Not so smart meter

[whatknot]

I got fed up with the seemingly endless calls from my electricity supplier asking if I wanted a smart meter, so eventually gave in and had one installed a few months back

For a about three days now its saying I have used .19p worth of electricity which would be fine if true, unfortunately its not

For some reason the gas seems to tally smart meter to the meter, whereas the electricity does not

So I went to inform my supplier (SSE) after some minutes trying to find a contact us on their site, I eventually found one, only to have to fill in every morsel of detail (in duplicate) despite already being signed in to my account

Finally finished and sent, only to get an automated email reply saying they would respond in six working days !

Considering the money these companies make you would at least think they might have a system capable of responding in a timely manner

After I received that auto reply, my phone rang, hoping it might be SSE I answered, only to find a lady with an Indian accent telling me I have a fault with my computer (!) I politely told her to go and find a proper job and stop bothering people, I then put the phone down, it rang again, the same Indian lady asked if I had a good job for her ;-)

Not sure if she was taking the Michael or really desperate ;-)

 

[Racers]

As far as I can tell they want to introduce variable tariffs, so they need a smart meter, no way on earth I am having one fitted.

Pete

 

[Phil Pascoe]

I had a guy turn up Monday who said I've come to fit your smart meter. No, you haven't, I said. Well ........... what's the problem? I said the Economy 7 goes off for an hour in the middle of the night and stays on til 8.00am. Oh ........... well, you can't have one anyway, they don't work with E7. I'll have to fit a standard meter - the time clock will have packed up, not surprising, really - it's been there since 1975. I thought they were supposed to be changed after a certain time? Yes, he said but I think all suppliers now seem to work a "if it ain't bust, don't fix it" policy.
By the bye. I asked how the suppliers dealt with gMT changes, as my neighbour had fallen out with one for not telling her how it worked. Well, he said, your cheap rate is 12am - 7am in the winter and 1am - 8am in the summer. Why don't they make that clear? I don't know, I've never heard of it every being done ........... actually, yours is Scottish - and they work a different time, 12.30am - 1.30am in the winter and 1.30am - 8.30am in the summer. Great! - no one told me. I said looking at the demand graphs, you'd think it more logical to make the cheaper period earlier, say 11pm - 6am and 12am - 7am in the summer (or even starting and finishing an hour earlier) as there's higher demand early in the morning than late in the evening? Yeah, he said .......... but what do we know?

 

[Phil Pascoe]

As far as I can tell they want to introduce variable tariffs, so they need a smart meter, no way on earth I am having one fitted.
Pete

I think they are inevitable and quite right. If they could do away with the spike in power usage at teatime we could manage with one less power station. I worked somewhere years ago where the negociated contract gave us three bands - one was 10p a unit, one 7p and the cheapest which was something like 2.30am - 5.30am was about 2.5p. I would imagine with smart metering there would be several price bands.
I do wonder at the intelligence of the designers of these systems, though. I can't have one because of Economy 7 (which surely ultimately is the type of system they're working towards?), they don't work if you switch suppliers and I read last week they won't work with solar panels either - brilliant bit of third world planning there.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

I've just looked at my meter, as I need to renegociate my contract. They've excelled themselves with my new meter - even with a torch and a good magnifying glass I can't read the display. F***ing genius.

 

[Tasky]

Considering the money these companies make you would at least think they might have a system capable of responding in a timely manner

Considering how much they also cost to run, and how many millions of customers they have, and how much inter-departmental cross-referencing, all with oversight by the GDPR branch, it's a miracle they're even allowed to get back to you at all!!

it rang again, the same Indian lady asked if I had a good job for her ;-)

:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:
Credit to her, she seems to have a sense of humour, at least!!

 

[Sheffield Tony]

As far as I can tell they want to introduce variable tariffs, so they need a smart meter, no way on earth I am having one fitted.

Pete

For the time being at least, this is the correct answer. That they don't work if you switch supplier is remarkable.

 

[MARK.B.]

can confirm they don't work with different suppliers,was with British Gas who fitted meters and changed to SSE ,now the meters don't work.

 

[whatknot]

There are two main types of smart meter

Type 1 will not be transferable to a new supplier

Type 2 *may* be transferable to a new supplier

I have type 1 but it will not stop me changing supplier which I intend to do fairly soon

 

[Doug71]

I was meant to have a smart meter fitted a couple of weeks ago but when the engineer turned up he couldn't fit it because there was not enough room on the board. He said I would have to make another appointment and he would bring what was needed next time but he advised I waited until after the 1st of December because after that date the meters they fitted would work with all suppliers.

 

[Steve Maskery]

I was with nPower for several years and ended up in a legal battle with them. If they were the last supplier in the country I would rather go off-grid. Never again, under any circumstances.

Been with Eon for the last year (or maybe it was a 2-year contract, I can't remember). No problems, but when the deal came to an end it was going to be expensive.

Did the Price Comparison stuff...

Ever heard of OutFoxTheMarket? No, me neither. But several different PC sites rated them as top. No contract! OK, great, low price, no lock-in.

The DAY BEFORE I was due to start with them, I got an email saying that they were increasing my DD by 75% during the winter. Then a couple of days later I got an email saying they had listened to customers' complaints (including mine) and were only going to increase it by 40%.

They were on Money Box on R4 last weekend.

Then a couple of days ago I got an email saying that unit prices were going up by 20%.

Half an hour later I had switched again.

 

[Glynne]

Without wishing to be political (he lies), why the target of everyone having to have a smart meter (which we all know is impossible in the timeframe planned) when they aren’t transferable anyway? My Scottish Power one isn’t use nor ornament with my new supplier.

 

[Steve Maskery]

Smart Meter technology will be excellent, one day, I am sure.
But that day has yet to come.
We need a meter that works via an App, any App, so that when you change your supplier you simply use a different App and everything continues as before.
It will come. Until then, I'll just continue as I am.

 

[julianf]

There's no mobile signal where we live.

Which thankfully rules out smart meters for the time being.

I dont trust the powers that be not to meddle to the detriment of most of us. The physics of smart meters coils be great, but it's not like much of society is run on logic.

 

[Lons]

I'm not having one despite being targeted constantly with promotional material, until there remains absolutely no choice otherwise perhaps by which time they may have eliminated all the problems.

Same with cars, definitely not electric or even hybrid until they've evolved further.

Says something though that I'm still running Windows 7 having trimmed it down and now the lack of "support" and "updates" otherwise known as bug fixes means it never crashes. :lol:

 

[sunnybob]

Windows 7? thats a bit modern aint it? My vista laptop has been without support (or crashes) for a half dozen years. Modern is very rarely good.
And I'm really glas Cyprus hasnt heard of smart meters yet. Theyre only just now thinking of fixed speed cameras.

 

[John15]

I have one of these meters with British Gas and have experienced no problems. The display is very interesting and informative, and a reminder to switch off unnecessary lighting etc.

John

 

[Phil Pascoe]

I forgot, I should have mentioned - I reported the TV advert (the one that informs you a smart meter will save you money) to the ASA. A few days later I had an email back saying they wouldn't look into my complaint as an individual complaint as they had had so many of the same complaint they were all being treated as one. They will email me of any decision made (although I expect the national press will get to it first ).
When I get a reply I'll post it.

 

[RogerS]

......
Ever heard of OutFoxTheMarket? No, me neither. But several different PC sites rated them as top. No contract! OK, great, low price, no lock-in.
....
.....

Think you might have jumped the gun there as they are cheap. I admit that they didn't handle this change very well but the idea is excellent IMO. Most people use more electricity in the winter and so OTM propose to increase the direct debit for the winter months. But rather then in the summer you keep paying the same amount as you do with the other suppliers (and depositing your money in their bank account) - when you'll probably use less electricity - they reduce the direct debit.

Been with them for a year and they're OK...at least they are responsive....unlike nPower !

I dread anyone wanting to change our meter as it's 1/3 a mile away, in a tatty box with no door and hanging off a stone wall. :shock:

 

[Phil Pascoe]

:? Why would that make it more difficult to change?
Apart from the fact that if the suppier knew the box was insecure they'd cut off the supply anyway.