Meter change blues

calmk

Long story warning ! Eon gas engineer came at 8.30 – there was initial confusion regarding the meter, he said he was putting a pre payment card meter in . I stated that was incorrect and he was due to put a proper meter in and take the card meter out.( our previous tenant had changed meters to pre payment card meters.) I asked him to check his work log as we had already had issues with Eon regarding the meters being changed without our(landlords) permission. He went back to his van and checked this. He then confirmed I was right about the job and proceded to start the changeover for the meter.He asked to see where the boiler was and I showed him. The boiler is upstairs near the bathroom . he wiped his finger on the wall behind the boiler unit and said there was leakage of CO2 and he would be unable to reconnect the gas after he had changed the meter.He said he would have to cap it and that he would put a warning label on the boiler. I told him I was not happy about what he had said as we had just had the gas central heating serviced couple of weeks before and had a gas certificate issued as we are required to do as landlords. i queried how he could be sure of CO2 leakage and he said that the dirty finger demonstrated this. I was not a happy bunny and said he needed to use proper monitoring equipment . The eon gas engineer did not have any CO2 monitoring equipment and said when I queried why not; that Eon did not provide it to him .
I rang my husband to tell him what the engineer had said. My husband said he would speak to the contractor who had done our gas checks and ask them to come to our property to sort the problem out . He spoke to the Eon engineer who threatened to leave the job -he said " I dont have to do this job - I can just leave". My husband informed him that he would take it further if the meter was not changed and asked him to wait for our gas contractor who stated they would be at the property just after 9.30am to resolve the issue. The engineer finished off the job of changing the meter and told me he had another job and would not wait for our contractor. He fitted the gas meter in and told me that we would get a refund for the gas card payment credit (£30.69). He asked me to sign a warning notice. I told him I was not happy to sign it. He left the property with the gas disconnected.He had capped the gas supply.
I noticed as he was driving away that he had put onto the warning notice that he had left at 10.00am. The time he left was not 10.00am. He left at 9.15am. I rang the call centre to complain about this . after waiting ages i got put through to someone who informed me to ring another number . I tried the number she suggested and waited ages again for someone to answer my call. The call centre (Newry call centre, Ireland) 0845 3006301 took details regarding my complaint but did not give me a reference number for my complaint.

Our gas contractor came out to the property and confirmed no CO2 leakage after doing safety checks using monitoring equipment. We have been charged by our contractor for the checks and for re connecting the gas. We have complained to Eon-again through the Newry call centre and are awaiting for them to deal with our complaint.

Fire_Fox

Presumably you mean CO (carbon monoxide) - do you have CO detectors in place? That would clearly trump his lack of a monitoring device!

Not really sure what your question is tho? Try writing a paper letter to the Complaints Team, invoke the formal complaints procedure.
https://www.eonenergy.com/~/media/ED96F94C8C14468DBD99304E45F867FE.pdf

ic

calmk wrote: »

he wiped his finger on the wall behind the boiler unit and said there was leakage of CO2

If he turned the tap on, did leprechauns fall out?

Former_E.ON_Company_Representative:_Malc

Hi calmk

Like Fire Fox, I'm presuming you mean carbon monoxide. This is something we take extremely seriously and all our engineers have a duty of care to make sure customers aren't put at risk.

Dark staining around or on appliances is one of the tell tale signs of a potential problem. If the engineer had any doubts whatsoever, then alerting you to the possible dangers and capping the supply was the way to go.

Better to be safe than sorry as the consequences of carbon monoxide poisoning can be catastrophic.

This isn't just our view. The Gas Safe Register gives a lot of really good advice about what to do in these circumstances. Please see the following link for an independent opinion.

http://www.gassaferegister.co.uk/learn/carbon_monoxide_kills.aspx

Unlike our boiler guys, meter engineers don't usually carry carbon monoxide monitoring equipment. Fully take the point, though, that it would've helped if they had had this equipment. I'll gladly feed back on this.

I'm sorry your complaint hasn't been dealt with yet. The link Fire Fox posted gives more info about our complaints process. Alternatively, you can contact our Director's Office (contact details are on your bill and our website). They'll be happy to take this on for you.

Hope this helps explain our concern to make sure customers are safe when engineers are working at their properties.

Malc

Inspectorman

The same thing happened with my parents smart meter install - they condemned the gas fire. Carried on with the install and then capped the gas and went.

Fast forward a couple of hours when my parents plumber turns up and checks the gas fire (which is fine), he finds a massive drop at the meter. The team of e.on engineers (3 people to install 2 meters) had obviously decided it was far to much effort to report a leak and abort an install :mad:

chanz4

Im afraid he did have right to cap under the gas act, they also dont have to carry purge and relights out. Gas safety checks are like mots, only fully correct on the day of issue

calmk

meant carbon monoxide :doh: it was late when i posted and a bit tired.....

C_Mababejive

I would have to see a pic of said boiler and staining in order to form a judgement. My initial thoughts are that meter installers have no right to disconnect anything without the householders permission. The most they can do is issue an "at risk" notice and turn the boiler off at its normal operating controls.

A mark on a wall does not automatically indicate leakage of fumes or similar.

Gas appliances burning normally do not emit appreciable amounts of CO.

CO detectors are notoriously unreliable and are often not fitted correctly by householders

Did you say the property was rented? If so,why do you have to pay for the safety check?

ValHaller

chanz4 wrote: »

Im afraid he did have right to cap under the gas act, they also dont have to carry purge and relights out. Gas safety checks are like mots, only fully correct on the day of issue

They only have a duty (not a right) if there actually is a problem. It seems to me that this fitter was probably making it up. And I think that this is the real issue which E.ON Company Representative: Malc should have addressed.

Fendogg

The meter fitter is right to cut your supply off, signs of spillage are classed as immediately dangerous , you could have refused , but national grid will cut you off in the street. Signs of spillage are I.d not at risk disc in meter time.

C_Mababejive

But was it indeed spillage and what sort of boiler was it? Many an appliance has marks on the wall due to entrainment of airborne dust and dirt which is circulated due to convection currents around the appliance.