Chatting to OVO, with a promising outcome

Some better news today on the OVO problem. 

A further three days had gone by since my second email. Should I now send a third, but to somebody high up in their organisation? Maybe not yet? Instead I decided to see whether I could actually speak to somebody - well, live-message them anyway. 

So it was back to their Complaints webpage, but this time to have a chat. As expected, there was a queue. I began with 82 people in front of me. That would whittle down, and while it did I washed the dishes. I looked in at the laptop screen every few minutes, to see whether the queue was getting shorter. It was. After 20 minutes, I was only 19th in the queue.

It was time to watch the screen closely and be ready. After waiting for 50 minutes altogether, a 'ding' sound came from my laptop, to signal that it was now my turn. It began with a couple of clearly standard questions that asked me for my name, address and account number, and how OVO could help. These might have been posed automatically by a chatbot, or otherwise by a human pressing a button or two. I pictured a busy operative dealing with several callers simultaneously, and needing some standard opening sentences at his or her fingertips. Whatever, we were off!

The response to my (hopefully) succinct summary of what was wrong told me that my first email - maybe both emails - had been read by this person, and that someone else at OVO had been asked to examine my gas readings afresh. The initial response to the question I next asked, about when there would be a result, rather confirmed that the people on Complaints deal with multiple cases at the same time. (I wondered how many - a dozen?)

A 'five working day' wait? Why not an instant fix? It now looked as if I'd get an incorrect bill in the next few days, which would have to be amended. Would that happen without a nudge from me?

It was time to end the conversation. I'd established that something was being done to put matters right, and I'd stressed that I lived alone, was elderly, and therefore 'vulnerable'. I hoped this status would put me on OVO's 'priority list' and protect me from any automatic drastic action they might impose if ever another future mistake on their part generated a spurious payment deficit in my account. I'd heard that 'bad payers' could be sanctioned by imposing a prepayment meter - but not if 'vulnerable'. It seemed wise to guard against this possibility, even though I had always been a good, well-behaved customer of SSE's, and intended to be so with OVO.

A friend has now told me that 'five working days' is a standard promise. Perhaps it will be sooner. I'll be checking my credit balance daily on the OVO Energy app until I see that it's been fully reinstated.

The same friend is with Octopus Energy, and she is trying out a regime whereby she gets paid for avoiding peak-time electricity usage, which will take the strain off the National Grid. It sounds very interesting, although as it happens I use a lot more gas than electricity. I have fewer electrical appliances than most households, and use them sparingly, so my energy usage profile is untypical. Still, Octopus might be the natural alternative to OVO if I feel any ongoing dissatisfaction after this present issue is resolved.

I did ask for a transcript of our conversation, something I've had before when chatting to mobile phone companies like BT Mobile and EE. But apparently OVO can't do that. Never mind - I took screenprints with my laptop. 

Finally, am I going to abandon my claim for compensation? 

Six days ago, OVO's error set my heart beating fast in consternation. I'd been robbed of over £500 credit - important money: it was my cushion against big gas bills this winter. OVO had upset me and made me worry. Then there was the trouble and effort of getting them to put things right. The stress of this actually showed up in my FitBit record - I'd developed a higher resting heart rate, surely only a temporary effect, but not good all the same.  

I'd asked for £56 at first in compensation, and hadn't yet raised that figure. Was it worth powder and shot? The claim (and why) would remain on OVO's record, a stain that couldn't be removed. If I didn't pursue the question of compensation now, this mistake and its consequences would still reinforce any future claim. 

I will see what happens now. If OVO put things right quickly and correctly I'll let it go. If not, I can make a fuss.