Smart meters not working (not smart)

edcldn

Hi all

About three years ago I finally got British Gas to replace previous pre-pay meters that were in the house when I moved in with regular post-pay meters. They were supposed to be smart but on the installation day the engineer ran out of time/inclination and didn’t get them connected to the outside world. 

I later switched energy supplier. To be clear: the smart meters have never been smart. 

Now, having read about new time-varying tariffs, I would like to get my meters genuinely smart. Shell (my current provider) refuse to send an engineer - presumably because they don’t have to.

Has anyone had a similar issue?

Does anyone know of an energy supplier who would be more helpful?

Thanks

edcldn

happydiamond

I am with Eon Next  - my smart meter stopped working shortly after April increase.  They did the usual rebooting advice etc and nothing worked.  Their solution was for me to buy a new smart meter from another (not utility) company which would have cost me nearly £50 and required me to set it up myself after checking whether it was compatible (before buying).  Sending an engineer was never an option.  So I don't recommend them as being likely to be helpful in your situation.
  

edcldn

happydiamond said:

I am with Eon Next  - my smart meter stopped working shortly after April increase.  They did the usual rebooting advice etc and nothing worked.  Their solution was for me to buy a new smart meter from another (not utility) company which would have cost me nearly £50 and required me to set it up myself after checking whether it was compatible (before buying).  Sending an engineer was never an option.  So I don't recommend them as being likely to be helpful in your situation.
  

Thanks! I assume that the energy companies are told to tick a box and then after that could not care less about the actual service. A badly designed system if ever there was one!

pochase

happydiamond said:

I am with Eon Next  - my smart meter stopped working shortly after April increase.  They did the usual rebooting advice etc and nothing worked.  Their solution was for me to buy a new smart meter from another (not utility) company which would have cost me nearly £50 and required me to set it up myself after checking whether it was compatible (before buying).  Sending an engineer was never an option.  So I don't recommend them as being likely to be helpful in your situation.
  

I have serious doubt that you did set up a smart meter yourself. Are you maybe referring to an IHD, the small device where you can see current usage?

Alnat1

Beat me to that reply pochase

pochase

edcldn said:

Hi all

About three years ago I finally got British Gas to replace previous pre-pay meters that were in the house when I moved in with regular post-pay meters. They were supposed to be smart but on the installation day the engineer ran out of time/inclination and didn’t get them connected to the outside world. 

I later switched energy supplier. To be clear: the smart meters have never been smart. 

Now, having read about new time-varying tariffs, I would like to get my meters genuinely smart. Shell (my current provider) refuse to send an engineer - presumably because they don’t have to.

Has anyone had a similar issue?

Does anyone know of an energy supplier who would be more helpful?

Thanks

edcldn

What are you referring to when you say the meter was never smart? Did the meter not communicate with the supplier, or are you talking about the IHD gadget like the user above?

edcldn

pochase said:

edcldn said:

Hi all

About three years ago I finally got British Gas to replace previous pre-pay meters that were in the house when I moved in with regular post-pay meters. They were supposed to be smart but on the installation day the engineer ran out of time/inclination and didn’t get them connected to the outside world. 

I later switched energy supplier. To be clear: the smart meters have never been smart. 

Now, having read about new time-varying tariffs, I would like to get my meters genuinely smart. Shell (my current provider) refuse to send an engineer - presumably because they don’t have to.

Has anyone had a similar issue?

Does anyone know of an energy supplier who would be more helpful?

Thanks

edcldn

What are you referring to when you say the meter was never smart? Did the meter not communicate with the supplier, or are you talking about the IHD gadget like the user above?

Thanks - good question. The meters say on them that they are SMETS2 but they have never communicated with the energy companies. I don’t know what else they needed from the outset to do that. I never had a usage display. Sorry, I don’t know what the terms are for the different modules.

pochase

You have used the word smart meter correctly.

Seems your device was either never commissioned, or you live in an area where the meter is unable to communicate.

First one will take a bit of patience to get your supplier to sort it out. Second one means you cannot do anything.

Open a formal complaint with Shell and see what they say. 

edcldn

Thanks - I strongly suspect the former. I have good signals generally and my smart water meter works beautifully

Appreciate your input.

MarcoM

mine worked for two weeks after installation, now it does not show consumption or readings on the supplier's online portal so having to provide manual meter readings.

edcldn

That’s pretty annoying!