Shell Energy - Useless when it comes to Smart Meters

liviboy

Shell Energy really are useless when it comes to Smart Meters.

First installed November 2020. Electric worked, gas didn't (required 'dual band' meter).

Fast forward 12 months to November 2021and numerous (circa 12) visits from SMS on behalf of Shell...and finally got electric and gas smart meters working. (3 gas meters, 2 electric meters, 3 IHDs and 4 comms hub changes over the 12 months).

Fast forward to February 2022 and my electricity meter has now stopped communicating...as has Shell!

I don't really have the energy to go down the same route all over again that I had for the gas meter.

Just a warning to others..when things go wrong both SMS and Shell customer services talk absolute rubbish and the only way to get any sort of resolution was to go through Resolver and to be fair the resolutions manager was excellent.

But even after they get it sorted...it only lasted for 3 months. Having returned to them they have went silent to this latest problem (probably in the hope that I go away)...

Brumod

Totally agree , I am now in my 4th "smart" meter from Shell Energy  / SMS ..can't even give a manual reading as once again the display screen is blank . 
 Near enough everyone who lives around our street has had issues with smart meters , in all honesty they're a complete waste of time .

liviboy

Just an update - SMS were out this morning to switch over the electric meter.

The new meter is now commissioned and showing on the IHD.

Will wait and see if it continues...

liviboy

So just an update…

The exact same fault happened again and I lost my electricity display on the IHD on around the 15th June.

Readings continued until the 22nd June when all comms ceased.

So SMS were out again this morning…

After our discussion the engineer decided for the sake of it to try a power cycle (switch it off and on). He agreed the 3 month would suggest firmware updates etc. hey presto as soon as power was restored comms re-started immediately!

So now to wait and see what happens in 3 months’ time!

[Deleted User]

All communication hubs are managed by the DCC - not individual suppliers. Your supplier should have issued a request to the DCC for it to carry out a remote communications hub reset. This facility is built into all communications hubs: power is turned off for 15 minutes. Pulling the main fuse - ideally for 15 minutes - is also a way of re-setting the hub. I gather that some of the latest communications hubs carry out a reset once a day.

Individual meter and device manufacturers are responsible for their own device firmware updates. Information on another forum suggests that they are ongoing issues with some WNC communications hubs. I have a WNC hub which has never updated the daily standing charge for gas for the past 3 years.

liviboy

A comms hub reset was refused because gas was communicating successfully. 

Also in Scotland so our comms hubs use radio instead of mobile network and a reset request takes 6-8 weeks to be carried out…just for info for anyone interested! In England and Wales it’s 2-3 weeks.

[Deleted User]

liviboy said:

A comms hub reset was refused because gas was communicating successfully. 

Also in Scotland so our comms hubs use radio instead of mobile network and a reset request takes 6-8 weeks to be carried out…just for info for anyone interested! In England and Wales it’s 2-3 weeks.

Clearly, whoever made that decision got it wrong. Pulling the main house fuse results in a hard reset of the communications hub. There are numerous reports of communications hubs suddenly springing back into life after a Grid power cut.

liviboy

[Deleted User] said:

liviboy said:

A comms hub reset was refused because gas was communicating successfully. 

Also in Scotland so our comms hubs use radio instead of mobile network and a reset request takes 6-8 weeks to be carried out…just for info for anyone interested! In England and Wales it’s 2-3 weeks.

Clearly, whoever made that decision got it wrong. Pulling the main house fuse results in a hard reset of the communications hub. There are numerous reports of communications hubs suddenly springing back into life after a Grid power cut.

I refer you to the title…they are hopeless at times! The main guy who’s dealt with my complaint for over a year now was off (he’s usually excellent). When he returned he arranged the engineer visit just to try and ensure I wasn’t told more !!!!!!  by customer service I think. They insist there was an issue with the signal…despite gas comms working perfectly!

I now have a better understanding of how the setup works than Shell and know the BS the fitters are told to say vs what’s the reality. I’ve got to know many of the SMS engineers in my area well! Apparently relations between Shell and SMS are not good!

liviboy

Well…

Exact same thing has now happened for a third time.

I’m now certain it’s linked to the quarterly firmware updates.

IHD lost electric yesterday. Turning it off and in brought it back. It’s now lost again and ain’t coming back.

what an absolute farce but more worrying with reports like this: Plans to cut energy bills if peak-time use avoided https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-62626908

we can potentially miss out because of hardware issues!!!

liviboy

Well just like clockwork, a week after the IHD lost its electric signal comms have now stopped again externally to Shell (and on things like Loop and Bright apps).

There is clearly a fault and I am almost certain it’s linked to quarterly firmware updates (every 3 months is just too much of a coincidence for me).

Unfortunately my case manager at Shell
has left and I’ve got a new one so it feels a bit like being back to square 1 except I know a lot more about the setup now than I did a year ago!

It’s just such a farce!

liviboy

Well I’ve just today had my entire setup replaced by SMS.

New electric meter
New gas meter
New PPMID/IHD
New comms hub

Everything working…for who knows how long. But after this I give up!

A saga that started in November 2020 I’ve run out of patience.

I’m onto my 4th case handler through Resolver.

I just don’t have the energy (‘scuse the pun).