Smart meter errors

realaleman

I have a small business, (a pub), and after the smart meter was fitted in early 2011 it seems the bill has been incorrect.

Day and night units have been billed the wrong way round, leaving me with a bill of well over £10000.

British Gas have offered 10%off.

Is this enough?

Is this a reasonable way to treat a small business?

lstar337

No.

If the readings have been wrong (day/night reversed), then you should be able to get your bills recalculated, and your money back (might be in credit).

ValHaller

realaleman wrote: »

British Gas have offered 10%off.

Sounds like they think that the complaint is that the charges are too high rather than about crossed readngs

victor2

realaleman wrote: »

I have a small business, (a pub), and after the smart meter was fitted in early 2011 it seems the bill has been incorrect.

Day and night units have been billed the wrong way round, leaving me with a bill of well over £10000.

British Gas have offered 10%off.

Is this enough?

Is this a reasonable way to treat a small business?

Is it 10% off the corrected billings, which would presumably be in your favour as well?
If so, then it's a reasonable goodwill gesture and will no doubt help your cash flow. You could possibly push for more, maybe by threatening to take your business elsewhere, but it's impossible to say what their response might be...

[Deleted User]

are you absolutely sure that the smart meter is incorrect, after all it is sending a reading off every hour . I have come accross many small businesses with eco 7 meters which were getting billed the wrong way round for years and when smarts came in and replaced them they revealed the truth. Catch up bills for thousands were issued. Is the meter clock set at the right time ?

realaleman

Day and night were reversed from the day the smart meter was installed. This has resulted in my new bill.

I suppose I am asking if 10% discount is enough, given the circumstances.

victor2

So are you saying Economy 7 wasn't the right tariff for you (which does seem a possibility for a pub), and now that day and night readings have been corrected, you have got a big bill as a result?
If that is the case, why were you on E7 before the smart meter was installed?

southcoastrgi

I would question the bill, especially as the energy co are no longer fitting smart meters for at least 12 months & Italy have banned them altogether

JamesMason_2

Mr Landlord, I think the good people here are asking if your billing has been correctly adjusted and that you've been offered 10% off as a goodwill, compensatory gesture?

horsemad65

so if i've understood your problem your were billed on 2 rates day and night and they transposed the reads. they have since re billed the reads the correct way round leaving you with a 10k bill.

there is room for negotiation on the 10%
its also worth asking for a repayment plan the same length as the time it took to find the issue (2 years and however many months)
your next question to them is if i had been billed the correct way round would i have been offered a different more competitive rate
for example if you are using more on the day than the night is an 2 rate tariff right for you?

realaleman

Thank you, very useful suggestion, will see what happens.