Contacting Givenergy

Anyone have cause to contact Givenergy for support recently ? The so called fast option using WhatsApp has been of no use for the 2 hours I've tried it.

You need to get the response 'Please wait whilst we connect you to an agent, if none are available you may be placed in a queue' Then just wait a few potential hours.

Any other response seems to be try again later

I have noticed that the battery capacity after 3.5 years appears to be down to about 75% so I have been trying to get through to them for 3 days and kept messaging them, ( 17 messages) they eventually messaged back today at 10am and communicating back every 10 - 15 minutes to agree some firmware update and calibration over the next few days.

Very poor after sales service in my opinion, lets hope the warranty / product support is better!!!!

gordonm Very poor after sales service in my opinion, lets hope the warranty / product support is better!!!!

It isn't.

gordonm

What system, firmware upgrade? Would be helpful so we know what is being suggested against which system?

Also when was your last recalibration?

Good luck with support...

LMA

They don't reply. Customer service is non-existent. I can only imagine the warranty will be equally as useless.

Agree with the comments here that customer support is very poor.
I only noticed at the beginning of the month that my battery (2.5 years old) wasn’t working and on investigation hadn’t been since the 11 May. I contacted my installer who informed me they no longer have the requisite permissions to do a remote reboot and I’d have to go direct to Givenergy. 4 emails, numerous attempts on WhatsApp (their only method for customers to communicate with them) over weeks of trying personally, together with an email about my issue direct to Givenergy from my installer and still no response. I finally had to write to raise an official complaint before being allocated a case no. with their Customer Support team. I was finally able to use that case number to get a response today on WhatsApp and it took the agent about 30mins to reboot my battery. He then had the cheek to ask me to rate their customer service!!
I will definitely not be recommending Givenergy products to anyone who asks about my system in future.

GrahamBurns I'd suggest you DO rate their service - presumably they linked to Trustpilot? Just copy and paste what you've put here and rate from 1-5.

I had a similar experience. Spent over 4 hours in total on WhatsApp over two days.
Leave a scathing review on Trustpilot as I did. Maybe they'll pay attention.
They were so good with the telephone service and now have deteriorated catastrophically with WhatsApp.

Vestas thanks that’s a good idea, I’ll leave a review on Trustpilot. They really need to take notice of how poor their customer service has become.

My installer came rounf yesterday to do an annual service. They spend hours waiting on whatsapp for support too and are less then happy. They are looking to stop using GE kit because the support is so bad.

I don't even have WhatsApp. If I had a serious complaint, I'd do it on e-mail only - that way I have easy to read, printable evidence in case it needs to go to court.

alan_johnston I didn't know they had to go through the WhatsApp nightmare. They still have an option on the telephone to identify themselves as an installer?
Givenergy must revert to telephone support or hire more knowledgeable WhatsApp operatives. I finally got through to Callum who was excellent.

alan_johnston out of curiosity what do they do for an annual service?

[unknown] Annual service they check the equipment, cables and connectors and clean the solar panels.

Just wondered. Our system has been working for just over 2 years with no servicing but the installer has been back several times, once to move the inverter to the correct position, and the rest to identify a eps issue that turned out to be an instruction fault. Givenergy has replaced the inverter twice. The first time turned out to be completely unnecessary, but the replacement was broken hence the third one! So I guess all the connections have been checked! Its a bungalow so I clean the panels, usually in the rain to avoid having to rinse our rock hard water off, and I think it amuses the neighbours…

mikes01666 I didn't know they had to go through the WhatsApp nightmare. They still have an option on the telephone to identify themselves as an installer?

Not according to a couple of installers on Trustpilot, they get the same delays - admittedly both have had enough of GE so they're not unbiased 🙂

Just for info: I got a response today from their service department. It is to an email complaint that I sent out on 26 Jun 2025.....

I've only had a few reasons reasons to contact GE Tech Support. The most recent of which was to fix my Inverter which wasn't responding after a router change. It's a long story which ended up with me ditching WiFi altogether & hardwiring ethernet to the Gen2 3.6kW inverter (2 x 9.5kWh batteries), Eddi & Zappi. I waited forever to get through on the phone 4 times to GE Tech & TBF MyEnergi tech weren't much better. By the sound of it things have gotten even worse recently after the switch to contact via WhatsApp. GE Tech did eventually sort out my Inverter on WiFi (more by luck than judgement) but I decided change to ethernet anyway & the whole experience left me wondering is there a better way. Also, if installers aren't happy with GE kit or the support they receive then what chance have we got as end users?

So, after 3 years of GE system use I have decided that I really do need a bigger inverter because 3.6kW just isn't enough (and we don't have a HP). However, newer GE kit is not backwards compatible so I cannot upgrade just my Gen2 Hybrid inverter & retain the existing 2 x 9.5kWh batteries. So, if I have to install a new inverter & batteries why keep it GE?
As such, I'm seriously thinking ditching my GE system (G99 approval permitting) for an 8-10kW Sigenergy system which gets me a bunch of other features including a DC fast car charger if I want to ditch my existing Zappi as well. The Sigenergy DC charger is not currently approved for use on Octopus Intel Go so I may have to hold off on that. The Sig system is stackable, expandable & far more flexible. And, by all accounts, so much easier to commision & diagnose. The App is pretty good as well.
Anyhow, it's a combination of poor customer service, problematic system operation & lack of product expansion capabilities that is forcing me to look elsewhere. I'm not sure when I'll be able to finance this change & I do need to do a bit more research but I think a change is inevitable at some point soon.

CGoode why can’t you just upgrade the inverter?

SimonClarke Apparently the latest higher power GE Inverters use a different architecture / voltage which are not compatible with my older Gen 2 batteries.

get a 5kW hybrid gen1 or gen2 from fleabay...

I have a watch on GE kit on eBay and not much comes up. Also you have to have an installer approved by GE to install the kit. Then they have to adopt the whole installation.

It's not a great business model for installers and I can see less and less being involved with GE the way it is currently being run...

M_J it's not for everyone but if you don't mind not having the official GE app & portal then they run fine just locally using home assistant / android Inverter App / bbc basic app - no installer login required.

hoggy

I was lead to believe that there was some set up to do on the GE side.

I use the app for local control.

But I have not tried plugging in an extra battery myself.

If I see a suitable priced 5.2 I might just give it a go if there is nothing to stop it from working with local control...

M_J it's more the inverters I was talking about but to be honest I never understood the need for installer level to add batteries other than for cosmetics for the app (& warranty) - the system itself (provided the auto-read setting is turned on which it undoubtedly would be for the existing batteries to work) it should just pick it up.
It certainly works the other way, when people have issues with batteries dropping off the system drops down the AH value accordingly.

[unknown] My installer offered me a Gen2 5kW inverter as a replacement for my 3.6 when I had some more panels added last year. Although billed at 5kW inverters checking the data sheets it seems that GE Gen 2, & Gen 3 Hy Inverters are both limited to 3.6kW house & grid output so I would be no better off than I am now. At any rate 5kW output to the house would not be enough for my current or future needs, especially if I add a HP at some point in the future.

This means that to get what I need with GE I would have to switch to an AIO or, their new HV (high voltage) 1 phase systems, both of which cannot be connected to my existing Gen 2 9.5kW batteries.
Which ever way I look at it I would have to replace both my existing inverter & batteries so I might as well look elsewhere for something that meets my needs & gives me more features like V2H, EPS, built in fire suppression etc.

CGoode My installer offered me a Gen2 5kW inverter as a replacement for my 3.6 when I had some more panels added last year. Although billed at 5kW inverters checking the data sheets it seems that GE Gen 2, & Gen 3 Hy Inverters are both limited to 3.6kW house & grid output so I would be no better off than I am now

There are two different power ratings with the hybrid inverters

• the max power rating for converting solar DC to AC, this is either 3.6kW or 5kW and is the figure quoted in the inverter name
• the max power rating charging and discharging DC from the batteries and converting to AC. This is 2.6kW for the Gen 1 hybrids and 3.6kW for the Gen 2 and 3

Another approach to increasing the battery discharge rate to home is to add a second parallel inverter. I have two Gen 1 hybrids each with their own batteries. The 9.5 will discharge at 2.9kW with latest firmware, the 5.2 at 2.7kW so I get over 5kW total combined discharge rate which is useful in peak periods when the cooker and kettle are on.

Of course there are considerations such as cross charging to deal with

[unknown] Yep. I have 15 solar panels totalling 6.2kWp on two roofs (ESE & NW) connected to my 3.6Hy Inverter. However, I don't have any extra space in my garage to add an additional inverter & batteries so it's not really an option for me (not putting anything outside either). Yes cross charging & balancing battery issues will be a problem & probably need complicated 3rd party Apps / software which will all be above my pay grade so that's not something I'd entertain either.
So, apart from the solar panels I think a "start from scratch" approach is needed.

Why are my replies being tagged "unknown"?

CGoode Broken forum software. Been like that for near enough a year IIRC.

CGoode Yes cross charging & balancing battery issues will be a problem & probably need complicated 3rd party Apps / software which will all be above my pay grade so that's not something I'd entertain either.

Understand the space constraints, and I agree, putting inverters and batteries outside brings a whole new load of problems with heat in summer and cold in winter, so personally wouldn't be something I'd want to do either.

But to correct the bit above, you don't need 3rd party software to manage multiple inverters and batteries, you can do it with what you have. Cross charging is only an issue when the sun goes down and the multiple inverters try to support house load and minimise grid export/import and in effect chase each other trying to do this.
You can stop this happening either by how you place the CT clamps for the inverters and/or setting one inverter to do a slow rate discharge overnight (to meet the base house load) and the other to manage the variable demand.

But anyway, if you don't have room and want more storage/inverter capacity then replacing the kit is the only option.
Financially its not a great choice though

CGoode GE Gen 2, & Gen 3 Hy Inverters are both limited to 3.6kW house & grid output so I would be no better off than I am now.

Alhough you would be limited to 3.6kW to the grid, the 5kW inverter would be able to supply the house with 1.4kW while still doing a full export.

alan_johnston Alhough you would be limited to 3.6kW to the grid, the 5kW inverter would be able to supply the house with 1.4kW while still doing a full export.

Some of the minor/embedded DNOs won't accept that. They're wrong but given most installers are clueless they do tend to get away with it - they'll insist that anything over 3.6kW power is a G99 installation even if its limited to 3.6kW export.

I'm new to forum and have had my solar system for 18 months. I've changed my Broadband provider so need to update WiFi. Tried calling Givenergy, no luck think they've sacked all their phone support, got so very annoying American recorded message saying to use their new WhatsApp system. Tried that and have been trying repeatedly for over an hour but no joy. I think it's an automated reply system based on the robotic response. I'm hoping someone from Givenergy will read this along with other comments on the forum. Your customer support is rubbish and existing customers do talk to your potential future customers. Based on my experience I would never recommend Givenergy and I'm beginning to think I've made a massive mistake.

Iceman I'm new to forum and have had my solar system for 18 months. I've changed my Broadband provider so need to update WiFi.

there is a pinned thread on this forum called ‘router change’ which gives lots of advice of how to change the wifi settings on your inverter if you change internet provider or replace your router.

Links to youtube videos as well that take you through the process.

alan_johnston Maybe so. However, 3.6kW inverter output for our household needs is just not enough. 19kWh of battery storage can last us all day in winter if we are careful. But, it won't be enough if we add a HP at a later date which will probably need more battery storage & a larger inverter to last all day on battery power only without using the grid during the winter months, with little or no solar assistance.

Having larger battery storage also has a knock on effect & needs a larger kW inverter to get them charged to max during the 6 hr cheap rate window overnight. My current 2 x 9.5kW batts take around 5.3hrs to charge from 0 to 100% with my 3.6kW inverter (less if they are not fully depleted). Larger battery storage capacity without a larger inverter to charge them with would take longer than my 6hr cheap rate window (Octopus IOG tariff).

Having looked at the thier website it seems that GE are now offering larger output 8 & 10kW 1 phase inverters with High Voltage batteries alongside their AIO system. One of these would probably suit most of my needs. However, after hearing about & experiencing the issues of GE ownership first hand for the best part of 3 years I'm not sure I want to repeat the process.
I've learnt my solar / battery lessons the hard way so if I do make the decision to change I want to move to a different platform & get a system that is going cover all my current & future needs. It's just like wanting a new make / model of car after a poor experience with previous make / model.

Sigenergy are looking favourite at this point but I'm still open to alternatives if they meet my requirements. First things first though, I've got to save up some money to pay for the switch, which is not easy when you are on a pension!!

Whatsapp does not work.. ?

Iceman Agree Whatsapp is just not working

Ged05 thanks for replies. I've just e mailed so called support venting my spleen. Don't think it will change anything but I have got it off my chest.

Iceman To be fair - the dongle is probably working just fine (so technically, not a GE issue), but you have changed your router. If your router has multiple SSIDs (which most modern routers should have - mine certainly does) you can simply change one of the 2,4 Ghz to your old router's SSID and password (and temporarily disable any 5 Ghz SSIDs - that sometimes causes problems. You can re-enable again after the dongle has successfully connected) and the dongle should find it OK.
See my previous post under the 'Router Change' thread:
"My current router (Nokia - 7 months old)) has 4 SSIDs for 2,4GHz and another 4 for 5GHz. I just changed one of the 2.4 SSIDs to the previous router's SSID and PW, set it not to broadcast its SSID (to avoid anyone else in range from picking it up) and the dongle connected just fine. There's not been any connection issues since.
My other wifi connections (phone, laptop, Alexa etc) all use one of the other SSIDs."

HTH

I guess this is where WhatsApp usually stops?

I guess this is where WhatsApp usually stops?

You need to continue messaging. Eventually you will get a message saying that you are in a queue.
This prompts another 30 minute wait!
Don't leave your phone for a minute as you'll be cut off and presented with a "How did we do message".
If someone has an email address for the CEO could they please share as this WhatsApp system is destroying GEs reputation?
If the installers need to go through this charade they!'ll drop GE as a supplier.
Good luck.

I had a call with Dave Roberts nearly 18 months ago (April 2024). Maybe he is still MD?

My installer has disappeared. I have tried to raise a couple of issues recently via email with Givenergy. I did get some ticket numbers but I heard nothing more.
We will be having some significant changes to the house in a couple of years. Unless something changes significantly at Givenergy between now and then, Givenergy will not have any part in that future.

mikes01666 If the installers need to go through this charade they!'ll drop GE as a supplier.

They already are and have been for some time now. A visit to Trustpilot will show you a few. In fact apart from some sockpuppets claiming the new whatsapp contact method is great its pretty much 1 star reviews, with a fair bit of invective...

If you don't have whats app, are there other contact methods?

From what I've watched on various YouTube channels such as Spirit Energy, and from reading various newsgroups it seems as though GivEnergy have fallen far behing companies such as Sigenergy and Tesla. There are also a few offerings at the budget end that are eating into the market. I hope they get their act together soon, it seems like a radical shake up is needed. Somehow I can't see that happening and fear that in their current form they are doomed.

I have come to the conclusion that there is no reason not to charge three times a day in each of the Octopus Cosy periods during the coldest part of the heating season as it will hopefully keep our overall average energy cost closer to the Cosy rate and I am not confident that there will be an entity left to reject a warranty claim based on average daily cycles should the batteries fail prematurely anyway.

Any money saved can go towards a different system with another manufacturer when this one reaches End Of Life.

Even if the batteries were to fail right now getting in contact with them to make a warranty claim would likely be challenging.

I imagine it would be sensible to limit the evening charge to ₅₀% just to make sure they are getting to a low enough SOC periodically in order to remain calibrated. That and once daily summer charging would probably keep daily charges within warranty limits anyway.

Thankfully I was able to solve my own red battery status light issue based on posts here, and mesh connectivity issues by updating UBoot and firmware for the dongle using the Installer Resources page and didn't ultimately need to contact support for either.

[unknown] A week and I still never got nobody even on whattsapp. was hoping for a sales Call after Paul saw me moaning on a forum,still waiting thats 3 weeks. ah the joys

[unknown] It seems to have gone from bad to worse. Lately, I have had no need to contact Givenergy but I can imagine it is very frustrating just now. It was bad enough a year or two ago when I was tempted to update my firmware and spent all day on the phone to get it fixed. It has to be said though that they used to be responsive and give good customer support but this looks to have just disappeared.

After failing firmware updates twice out of 3 attempts I just don't update now and would only do so on explicit instruction from Givenergy. So far reliability-wise wise beside the updates, it has been good, and the system works day by day. As long as it continues, I will just leave it alone to do its thing. I don't do anything complicated with the system either. If some time in the future it does go bad and I can't get help when needed, I think I will just bite the bullet and put another manufacturer's system in instead. I do not wish to be forever chasing people or wasting my day waiting for someone to answer the phone or Whatsapp message.

Unfortunately I have had to contact GE too many times re my AIO (not had to for few months, but I will be again today as unit has been offline for about 10 days!) - for what should be a fit and forget product, it feels like 1 contact with cust. services is too many.

Cust service response generally non-existent. I found the best way to illicit response was to cc MD and CEO on email correspondence. Generally I don't like that approach to escalation, but if there are filters that stop customer feedback / complaints / issues reaching senior leaders it seems the only way to apply internal pressure. Quick search of Companies House, LinkedIn, etc. should get the contact info.

Would it be possible to post the email addresses of the CEO?
Ok, I could go onto Company's House but if , in the unlikely event someone from GE monitors this forum, they will know the growing unease about the lack of technical support.
Making the CEOs inbox explode may also get a response.
It a shame as telephone technical support was really good (when you eventually got through! )

For what it's worth, this has just appeared on the Facebook group GivEnergy Owners, from a page entitled GivEnergy:

"We’re excited to announce that GivEnergy has now opened up our consumer support lines! We’ve listened to your feedback and are now offering both live chat and phone support to make it easier for you to reach us.

To serve you better, we’ve expanded our technical and customer support team by 10 new members. We’ve also introduced new processes, procedures, and software integrations to improve your overall experience with us.

We’re committed to continuous improvement and will keep fine-tuning our service based on your feedback. Thank you for your patience and support.

GivEnergy is listening, and we’re back, better than ever!"

Also included this number

** Told you we were listening. Here is the Number: 01377 252874**

Josephiah Lets see if these "10 new members" last longer than all the other "support" staff.

I have a sneaking suspicion (from names mentioned on Trustpilot) that the whole "support" operation is now being run from mainland China......

I hope the new support arrangements are successful. If it's an operation run abroad then so be it if they can deal with the various day to day support tasks.

I think everyone who has invested in the kit wants GE to be successful...

M_J I think everyone who has invested in the kit wants GE to be successful..

Sometimes I’m not so sure…..

Early support experiences were excellent for me so hopefully this sets them back on the path to that.

SimonClarke M_J I think everyone who has invested in the kit wants GE to be successful..

Sometimes I’m not so sure…..

Why would we want GivEnergy to fail?

Our warranties would be worthless, any support would depend on a potential phoenix successor organisation and unless you have setup local control (the excellent Rubikcube Android app or Home Assistant or you are enough of a nerd to program modbus directly) you will lose all contact and control of your inverter and batteries.

Remember that the givenergy app, wonderwatt, Octopus Intelligent Flux, etc all rely on the GivEnergy portal to proxy commands to the inverter.

Would I buy GivEnergy again if I had a blank sheet of paper and was starting again? I honestly don’t know. I would want a bigger inverter, I might go AC coupled rather than hybrid (just for future expandability), but factors like local control would be key for me and I am not 100% sure that the GivEnergy high voltage stackable kit is fully supported in GivTCP yet.
But it’s a moot point. What I have works well, it’s pretty reliable, certainly not white-goods type plug in and use, but I know now how to use it and fix issues that occur from time to time. Upgrading would be nice but not affordable so I anticipate using it for many more years to come. Got 4 more years to pay back the initial investment for a start!

geoffreycoan
My view is pretty much the same as Geoffrey's.

geoffreycoan I meant that there seems to be a constant very negative viewpoint - it is not mine! Personally I have no issues with support or equipment so don’t have any experience of failure but others seem to be constantly writing GE off, which isn’t helpful for anyone.

SimonClarke If people who have issues with their system - perhaps to the extent of no solar energy or they cannot use or control their batteries - and they cannot reach GivEnergy to provide support and don't get replies after many weeks how are they supposed to feel?

Obviously people who have problems and can’t get help have a legitimate complaint but others seem to delight in saying GE will be bust soon and nobody should buy their products and the warranties are worthless.

Posted on the Givenergy facebook group.

We’re excited to announce that GivEnergy has now opened up our consumer support lines! We’ve listened to your feedback and are now offering both live chat and phone support to make it easier for you to reach us.

To serve you better, we’ve expanded our technical and customer support team by 10 new members. We’ve also introduced new processes, procedures, and software integrations to improve your overall experience with us.

We’re committed to continuous improvement and will keep fine-tuning our service based on your feedback. Thank you for your patience and support.

GivEnergy is listening, and we’re back, better than ever!

** Told you we were listening. Here is the Number: 01377 252874**

Looking at the forum there does seem to be a lot of people with only basic knowledge of WiFi/computing who have a system and who aren’t able to follow the online instructions when they have an issue. This maybe why GivEnergy are inundated with calls and didn’t realise how much support was needed as more systems were installed. It is a steep learning curve especially when you start using givtcp etc. It’s hard for example to restart the system yourself if you are not confident. WiFi issues are really frustrating as well.

[unknown] I'm not sure if I agree.
It shouldn't take industrial grade IT skills to manage a domestic PV/battery system. If you do, your market will quickly go elsewhere.
We're no longer early adopters who will endure such pain and often revel in it.
I know GE can monitor systems remotely why not build in the ability to remotely manage, diagnose and fix it? IT departments have been able to do this for many years. A single user request can be OK'd by the end user to give them the access privilege to diagnose and fix.
Restarting any system should not be a trip into the unknown.