Economy 7 - provider won't change

Charlie234

Hi

I've recently moved to FlowEnergy. When I've moved I was quoted standard tariff which I was happy with but after the move I received bill detailing my night/day usage. I've queried provider about it and they confirmed that they moved me to economy 7 tariff. There was no information about tariff change apart from the bill.

I don't use energy at night and this tariff will be much more expensive for me.

They are refusing moving me to standard tariff on a basis of my meter being economy 7 (which I think should give me more not less choice?). The only alternative they offered me was replacing my meter which is expensive (£90), and I don't see any benefit in doing so as in a few years time they will be replacing meters on their own expense to smartmeters.

Does anyone have experience in similar matter?
Is there really a reason for provider to refuse me a standard tariff ?

They were not very forthcoming with the tariff change - aren't companies required to inform the customer when they move them to a different tariff?

rogerblack

Charlie234 wrote: »

I don't use energy at night and this tariff will be much more expensive for me.

They are refusing moving me to standard tariff on a basis of my meter being economy 7 (which I think should give me more not less choice?). The only alternative they offered me was replacing my meter which is expensive (£90), and I don't see any benefit in doing so as in a few years time they will be replacing meters on their own expense to smartmeters.

Will 'much' exceed several years * £90.
Otherwise, you could switch to another povider that will do free meter changes.

macman

You're not being refused Standard tariff. You are being place on E7 Standard tariff (as opposed to single rate Standard tariff), because your meter serial no. shows it to be an E7 meter-that's normal procedure.
Some suppliers will manually merge dual register readings, some won't. None are obliged to, and the meter change is chargeable.
I'm afraid that you failed to check this point before switching, so it's down to you.

Nada666

Charlie234 wrote: »

I don't see any benefit in doing so as in a few years time they will be replacing meters on their own expense to smartmeters.

That's good to know. This has not been previously announced. Very generous of executives, employees and shareholders to declare the funds will be coming out of their own pockets rather than that of their customers. Where did you hear this bombshell?

Charlie234

Well energy meter it's not your property it belongs to energy company. If they are forced by new law to replace it they will have to bear the cost (and they will charge us more in energy for sure but you won't have to pay for meter directly...).

Here's link to British gas website:
"http://www.britishgas.co.uk/smarter-living/control-energy/smart-meters/how-do-i-upgrade-to-a-smart-meter.html

There's link at the bottom that says:
Do I have to pay for my smart meter.

Charlie234

macman wrote: »

You're not being refused Standard tariff. You are being place on E7 Standard tariff (as opposed to single rate Standard tariff), because your meter serial no. shows it to be an E7 meter-that's normal procedure.
Some suppliers will manually merge dual register readings, some won't. None are obliged to, and the meter change is chargeable.
I'm afraid that you failed to check this point before switching, so it's down to you.

I've been refused in writing standard tariff. I've requested it and they confirmed they won't be able to provide it. I was under impression that was supposed to be my tariff since all prices quoted to me (multiple times even after my account was moved to them were from standard tariff). They moved me without informing me to a new economy seven tariff (I discovered it by checking my bill). The reason they gave was the fact I got economy 7 meter - which for me is a bit strange as this meter measures electricity the same way all others do. All they would have to do is add 2 numbers together... but why would you ... if you can charge more and find excuse to do so.

There's no good reason for force customer to pay for meter replacement since even on the bill they provide a summary of energy consumption from both day/night and all they would have to do is apply a single charge to it. Which they say they are unable to do...

What was really upsetting to me wasn't the fact they requested me to pay for the meter it was lack of transparency and changing tariffs behind my back - increasing my cost by around 20-30% in the process. They actually confirmed the standard tariff after my provider was fully switched - I received a welcome pack detailing the prices and conditions - no word of economy seven.

scaredofdebt

Charlie234 wrote: »

Well energy meter it's not your property it belongs to energy company. If they are forced by new law to replace it they will have to bear the cost (and they will charge us more in energy for sure but you won't have to pay for meter directly...).

Here's link to British gas website:
"http://www.britishgas.co.uk/smarter-living/control-energy/smart-meters/how-do-i-upgrade-to-a-smart-meter.html

There's link at the bottom that says:
Do I have to pay for my smart meter.

From the same website:

Do I have to pay for my smart meter?
close
No. We're installing smart meters and smart energy monitors as part of a free, nationwide upgrade for all our customers. Under current arrangements you pay for existing meters through energy bills, it will be the same for smart meters.

So customers DO pay for smart meters, read the last part.

Obviously, where else would the money come from?

However, in the long run it SHOULD be cheaper for everyone one these meters as there's no need to pay for meter readers to come out to read them, but there may be other costs involved that aren't apparent yet.

Still, it's a good chance for the utility companies to make even more profit by pocketing this potential saving themselves.

LittleMissAspie

Charlie234 wrote: »

The only alternative they offered me was replacing my meter which is expensive (£90),

That's strange because we were considering moving to FlowEnergy the other month and when my boyfriend phoned them to ask if they would be able to change our meter from E7 to standard rate, they said they couldn't do meter changes.

Charlie234 wrote: »

Is there really a reason for provider to refuse me a standard tariff ?

I believe it's actually against the rules and the companies that combine the reading shouldn't be doing that. Something to do with how the meter is registered.

I suspect FlowEnergy haven't changed your tariff, they would have put you on E7 from the start. They probably sent you a welcome pack with the single tariff because when you switched you told them you were on a single meter. I doubt the Customer Welcome Pack Team talks to the Meter Type & Tariff Team to double check what type of meter every customer has.

spiro

See post 5 on this thread (https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4772422) about why some suppliers dont/wont put E7 meters on single rate tariffs.

LittleMissAspie

spiro wrote: »

See post 5 on this thread (https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4772422) about why some suppliers dont/wont put E7 meters on single rate tariffs.

That's it! Also some more info here, all very confusing if you ask me. https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4150759

scaredofdebt

LittleMissAspie wrote: »

That's strange because we were considering moving to FlowEnergy the other month and when my boyfriend phoned them to ask if they would be able to change our meter from E7 to standard rate, they said they couldn't do meter changes.

So what do they do if a meter is faulty or dangerous?

I suspect that's BS.