Harassment of my elderly mother by SMS, on behalf of Shell Energy regarding Smart Meter fitting

emmac1

Hi everyone,
I am looking for advice on how to report SMS, the company fitting smart meters on behalf of Shell Energy. My Mum was a customer of First Utility and since the automatic migration to Shell Energy, she has been harassed by many phone calls from SMS, trying to bully her into getting a smart meter. She told them several times she does not want one, but they continue to call. I have emailed Shell Energy and SMS several times to complain and ask them to stop, but the calls continue. My Mum now leaves her answering machine on all day, as she is worried they will call again.
Could anyone please advise me how to proceed with this? Has anyone else had similar experiences?
Many thanks for your help with this.
Emma

JJ_Egan

Block the number ??

Hollyharvey

I've had the same problem with EDF. This morning I had the 9th call trying to get me to have a smart meter installed and this was the 9th time I have said no.

I don't know if your mum has an online account with them. What I have done is go online and change my phone numbers to a load of random numbers so that they can't phone me again and put in a complaint.

Blocking the number is a good idea and I did every time, but the company working for EDF then just phoned using a different number!

emmac1

Thanks for the advice, JJ and Holly. I have blocked the numbers for Mum, but they call back on a different one. It's very frustrating. On the plus side, there's only 49 days until my Mum's current tariff expires, so I'm looking around on this site, to find a suitable switch elsewhere. I can't see that Shell will be particularly competitive

kapum

emmac1 wrote: »

Thanks for the advice, JJ and Holly. I have blocked the numbers for Mum, but they call back on a different one. It's very frustrating. On the plus side, there's only 49 days until my Mum's current tariff expires, so I'm looking around on this site, to find a suitable switch elsewhere. I can't see that Shell will be particularly competitive

In which case, get your mum to arrange an appointment for the intallation of smart meters in 50+ days time - that should stop the calls.

Then get straight onto switching supplier. As soon as your existing supplier is informed by the intended new supplier your Mum is off, her appointment will be scrapped.

[Deleted User]

The meter fitting company will also be involved in fitting dumb meters. If this is the case you cannot refuse this and must accept a new meter. Most new smart meters are being fitted when the old meter reaches its end of life.
I m not sure why your Mum is against a smart meter anyway. She can forget about worrying about submitting readings and having meter readers round every now and then
There has been unwarranted stupid propaganda against smart meters as if they are the work of the devil. Tell your Mum to get one fitted.
The next Labour government , if that is what comes about , will once again make them madateory again.

Robisere

Houbara wrote: »

The meter fitting company will also be involved in fitting dumb meters. If this is the case you cannot refuse this and must accept a new meter. Most new smart meters are being fitted when the old meter reaches its end of life.
I m not sure why your Mum is against a smart meter anyway. She can forget about worrying about submitting readings and having meter readers round every now and then
There has been unwarranted stupid propaganda against smart meters as if they are the work of the devil. Tell your Mum to get one fitted.
The next Labour government , if that is what comes about , will once again make them madateory again.

You know this how?

OP's mum has the right to refuse a Smart Meter atm. If she wishes to continue to refuse, that is her business, not yours.
Please post evidence of "unwarranted stupid propaganda" I am neither stupid nor gullible but I refuse a SM. In my case, I have checked out the Shell Energy Quotes and every one is more expensive than my EDF tariff. After EDF tried several times to get my permission to fit a SM, I eventually informed them by email and letter, that I do not want one. They have not approached me since with a SM offer.

[Deleted User]

Robisere wrote: »

You know this how?

OP's mum has the right to refuse a Smart Meter atm. If she wishes to continue to refuse, that is her business, not yours.
Please post evidence of "unwarranted stupid propaganda" I am neither stupid nor gullible but I refuse a SM. In my case, I have checked out the Shell Energy Quotes and every one is more expensive than my EDF tariff. After EDF tried several times to get my permission to fit a SM, I eventually informed them by email and letter, that I do not want one. They have not approached me since with a SM offer.

The evidence has been presented on here now for getting on 8 years .Firstly with ridiculous lies about smart meters emitting dangerous levels of radiation. We had that complete nonsense for at least 2 years solid. That was only the start, more guff followed about the meters "watching what you are doing ", when you are out or what appliances are in use.
Smart meters will set alight ! is another humdinger load of b/s. This one came from some news paper filling up space about ONE smart meter having an electrical fire 2 years after it was fitted.. I for one as an insider have seen the results of several electric meters, dumb ones, prepayment meters , start exactly the same electric fire as that one smart meter reported by I think it was the Daily Telegraph.
The Telegraph were guilty of another huge mess up when they ran a big headline about "smart meters increasing customers bills by a large amount. What had gone faulty were a small batch of the In House Displays, which are not meters but electronic free gift plug ins
No ones clammering for all the millions of dumb meters to be checked are they. ? A badly fitted OR tampered and bypassed meter, smart or dumb , will start an electric cable over heat melting the insulation
No wonder the OPs Mum is paranoid about smart meters when stories like that seep to the media fuelling complete fear of them and its not helped along by amateurs on here having their guesses and making them facts.
The Labour government introduce smart meters under the Energy Minister ED Miliband in 2008 and they were mandatory..The rest of the World mostly made them mandatory, inc ROI, France Spain, Italy, Belgium etc and the Labour government , if they are elected will return the smart meter roll out back to being mandatory
The latest smart meters now being fitted will be enrolled into the DCC at some time in the near future and will work as a SMETS2 smart meter, possibly lacking some little needed updates on hacking security, so there is no reasons now that anyone should refuse them on SMETS/1 or 2 grounds..The SMETS2 get-out excuse has ended

Justiceforme

As there is no proof that smart meters actually save money unless you turn off gas or electric why bother having one. Meter readings are easy to submit online and provide an accurate bill. Many companies are offering outdated meters because they have a lot of outdated meters. If people are having unwanted calls just tell them you are changing supplier. Unless the provider specifies that you must have a smart meter, then you have a choice to say no thanks and not be bullied.

System

emmac1 wrote: »

Thanks for the advice, JJ and Holly. I have blocked the numbers for Mum, but they call back on a different one. It's very frustrating. On the plus side, there's only 49 days until my Mum's current tariff expires, so I'm looking around on this site, to find a suitable switch elsewhere. I can't see that Shell will be particularly competitive

She can likely switch immediately - If so, I would just action that (with her consent) and move on.

Talldave

Justiceforme wrote: »

As there is no proof that smart meters actually save money unless you turn off gas or electric why bother having one. Meter readings are easy to submit online and provide an accurate bill. Many companies are offering outdated meters because they have a lot of outdated meters. If people are having unwanted calls just tell them you are changing supplier. Unless the provider specifies that you must have a smart meter, then you have a choice to say no thanks and not be bullied.

A significant portion of the population, particularly elderly, are not online and may not be physically able to get at meters. Shall we just ignore them?