1. Quick-glance ratings across the big review platforms
| Source | Score | Review count | Headline takeaway |
|---|---|---|---|
| Trustpilot | 4.8 / 5 | ≈ 633 k | 90 % five-star; replies to 92 % of negative posts, usually within a week trustpilot.com |
| Which? annual survey | 78 % customer score (74 % overall) | 2,469 respondents | Highest of the 17 suppliers in the 2025 tables; five-star for overall service and value which.co.uk |
| Citizens Advice Q1 2025 | 3.4 / 5 (rank 7 / 18) | Regulator-sourced data | 1 min 41 s average call wait; 83 % emails answered inside two days; 25.6 complaints per 10 k customers citizensadvice.org.uk |
| Reviews.io | 4.2 / 5 | ≈ 6.7 k | 79 % would recommend; mix of glowing praise and a few billing-error horror stories reviews.io |
2. What real customers love
- Friendly, empowered staff – Trustpilot is awash with names (“Brandon”, “Felicity”) singled out for “going the extra mile”. The company publicly thanks employees in review replies, humanising the brand. trustpilot.com
- Fast, flexible switching – Which? gives Octopus five stars for making it easy to join or leave, helped by £0 exit fees on its core tariffs. which.co.uk
- Transparent digital tools – The “Octopus” app’s live balance and tariff–swap prompts draw consistent praise on Trustpilot and in Uswitch’s 2025 Awards, where Octopus won Best Customer Service and Overall Satisfaction. uswitch.com
- Innovative smart tariffs – Reviewers gush about Agile and Intelligent Go for EV charging; Which? awards five stars for “usefulness of communications about energy costs.” which.co.uk
- Green credentials you can verify – Citizens Advice lists an 85 % renewable fuel mix (much higher than the UK average of 56 %). citizensadvice.org.uk
3. The recurring pain-points
| Theme | Typical consumer complaint | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Complex issues take chasing | Smart-meter faults or billing corrections sometimes ping-pong between email threads for weeks. | Detailed Reddit post describes six-month saga over a faulty gas meter and “days of silence” between responses. reddit.com |
| Occasional bill shock on estimated reads | Users report high catch-up bills if they ignore meter-reading reminders. | Citizens Advice shows Octopus mid-pack (3/5) for “fewer complaints received.” citizensadvice.org.uk |
| Phone line congestion at peaks | Despite a good average 1 m 41 s wait, spikes occur after price-cap announcements. | Citizens Advice call-wait metric plus clusters of 1-star Trustpilot reviews dated 1 July 2025. trustpilot.com |
Context: At 25.6 complaints per 10 000 customers Octopus is slightly below the market midpoint (around 27-30), but well above the tiny challenger 100Green at 11.8. citizensadvice.org.uk
4. Service-quality metrics you almost never see quoted
| KPI (Jan–Mar 2025) | Octopus | “Big Six” average* |
|---|---|---|
| Average call pick-up | 1 m 41 s | 3 m 12 s |
| Email response < 48 h | 83 % | 66 % |
| Ombudsman complaints upheld | 14 % | 22 % |
*Weighted mean of British Gas, EDF, E.ON Next, OVO, Scottish Power and SSE. Figures compiled from Citizens Advice dashboards and Ombudsman quarterly reports. citizensadvice.org.uk
5. Awards & industry recognition (2024-25)
- Uswitch Energy Awards 2025 – Winner: Overall Customer Satisfaction, Customer Service, joint Value for Money. thescottishsun.co.uk
- Which? Recommended Provider – Fourth year running, with the highest customer score in the league table. which.co.uk
- Fastest-growing supplier – Now serves 24 % of UK meters, overtaking British Gas. Analysts credit “top-tier customer service” as a growth driver. thetimes.co.uk
6. How to read (and use) Octopus reviews like a pro
- Sort by ‘Lowest rating’ first on Trustpilot to spot any deal-breakers for your household (e.g., complex heat-pump billing).
- Check review dates around price-cap changes (1 Jan, 1 Apr, 1 Jul, 1 Oct) – spikes in 1-star posts often follow tariff shifts rather than systemic issues.
- Look for staff-name patterns – repeated praise for the same team member suggests strong, consistent service rather than isolated “hero moments.”
- Combine crowdsourced views with hard metrics (Citizens Advice, Ombudsman) to separate emotion from measurable performance.
- If you switch, keep the paper-trail: send an opening meter photo and diarise follow-ups—this is what triggers Ombudsman support if things go wrong.
7. Verdict for would-be switchers
Octopus Energy scores higher for day-to-day friendliness and tech-driven convenience than any other large supplier in 2025—but it isn’t flawless.
If you value fast human replies, a transparent app and tariff flexibility, the overwhelmingly positive Trustpilot and Which? scores are hard to ignore. Just be ready to chase stubborn metering glitches and keep your own records to avoid estimated-bill surprises. On balance, Octopus remains the consumer-choice front-runner for combining low-carbon energy with high customer satisfaction.
Last updated: 2 July 2025
