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,,,,there was an old man who had a smart meter, and he got a crooked reading, and a crooked bill, from a crooked dealer.....it takes a crooked meter to make a crooked billbong chingComment
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EON Next online and paper via post bills at serious odds after fully settling up - or so I thought..... Why? Have asked them - no response. Erm....??Comment
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....I had a faulty meter and nothing did bear but useless reading and an angry stare....bong chingComment
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British Gas have 'lost the connection' to my smart meters, which I can't read on the grounds of infirmity. A friend has offered to read them for me, but I'd never forgive myself if he fell of the chair while reading the electric meter or cracked his head on the underside of the stairs while reading the gas meter. The good news is that BG haven't increased my monthly payments (for now). Wouldn't it be simpler (and possibly cheaper) for BG to arrange for somebody to come and read the meters every 3 or 6 months?Comment
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There is something called the Priority Services Register. It's free, and you can ask your supplier for it. It covers meter readings (but don't expect more than one per year), priority on emergency callout and gas leak detection.
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For which we are all paying via our bills - including for the mismanagement and general cock-up. And then isn't there the updating programme to factor in, as earlier generation meters have to be replaced?Originally posted by antongould View Post
From the article
What does that even mean, as modern parlance would have it?The DESNZ said the majority of meters were "modernising energy for millions".
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oooh, I love a modernised energy, me
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Often prefaced with "toxic", in whatever sense one chooses to use that word (pace Pedants' Paradise).Originally posted by eighthobstruction View PostComment
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British Gas have now promised to send a (human) meter reader round in the next 10 to 14 working days - perhaps I'm being fast-tracked thanks to my recent inclusion in the Priority Services Register!
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.... and a lot of kids .... though no doubt we shouldnt comment .....Originally posted by antongould View Post
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Picking up on the discussion on the Grumble Thread re smart meters let me start with our position - electric meter working fine and gas meter not and supplier - EDF - has given up and is happy if I submit monthly readings … so we are where we are ….
Nationally I feel there is a lot of misunderstanding …..has anyone seen any breakdown of the 10% not working figure … ???? …. could be I would guess a number of things. Also I feel smart meters get the blame for many of the many ills of the energy supply business …. I have seen this with Victoria Coren’s massive bills but I believe that was incorrect processing of the readings.
The smart meter roll out has been far from perfect but IMVVHO there are aspects of energy billing that are far worse.
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As you say a number of things will be included in that "not working" figure, but as the energy billing system doesn't seem capable of coping with customers' difficulties, whatever their origin, the smart meters can(and I believe do) add to the difficulties if they are not working correctly. If, as far as customer is aware, the correct information(or indeed information full stop) is being sent, and money is being paid/taken for bills, then if in fact the meter isn't working in some way that may not be obvious. By the time a problem is flagged up the sums involved can be considerable, but trying to resolve issues runs into the "customer service" black hole for far too many people. Even if a customer knows there is a problem, trying to get it sorted isn't straightforward, as indeed your saga illustrates.Originally posted by antongould View Post
This doesn't make for happy reading
from this https://committees.parliament.uk/com...ublic-support/In March 2023, around 3 million (9%) of smart meters were not working properly in total. Of these, 1.6 million are “transitory” issues according to the Department, but the remainder were faulty, and either not sending energy use information to suppliers or not displaying usage to consumers, or both. Suppliers are supposed to take “‘all reasonable steps”’ to replace smart meters that are not working properly, but the government’s rollout targets mean suppliers have much clearer incentives to prioritise the installation of new meters rather than replacing broken ones.
How many of the problems that have arisen were the result of poor decisions(whether from inadequate knowledge or adverse influence) and could have been prevented - I get the impression that has played a part - and also the old problem of not listening when concerns are raised, whether from those in the industry(ie informed input) or from early adopters flagging up issues.
It doesn't help if such things as E7 tariffs are seemingly beyond the competence/knowledge of installers but they don't admit it , as happened to someone I know last year who suddenly found that her storage heaters stopped working following the smart meter installation; consumer problem page letters suggest that wasn't an isolated case.Comment
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