Smart Meters

victor2

Quaedam360.

You need to get your readings and billing back on track by giving them an actual reading ASAP if you can get one.

Then raise a complaint following the details on their website for doing so. It appears to be done by an online chat, which is OK and far better than telephone conversations, of which you have no record. Just make sure you copy the chat and save it into a file and/or print a hard copy for you to refer to in any further chats.

They should tell you what their record of contacts and installing the smart meter(s) is. If you need to obtain an SAR, it is your right to do so and I'm sure someone will come on here who can advise on that matter.

niktheguru

carl.waring said:

But of course the negative ones won’t have been similarly paid for by the reviewed items competitors?

The point being that anything is possible.

Absolutely agree, thats why i take trustpilot with a huge grain of salt and don't base my purchasing decisions on them.

Gerry1

@Quaedam360 Welcome to the forum.  Sorry to hear of your problems.  Here are a few thoughts; apologies if they seem critical or unsympathetic, but they are intended to help.

• Unfortunately your post will be TL;DR for many people, especially if you submit a formal complaint to BG or the Ombudsman.  It's a bit like a treasure hunt, and busy people simply won't have the time to wade through it all trying to establish the basic points.  Don't tell your life story, just list the key points in chronological order.  By all means point out poor customer service, but limit it to one sentence as the end so that it doesn't obscure your main points.
  
• The smart meter may not be phoning home successfully, but it should still be possible to take the meter readings from the In Home Device, the portable shiny toy.  Try moving it close to the electricity meter on the wall to see whether you can get any meter readings.  There's probably a signal strength indicator: the more bars the better.
  
• If you can't get the reading(s) from the IHD, are you physically able to read the meter(s) on the wall?  If so, just send the reading(s) today and then you'll get an accurate bill.  Make sure any gas reading is in m3, not kWh.  Smart meters can be a pain to read, so if you have any difficulty just tell us the exact makes and model numbers if you can, or post a photo, and someone will be able to help you.
• If you can't get any readings from the IHD and you are unable to read the meter, make sure you are on the Priority Services Register and insist that they send out a meter reader.
  
• Being devil's advocate for a moment, if your bills were estimated they will have told you: there will be an E or similar next to the relevant meter readings on the bills, as opposed to Actual, Customer, Smart, Meter reader or whatever.
• If you can give us the accurate opening reading(s) and date, today's reading(s) together with your tariff details (ideally the pence per kWh and the daily charge) then someone should be able to work out how much it has cost you so far.

critchley

Oh please may I jump in here because I am having similar problems with British Gas and so called smart meters.  I pay dual fuel by Direct Debit and it's all done online, no paper bills.  I was paying £120 per month (we are elderly and husband is disabled so we have heavy usage in the Winter months which is covered by paying the same amount during the Summer).  Suddenly, in August 2020 BG informed me that we were paying too much and dropped the payment down to £48.  I knew this was too low and went on their website to increase it but their facility for increasing it was "unavailable" at that time (along with all their "contact us" details or live chat).  I noticed at that time that the bill had been estimated from April 2020.  I gave up.  Then suddenly in January 2021 they informed me that we weren't paying enough and increased it to £120 again.  The bills were still being estimated and I was worried that we would owe them so decided to read the meter and send an accurate reading.  
This was when I realised that the meter wasn't working.  The IHD hadn't worked for ages but as I read somewhere that most people just shove them in a drawer I didn't think that it made any difference to the meter (and I still don't).  
So in January of this year I managed to speak to someone online who said that they had a backlog and were only dealing with people who were without heating or had gas leaks i.e. emergencies and to contact them again in April!  Somebody on another forum posted a phone number so I rang them, hung on for 20 minutes and got cut off, did the same again and got to speak to someone who said they would send someone out to repair the meter on the 9th June and also put us on the Priority Register.
Somebody on another forum explained that it is the Hub next to the meter that sends the signal via a Sim card arrangement and when I said the WAN light wasn't lit he said that was why it wasn't working.
A couple of weeks ago I got a phone call from BG saying that nobody would be coming on the 9th June because they could correct the problem "remotely" and didn't need to attend!  I asked why, if they could do that, they hadn't picked up on all the estimated bills sooner and corrected it and he said that they have only recently been able to do this.  Hmm...
So far nothing's changed and like Quaedem360 I am petrified that we are suddenly going to be landed with a massive bill when/if they finally do get an accurate reading.  If the meter hasn't worked for over a year how will they even get an accurate reading?  I don't know when this remote repair is supposed to take effect.  Do I wait til 9th June for something to happen.
It's all so stressful with my partner's ongoing health problems and mine.  I'm 77 and have Leukemia and really don't need all this hassle and I don't feel up to having a fight with BG if they say we owe them a huge amount. 

[Deleted User]

critchley said:

Oh please may I jump in here because I am having similar problems with British Gas and so called smart meters.  I pay dual fuel by Direct Debit and it's all done online, no paper bills.  I was paying £120 per month (we are elderly and husband is disabled so we have heavy usage in the Winter months which is covered by paying the same amount during the Summer).  Suddenly, in August 2020 BG informed me that we were paying too much and dropped the payment down to £48.  I knew this was too low and went on their website to increase it but their facility for increasing it was "unavailable" at that time (along with all their "contact us" details or live chat).  I noticed at that time that the bill had been estimated from April 2020.  I gave up.  Then suddenly in January 2021 they informed me that we weren't paying enough and increased it to £120 again.  The bills were still being estimated and I was worried that we would owe them so decided to read the meter and send an accurate reading.  
This was when I realised that the meter wasn't working.  The IHD hadn't worked for ages but as I read somewhere that most people just shove them in a drawer I didn't think that it made any difference to the meter (and I still don't).  
So in January of this year I managed to speak to someone online who said that they had a backlog and were only dealing with people who were without heating or had gas leaks i.e. emergencies and to contact them again in April!  Somebody on another forum posted a phone number so I rang them, hung on for 20 minutes and got cut off, did the same again and got to speak to someone who said they would send someone out to repair the meter on the 9th June and also put us on the Priority Register.
Somebody on another forum explained that it is the Hub next to the meter that sends the signal via a Sim card arrangement and when I said the WAN light wasn't lit he said that was why it wasn't working.
A couple of weeks ago I got a phone call from BG saying that nobody would be coming on the 9th June because they could correct the problem "remotely" and didn't need to attend!  I asked why, if they could do that, they hadn't picked up on all the estimated bills sooner and corrected it and he said that they have only recently been able to do this.  Hmm...
So far nothing's changed and like Quaedem360 I am petrified that we are suddenly going to be landed with a massive bill when/if they finally do get an accurate reading.  If the meter hasn't worked for over a year how will they even get an accurate reading?  I don't know when this remote repair is supposed to take effect.  Do I wait til 9th June for something to happen.
It's all so stressful with my partner's ongoing health problems and mine.  I'm 77 and have Leukemia and really don't need all this hassle and I don't feel up to having a fight with BG if they say we owe them a huge amount. 

I am sorry to hear about your health problems. A smart meter will retain import/usage data for 13 months. By the sound of it, your supplier has now issued a request to The DCC (the central smart meter company) to carry out a remote comms hub reset. If this doesn’t work, then the supplier will need to send out an engineer to pull the main supply fuse which should reset the hub. This problem is appearing across a number of models of hub, and I understand that some manufacturers are now deploying updated firmware to reboot the comms hub once every 24 hours. 

The fact that the supplier failed to notice the lack of smart meter readings is down to its internal technology and processes. 

carl.waring

Oh please may I jump in here because I am having similar problems with British Gas and so called smart meters.  I pay dual fuel by Direct Debit and it's all done online, no paper bills.  I was paying £120 per month (we are elderly and husband is disabled so we have heavy usage in the Winter months which is covered by paying the same amount during the Summer). 

Yes. That's exactly how Direct Debits work.  Most people use more in Winter but pay the same all year round.

 Suddenly, in August 2020 BG informed me that we were paying too much and dropped the payment down to £48.  I knew this was too low and went on their website to increase it but their facility for increasing it was "unavailable" at that time (along with all their "contact us" details or live chat).  I noticed at that time that the bill had been estimated from April 2020.  I gave up.  Then suddenly in January 2021 they informed me that we weren't paying enough and increased it to £120 again.  The bills were still being estimated and I was worried that we would owe them so decided to read the meter and send an accurate reading. 

Always a good idea.
 

This was when I realised that the meter wasn't working.  The IHD hadn't worked for ages but as I read somewhere that most people just shove them in a drawer I didn't think that it made any difference to the meter (and I still don't).  

It doesn't. The meter will still register your usage. However, the IHD may have given you some indication that something wasn't right long before now.

So in January of this year I managed to speak to someone online who said that they had a backlog and were only dealing with people who were without heating or had gas leaks i.e. emergencies and to contact them again in April!  Somebody on another forum posted a phone number so I rang them, hung on for 20 minutes and got cut off, did the same again and got to speak to someone who said they would send someone out to repair the meter on the 9th June and also put us on the Priority Register.

To be honest, you should have been on the PRS well before now.

Somebody on another forum explained that it is the Hub next to the meter that sends the signal via a Sim card arrangement and when I said the WAN light wasn't lit he said that was why it wasn't working.

Correct. 

A couple of weeks ago I got a phone call from BG saying that nobody would be coming on the 9th June because they could correct the problem "remotely" and didn't need to attend!  I asked why, if they could do that, they hadn't picked up on all the estimated bills sooner and corrected it and he said that they have only recently been able to do this.  Hmm...

Yeah. I'm not sure about that either. A remote fix is the first thing they should have tried.

So far nothing's changed and like Quaedem360 I am petrified that we are suddenly going to be landed with a massive bill when/if they finally do get an accurate reading.

You wrote earlier that you did give an accurate read. Keep doing that and there won't be a problem with a big bill 👍

If the meter hasn't worked for over a year how will they even get an accurate reading?  I don't know when this remote repair is supposed to take effect.  Do I wait til 9th June for something to happen.

I think the reads are still stored on the meter somehow but am not certain of this. But yes, wait and see if your meter - and IHD -  start working again. If they do then you'll know the remote fix has worked.

It's all so stressful with my partner's ongoing health problems and mine.  I'm 77 and have Leukemia and really don't need all this hassle and I don't feel up to having a fight with BG if they say we owe them a huge amount. 

As I mentioned earlier, there shouldn't be a surprising big bill if you keep giving reads.

Hope you get it sorted out!

Gerry1

critchley said:

The bills were still being estimated and I was worried that we would owe them so decided to read the meter and send an accurate reading.  
This was when I realised that the meter wasn't working.

How do you know the meter isn't working?  Smart meters are a pain because you often have to press buttons in a certain sequence.  If you tell us the make and model number or post a photo someone will explain what to do.  You may also find that even if the meter isn't successfully phoning home, the IHD will still show the meter reading if you move it close to the electricity meter; look at the signal strength display (the more bars the better).

critchley said:

If the meter hasn't worked for over a year how will they even get an accurate reading?  I don't know when this remote repair is supposed to take effect.  Do I wait til 9th June for something to happen.

As above, the meter is probably working even if it's not phoning home.  Have a look at your online account and see whether the latest readings are estimated or are from the smart meter.  If there are no smart readings and you still can't read the meter, make sure you are on the Priority Services Register (call 0800 072 8625  to join) and insist that they send out a meter reader.  If all else fails, submit a formal complaint (preferably by snail mail) and go to the Ombudsman upon receipt of a deadlock letter or after eight weeks.

critchley

You wrote earlier that you did give an accurate read. Keep doing that and there won't be a problem with a big bill 👍

No, I couldn't because that was when I found out the meter wasn't working. Thank you for all the information contained here

critchley

Gerry1 said:

critchley said:

The bills were still being estimated and I was worried that we would owe them so decided to read the meter and send an accurate reading.  
This was when I realised that the meter wasn't working.

How do you know the meter isn't working?  Smart meters are a pain because you often have to press buttons in a certain sequence.  If you tell us the make and model number or post a photo someone will be to explain what to do.  You may also find that even if the meter isn't successfully phoning home, the IHD will still show the meter reading if you move it close to the electricity meter; look at the signal strength display (the more bars the better).

critchley said:

If the meter hasn't worked for over a year how will they even get an accurate reading?  I don't know when this remote repair is supposed to take effect.  Do I wait til 9th June for something to happen.

As above, the meter is probably working even if it's not phoning home.  Have a look at your online account and see whether the latest readings are estimated or are from the smart meter.  If there are no smart readings and you still can't read the meter, make sure you are on the Priority Services Register (call 0800 072 8625  to join) and insist that they send out a meter reader.  If all else fails, submit a formal complaint (preferably by snail mail) and go to the Ombudsman upon receipt of a deadlock letter or after eight weeks.

Thanks.  All my bills have been estimated since April 2020.  
I went on the British Gas website and although my meter didn't look exactly the same as their example it was near enough and I printed out and followed all their instructions to read the meter but athough it came up with a green light nothing else worked.  I even got my son to check that I was doing it right and he's quite "techy" but he couldn't get any life out of it  either. 
From what @[Deleted User] says it seems that it might be possible for them to fix it remotely.
Here is a picture (I hope) 
 It's in a cupboard downstairs in the hall (we live upstairs) which you can see, gets used as a dumping ground. 

carl.waring

No, I couldn't because that was when I found out the meter wasn't working. Thank you for all the information contained here

Ahh yes. Just re-read the post and realised I misinterpreted. Sorry.