Tycoon’s energy firm Ovo is blasted for poor service

Ovo boss Stephen Fitzpatrick has been criticized by irate customers who are without heating, hot water and lighting in freezing temperatures.

Energy company Boost – part of Fitzpatrick’s Ovo Group – has been inundated with hundreds of complaints from households, many of them among the least fortunate and most vulnerable.

A Facebook page with more than 5,000 members has been flooded with hundreds of angry messages and cries for help.

Boost supplies 220,000 households with gas and electricity purchased via so-called ‘smart’ prepayment meters. Most customers with such an arrangement are less affluent.

But many are furious with Boost. They say they have been cutting back and saving to pay for the rising costs of heat and light, only to find that their bills are not being topped up when they try to give the company their money, due to technical errors with the app and the pre-pay card .

Many complained that their power was cut after their payments were declined due to the gremlins, leaving families in the dark and freezing cold, unable to cook or heat their homes.

Their frustrations are compounded by not being able to reach the company’s customer service by phone or online.

Roxann Richardson, mother of two from Manchester, said her gas supplies became erratic as weather conditions worsened. Once she was without heating for 30 hours. She fears her family’s Christmas will be ruined. Her troubles started after her meter’s signal — which is linked to a prepaid card topped up at a local store — went faulty. She was told she needed a new card, but it never arrived. Roxann, 34, said an engineer supposedly sent to help didn’t show up.

“We’ve been in the car to keep warm because the house is so cold,” she said. ‘It’s been terrible. I was just crying the other day.’

Ovo represents most of Fitzpatrick’s labyrinthine business empire. It was founded in 2009 to challenge the Big Six energy suppliers and has 4.5 million customers.

Boost was launched in 2017. It is intended for those who do not want or cannot pay for their energy via a monthly direct debit. Poorer customers can be forced into prepayment meters if they don’t pay their bills on time.

With many areas covered in snow and ice, angry customers have taken to social media to demand answers from Fitzpatrick. Some have criticized the £27 million in loans made last year to directors of Ovo’s parent company, which were revealed by the MoS in the autumn. The company has two directors, Fitzpatrick and one other person.

A Boost customer wrote: ‘Christmas is just around the corner and no heating. God knows how people can top up if my payments are declined again.” Another wrote, “I started the process of leaving Boost today. I have never seen such a bogus company in my life.’

Watchdog Ofgem said it could not comment on individual cases, but confirmed that complaints have been forwarded to its compliance teams.

Under fire: Ovo’s boss, magnate Stephen Fitzpatrick

Rocio Concha, Which one? director of policy and advocacy: ‘In our annual survey of energy companies for 2022, Boost received only two stars for service and that seems to be reflected in the problems customers are experiencing now. It is deeply concerning to hear reports of vulnerable customers struggling to reach their energy supplier while much of the country is experiencing freezing temperatures.

‘Energy companies urgently need to take action. This also means that their customer service departments are well-staffed and that customers on traditional prepayment meters – which are likely to be more vulnerable – have access to government support.”

Citizens Advice recently ranked Boost and Ovo Energy among the worst rated suppliers.

In the fall, Ovo hired 500 employees to handle the surge in customer calls. This followed a controversial round of 2,000 layoffs earlier this year. He took £2 million from Ovo in 2013 to pay for a house in the Cotswolds.

There is more focus on Fitzpatrick as his energy business grew rapidly after acquiring retail giant SSE in 2020, but has failed to deliver consistent profits to date.

The MoS previously revealed that operating losses over three years totaled nearly £300 million. MPs questioned Fitzpatrick about Ovo’s finances and £40 million in intercompany loans.

A spokesperson for Boost said: ‘A number of customers are having trouble topping up or reaching us due to high demand.

‘We are increasing the number of advisers we have available.’