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Gas Smart meter issue help needed please
Time_to_face_the_music
Posts: 5,454 Forumite
in Energy
We have a major problem with a British Gas Smart meter and hope someone may be able to give me some advice please.
Two years ago when Smart meters first appeared British Gas wrote and told us that we needed to have two new meters fitted, they basically made it sound compulsory so I took a day off work and waited for the meters to be fitted. Both were installed but the fitters could not get the meters to send signals to each other and told me that they would be back later in the day to sort it out. To cut a very long story short, they never came back and since then we have been trying to get the issue resolved and have never been able to. BG occasionally send someone who always needs to refer it to someone else and nothing ever happens. The electric meter does send readings through, the gas never has and has always had to be read manually.
Roll forward to last month, we receive an electronic bill stating that our gas DD needs to increase from £35 per month to £67. I stagger in shock and then check the bill and it is based on two estimated readings, one in May and one in September. I phone BG and they tell me to read the meter as we have before and call them back with the meter reading, we can no longer read the meter, it now has an error message. I call BG back and they tell me that the meter is now kaput and they will escalate the 2 year old issue to get the meters replaced. I say what about the increased DD and they say Hmm well now we don't know how much gas you have used and we need to work this out with you.
We have been desperately trying to decrease our energy costs this year and now we have no idea what they intend to do about this. Has anyone experienced a similar issue? Or know how it will be estimated?
Thanks very much for any help or advice.
Two years ago when Smart meters first appeared British Gas wrote and told us that we needed to have two new meters fitted, they basically made it sound compulsory so I took a day off work and waited for the meters to be fitted. Both were installed but the fitters could not get the meters to send signals to each other and told me that they would be back later in the day to sort it out. To cut a very long story short, they never came back and since then we have been trying to get the issue resolved and have never been able to. BG occasionally send someone who always needs to refer it to someone else and nothing ever happens. The electric meter does send readings through, the gas never has and has always had to be read manually.
Roll forward to last month, we receive an electronic bill stating that our gas DD needs to increase from £35 per month to £67. I stagger in shock and then check the bill and it is based on two estimated readings, one in May and one in September. I phone BG and they tell me to read the meter as we have before and call them back with the meter reading, we can no longer read the meter, it now has an error message. I call BG back and they tell me that the meter is now kaput and they will escalate the 2 year old issue to get the meters replaced. I say what about the increased DD and they say Hmm well now we don't know how much gas you have used and we need to work this out with you.
We have been desperately trying to decrease our energy costs this year and now we have no idea what they intend to do about this. Has anyone experienced a similar issue? Or know how it will be estimated?
Thanks very much for any help or advice.
LBM 10/1/12 ~ DFW Start 6/2/12: £82,344 ~ Now Zero
:staradmin:starmod::staradmin Debt free 17th April 2015 :staradmin:starmod::staradmin
Eternal thanks to the DMP & Mutual Support (no.439) and Payment a Day Threads
Eternal thanks to the DMP & Mutual Support (no.439) and Payment a Day Threads
Mortgage free 3rd July 2014 - Grateful thanks to the 2013/14 MFW threads
"Debt is normal. Be weird!" Dave Ramsey
Proud to have dealt with our debt 
0
Comments
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The Estimation is done useing the last available actual readings - BG will prefer those read by a Meter reader, but if there aren't any they will use the Customer readings
It would seem that there are at least 2 years readings available for this excersise, so go through these bills to check what BG come up with makes sense0
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