Electricity Meter - failed

50Twuncle

Whats Octopus Energy really like to switch to ...?

I can save almost £200 pa  on my present £450 pa

Gerry1

50Twuncle said:

Whats Octopus Energy really like to switch to ...?

I can save almost £200 pa  on my present £450 pa

Just read the reviews.

But the usual advice applies: ignore all projections and claims, just compare the annual cost of the same kWh from your last available year's worth of metered consumption.

milgo

IMHO I would say that they are not a bad choice if their figures stack up for you.  

Their website is easy to navigate and the bill is produced very quickly (hours/minutes) after submitting a meter reading online.

50Twuncle

milgo said:

IMHO I would say that they are not a bad choice if their figures stack up for you.  

Their website is easy to navigate and the bill is produced very quickly (hours/minutes) after submitting a meter reading online.

Can someone please confirm that Octopus offer Warm Homes Discount as well ?

AND PAY IT to the LOW INCOME group ?

Gerry1

50Twuncle said:

Can someone please confirm that Octopus offer Warm Homes Discount as well ?

AND PAY IT to the LOW INCOME group ?

https://octopus.energy/help-and-faqs/categories/all/warm-home-discount/

brewerdave

Not sure HOW you can switch with no true final SP reading ? Be surprised if SP will let you switch !!

Gerry1

brewerdave said:

Not sure HOW you can switch with no true final SP reading ? Be surprised if SP will let you switch !!

The OP can take a leaf out of the SP playbook by submitting an estimated reading, perhaps the same as the last reading that was sent or just a few kWh more.  The mysterious third party will dream up a figure they prefer, which the OP can challenge.  Sooner or later that should trigger a visit by a meter reader who should be able to extract the reading via the optical port.

If SP block the move then the OP can go to the ombudsman.

50Twuncle

Gerry1 said:

brewerdave said:

Not sure HOW you can switch with no true final SP reading ? Be surprised if SP will let you switch !!

The OP can take a leaf out of the SP playbook by submitting an estimated reading, perhaps the same as the last reading that was sent or just a few kWh more.  The mysterious third party will dream up a figure they prefer, which the OP can challenge.  Sooner or later that should trigger a visit by a meter reader who should be able to extract the reading via the optical port.

If SP block the move then the OP can go to the ombudsman.

I have CAB extra help unit on the case !

Somehow SP are using an "ACTUAL READING" to calculate my last bill

50Twuncle

thorganby said:

50Twuncle said:

They have now cancelled the booked appointment to fit a dumb meter on 25 Nov - blaming Covid - telling me that the next available day is 14 Dec - this is from CEO's office

"With regards to the Guaranteed Standard payments – If an appointment is cancelled prior to the visit you would not receive a guaranteed standard payment. However I will look at your request for compensation once the metering appointment has been completed."

In the meantime - free unlimited electricity ??

Maybe - I should buy an electric vehicle and charge it daily and do the same for neighbours too ?

I do hope that you have not been using more electricity than normal simply due to the display failure because the red LED shows that the meter is still registering your usage and this can easily be recovered when required via the IR port.

Meter Memory

All the meters data is to be recorded in a Ferroelectric Random Access Memory (FRAM) under the control of the microprocessor. All the kWh registers are stored in the FRAM and will be updated periodically and on power-fail. The FRAM is able to be re-written throughout the life of the meter and will hold the information, if required for over twenty years.

50Twuncle said:

"With regards to the Guaranteed Standard payments – If an appointment is cancelled prior to the visit you would not receive a guaranteed standard payment. However I will look at your request for compensation once the metering appointment has been completed."

What do they mean by this?

SP translation

"There is no way that we are going to pay you £300+ compensation for problems outside our control and if you had read our Guaranteed Standards document, you would already know this.

† This standard will not apply where we are not able to keep the appointment due to circumstances beyond our control or where we give you at least 1 working day’s notice that we will be unable to keep the appointment.

We may however authorise an ex gratia payment of £30 when this matter is finally resolved, however your abrasive attitude is not helping the situation progress"

Compensation <starts> at £30 but this is supposed to be automatically paid - SP themselves say that if the £30 is missed, it increases to £60 but nothing about what happens if they miss the £60 !

That is only on one missed appointment - they have now missed 5 (and counting) and have missed the £30 deadline on all ocassions !!

So yes I am "angry", but "abrasive" ??

50Twuncle

Update (for anyone interested)

CA Extra Help Unit - wrote to SP 14 days ago and SP have failed to respond within the 10 allowable days

CA are writing again - giving them a further 5 days - but what will happen next ?

CA EHU have considerable powers to fine companies via OFGEM !