Do smart meters get reset?

wittynamegoeshere

Do suppliers ever routinely reset the reading on a smart meter?  E.g. when I change over to my SoLR after the company I was with went bust.

Why and when is this ever done?

MWT

No, it should never happen, but I've seen a few reports that may be related to an error during a firmware update.

QrizB

No they don't. Meters are meant to continue incrementing their registers indefinitely.

What seems to have happened to a few people on the forum is that their smart meters have reset following a bodged OTA firmware upgrade. This is not meant to happen nand firmware is meant to be thoroughly tested before being distributed.

wittynamegoeshere

That's good to know.  Mine's currently a lot lower than the last estimated reading I paid for so, if it gets reset during the switch, I would lose the energy I've paid for but have not used.

It's a smart meter but has never been connected, as Symbio had it fitted but they never connected to it and the LEDs are all off and just blink every few seconds.  In fact I wonder if they ever actually connected to anyone's smart meter.

There's such a massive discrepancy that it may be that my previous or next supplier just won't believe me - about 3000 units difference, thanks to Symbio's theft-o-matic estimating algorithm, and despite me providing many readings that they ignored.

I'll take some photos just in case though.

Mister_G

Yes, they fitted a new SMETS2 meter back in June and it still says "Not Commissioned".  This also means that I've been unable to submit readings onto their website as they are much lower (started at zero).

They have a good chunk of my cash from the vastly inflated estimated bills since then.

Maybe Eon will get it working?

wittynamegoeshere

Thanks, good to know there's more than one of us in this boat!

I had exactly the same issue but, after annoying the heck out of them and threatening the Ombudsman, they finally updated the meter details.  At the same time they re-issued the last 3 months of bills showing the end of the previous meter's life and the new one starting at zero, instead of the estimated readings for the long-dead old meter that they previously showed .  Still estimated, and still the same amount, but at least showing the fake readings as starting from zero.  I could then add readings to their website, and did roughly weekly during August.

However, presumably because they'd already billed way beyond reality during those 2-3 months, they still ignored my readings and sent another estimated bill for another massive amount.

Thankfully I cancelled their direct debit but, even paying up until the end of September, I still have a massive credit balance.

As it sounds like you don't even have a record of them changing your meter, you need to ensure you have some evidence of the old meter's final reading.  I've got this recorded on my bills after I kicked up a fuss, but it sounds like you won't have.  Otherwise our new supplier may need to estimate one if Symbio didn't bother recording it anywhere.

Hopefully the old meter's reading is recorded somewhere centrally by the metering company, I don't know, perhaps someone else knows whether it would be?

Swipe

wittynamegoeshere said:

Hopefully the old meter's reading is recorded somewhere centrally by the metering company, I don't know, perhaps someone else knows whether it would be?

Whoever fitted the meter should have left a card with the old meter closing readings on it

QrizB

Swipe said:

wittynamegoeshere said:

Hopefully the old meter's reading is recorded somewhere centrally by the metering company, I don't know, perhaps someone else knows whether it would be?

Whoever fitted the meter should have left a card with the old meter closing readings on it

... and it should also be written on a sticker, stuck to/beside the meter.

Mister_G

No card left, but I did photograph both the old meter (SMETS1) and the new one during installation.

My last two bills from Symbio both show the new meter number, so I'm not too concerned about it.

I know exactly the reading on the old meter and I know exactly how many units I've used to date.  I also know exactly how much I've paid Symbio from both the bills and my bank statements.

I'll just bide my time until Eon sort it all out. I have already given them a meter reading on the day that they took over on 5th October, when they sent me a Welcome email.

wittynamegoeshere

Definitely no card or sticker.  I'm OK, as I took a reading myself, and managed to get Symbio to show the meter change on their bills.

I don't know what backup records there are for others if there's no sticker or card and Symbio didn't bother changing the meter on their records.  Surely wouldn't this be somehow recorded by the company that runs the actual power lines?  Otherwise there are going to be a lot of lost meter readings that nobody will know.

Swipe

wittynamegoeshere said:

Definitely no card or sticker.  I'm OK, as I took a reading myself, and managed to get Symbio to show the meter change on their bills.

I don't know what backup records there are for others if there's no sticker or card and Symbio didn't bother changing the meter on their records.  Surely wouldn't this be somehow recorded by the company that runs the actual power lines?  Otherwise there are going to be a lot of lost meter readings that nobody will know.

In future, always take photos but the old meter readings will have been noted by the installer as they are the ones that pass them on to the supplier.