EON Smart Meters

Greenenergy

Definitely raise a formal complaint if you can , clearly eon want to mislead customers .... I am most concerned about the elderly and vulnerable people they are doing this too. That’s why I raised a complaint and subsequently have progressed with it to the ombudsman .

Former_E.ON_Company_Representative:_Malc

Downward wrote: »

I have smart meters installed by Eon back in 2015 I reckon.
Just moved back to them after a 2 year absence but the smart meters don’t work.
Apparently moving suppliers renders them not smart.
What a shambles it all is.
Only came back to Eon cause i was sick of going outside in all weathers getting readings for the electric

Hello Downward and many thanks for re-joining us.

Now we're your supplier again, we'll be looking to upgrade your meter so it can be managed in the same way as the new SMETS2 meters. This includes being able to send us readings automatically so you don't have to go out in the cold and rain to do this.

Upgrades are carried out remotely so there'll be no need for a technician to visit your home. We're running trials now and are looking to start upgrading SMETS1 meters very soon. We'll be carrying out this work throughout next year and will write to you when your meter has been upgraded to let you know.

There are some early smart meters (mainly installed from 2014 and before) where this won't be possible and we'll offer these customers SMETS2 meters. As your meter dates from 2015, you should be okay for a remote upgrade.

Thanks again for coming back to us Downward.

Malc

Former_E.ON_Company_Representative:_Malc

MothballsWallet wrote: »

Malc - I also received one of the "Reminder: You need to have your meters changed" letters on the 7th November 2019 where I'm on the tariff that states I agree to be contacted about smart meters.

I'm thinking of raising a complaint about this to add to everyone else who's doing this.

Totally understand MothballsWallet. There are details of how to raise complaints on our website.

A Complaint Manager will look after this and you might want to ask them about an opt-out. This won't stop contact about smart meters altogether as we've a regulatory duty to offer them to all our customers and to make them aware of any significant developments. It will slow down the frequency of the contact if this is something you might be interested in. I posted more about opt-outs earlier in this thread (please see post #145 on 31 October 19).

Hope this helps point you in the right direction MothballsWallet.

Malc

Greenenergy

I would encourage folks not to opt out of comms - clearly eon would prefer folks do this as it hides the fact they are continuing to deliberately mislead customers ...

TREVORCOLMAN

Hi Malc

Could you please explain to me in this age of modern technology (where I can input a meter reading in 30 seconds) it takes you 42 days to provide my old supplier this reading?

:rotfl:

Former_E.ON_Company_Representative:_Malc

oliverbrown wrote: »

I wonder who installs electric meters for private customers. Obviously the energy company will need to be involved to update the billing with the closing reading of the old meter and the opening reading of the new meter. Also might involve updating the meter reference number wherever that's managed.

oliverbrown wrote: »

Not until such time your existing meter is end of life and traditional meters are out of production.

I'm waiting on Malc's reply about E.on installing user-supplied meters. Something like this might be worth buying and storing away until the relevant time: http://www.em-lite.co.uk/generation_metering.htm

I'm not sure on the service life of these units but I think 20 years from date of manufacture is not uncommon.

E.ON_Company_Representative:_Malc wrote: »

Hello oliverbrown and many thanks for the kind words. They're very much appreciated.

This morning I've sent through another batch of feedback from these Forums about our smart meter communications. I'm happy to keep doing this.

I've asked the question about our policy on dealing with meters supplied by customers. Like me, the people I've spoken to haven't been asked this before and have gone away to investigate. I've a note in my diary to chase them up if they haven't come up with an answer by the middle of next week. I'll keep you updated.

Thanks again for the kind words oliverbrown.

Malc

Hello oliverbrown and further to my post on 15 November as above.

I've asked our internal colleagues to review this and give me a full, robust and accurate answer. I think this will be better than giving a series of partial updates which could lead to further questions. I've asked for the latest update and been told we expect to be able to fully clarify our position at some point next week.

Many thanks for your patience oliverbrown while I sort out the right details for you.

Malc

Former_E.ON_Company_Representative:_Malc

TREVORCOLMAN wrote: »

Hi Malc

Could you please explain to me in this age of modern technology (where I can input a meter reading in 30 seconds) it takes you 42 days to provide my old supplier this reading?

:rotfl:

Hello TREVORCOLMAN and many thanks for joining us.

Switches usually complete in about two and half weeks. This will be the Supply Start Date (SSD). It takes longer before accounts are fully up and running as we need to let other industry third parties know about a change of supplier. These include the energy distributors, meter operators/readers (Data Collectors) and the national databases. This is done via a series of electronic messages. We look to have it all completed within 42 calendar days of the SSD. It could be earlier, it's just that we can't start chasing until we're past this point.

Once all is through and verified by the third parties, accounts go fully live and are backdated to the SSD. One of the third parties (Data Collector) checks the start readings fall in line with past readings held for the property and send them to both suppliers. Sometimes the Data Collector will make a change and both suppliers need to use these amended readings to start/close their respective accounts. This makes sure the same energy is only charged once.

Totally take your point, this can take time and we're working with industry partners to improve the overall speed of switching. This includes looking to see if smart meters can help in this area.

Hope this is of interest TREVORCOLMAN.

Malc

SydSnott

I am once again being mithered by EON to adopt a homeless and unloved so called smart meter!
This time, the letter quite erroneously states that I recently told them I didn't want a smart meter because of concerns over installation safety!

Absolute tosh! I don't care if they fry themselves whilst installing them, as long as they don't do it in my house!

The plain truth is I just don't want one.

I am not convinced that they (be that SMETS 1 or 2) are currently fit for purpose.

Reading these posts, it seems to be a lottery as to which would be supplied.
Signal strength also seems to be something of a vague notion despite it being vital for the full functionality of the meter.

I have yet to find a guarantee that these meters will be compatible with dimmable LED Light sources.

With the exponential increase in the availability of "Smart Things", I fear for the carnage these meters will wreak on our smart home management.

Never had myself down as one of the "tinfoil hat brigade", but all this talk of needing to screen the meters with a faraday cage of sorts does rather make me wonder :rotfl:
Finally,I cannot find any assurance that I will be able to remain on quarterly billing.
....on good old-fashioned PAPER!

Greenenergy

Get a formal complaint in eon are choosing to mislead everyone , particularly the elderly and vulnerable .

Former_E.ON_Company_Representative:_Malc

SydSnott wrote: »

I am once again being mithered by EON to adopt a homeless and unloved so called smart meter!
This time, the letter quite erroneously states that I recently told them I didn't want a smart meter because of concerns over installation safety!

Absolute tosh! I don't care if they fry themselves whilst installing them, as long as they don't do it in my house!

The plain truth is I just don't want one.

I am not convinced that they (be that SMETS 1 or 2) are currently fit for purpose.

Reading these posts, it seems to be a lottery as to which would be supplied.
Signal strength also seems to be something of a vague notion despite it being vital for the full functionality of the meter.

I have yet to find a guarantee that these meters will be compatible with dimmable LED Light sources.

With the exponential increase in the availability of "Smart Things", I fear for the carnage these meters will wreak on our smart home management.

Never had myself down as one of the "tinfoil hat brigade", but all this talk of needing to screen the meters with a faraday cage of sorts does rather make me wonder :rotfl:
Finally,I cannot find any assurance that I will be able to remain on quarterly billing.
....on good old-fashioned PAPER!

Hello SydSnott and I'm sorry our letter isn't accurate.

You don't have to agree to smart meters and can turn down our offers to fit them.

We've a regulatory obligation to ask our customers if they would like smart meters. We've also a duty to let them know about any significant developments with the roll-out like the new SMETS2 meters now being fitted. I totally accept there are some customers who won't ever agree to smart meters. This isn't the case for everyone and a regular complaint comes from customers upset if they feel we haven't kept them up to date with developments and changes that could potentially be of interest to them.

We're looking to fit the latest SMETS2 meters at every opportunity. Currently, this is at over 90% of our installations. There are still some instances where we continue to face difficulties. For instance, where the mobile phone signal isn't strong enough or there are local difficulties that don't become clear until a technician is on site. This is why we can't guarantee whether the meter will be SMETS1 or 2 until we're at the property. As I say, wherever possible it will be SMETS2.

Smart meters have gone through rigorous safety testing and have exceeded every UK and EU safety standard. Public Health England have confirmed they see no health risks from smart meters. Our technicians also stick to the Smart Metering Installations Code of Practice.

Customers with smart meters and on Fixed Term tariffs receive quarterly bills. Also, those who pay with a Monthly Direct Debit are billed quarterly. Only customers with smart meters who pay on demand by cash or cheque are billed monthly.

There's no problem having paper bills. If you've an online account, this can be done once logged in by setting the preference for paper bills. Please choose the 'manage your details' tile on the landing page and go to 'update my details' and then 'change how you receive your bills' from the body of the page. Choose the option required and submit. Changes go through within 24 hours.

Sorry again the letter we've sent doesn't match your situation SydSnott. Please let me know if you need any more information as happy to help.

Malc