Origin: Power Gas Internet LPG 4+

I’ve noticed for a while that the usage data in the app is inconsistent, sometimes it’s inconsistent between the different views e.g. Daily and History but also when opening the app on different days the previous usage data that was previously displayed is absent and the calculations that are performed are incorrect e.g. consumption data that was displayed when opening the app previously is now not represented and therefore the app calculates credits according to the solar feed-in that was recorded when the actual usage should be displayed as costs incurred. While I don’t think this indicates a bug in the app per se and rather indicates problems with the data it is representing, I wanted to mention it in hope the backend system(s) can get the attention they obviously need.

I also thought I’d include the following comment from my previous review:
* I’d like to suggest that in addition to showing the total usage across each month and year, it would be useful to also be able to display the average hourly usage across each month and year. Having visibility of this information would assist in identifying the times of day across months and years that there are devices in the home using high amounts of electricity. This information would also assist customers to determine if they’re on the best plan based on their average hourly usage (i.e. different ToU tariffs).

iiNetter, thank you for taking the time to let us know. I'll pass this on to our app team to see what happened here. You'd think it would populate once the account was active. Can you please send me the account details to appsupport@originenergy.com.au. Cheers- Lee-Anne.

Update, again:
It appears it is more beneficial for Origin NOT to fix the app.
Still no changes to a pathetic app that is window-dressing. Assurances that the app was being redesigned were a lie, as it would not take more than a year for a self-respecting programmer to develop a good app. Origin with all their money could easily afford MORE THAN 1 programmer, yet has not seen fit to do this. Still waiting…

Update: you for feedback but nothing seems to be done with it! A year ago one of your customers voiced what all of us with solar were hoping for as well but nothing much has changed. Having been forced to change plans after expiry of the old one, I am even more in the dark than before, with ABSOLUTELY NO CLUE AS TO THE EXPECTED BILL. Any wonder we have no trust in either the developers or for that matter, Origin? Before changing my plan to “Solar boost” I had at least some idea about cost and future bill, but now ALL I get is “daily usage” info of Solar feedback in Kw and Kw used. No cost details. AND that is a hit and miss affair! Sometimes I see the data a day later, but often I have to wait 2 or more days. As an “account manage” app it is a failure, at least for MY plan, which surely can’t be THAT uncommon since a large number of people have Solar these days! Strange thing is I used to get all the costings! ALL that changed was that there was a changeover to a new plan at the end of the previous plan! Not happy at all…

Hi again Marijke! We appreciate that you've taken the time to give us a detailed review. I'm sorry to hear about the issues you're having. So I can get a closer look at your concerns, please send an email to hello@origin.com.au with your account details and type in “App Review” on the subject line. If you have any screenshots, include them on your email too. I look forward to hear from you soon. All the best - Angie 🌸

The app is fine for things like account balances, payment and bill history, however the app does not show reasons for balance changes, such as government rebates, within the payment history. This means you need to reach out and ask what’s happened. To that end, the message is feature is very poorly executed; when you go to help, you can see past conversations, and you only get the message us button once you’ve browsed help topics, so this is clearly a deliberate way of reducing conversations by way of self help. Sadly, clicking the message is button when it does appear just goes back to the faq topics menu and doesn’t start a chat, so I consider this feature broken.

Hi there, thanks for your review! We really appreciate your honest feedback about our app and we will strive to better the app in the future. For any rebates or credit on the bill, please go to the Bills & Payment and you can download a copy of your most recent bill. Any credit and rebate will be in your Credit section on your bill. Hope this helps! Thanks - David