British Gas trying to deceive customers to have smart meters installed

Skint_yet_Again

I received a text message On 3rd September from an unrecognised number it was from British Gas “Your home is ready for smart meters and your upgrade is booked for 18/9/20. Your engineer will arrive between 8-12 at (postcode) ...

My tariff was via MSE energy club & specifically said no smart meter required. I went online & cancelled it. Blooming cheek!

My dad has a smart meter (SMET 2 ? Latest version) installed by EON then when he moved to Scottish power it stopped working. Now a year has passed & he’s about to go back to eon so we are waiting to see if it springs back to life! Can’t see the point in having one if they don’t transfer. 

teddysmum

Highland76 said:

Or maybe overcome your fears and get British Gas smart meters installed? As long as you don't believe that they give cancer, or some YTS trainee at BG will switch off your energy supplies just for giggles, or that they increase your energy bills x 100, you'll be fine with the latest gen smart meters. Seriously, they work just like normal meters.

There is will soon be a mark three meter, which will allow  the powers that be to switch off your electricity (or more likely, that of a whole estate), should it be needed elsewhere. They won't have to give a reason , notice or compensation.
This change to the Smart Energy Code, has been discussed, for use in emergency by Government officials and is likely to be law by spring 2021.

Takmon

teddysmum said:

Highland76 said:

Or maybe overcome your fears and get British Gas smart meters installed? As long as you don't believe that they give cancer, or some YTS trainee at BG will switch off your energy supplies just for giggles, or that they increase your energy bills x 100, you'll be fine with the latest gen smart meters. Seriously, they work just like normal meters.

There is will soon be a mark three meter, which will allow  the powers that be to switch off your electricity (or more likely, that of a whole estate), should it be needed elsewhere. They won't have to give a reason , notice or compensation.
This change to the Smart Energy Code, has been discussed, for use in emergency by Government officials and is likely to be law by spring 2021.

How likely do you honestly think it is that they will be regularly turning off electricity supplies to whole estates when they have the ability to do that now by using external equipment but only do it rarely when repairs/maintenance is required?.
Also if they decided to do this then they will just make smart meters mandatory and nobody will have a choice about if they want one (which is how it should have been all along).  So no point in refusing a smart meter. 

Wend20

I am trying to change my provider since Bulb are changing tariffs and increasing my monthly DD from £77 to £114!!!, horrified I am looking to switch asap.  Problem is my meters are too far apart and I have been told they can't work at that distance apart, so does that mean I could be stuck with a higher cost energy deal as none of the providers want to do the work involved - or will I have to bear the cost myself?  Seems as though new tariffs are biased towards smart meters?  Any ideas?

bradders1983

There are plenty of tarrifs out there that dont require you to have one.

Derick_R

I have a direct comparisons between smart meters and standard meters.. I live in a semi. My neighbours, living in the other half of the semi, are a single couple as are we. The neighbours are on smart metres and we are on old style meters. We and the neighbours are very closely comparing each others energy usage. I am running a spreadsheet with monthly meter reading from both households and have been doing so for the past three consecutive years.
For one years electric we used: 2717 KWhs the neighbours used 3108 KWh (One eighth more than us)
For one years gas we used: 9543 KWh the neighbours used 20181 KWh (More than double us according to their smart meter) 
My neighbours have tried to their utmost to bring the gas usage down. Running tests, checking for leaks (inc. inside the boiler), cooking on portable induction hobs and actively turning off the gas for holidays etc.. 
Maybe our meter is slow or there is something else going on, but the end result is; having a smart meter WILL cost you more NOT less.   

Penguin_

Can I just ask, as I am looking to switch soon, what is/are the big issue/s with smart meters?

Gerry1

Penguin_ said:

Can I just ask, as I am looking to switch soon, what is/are the big issue/s with smart meters?

They're not there to save you money: there's no point in spending about £475 per household (via higher bills, whether or not you have SMs) to save £11 per year on the latest official estimate.  The real agenda is largely unpublicised, although readily available if you look.  The specifications for SMs include the abilities for expensive Time of Use tariffs at peak times, load limiting (kettle OR oven OR tumble dryer OR instantaneous shower) and remote disconnection (load shedding) if you don't comply. 

Basically the system won't be able to cope with peak demand in future years as existing power stations are decommissioned and not replaced.  It's a bit like congestion charging, electricity will be expensive when you want to use it.  Here's an interesting article and a very good video.

But do get them installed.  When you're cold and dark because your smart meter says NO, I'll be thanking you for keeping me warm and bright with my conventional meters ! 

Takmon

Derick_R said:

I have a direct comparisons between smart meters and standard meters.. I live in a semi. My neighbours, living in the other half of the semi, are a single couple as are we. The neighbours are on smart metres and we are on old style meters. We and the neighbours are very closely comparing each others energy usage. I am running a spreadsheet with monthly meter reading from both households and have been doing so for the past three consecutive years.
For one years electric we used: 2717 KWhs the neighbours used 3108 KWh (One eighth more than us)
For one years gas we used: 9543 KWh the neighbours used 20181 KWh (More than double us according to their smart meter) 
My neighbours have tried to their utmost to bring the gas usage down. Running tests, checking for leaks (inc. inside the boiler), cooking on portable induction hobs and actively turning off the gas for holidays etc.. 
Maybe our meter is slow or there is something else going on, but the end result is; having a smart meter WILL cost you more NOT less.   

That proves nothing because different households will have different usage patterns, they will be home and away at different times and they will prefer different temperatures (I bet you don't even have exactly the same boiler).
A smart meter will not cost you more or less it will simply measure the amount of energy being used like any other meter. Yes they could be more accurate than an older meter or could become faulty just like any other meter can be. 

Derick_R

Back to the topic of this thread:

British Gas trying to deceive customers to have smart.

Have British Gas been sending out Scam Emails?

I have been told by British Gas, the following email sent to me is a scam.. 

This it the transcript of a chat conversation I have had with a British Gas representative:

You : Where on my Energy and Home Services Jun 2021v2 contract does it say I have to have a smart meter.

Vashawi : Hi, you may want to check it in the terms and conditions

You : I have

You : I can't find

Vashawi : i'll certainly help you , could you help me your email address?

You : derick_r**@*****.com

Vashawi : thanks, please allow me 2-3 minutes to look into the account,

You : OK

Vashawi : almost done

You : Ok

Vashawi : thanks for waiting, I did read the complete terms and condition and it no where states that you require a smart meter for this plan.

Vashawi : it no where states that you require a smart meter for this plan

Vashawi : this means smart meter is not required

You : Please will you email me this information.. for my records

Vashawi : sure, you can take a transcript of this chat by clicking on the envelope icon on your chat box

You : I received this in an email: Hello Derick You're on one of our energy plans that needs smart meters

Vashawi : I'll check

You : Ok

You : I quote : "You're on one of our energy plans that needs smart meters, it was part of the agreement when you signed up.""

Vashawi : thanks for waiting, when did you receive this email?

You : 14/09/2020 09:31

Vashawi : I'm afraid, no such email has been sent by us ( there are records of the same)

I request you to send us an attachment on Phishing@centrica.com

we'll investigate the same further

You : Email came from "no-reply@cd.britishgas.co.uk"

You : Should I ignore the email then?

Vashawi : please ignore the email and forward it to us to investigate teh reason your received it

You : It is the same email address which British Gas send to me the rewards email.

Vashawi : as stated, this can be a phishing email you received, we keep records of all the documents we share, please ignore the same and send it to us to investigate

You : Was the email sent to me in error..

Vashawi : BG has not emailed you

You : What is the email address I should I report it for investigation?

Vashawi : I request you to send us an attachment on Phishing@centrica.com.

You : OK I will.. Thank you.

Vashawi : You're welcome , It was a pleasure assisting you.

You : This is all for today

Vashawi : great, take care

You : TTFN