Smart Meter

slinkydonkey

So since "Upgrading" to a Smart Meter with British Gas my monthly bill have double in price from £36 to £75 !

They say its because they were under estimating my usage before.
I'm shocked how they can do this. Is it really my fault they were undercharging me?

I guess its my fault for getting a Smart Meter I am going to ask them for my old Meter back.

I will look to swap providers too.
My advice is don't get a SMART Meter!!!!

[Deleted User]

Absolutely nothing at all to do with a smart meter, its because you were totally lax in dealing with your readings.Ludicrous advice. Now you ve got a meter which is now doing the work for you, and yes it is your fault they were "undercharging " you. It just shows you how good a smart meter is , its stopped you getting into debt. NO, they will not switch the meter back. If you move supplier it will just be acting as a dumb meter and you can go back to your old ways. Try Npower !

NeverInDebt

I cant see how you can blame a meter if your after all under paying you still end up paying it back at some point.

If you change supplier might be wise to read your meter often I do weekly and send regularly updates

I know exactly where I am

Petra_70

slinkydonkey wrote: »

So since "Upgrading" to a Smart Meter with British Gas my monthly bill have double in price from £36 to £75 !

They say its because they were under estimating my usage before.
I'm shocked how they can do this. Is it really my fault they were undercharging me?

I guess its my fault for getting a Smart Meter I am going to ask them for my old Meter back.

I will look to swap providers too.
My advice is don't get a SMART Meter!!!!

sacsquacco wrote: »

Absolutely nothing at all to do with a smart meter, its because you were totally lax in dealing with your readings.Ludicrous advice. Now you ve got a meter which is now doing the work for you, and yes it is your fault they were "undercharging " you. It just shows you how good a smart meter is , its stopped you getting into debt. NO, they will not switch the meter back. If you move supplier it will just be acting as a dumb meter and you can go back to your old ways. Try Npower !

NeverInDebt wrote: »

I cant see how you can blame a meter if your after all under paying you still end up paying it back at some point.

If you change supplier might be wise to read your meter often I do weekly and send regularly updates

I know exactly where I am

I agree with the OP. I have heard nothing but negative reports from everyone I know who has had a smart meter, with many reports about bills doubling., And apparently, it's always the customer's fault if they were being undercharged - and NEVER the energy provider's fault! You should have been monitoring your usage, don't blame the energy provider yada yada yada. LOL!

I think the poster in post 2 must be the inventor of smart meters though, with the way he constantly and passionately defends them.

Hell would freeze over before I would have one.

Sorry to hear of your issues 'neverindebt.' I would switch suppliers, and get a normal meter put back in.

slinkydonkey

Yes I must admit I don't always check my readings i'm not a meter reading monkey I have better things to be doing with my time that reading a meter every day.

However I usually get an email from BG telling me to provide my meter readings and every time they have asked I have provided one.

Yes perhaps I'm a bit naive but I have no idea how often im suppose to provide the old readings every day every week?

The fact is that I have provided BG with readings in the last 6 months yet my bill remained the same until I get the new Smart Meter.

Actually Smart Meters have got alot of bad press recently:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/personalfinance/energy-bills/11617413/Smart-meters-will-you-pay-more-for-peak-electricity.html

http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/business/industries/utilities/article4655613.ece

http://home.bt.com/lifestyle/money/mortgages-bills/smart-meters-to-lead-to-higher-energy-charges-at-certain-time-11364017462719

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FLeCTaSG2-U


sacsquacco you can have my Smart Meter as you seem such a big fan :rotfl:

And Yes I will be switching providers as I prefer the half price I was getting before.

Sterlingtimes

slinkydonkey wrote: »

sacsquacco you can have my Smart Meter as you seem such a big fan :rotfl:

And Yes I will be switching providers as I prefer the half price I was getting before.

The overall price that you have to pay will be the same whether you have a smart meter or a dumb meter. The price relates to the amount of energy used. You cannot reduce the price by exchanging meters. I rather feel that you want to get "half price" as a means of extending you credit.

You cannot get your old meter back, That is never an option. Presumably, when you switch providers you will need to settle the whole of your debt with your current supplier, and then hope that the new provider calls for monthly payments equating to half the amount actually due.

slinkydonkey

Sterlingtimes wrote: »

The overall price that you have to pay will be the same whether you have a smart meter or a dumb meter. The price relates to the amount of energy used. You cannot reduce the price by exchanging meters. I rather feel that you want to get "half price" as a means of extending you credit.

You cannot get your old meter back, That is never an option. Presumably, when you switch providers you will need to settle the whole of your debt with your current supplier, and then hope that the new provider calls for monthly payments equating to half the amount actually due.

I understand what you are saying however for my bill to increase two fold over a month is unfair to say the least.

What should of happened as does happen are two different things.
What I am saying is that I have given meeting readings before which have been accurate so why no increase then?

I agree it unlikely I will get an older style meter back unless you work for BG you don't know that for a fact.

You are also implying BG never makes mistakes which is untrue.
Anyway BG have another tariff which is which is £48.86 so thats a start will looking into moving tariff's

System

slinkydonkey wrote: »

I understand what you are saying however for my bill to increase two fold over a month is unfair to say the least.

What should of happened as does happen are two different things.
What I am saying is that I have given meeting readings before which have been accurate so why no increase then?

I agree it unlikely I will get an older style meter back unless you work for BG you don't know that for a fact.

You are also implying BG never makes mistakes which is untrue.

I can tell you are annoyed but without knowing the tariff you are on and the contract dates then any advice has to be general. DD changes are an inevitable part of the supplier/customer process and all suppliers have a policy on how they review the DD amount.

Let us take a general example. You have told the supplier that you expect to use 10000kWhs of gas a year. This equates to an annual payment of, say, £480 per year or £40 a month. Six months into the contract, the supplier re-assesses your usage based on the amount of gas you have used and it believes that your annual consumption will be 12000kWhs - that is, 20% more. For the sake of this example, let us say that this equates to an increase of £72 for the whole year. Sadly, as there is only 6 months remaining in your contract then the supplier will seek to raise the DD amount by £72/6 or £12 per month. The aim being to achieve a Zero balance at the end of your contract. I am not saying that they all get it right, but this is how the system is supposed to work.

As other have said, the type of meter will make absolutely no difference to this calculation. The said, a smart will take out any possibility of the DD change being based on estimated readings.

I am not sure why you think that switching suppliers and changing your meter will resolve the issue. Remember, if there is a big credit balance building up on your account you can always ask for it back.

slinkydonkey

Hengus wrote: »

I can tell you are annoyed but without knowing the tariff you are on and the contract dates then any advice has to be general. DD changes are an inevitable part of the supplier/customer process and all suppliers have a policy on how they review the DD amount.

Let us take a general example. You have told the supplier that you expect to use 10000kWhs of gas a year. This equates to an annual payment of, say, £480 per year or £40 a month. Six months into the contract, the supplier re-assesses your usage based on the amount of gas you have used and it believes that your annual consumption will be 12000kWhs - that is, 20% more. For the sake of this example, let us say that this equates to an increase of £72 for the whole year. Sadly, as there is only 6 months remaining in your contract then the supplier will seek to raise the DD amount by £72/6 or £12 per month. The aim being to achieve a Zero balance at the end of your contract. I am not saying that they all get it right, but this is how the system is supposed to work.

As other have said, the type of meter will make absolutely no difference to this calculation. The said, a smart will take out any possibility of the DD change being based on estimated readings.

I am not sure why you think that switching suppliers and changing your meter will resolve the issue. Remember, if there is a big credit balance building up on your account you can always ask for it back.

I admit my understanding of what an actual estimated bill is a bit naive and this bit helps me understand alot so thanks.

I guess the whole marketing around Smart Meters and doing away with estimated billing I assumed I would save money but clearly it can work either way.

I have a Nest Thermostat installed so will be watching the reports from that much more closely.

I have started to use AirBNB since September last year so that might explain part of it.

Before I refurbished my house it didn't have any central heating at all just an old coal fireplace I should of just kept that it would of saved me a fortune lol

lstar337

Petra_70 wrote: »

I agree with the OP. I have heard nothing but negative reports from everyone I know who has had a smart meter, with many reports about bills doubling., And apparently, it's always the customer's fault if they were being undercharged - and NEVER the energy provider's fault!.

So people complaining about having to pay for what they have used?

Clearly everyone you know who has a smart meter is a fool. If they were being undercharged then they would have always been caught up with eventually, smart meter or not!

Who cares who's fault it is? Pay for what you use, it's not that difficult to understand.

Or was the hope to carry on being under charged for as long as possible then kick up a stink when they get a big bill and expect the energy company to write it off so the rest of us honest people pay it for them?

slinkydonkey

lstar337 wrote: »

So people complaining about having to pay for what they have used?

Clearly everyone you know who has a smart meter is a fool. If they were being undercharged then they would have always been caught up with eventually, smart meter or not!

Who cares who's fault it is? Pay for what you use, it's not that difficult to understand.

Or was the hope to carry on being under charged for as long as possible then kick up a stink when they get a big bill and expect the energy company to write it off so the rest of us honest people pay it for them?

So go ahead and get a Smart Meter Installed. :T