Wrong smart meter installed

Pretender

We have a family property that my late father was renovating to rent out as a retirement income.
I lived there prior to this and continued to pay the gas and electric supply even though the house was unoccupied for over 2 years after we left.
The house had the old type electric meters and was on economy 7 and then around June time Scottish Power contacted me and wanted to fit a smart meter, so I discussed it and explained I wanted to be on a flat rate / standard tariff as there is no electric storage heaters etc and everything was booked and new meters installed.
I then found out that the meter that was installed is Economy 7 only, which is not what I wanted, the economy 7 tariff remains and I have been told that:
A: They cant do anything unless the house is occupied and they have day and night readings to calculate usage (load of crap)
B: They would have to wait until the smart meter roll-out finishes because while I would be getting my meter, someone else wouldn't be (load of crap)

Can anybody advise a way forwards?
I am only paying out the standing charges for the property as no gas or electric is used but am unsure where I could go with this.

Customer service at Scottish Power has been nothing short of shocking.

Thank you.

Gerry1

Ask for a deadlock letter and go to the Ombudsman upon receipt or after eight weeks.

Swipe

I'd be tempted leave it and let the new tenants deal with the issue when they take on the supply.

tk47

Pretender wrote: »

We have a family property that my late father was renovating to rent out as a retirement income.
I lived there prior to this and continued to pay the gas and electric supply even though the house was unoccupied for over 2 years after we left.
The house had the old type electric meters and was on economy 7 and then around June time Scottish Power contacted me and wanted to fit a smart meter, so I discussed it and explained I wanted to be on a flat rate / standard tariff as there is no electric storage heaters etc and everything was booked and new meters installed.
I then found out that the meter that was installed is Economy 7 only, which is not what I wanted, the economy 7 tariff remains and I have been told that:
A: They cant do anything unless the house is occupied and they have day and night readings to calculate usage (load of crap)
B: They would have to wait until the smart meter roll-out finishes because while I would be getting my meter, someone else wouldn't be (load of crap)

Can anybody advise a way forwards?
I am only paying out the standing charges for the property as no gas or electric is used but am unsure where I could go with this.

Customer service at Scottish Power has been nothing short of shocking.

Thank you.

If you say you now have a smart meter installation from this supplier, then surely this supplier is now receiving the meter readings automatically? :huh:

Anyway, follow the supplier's complaint procedure.

HerculesMK1

I was pestered in 2019 by Scottish Power to have a Smart Meter installed. I finally agreed in July 2019 on condition that it would a Second Generation and that I could switch supplier without any problems. I was assured that it would be. Moreover, when the installer (Provider) arrived, he also assured me it was a second Generation Smart Meter. On 01 January 2020 when I switched to another energy supplier the Smart Meter ceased to work. I contacted the new energy supplier who advised me that it was incompatible with their technology. I then contacted the Smart Meter Supplier (Chameleon Technology) today (16/01/2020) who confirmed that it is indeed First Generation.

[Deleted User]

If the wiring to the old meter was Eco 7 then any new meter has to be installed to work in Eco 7 only. Meter fitters are not trained to do this work and can only fit a like for like meter...Possibly the supplier can arrange to wire standard tariff but its not an essential service and so charges may be incurred.It is not the job of any supplier to reorganise your domestic wiring to suit a new arrangement ..Contact an electrician who can do the job, to rewire you single rate if Scot Power cannot do this job.
I suggest you find suppliers who can total the day/night readings or alternatively switch to one of the cheaper Eco 7 suppliers who offer day/night kwh tariffs which are very close together such as Yorkshire Energy ...

Swipe

Houbara wrote: »

If the wiring to the old meter was Eco 7 then any new meter has to be installed to work in Eco 7 only. Meter fitters are not trained to do this work and can only fit a like for like meter...Possibly the supplier can arrange to wire standard tariff but its not an essential service and so charges may be incurred.It is not the job of any supplier to reorganise your domestic wiring to suit a new arrangement ..Contact an electrician who can do the job, to rewire you single rate if Scot Power cannot do this job.
I suggest you find suppliers who can total the day/night readings or alternatively switch to one of the cheaper Eco 7 suppliers who offer day/night kwh tariffs which are very close together such as Yorkshire Energy ...

When I moved into my bungalow my meter was an economy 7 one which I didn't want. I called my supplier (npower at the time) and they sent out someone to replace it with a standard rate meter free of charge. This was in 2009.

Bark01

There’s no such thing as an economy 7 only smart meter. It should just need a config file sent to it to covert it to a standard meter.

As far as I’m aware all meters are actually installed as standard meters and then receive an OTA update to convert them into E7. It’s possible SP haven’t developed their systems enough to switch it back. If that’s the case swap to someone who does.

Raise an complaint either way.

Chrishazle

I tried to switch to Scottish Power some years ago - I have an economy 7 meter but am on a single rate tariff. Halfway into the switch (having already taken over the gas) they said their system could not handle the twin readings from my meter on a single rate. It took 6 months to unscramble the mess.


There are certain suppliers who can handle twin readings on a single rate tariff - there's an old thread somewhere on here that lists them. The ones I know for sure from personal experience are BG, Sainsburys, Octopus and Avro, my current supplier. I get an email every month reminding me to submit my meter readings (until they come up with a 3 phase SMETS2 domestic meter that will work where mobile signal is rubbish I'm safe with my old fashioned meter!!).

A_Nice_Englishman

Chrishazle wrote: »

I tried to switch to Scottish Power some years ago - I have an economy 7 meter but am on a single rate tariff. Halfway into the switch (having already taken over the gas) they said their system could not handle the twin readings from my meter on a single rate. It took 6 months to unscramble the mess.


There are certain suppliers who can handle twin readings on a single rate tariff - there's an old thread somewhere on here that lists them. The ones I know for sure from personal experience are BG, Sainsburys, Octopus and Avro, my current supplier. I get an email every month reminding me to submit my meter readings (until they come up with a 3 phase SMETS2 domestic meter that will work where mobile signal is rubbish I'm safe with my old fashioned meter!!).

I would have though the workaround would be the customer or meter reader adding the two readings together and submitting a single figure to the supplier?

Gerry1

That would completely befuddle the mysterious third party that verifies the closing / opening meter readings, so it would be rejected and replaced with what they deemed to be appropriate.