Energy Ombudsman Reviews

An absolute waste of time. A service provided and financed by the Energy Companies to offer a small financial reward and an apology to make complaints go away. My compaint was about the forthcoming RTS shutdown and the failure to offer any viable metering solution was transformed into something I had not complained about. i.e. service and tariffs. The resolution suggested would (will) incur serious financial hardship. A service independant of the OFGEM and the Energy Companies is required to properly investigate complaints without fear or favour. That is clearly not the case at present. With a 41% 1 star rating you would think the penny might have dropped how useless the service is for any real complaint.

Without the ombudsman this case would not have been resolved. Scottish Power think they can abuse people and withhold payments. Their customer service is terrible and arrogant!!!

Funded by the energy suppliers, no wonder Energy Ombudsman is blatantly biased. Energy Ombudsman deliberately ignores customer's facts substantiated with evidence. Energy Ombudsman side with the energy supplier even without evidence, just messages between the Energy Ombudsman case handler and the energy supplier staff will suffice, the decision will be made in favour of the energy supplier. 3 long months of wait to receive a decision. Unprofessional service, no timely updates and unresponsive case handlers. Better not to waste one's time and effort instead use the independent small claims court.

My complaint which had been ongoing with EDF since September 2024 was dealt with by the Ombudsman case worker in a very professional and efficient manner, affording us great courtesy and understanding in dealing with the situation we found ourselves in, which really was a dispute between EDF & Scottish Southern Electric. All has now been resolved.

After finally having a faulty meter replaced by OE, completing the rebilling period and disputing the usage over the faulty meter period, Ofgem still used historical usage data instead of the rebilling usage data even when evidence showing reduced usage was provided. Other countless mistakes made during the case including not reading the evidence properly and providing no alternative should the decision still thought to be wrong. Ofgem are biased towards the energy companies and appear to be no longer fit for purpose.

Dreadful service. You supply all the evidence to them. EDF (worst company on the planet) don't supply any evidence at all. All they do is send in emails and logs I have already supplied and then say "we've done all we can and can't resolve it" They didn't do anything, and didn't supply any evidence of things they had tried. Then this lot think that's fine. But they award you £50 for failed customer service. EDF say that they have paid it and this lot agree...even thought they havn't. Then when you question it, they just ignore you (as they do a lot of the time) What a waste of space they are.

My case handler provided remedies that produced a happy eventual resolution for me. I can not see how this would have happened, in regard to the energy company, without the involvement of the ombudsman.

Never use them again, lack empathy when your vulnerable, you don’t get to reply to the decision when half of it was total BS, they don’t listen when it comes to you sending every bit of information. When you tell them that it wasn’t you who changed it over and an electricity company change your name on the account that you never set up is disgusting now having to take the company to court to prove to a judge all this after experiencing the most horrific abuse from my perpetrator bringing back every single bit of trauma!!! Train your company because it’s damn well needed!

They treat everything as a Customer Service problem, and get an apology for mistakes made by the supplier. They are not mistakes, but they do not see, nor take any notice of the serious problems with the electricity supply industry that caused the customer service interaction in the first place. I now have a Smart Meter that has increased my electricity usage and increased my bills.

The EO had dealt promptly with the case and completed the case in a matter of weeks, whereas in the past Omudsman offices used to take months.

They do nothing. The most simple case with the evidence being emails from EDF themselves stating they can’t make an appointment- even after 3 months and the Ombudsman- what a joke this is - say they have to wait at least 6 weeks for EDF to get back to them - even though they only took my case because EDF had stalled!

My complaint was dealt with quickly and without any complications. Thanks to Alison.

After I few weeks got an email from them saying all evidenceis now in and I should follow the link to read and comment on it. There seemed to be a number of files but with gobbledegook titles ~I couldn't open them as previews were not available and ~I should download them. I tried one only to find I had nothing to open it with.Here is the file:

After months of trying to resolve a tariff/smart meter issue with my energy provider, I contacted the Ombudsman. Alison picked up my case and contacted me the next day to discuss the process. Ongoing communication was clear and efficient and the engagement of the Ombudsman finally resulted in a resolution of my issue.

Complete waste of time. As my complaint relates to a failed transfer between utility companies that was not picked up by either of them for 15 months. When discovered, I could not complain to the ombudsman in this manner, but had to set up 2 separate complaints, handled by 2 separate handlers, both of which resulted in blaming the other utility company. I am now £5k out of pocket, and the Energy Ombudsman agreeing that I should not be liable, is still suggesting I accept £300 goodwill and to pay a bill I should never have incurred. The energy ombudsman is the biggest waste of time and most useless service I have ever received. Note (update 28.5.25) - the Ombudsmans response to this review challenges my concern solely on the decision - my challenge is that the process is flawed as they cannot address a combined case of failure of 2 energy companies creating an error, and each case handled within the ombudsman blaming the other utility company!!! Absolutely futile with no focus on the consumer that has lost out. If the Ombudsman is not focussed on getting a fair result, rather their own processes that fail the consumer, then I question the value of the Ombudsman’s role and purpose.

Very responsive after a long standing issue with an energy company. I would recommend their service- helpful, straightforward to use and very responsive. On a different level to the energy company when it comes to customer service

The representative who dealt with my complaint against Octopus was very helpful and sympathetic. I was able to get several years of worth of back-billing removed from the bill and a substantial amount off the bill for the previous year due to all the time and effort both myself and my landlord had to put in to try and get Octopus acknowledge that they supplied my flat

Like all Ombudsman in the UK they are paid for by the energy companies and so nothing to help. I was told if EDF took longer than 2 months to remove a gas meter to go to the Ombudsman. 3 months later I did just that. Having to send every email to the Ombudsman led them to inform me it would take 6 weeks to “consider the correspondence” and get EDFs response - EDF had written on 24 February - “we will remove your meter in April” !!! I have moved suppliers. There should be independent overseers not this nonsense

So understanding and patient with me advising me along the way to get the outcome I wanted took the pressure off me