Surely if you put a price in from x date it fills in the rest. Madness.

The problem we have is that our economy 7 is switched on and off by a radio signal that is being withdrawn this summer. The only way to retain the dual rate capability is to change to a smart meter.

Also with octopus, after having serious issues with Scottish power. I unfortunately got put back with them after extra energy went bust. They took a staggering 4 months to give me an account number, but that's a whole other complicated issue! We refused a smart meter,we had a fairly new digital one anyway. All was ok several years,then we got solar panels,so we had to have a smart meter. All good for 2 years, then we got the bills, and we weren't being billed for the electricity (obviously some winter months you don't make any) kept ringing being told by a 12 year old that it would be sorted. Different story every time. The amount was showing up on the graph, but then not added to the account bill. Last bloke told us it was the billing departments fault. I wrote to Greg Jackson, eventually got generic reply, not from him.

Cancel the direct debit and just pay online each month. They fix issues pretty quick when said issue means you won't pay until they have.

My friend is on year 3 of trying to sort smart meter issues out with them- she is done and going to the ombudsman.
As long as you’ve followed the procedure before you go to them they have to act.
Your situation is ridiculous
Good luck

Also struggling with octopus. Went with them to get the cheap overnight rate for car charging.

They said, sign up and once the charger is in you can get that rate.

Then the charger was in but I couldn't get that rate - first I needed a smart meter.

Then the smart meter went in and was told it could take a few days to change to the cheaper rate.

A week later, still couldn't change. They said up to 2 weeks. 3 weeks later, still couldn't change.

Contacted them again - please send a photo of the smart meter. Did that a week ago - still no reply from them and still not on the cheaper rate!

I've had hassle with Octopus as well, but not in your league!

I used to live in a rented flat, and the electricity came via Shell Electricity. They got taken over/sold the contract to Octopus. No big deal, that happens, and Octopus were absolutely fine in the flat.
Then I moved house and decided that since Octopus were good in the flat, I might as well have them in the new house.
Closed the flat account, opened a new one at the house in mid September. All seemed to go fine and dandy. But they never billed me.
Online showed I was paying nothing, and using nothing. This was despite me setting up a payment amount, and sending meter readings.

I decided in the end to do the honourable thing and chase them up in early January. They claimed some issue with the smart meter. That's all well and good, but I sent you actual readings myself. They came to the conclusion I owed them almost £400. Which is about what I'd estimated I'd owe, so I just paid it off as a lump sum. I was assured that it was all sorted now.

2 months later I'm still getting random emails from them, with random dates, random amounts and random reversed payments. They want me to increase the direct debit. But as I've only lived here so far in the winter months, I'm holding off until the end of summer when it should have balanced out.

Honestly, they've been pretty hopeless!

I’m with octopus and do not want a smart meter.
I saw this panorama programme a few weeks ago which basically showed numerous people with numerous companies and were told they owed thousands. I won’t be getting one

www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0024yyc

@User19876536484

"The problem we have is that our economy 7 is switched on and off by a radio signal that is being withdrawn this summer. The only way to retain the dual rate capability is to change to a smart meter."

Ah yes I've heard about the radio signal and in fact my energy company (So Energy) bombarded me with calls and emails demanding I change to a smart meter due to the signal issue. I checked my meter and it wasn't even one of those types so told them to stuff the smart meter basically!

Thank you for your responses it's been a relief in some ways to learn that it's not just me who has a problem with Octopus. I can't see where all their positive reviews come from.
Those who have asked about a smart meter I can only say that my experience with it has been horrible so I personally wouldn't recommend getting one if you can avoid it. When I bought my house I had a key meter type thing and I had to drive out to a shop to put money on the key every week or so. I knew I didn't want to continue with that. I was told the only alternative option was to go with a smart meter. I didn't actually want one but felt forced to get it. The black box they gave me (to see my electrical use?) when they installed the smart meter has never worked (it won't turn on), and when I told Octopus they said 'we know they don't work', well why did you give it to me then???

I do have one of those black radio box things attached to my old meter system, so I guess I would have been forced to change to a smart meter now anyways since the radio signal is going to be switched off.

Thanks for the recommendation of EON and advice to avoid Scottish Power. I don't have gas in my area we only have electric and I've realised that some companies won't supply just electric.

For those who asked, I was on the Octopus Agile plan which had lower prices overnight. When I signed up to that plan I told them it was because I had storage heaters and electric hot water tank. For some reason I was changed to a fixed rate plan which is a single rate for day and night. I've queried this because I think I should be on an economy 7 type plan but they still haven't responded.
I think you're right about going on social media and I will try the Ombudsman at this point as well because waiting for Octopus is getting me nowhere. I'm so fed up of dealing with this company. Just when you think the situation is sorted they F it up again and then you're back chasing them evenings after work and weekends when I want to enjoy my time off.

I had much the same problem last year. I was emailing them monthly, pleading for a bill, even though my smart meter was working perfectly. They just kept telling me my case was in a manual queue. Eventually I went to the ombudsman who dealt with it very quickly. I received £200 in compensation and a heated throw.

@ExtremelyFedUpNow think twice about Eon!!! I’m currently trying to sort out a anythingbutSmart meter problem. I’ve attached a screenshot of part of my bill - I’ve been on the phone umpteen times and it’s something to do with the meter being fitted for dual rates but now there’s only one rate. I think I’m paying the correct amount but it’s disconcerting when you see a bill like this !!

I’m with Octopus now after Shell sold it on and haven’t had any problems (yet - fingers crossed) but had massive problems with Shell. I came across this website, Resolver, which logs all your complaints and is independent, (and free) so if you need the evidence for going to the Ombudsman that they are mishandling complaints it’s all ready to go and shows their response times.
I discovered on using them, that Shell had a dedicated Resolver complaints team so it got dealt with pretty quickly and when I asked for compensation got it due to their mishandling and crappy billing which got my account in a right mess and arrears - amounts given were in line with what the ombudsman would award if upheld. They want to avoid the ombudsman if they can on complaints. I used it with Hermes as well when a delivery driver nicked a delivery. Good luck
https://www.resolver.co.uk

Not read whole thread

But to note about ombudsmen; I had an issue between two energy companies and this went on for about 9 months. I felt like I was thinking about it all the time! I contacted the ombudsman and in a short space of time both companies had to drop it and pay me money back. Its definitely not a waste :)

Octopus Agile has different prices every 30 mins. That might be why there is so much confusion.

It's not a straight cheap overnight tariff as it is tied to the wholesale price so is cheap when there's a surplus of renewables i.e. it's windy. Some half hours can be really low (occasionally negative) but others can be up to 99p a kWh.

I'm unsure why you'd have been on that rather than E7. It's a good tariff if you have solar and a battery so can avoid the expensive times.

Mine wasn't generating bills on this automatically as if the signal drops temporarily they have to do some kind of manual input. It was resolved easily but was only for one month.

I was also put on standard tariff but they just rebilled on the correct rate.

I had issues more like yours with Utilita who were a nightmare. Such was their incompetence they eventually issued my compensation twice over. I didn't bother telling them that!

Hopefully the above makes some sense of why they are generating so many readings. It could be in your interest to ask them just to bill the period on E7 (with compensation for their failure to bill you correctly).

Are you dealing with complaints rather than normal customer service? You need to lodge as a formal complaint before it can go to the ombudsman so make sure you say your email is a formal complaint.

Sorry your post was way too long to for me to read the whole thing.

still, Octopus are atrocious. They utterly messed up my billing for months and ignored my emails or sent moronic fatuous replies.

I complained to the ombudsman.

octopus then lied in evidence to the ombudsman, then they called me up on the phone and were aggressive and intimidating, trying to get me to withdraw the complaint, and were overall extremely unpleasant to deal with.

The ombudsman upheld my complaint. Octopus had to send a letter of apology for the intimidation, and pay me £175 for the inconvenience of their utterly useless billing system.

so, collect your documents, write a clearly worded but less garrulous version of your complaint to the ombudsman, brace yourself for being bullied by Octopus, and grit your teeth until you can get through the complaints process.

I think it's a case of the lunatics running the asylum these days. Definitely steer clear of Scottish power,I unfortunately got put back with them after extra went bust. It took them a staggering 4 months to give me an account number. Well when you ring first thing is "please state or key in your account number". I have economy 7 plus solar and 2 batteries. The put the day and night readings the wrong way round! So it was in my favour of course, but I could for sea a big bill coming,it took 9 months to sort out, with the account on hold, so I couldn't change supplier and wasn't paying anything. British gas, they told me I had 2 electric meters in my home, I obviously had one,that took months (they also messed up a service,big time left and essential part out, almost flooded and ruined our ceiling.

Exactly. If OP doesn’t understand the Agile tariff, which seems to be the case, she had no business being on it in the first place. It doesn’t sound like the smart meter isn’t working properly, but that hasn’t stopped the anti-smart meter brigade chiming in.

Octopus asked me what resolution I would like following the 7 month wait to get my account sorted out. I've asked for £300 will let you know if I get it!!

Reading the above is confirming to me that potentially no other energy supplier is better to deal with than Octopus <holds head in hands and dreads maybe switching from bad to worse>

I have definitely written 'formal complaint' in my emails to Octopus yet they don't seem to be treating the situation as such. Thank you for letting me know that it's not a complete waste of time going to the Ombudsman. I'll be sending them an email this week. <holds head in hands and dreads having to write further detailed correspondence outlining over a year's worth of problems with Octopus>

Such was their incompetence they eventually issued my compensation twice over. 😂

I will have a look at Resolver thank you I've never heard of them before.

If OP doesn’t understand the Agile tariff, which seems to be the case, she had no business being on it in the first place.

I'm not sure where this comment has come from. I completely understood the Agile tariff and continually monitored the Octopus pricing on that tariff to ensure I was avoiding the higher rate times. Octopus, for some reason, changed me from the Agile tariff to a fixed, single rate tariff. I never asked for that changed. I questioned why they were doing it as well as the single rate tariff they put me on, Octopus haven't responded. When I was on the Agile plan I didn't receive a bill for months and Octopus said that was because their smart meter wasn't working properly. Octopus started the conversation about their smart meter not working.

@blobby10 Good luck! Although £300 probably doesn't even come close to paying for the amount of time you've probably had to spend trying to contact them and stress and worry about your billing over the past 7 months. I hope you don't have to wait another 7 months for them to respond. Tell them you want £300 plus interest?

Fair enough, that wasn’t clear from your post. A smart tariff like Agile can only work if the supplier is reliably receiving data from the smart meter. If they’re not, reverting to a single rate tariff is inevitable. Clearly Octopus has handled the situation very badly.

What a nightmare!

I'm on Octopus with a smart meter and haven't had any problems. I don't have economy 7 though and just use a standard fixed tariff, not the agile tariff or anything. I pay a fixed monthly amount so am in credit over summer and in debt over the winter.

I've only had to email customer service to change direct debit amount, when I what I want to pay each month is different to their suggested amount.

If you call ask to be put through to the complaints department. It made things much easier with Utilita once that happened.

They have eight weeks to resolve before deadlock and then you can go to the ombudsman.

I think they'll resolve it before then though. I got £100 credit from octopus for delays in fitting my smart meter.

I've found them very good to deal with and they do at least answer the phone which is an improvement on some.

I'm with octopus and pay a variable amount monthly. Their emails explaining what I owe are generally as clear as mud and usually contradict each other.

In case anyone is interested, Octopus countered my request with an offer of £150 - I settled for £200 as its all become too much of a PITA. However I do wish I had gone in at £500 now if they were going to offer half