Prepay electric adding remote credit

AndyCF

I want to point out this does not now apply to me however it is a question I meant to pose quite a few months ago, I merely wanted to clear it up in my head as such. This was actually for EON however I do have a completely different ongoing concern with them that I may post about another time as they are being quite helpful (now anyway)

This question is not for a 'smart' pre-pay meter, just a regular 'go to the shop with the stick and then put it into the meter' arrangement.

Now, lets say said "key prepayment" electric meter and it has a small two figure debt on it too.

I have been informed you can call them to have said debt cleared by paying it off over the phone and they will send a signal to the meter to remove it, that does make sense to me.

The question here is, if that is possible and if for example your 'key' dies as can happen, in that case why is it not possible to pay for some credit via card on the phone and have say £20 of credit put onto the machine ? At least until you are able to go and collect your new key.

I should point out I am aware the newer 'smart' 'pay' meters do allow this via online or an automated service as there is no key to either lose or get damaged, but to my mind it seems slightly odd that debt payment and 'remote removal' of them can be done but not 'my key is broken I want to pay you for credit until I can get out to sort it' is not.

I promise this is not meant to be a trick question it is mere curiosity that is all as to why one is possible but the other is not.

Raxiel

I always understood that if you call the company directly to pay off debt (or any other sort of adjustment), it still has to be communicated to the meter itself via the key?

If the meter isn't smart it has no way of receiving the information any other way.

AndyCF

Oh OK.

Yes a 'dumb' pre-pay meter not a smart one. The ones where you just have a stick a bit like a USB type dongle affair you take to the shop to 'top up'

It was more a question I was curious about as I'd assumed if they could (when you pay direct via a card to clear it) zap the debt off, then in that case they could 'add credit' if needed if for instance your key was dead and you could not get out to sort it for a day or so.

House_Martin

BG do have a dongle to connect to the prepay meter so you can do a remote top up over the net.
BG will post you one. Ideal for disabled and people who live in remote areas The standard key prepayment connects at paypoints to update.It carries info such as debit and credit, readings and updates at the paypoint then can be inserted in meter to clear debts
The smart meter is the best idea.With this you can go straight on to their "all online Jan 2019 " very low tariff, especially for gas which is far far cheaper then the standard variable rates on gas with its 29p a day standing charge.The all online standing charge is only 16p a day, that alone is a £4 a month saving on gas standing charge alone.
Everyone who is on BG prepay meters should be getting in touch with them asap to get smart prepays fitted.
Assuming their credit history allows it, its a no brainer for BG prepayers and all prepayment meters come to that
Another cracking advert for the superiority of smart meters over ancient old top up prepays which have been held up for a couple of decades and are behind the times for methods of top ups.

S0litaire

Think they can send a signal via gsm to basically "wipe" certain sections of the memory, i.e. current debt/ weekly payback.

Don't think they can "add" info like credits or rate changes. you need a key for that.

They might be able to "by-pass" the shut-off when credit runs out. It acts like ongoing emergency credit, that you need to pay back once you've a new key.

AndyCF

Oh I do have a Smart meter planned. I was going to post a topic about that but it is still erm 'open' as I had to complain unfortunately, I'm awaiting my third visit and third meter fitment in the space of about six weeks. I've given up worrying about the tariff concerns or other things until I have a functional one.

And no there is no signal issue either as I used to have a Smart 'credit' type meter before I moved to PrePay a couple of years ago The earlier one I think as I was an early adopter.

Its a bit more complicated than that. Depending on what happens in a few weeks determines if I post a topic about it all. I may do anyway to provide feedback.

Michaelw

British gas withdrew the home top up service in the summer.Instead they promoted smart meters.

AndyCF

Michaelw wrote: »

British gas withdrew the home top up service in the summer.Instead they promoted smart meters.

I still have a regular gas meter, even though it is now located outside. I'm with B.G too. I've not asked about a Smart for this figuring they will eventually drop me a letter or such about it at which time I'll accept but I'll not go chasing for it.

The primary reason I wanted to switch from the 'prepay key' to the 'Smart prepay' electricity was simply as the nearest place with a replacement key is not very local, having had a key fail (thankfully I still had about £10 credit anyway) and being able to topup with either a voucher/online/automated phone made 100% sense to me. As I say I'll likely post a topic all about my 'experience' with this once it is actually 'done and working'

SwanJon

S0litaire wrote: »

Think they can send a signal via gsm to basically "wipe" certain sections of the memory, i.e. current debt/ weekly payback.

No GSM in 'dumb' prepayment meters - these are all based 1980s technology.
As above, the final leg of the message needs to be on the card/key chip, so refunds arrive on later top ups, not instantly.

Autumnella

Whoever said the signal is sent to the meter is wrong. It's actually a message to clear the debt sent via the paypoint/payzone that gets picked up onto your key when you charge your key. It can take a few top ups for this to work so in reality you could be continuing to pay for a debt you don't owe until it does. Credits can be sent in the same way.