Octopus energy company. Anyone use 'em?

Octopus energy company. Anyone use 'em?

Author
Discussion

Anastie

155 posts

159 months

Tuesday 30th April
quotequote all
Has anyone used Octopus to install an EV charge point and how long did it take to get the installation and be given the date?

I'm asking as you have to pay upfront and I paid over a week ago. I called them up requesting an installation date and they said within 8 weeks. They refused to give me a date at this point.

My concern is that they don't advertise that you will have to wait a number of weeks for an installation or book you in straightaway with a future date.

I'm interested in the experience of others before I phone and ask for a refund.


Cheib

23,302 posts

176 months

Tuesday 30th April
quotequote all
Speed 3 said:
https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/octopus-en...

Quite some feat for one of the disruptor entrants.
Phenomenal business. A mate worked there for a while and was able to invest and buy some equity…..great investment !

number2

4,327 posts

188 months

Tuesday 30th April
quotequote all
Anastie said:
Has anyone used Octopus to install an EV charge point and how long did it take to get the installation and be given the date?

I'm asking as you have to pay upfront and I paid over a week ago. I called them up requesting an installation date and they said within 8 weeks. They refused to give me a date at this point.

My concern is that they don't advertise that you will have to wait a number of weeks for an installation or book you in straightaway with a future date.

I'm interested in the experience of others before I phone and ask for a refund.
We used them.

We weren't in a hurry as we had plenty of time before the car arrived. They were a few hundred cheaper than an 'independent' quoted.

Checking my emails: we paid mid October ('23), they contacted us end of December ('23) to book an installation towards the end of Jan ('24).

I imagine lead times change according to the area you're in and the level of demand.

If you need certainty and are in a hurry they're probably not for you.


MrJuice

3,380 posts

157 months

Tuesday 30th April
quotequote all
how much did they charge for the hardware and installation?

ajprice

27,643 posts

197 months

Tuesday 30th April
quotequote all
The monthlies are coming down, had my DD email and went to their Balance Forecast page, it said I could reduce the payment by £7, I reduced it by £10 the same way a few months ago.

Trustmeimadoctor

12,667 posts

156 months

Tuesday 30th April
quotequote all
my bills gone up due to the increase in standing charge the other month
but surely i can turn the heating off soon wink

number2

4,327 posts

188 months

Tuesday 30th April
quotequote all
MrJuice said:
how much did they charge for the hardware and installation?
999 for untethered 7kw Zappi
80 for optional surge protection device

Installed.

speciald

33 posts

172 months

Tuesday 30th April
quotequote all
Anastie said:
Has anyone used Octopus to install an EV charge point and how long did it take to get the installation and be given the date?

I'm asking as you have to pay upfront and I paid over a week ago. I called them up requesting an installation date and they said within 8 weeks. They refused to give me a date at this point.

My concern is that they don't advertise that you will have to wait a number of weeks for an installation or book you in straightaway with a future date.

I'm interested in the experience of others before I phone and ask for a refund.
I paid for mine on 6th March and it was installed on the 14th March.

Anastie

155 posts

159 months

Tuesday 30th April
quotequote all
Thanks for the responses to my question. The quote was for a Zappi installed was £1049 I'm in the North East.

There does appear to be a degree of geographical variance regarding their installation availability.

MrJuice

3,380 posts

157 months

Tuesday 30th April
quotequote all
number2 said:
999 for untethered 7kw Zappi
80 for optional surge protection device

Installed.
not bad, not good

seems reasonable

MrJuice

3,380 posts

157 months

Tuesday 30th April
quotequote all
tracker prices seems to be edging ever close to the capped rates

there's still a decent gap but the best days seem to be behind us

SpidersWeb

3,689 posts

174 months

Tuesday 30th April
quotequote all
MrJuice said:
tracker prices seems to be edging ever close to the capped rates

there's still a decent gap but the best days seem to be behind us
Agile if you can avoid the 4pm to 7pm peak costs.

So far for April 327kWh has cost me £25 unit cost on Agile, but that would have been £44 on Tracker, or even £63 on Intelligent - 8p/kWh is not bad (and that is without solar, battery, or any of that shenanigans).

Mikey G

4,735 posts

241 months

Tuesday 30th April
quotequote all
Trustmeimadoctor said:
my bills gone up due to the increase in standing charge the other month
but surely i can turn the heating off soon wink
Pretty sure last year my heating was off from the 1st May, not sure thats going to happen this year...

Random_Person

18,372 posts

207 months

Wednesday 1st May
quotequote all
Wheres the saving sessions?

Road2Ruin

5,266 posts

217 months

Wednesday 1st May
quotequote all
Random_Person said:
Wheres the saving sessions?
No need any longer, it's not a period of 'high' demand in the spring/summer.

CoolHands

18,749 posts

196 months

Wednesday 1st May
quotequote all
Anyone know if you can pay for the energy you use rather than by direct debit in advance?

In November I was able to reduce my direct debit to £20 a month to start running down the huge balance they like to award themselves. I paid in 20, used 90, balance was reduced by 70 each month.

This time of year I pay 20, use 50, balance reduced by 30 each time. So I have 2 months+ in reserve for upcoming summer months

My balance now 82 quid and they have automatically put my DD up to 60+ with dire warnings. It won’t let me reduce it below 46. But I don’t want to start filling their coffers back up

Any advice for anyone that’s done similar?

essayer

9,094 posts

195 months

Wednesday 1st May
quotequote all
Now the UK's largest electricity supplier - 22% market share after 8 years

https://www.energylivenews.com/2024/04/30/octopus-...

Don't remember British Gas ever giving me free coffee. Well done Octopus! Don't screw it up biggrin

KTF

9,835 posts

151 months

Wednesday 1st May
quotequote all
CoolHands said:
Anyone know if you can pay for the energy you use rather than by direct debit in advance?

In November I was able to reduce my direct debit to £20 a month to start running down the huge balance they like to award themselves. I paid in 20, used 90, balance was reduced by 70 each month.

This time of year I pay 20, use 50, balance reduced by 30 each time. So I have 2 months+ in reserve for upcoming summer months

My balance now 82 quid and they have automatically put my DD up to 60+ with dire warnings. It won’t let me reduce it below 46. But I don’t want to start filling their coffers back up

Any advice for anyone that’s done similar?
You contact them and ask to be put on a variable direct debit.

Then you only pay for the energy that you get charged for on the bill whilst also paying by direct debit.

Evanivitch

20,222 posts

123 months

Wednesday 1st May
quotequote all
CoolHands said:
Anyone know if you can pay for the energy you use rather than by direct debit in advance?

In November I was able to reduce my direct debit to £20 a month to start running down the huge balance they like to award themselves. I paid in 20, used 90, balance was reduced by 70 each month.

This time of year I pay 20, use 50, balance reduced by 30 each time. So I have 2 months+ in reserve for upcoming summer months

My balance now 82 quid and they have automatically put my DD up to 60+ with dire warnings. It won’t let me reduce it below 46. But I don’t want to start filling their coffers back up

Any advice for anyone that’s done similar?
Just be mindful that sometimes smart meter billing is sporadic at best. You could go 3 months without an electricity bill, easily.

CoolHands

18,749 posts

196 months

Wednesday 1st May
quotequote all
Evanivitch said:
Just be mindful that sometimes smart meter billing is sporadic at best. You could go 3 months without an electricity bill, easily.
Thanks I’m still on manual meter readings thankfully which I submit reliably each month