Final gas reading wrong! OVO ripping me off!

liviboy

Hi all,

I switched to the MSE Feb collective switch and those who read that thread will know the fun I had trying to switch from OVO!

I have still not had my final gas bill from OVO despite finally moving over in April!

Today I finally received an email TELLING me what my final reading was and it is substantially higher than the actual reading, taken by me, on the day.

So - actual reading taken by me : 02918
Reading OVO have "received" (from a 3rd party NOT British Gas) - 03083

This means I am:

1) paying for the same gas use twice
2) paying more for the gas used than I should be
3) being called a liar

The cheeky employee at OVO has the audacity to ask for a photo of my meter on the day of the switch! Nobody could tell me WHEN I was switching but as soon as I was informed by BG that I had switched I gave them the reading that day!

What can I do about this! I'm totally hacked off with this nonsense!

System

liviboy wrote: »

Hi all,

I switched to the MSE Feb collective switch and those who read that thread will know the fun I had trying to switch from OVO!

I have still not had my final gas bill from OVO despite finally moving over in April!

Today I finally received an email TELLING me what my final reading was and it is substantially higher than the actual reading, taken by me, on the day.

So - actual reading taken by me : 02918
Reading OVO have "received" (from a 3rd party NOT British Gas) - 03083

This means I am:

1) paying for the same gas use twice
2) paying more for the gas used than I should be
3) being called a liar

The cheeky employee at OVO has the audacity to ask for a photo of my meter on the day of the switch! Nobody could tell me WHEN I was switching but as soon as I was informed by BG that I had switched I gave them the reading that day!

What can I do about this! I'm totally hacked off with this nonsense!

Let me address your Point 1. You will not pay for the same gas twice. You will only pay the daily standing charge until your meter passes the opening reading on your new account.

All meter readings go to a third party for verification. They take nothing on trust as people misread meters and some people do lie.

Your new supplier can raise a Readings Dispute if the adjusted reading is GREATER than 125CM3s different from the reading that you supplied on switch. A dispute can take up to 12 weeks to resolve. My advice - I was in your situation this time last year and it took me 4 months to pass the opening reading - is calculate the unit price difference. You will be surprised how small this difference actually is. My new supplier was happy to credit me £2.34 for the 105CM3s difference.

backfoot

We see a lot of this and Hengus has correctly explained the process.

The impact is not financially great but I do agree it is most frustrating when you want to track billing with the new supplier and receive a final settlement bill (often a refund). It is even more frustrating when you have gone out your way to provide a reading as we all should.

I also had the same switchover error with OVO. There is nothing unusual or unpredictable about my consumption and I have lived here for 20 years.

There was no reason to adjust the readings and in fact, it took them totally out of the normal parameters for my consumption.

Is it possible that the intervention process is faulty? Is it faulty for OVO?

liviboy

Hengus wrote: »

Let me address your Point 1. You will not pay for the same gas twice. You will only pay the daily standing charge until your meter passes the opening reading on your new account.

All meter readings go to a third party for verification. They take nothing on trust as people misread meters and some people do lie.

Your new supplier can raise a Readings Dispute if the adjusted reading is GREATER than 125CM3s different from the reading that you supplied on switch. A dispute can take up to 12 weeks to resolve. My advice - I was in your situation this time last year and it took me 4 months to pass the opening reading - is calculate the unit price difference. You will be surprised how small this difference actually is. My new supplier was happy to credit me £2.34 for the 105CM3s difference.

I don't think you read my post.

I have ALREADY been billed by BG from the opening meter reading supplied
(02918)

OVO are now going to Bill me up to 03083.

Therefore can you explain, as per your post, how I am not paying BOTH OVO AND BG for meter units 02918 - 03083 (165 units in total).

I could understand if the readings were the other way round but they arent.

BG supplied me from 2918 onwards so by OVO charging me how am
I not being charged twice?

I have already been through a dispute process which has taken weeks because OVO raised a dispute automatically (nobody at OVO could see why as the figures all "fell in line".)

I couldn't care less if the difference was 50p. OVO have been terrible throughout this and I don't see why they get to dictate a meter reading when they never once read my meter!! I did, monthly! I also don't understand why BG should credit me whilst OVO profits (again regardless of how small the actual amount is).

Thanks for the reply though - glad to seem its not just me that has to wait months. God help us when 7 day switching becomes the expectation.

liviboy

backfoot wrote: »

We see a lot of this and Hengus has correctly explained the process.

The impact is not financially great but I do agree it is most frustrating when you want to track billing with the new supplier and receive a final settlement bill (often a refund). It is even more frustrating when you have gone out your way to provide a reading as we all should.

I also had the same switchover error with OVO. There is nothing unusual or unpredictable about my consumption and I have lived here for 20 years.

There was no reason to adjust the readings and in fact, it took them totally out of the normal parameters for my consumption.

Is it possible that the intervention process is faulty? Is it faulty for OVO?

I actually don't understand this whole 3rd party nonsense.

How can a company, who doesn't read my meter, tell me what my meter reading was when I know it wasn't that number??

OVO kept saying its for my protection...but this isn't protecting me!

I could understand if the readings were substantially out/not in line/concerning! But when everyone agrees my readings fall in line it's annoying beyond belief, especially when put together with all of the grief I had with this switch!

backfoot

I agree with you. We seem to have a validation process which intervenes when it shouldn't.There is plenty of evidence to show it is not operating effectively.

System

liviboy wrote: »

I actually don't understand this whole 3rd party nonsense.

How can a company, who doesn't read my meter, tell me what my meter reading was when I know it wasn't that number??

OVO kept saying its for my protection...but this isn't protecting me!

I could understand if the readings were substantially out/not in line/concerning! But when everyone agrees my readings fall in line it's annoying beyond belief, especially when put together with all of the grief I had with this switch!

The data collectors have maintained property consumption records for over 70 years. Each property has an Annual Quantity (AQ) for gas which is a calculation based on your past consumption adjusted for climate. The AQ is reviewed/adjusted once per year.

It is a fact that when energy prices are rising that some consumers lie to try to save a few £s. On some switches, some consumers just don't bother to supply a meter reading. It follows that there has to be a system to verify/to provide switching readings. In my experience, electricity tends to go through unchallenged as the Estimated Annual Consumption is updated each time that a ,meter reading is provided.

The problem will go away when, or if, we all get smart meters.:eek:

As far as your particular issue is concerned, the closing and opening meter reading must agree. As the gaining supplier is required under its supply licence to manage all aspects of the switch, you should raise the matter with them. Usually, it is resolved by a phone call from the gaining to the losing supplier.

liviboy

Hengus wrote: »

The data collectors have maintained property consumption records for over 70 years. Each property has an Annual Quantity (AQ) for gas which is a calculation based on your past consumption adjusted for climate. The AQ is reviewed/adjusted once per year.

It is a fact that when energy prices are rising that some consumers lie to try to save a few £s. On some switches, some consumers just don't bother to supply a meter reading. It follows that there has to be a system to verify/to provide switching readings. In my experience, electricity tends to go through unchallenged as the Estimated Annual Consumption is updated each time that a ,meter reading is provided.

The problem will go away when, or if, we all get smart meters.:eek:

As far as your particular issue is concerned, the closing and opening meter reading must agree. As the gaining supplier is required under its supply licence to manage all aspects of the switch, you should raise the matter with them. Usually, it is resolved by a phone call from the gaining to the losing supplier.

I understand some people will lie or not bother to give readings.

However, this new usage puts my consumption. Far above my previous 2 years and that's with a much warmer winter.

I actually believe that even if I did take a photo of my meter with the paper the data company would still insist that they were protecting me and that I was wrong!

The irony of smart meters - my gas cannot have a smart meter because it is semi-concealed and currently there are no options for smart metering in these boxes yet.

backfoot

Hengus wrote: »

It is a fact that when energy prices are rising that some consumers lie to try to save a few £s. On some switches, some consumers just don't bother to supply a meter reading. It follows that there has to be a system to verify/to provide switching readings. In my experience, electricity tends to go through unchallenged as the Estimated Annual Consumption is updated each time that a ,meter reading is provided.

I accept this has happened. To what degree , perhaps no one knows. Is it sufficient justification to treat everyone as potential villains and change readings which have genuinely been supplied by the vast majority.

It must also be counter productive because every genuine final read which gets altered will result in a customer service interaction and possible dispute procedures.

Both the OP and myself and (yourself ?) had adjustments where it should have been normal to accept the reading rather than find an obscure reason to change it.

It may be ok for missing readings but the system is currently not effective for submitted readings

[Deleted User]

liviboy wrote: »

I understand some people will lie or not bother to give readings.

However, this new usage puts my consumption. Far above my previous 2 years and that's with a much warmer winter.

I actually believe that even if I did take a photo of my meter with the paper the data company would still insist that they were protecting me and that I was wrong!

The irony of smart meters - my gas cannot have a smart meter because it is semi-concealed and currently there are no options for smart metering in these boxes yet.

I ve seen many semi concealed smart gas meters fitted by BG and I ve seen them around for at least the last 5 years .In fact they are virtually the same model as a landys and Gyr or Siemens e6 meter with a smart module built in. There is no reason a smart cannot be fitted below ground level, they are waterproof.

System

It's become problematical because people who use this forum tend to be frequent switchers. I have switched gas 5 times since Jan 2015. In the past 18 months, my gas meter has been read once - about 2 weeks ago. The meter reader told me that he was reading the meter on behalf of Ovo - a supplier that I left 6 months ago.

With smart meters being rolled out, I cannot see this particular industry procedure being modified. It will just become more accurate with 30 minute meter reading. ( A CMA recommendation to get more accurate consumer profiling to better manage demand), along with an actual meter reading on the date/time of the transfer of supply.