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My Experience Switching to Octopus -> Go

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UrbanSplash

Active Member
Nov 10, 2019
1,193
872
UK
Just thought I would share my experience of switching to Octopus from Shell (first utility)

Used a referral code which was accepted no bother. Account created and advised that they would ask for a meter reading 5 days before switch date. Switch date was 14 working days from the date of the order.

loads of emails at every stage with updates etc. 5 days before switch day, received the email requesting meter readings. Which are done simply using the link in the email. Meter readings also appeared in the app straight away.

Email on switch day saying that it was now complete. Email 2 days later inviting the move over to ‘go’. Switch to go happens at midnight on the same day.

I had existing ‘secure’ smart meters which were installed a good few years ago. All new account information appears on the in home secure screen ok.

For charging (Tesla wall connector), I just set to start at 00:30. Always charges within the 4 hour window. I’ve set dishwasher etc to start within the window too.

It’s been an extremely painless experience. Just let me know if you want to know what meters I have etc. All working fine.
 
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Just thought I would share my experience of switching to Octopus from Shell (first utility)

Used a referral code which was accepted no bother. Account created and advised that they would ask for a meter reading 5 days before switch date. Switch date was 14 working days from the date of the order.

loads of emails at every stage with updates etc. 5 days before switch day, received the email requesting meter readings. Which are done simply using the link in the email. Meter readings also appeared in the app straight away.

Email on switch day saying that it was now complete. Email 2 days later inviting the move over to ‘go’. Switch to go happens at midnight on the same day.

I had existing ‘secure’ smart meters which were installed a good few years ago. All new account information appears on the in home secure screen ok.

For charging (Tesla wall connector), I just set to start at 00:30. Always charges within the 4 hour window. I’ve set dishwasher etc to start within the window too.

It’s been an extremely painless experience. Just let me know if you want to know what meters I have etc. All working fine.
It’s good to hear from someone else with a painless changeover experience. Most of the stories seem to be of the horror variety.

My own experiences with Octopus have also been excellent. Probably the best utility company I’ve been with in recent history.
 
I had to get a Smart Meter fitted before I could swap to Go, and this was a bit slow and a bit of a fag - not a horror story, just a bit frustrating. Since the swap was made Octopus have been fine - absolutely no complaints and I find the 4 hours cheap period plenty for my needs - I rarely have two consecutive days of high milage so if it doesn't reach my set 85% one night it reaches it the next.
 
I’m sorry to say my experience has been horrendous. Triggered the switch in October and still not on ‘Go’. Two sets of meters already and they are talking about installing a third. They have not followed what they said they would do during numerous phone calls. Preparing myself for another dreaded phone call tomorrow. If they don’t fix soon will be looking to switch. Interested in non Octopus recommendations for ‘green’ electricity and gas.
 
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I had to get a Smart Meter fitted before I could swap to Go, and this was a bit slow and a bit of a fag - not a horror story, just a bit frustrating. Since the swap was made Octopus have been fine - absolutely no complaints and I find the 4 hours cheap period plenty for my needs - I rarely have two consecutive days of high milage so if it doesn't reach my set 85% one night it reaches it the next.

How long before getting the smart meter installed before Go was active? I've got a smart meter installation on 4th August so I'm wondering when my bills will start to go down!
 
How long before getting the smart meter installed before Go was active? I've got a smart meter installation on 4th August so I'm wondering when my bills will start to go down!
Once your smart meters are sending data back to the mothership, it’s within a day or two. I already had compatible SMETS1 meters, and I went live with Octopus on a Friday, and live with GO the following Monday.
 
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It’s seems perhaps a common issue regarding a bad experience is the meter situation. If you have an existing compatible smart meter, seems to be ok. If you need meters changed then it seems to cause huge delays and technical issues.

Hopefully this gets better as lockdown is easing and engineers can actually get out.
 
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It’s seems perhaps a common issue regarding a bad experience is the meter situation. If you have an existing compatible smart meter, seems to be ok. If you need meters changed then it seems to cause huge delays and technical issues.

Hopefully this gets better as lockdown is easing and engineers can actually get out.
You’re spot on there. My own metering experiences have been terrible, starting with our first smart meters in 2011. I think we’re now on our third or fourth set of meters since then, which is an absolute waste of money and resources. It seems that most of the energy companies use the same bunch of incompetent cowboys to sub-contract their meter work to. Add to that the fiasco of SMETS1 and SMETS2 and it’s the typical government infrastructure project...what a dog’s dinner!
 
How long before getting the smart meter installed before Go was active? I've got a smart meter installation on 4th August so I'm wondering when my bills will start to go down!

It took us several (maybe 3 or 4) weeks. There was an issue with our smart meter not reporting to Octopus, The smart meter itself had a good signal connection back to the central system, but for some reason the data didn't get to Octopus. In the end I nagged Octopus and they in turn got something done which sorted the problem pretty quickly (sorry to be so vague). So moral is, don't let the status 'waiting for smart meter data' run for too long. Get on to Octopus and ask them to check out exactly what the problem is. Once the data started flowing the swop to Go was more or less overnight.
 
You’re spot on there. My own metering experiences have been terrible, starting with our first smart meters in 2011. I think we’re now on our third or fourth set of meters since then, which is an absolute waste of money and resources. It seems that most of the energy companies use the same bunch of incompetent cowboys to sub-contract their meter work to. Add to that the fiasco of SMETS1 and SMETS2 and it’s the typical government infrastructure project...what a dog’s dinner!

Actually the guys who installed our Octopus smart meter (the first one we have had) seemed fine. They arrived with instructions to do both gas and electric but I said I didn't want the gas done and they were happy to phone back to their office and get the job order changed. Actual fitting was a non-event - just take the old meter out of its dock and click the new one in. Then a bit of fiddling around (software update, data entry etc) and they were done. They said mobile signal was fine (and said that if that was a problem the type of meter they fitted could work through our home WiFi).
 
I’m sorry to say my experience has been horrendous. Triggered the switch in October and still not on ‘Go’. Two sets of meters already and they are talking about installing a third. They have not followed what they said they would do during numerous phone calls. Preparing myself for another dreaded phone call tomorrow. If they don’t fix soon will be looking to switch. Interested in non Octopus recommendations for ‘green’ electricity and gas.

Similar but I don't have a meter and its been 5 months without any clue of when a meter will be installed and neither do they, so much for estimated 6 weeks. Granted some delays but not knowing at all about anything isn't very good especially as they are still pushing for new customers having meters installed.
 
Just thought I would share my experience of switching to Octopus from Shell (first utility)

Used a referral code which was accepted no bother. Account created and advised that they would ask for a meter reading 5 days before switch date. Switch date was 14 working days from the date of the order.

loads of emails at every stage with updates etc. 5 days before switch day, received the email requesting meter readings. Which are done simply using the link in the email. Meter readings also appeared in the app straight away.

Email on switch day saying that it was now complete. Email 2 days later inviting the move over to ‘go’. Switch to go happens at midnight on the same day.

I had existing ‘secure’ smart meters which were installed a good few years ago. All new account information appears on the in home secure screen ok.

For charging (Tesla wall connector), I just set to start at 00:30. Always charges within the 4 hour window. I’ve set dishwasher etc to start within the window too.

It’s been an extremely painless experience. Just let me know if you want to know what meters I have etc. All working fine.
I had exactly the same experience, very very good, would recommend them in a heart beat
 
Not a great experience for me either. Despite having a Secure SMETS 1 meter (which is supported by Octopus), it still took almost 2 months to get the switch over done due to low mobile signal strength and the need for consistent 30min readings. I was given the run-around by the call-centre guys (all of whom are charming and persuasive, but who actually repeatedly told me things that turned out to be false or which weren't followed up as they promised). We got there in the end, but only by me agreeing to go ahead with the Go switch and potentially having to accept regular variable pricing (££££) if the SMETS readings proved to be unreliable. Thankfully, the readings are patchy but the meter keeps a records for months so it does eventually catch up.