Shell faulty gas meter - Where do I stand?

Izbizzle

Since switching to Shell back in Oct 2021 due to my old supplier going bust, my gas meter (the actual meter itself, not the in-house display) has not worked at all. Shell confirmed it was faulty and have sent two engineers in recent months out to fix, then to fully replace it, but it's still not working and I can't obtain any readings from it whatsoever, manual or otherwise. For a year now my gas bill has been completely estimated, I get no readings from the meter or from the display. Electric is working fine. For weeks now since it's been replaced again it's just showing 'commissioning, waiting...' on the actual meter display.

I've been going round in circles with Shell, who keep saying you'll need to wait until we have another appointment available so we can replace it again (as they dont have any appointments available), but it's been replaced already and it's not resolved the issue. Every time I contact them it's back to the beginning, with them saying 'we'll get someone out to help you read your meter'... it's really patronising and I'm getting nowhere! I have an open case/complaint with Resolver which has been ongoing for a couple of weeks now, but I can't escalate it as Shell keep responding telling me to wait.

During our most recent exchange they've also said there's an issue with the signal in my area, which is the first time I've been told this, which is something out of their hands is this right?

I am just really worried because my gas bills have been estimated for a year now, and I'm concerned that I am going to be hit with a huge bill once (or if) it's eventually fixed... 

Do I have rights to claim any sort of compensation from this or take this further? Or is this an issue other people are having and it's just a standard thing with them? I want to know what the issue actually is and whether they can actually fix it as I keep being told different things!

I'm really not sure where to turn?

ariarnia

if i understand correctly electric meters connect to the network and gas meters connect to the electric meters? they don't use wifi but use some kind of signal (some clever person here will know). i know there can be a problem if the meters are too far apart or if there's too much 'stuff' between them interfearing. but i would have thought the meter would work as a dum meter (it should measure the gas going through it and you should be abel to press a button to get the reading as if it wasn't a smart meter). but again there are clever people who know how these things work who will hopefully help. 

about the complaint. you can escalate the complaint at 8 weeks to the ombudsman even if its not resolved with shell.

about compensation/a claim. i dont really know if you have grounds for complaint that will result in compensation as such (there may be service standards they are missing and there could be some back billing rules if it goes on for over 12 months but i don't know enough about it really to say for sure). if shell have good excuses for the delays then it could be the ombusmun just instructs them to keep you better informed and gives you a token amount for the stress and hassle. or there could be other things they are doing wrong from a service guarentee point of view. 

i think that if they have billed you for usage last september (more than 12 months ago) and it turns out they under billed you then they can't charge you the difference between what you paid and the actual bill. so i think any debt wont accumulate for more than 12 months (because its a rule that they have to give you an accurate bill every 12 months based on an actual reading)

ariarnia

ive just been reading the ovo help forums about non commissioned gas meters and they said on there you could press 9 to see the screen you would normally see on a dumb meter and take a manual reading. i don't know if its the same for every meter type but it might be a good question to ask the customer services next time you talk to them? or if you know the type of meter someone on here might know. 

SAC2334

Izbizzle said:

Since switching to Shell back in Oct 2021 due to my old supplier going bust, my gas meter (the actual meter itself, not the in-house display) has not worked at all. Shell confirmed it was faulty and have sent two engineers in recent months out to fix, then to fully replace it, but it's still not working and I can't obtain any readings from it whatsoever, manual or otherwise. For a year now my gas bill has been completely estimated, I get no readings from the meter or from the display. Electric is working fine. For weeks now since it's been replaced again it's just showing 'commissioning, waiting...' on the actual meter display.

I've been going round in circles with Shell, who keep saying you'll need to wait until we have another appointment available so we can replace it again (as they dont have any appointments available), but it's been replaced already and it's not resolved the issue. Every time I contact them it's back to the beginning, with them saying 'we'll get someone out to help you read your meter'... it's really patronising and I'm getting nowhere! I have an open case/complaint with Resolver which has been ongoing for a couple of weeks now, but I can't escalate it as Shell keep responding telling me to wait.

During our most recent exchange they've also said there's an issue with the signal in my area, which is the first time I've been told this, which is something out of their hands is this right?

I am just really worried because my gas bills have been estimated for a year now, and I'm concerned that I am going to be hit with a huge bill once (or if) it's eventually fixed... 

Do I have rights to claim any sort of compensation from this or take this further? Or is this an issue other people are having and it's just a standard thing with them? I want to know what the issue actually is and whether they can actually fix it as I keep being told different things!

I'm really not sure where to turn?

The other posters seem to think the meter is a Secure Liberty meter with a keyboard , so is this the correct meter. ?

As others say it wont make any difference if its not connected to the Wifi  its just another digital gas meter and should work fine.
 .Its quite common for gas meters to fail to connect to the electric meter and hub so they just end up as dumb gas meters.

Shell mention they will send someone out to read it so they must think that is what it is now.

First rule out that you can t get a reading yourself ,if its a Secure Liberty meter press button 9 , any other make of meter the screen will be also  blank and will need to press a button to wake it up from its battery save mode . 

The batteries in gas meters last from 6 to 10 years so they all go blank after a few seconds  

ariarnia

SAC2334 said:

Izbizzle said:

Since switching to Shell back in Oct 2021 due to my old supplier going bust, my gas meter (the actual meter itself, not the in-house display) has not worked at all. Shell confirmed it was faulty and have sent two engineers in recent months out to fix, then to fully replace it, but it's still not working and I can't obtain any readings from it whatsoever, manual or otherwise. For a year now my gas bill has been completely estimated, I get no readings from the meter or from the display. Electric is working fine. For weeks now since it's been replaced again it's just showing 'commissioning, waiting...' on the actual meter display.

I've been going round in circles with Shell, who keep saying you'll need to wait until we have another appointment available so we can replace it again (as they dont have any appointments available), but it's been replaced already and it's not resolved the issue. Every time I contact them it's back to the beginning, with them saying 'we'll get someone out to help you read your meter'... it's really patronising and I'm getting nowhere! I have an open case/complaint with Resolver which has been ongoing for a couple of weeks now, but I can't escalate it as Shell keep responding telling me to wait.

During our most recent exchange they've also said there's an issue with the signal in my area, which is the first time I've been told this, which is something out of their hands is this right?

I am just really worried because my gas bills have been estimated for a year now, and I'm concerned that I am going to be hit with a huge bill once (or if) it's eventually fixed... 

Do I have rights to claim any sort of compensation from this or take this further? Or is this an issue other people are having and it's just a standard thing with them? I want to know what the issue actually is and whether they can actually fix it as I keep being told different things!

I'm really not sure where to turn?

The other posters seem to think the meter is a Secure Liberty meter with a keyboard , so is this the correct meter. ?

sorry i posted twice above in response to the op so they're both me. i should have edited my post to add what i found on the ovo forums. i don't know what type of meter it is i was just trying to make a suggestion to ask customer services about taking manual readings based on what i read somewhere else. but it's good that you are confirming the op should be able to take manual readings some how if they know what type of meter they have (is it written on it or maybe taking a picture to show here?). 

frugalmacdugal

Hi,

could be this fella,

Izbizzle

Thanks for your replies

This is the meter I have - pressing/holding down the two buttons does nothing, the screen stays at 'commissioning, waiting':

[Deleted User]

The ‘commissioning’ message is all too common. Commissioning the gas meter is that last part of the installation process, and installers just press the button and then leave. If there is a network delay, the process just times out after 59 minutes.

Your supplier’s smart meter team should be able, with your help, to complete the process remotely. It happened to me 18 months ago, and the Octopus Smart Meter team called me and asked me to carry out two button presses whilst they monitored the commissioning process.

Is Shell aware of the message which the meter is displaying? If not, send them a photograph showing the word commissioning.

For the avoidance of doubt, your gas meter connects to a gas proxy meter contained within the communications hub which sits above the electricity meter. The communications hub only gets its power from the electricity meter. The gas proxy meter gets tariff and usage data from the gas meter (every 30 minutes) and it converts this from volume to kWh so that the IHD can show usage and costs. The gas proxy meter is needed to reduce the power demand on the gas meter’s battery.

ariarnia

googling that meter type i think your supposed to be able to tun on the display by pressing a button then hold down the right hand button for a few seconds to see a reading. but if even that isnt working for you then thats a pain! hopefully the data is stored safely in the meter somewhere. 

theres a long thread on the SP forums with people having the same issue about SP not bothing to come back to commission meters if its not worked. hopefully if they can talk you through it remotely that will help. but if they dont remember you can escalate a complaint to the ombudsman at 8 weeks. SP will be estimating your usage but if yo have reason to think there estimate is wrong (because of your previous annual use or with another supplier for example) and can prove that with old meter readings then remember to include that in your complaint. 

https://community.scottishpower.co.uk/t5/Smarter-Energy/Waiting-for-Smart-Meters-to-be-Commisioned/m-p/6221#M1290 

[Deleted User]

ariarnia said:

googling that meter type i think your supposed to be able to tun on the display by pressing a button then hold down the right hand button for a few seconds to see a reading. but if even that isnt working for you then thats a pain! hopefully the data is stored safely in the meter somewhere. 

theres a long thread on the SP forums with people having the same issue about SP not bothing to come back to commission meters if its not worked. hopefully if they can talk you through it remotely that will help. but if they dont remember you can escalate a complaint to the ombudsman at 8 weeks. SP will be estimating your usage but if yo have reason to think there estimate is wrong (because of your previous annual use or with another supplier for example) and can prove that with old meter readings then remember to include that in your complaint. 

https://community.scottishpower.co.uk/t5/Smarter-Energy/Waiting-for-Smart-Meters-to-be-Commisioned/m-p/6221#M1290 

I believe that the OP has access to the display. It is showing the word ‘commissioning’. Until this is complete, the meter index readings cannot be accessed. Smart meters retain import data for 13 months. This can only be retrieved by a supplier pulling historical data from the meter once it is commissioned.

Izbizzle

Just had a call from Shell again this morning. They said all they can do is offer another engineer to come and replace it with another brand new meter, but they don't have any appointments for this now until at least January. If it just needs commissioning, why can't they do that? I don't think they even understand the issue, but I have explained it to them, it just doesn't feel like they are listening.

I'll try and escalate it further if I can but looks like I am just going to have to wait  Just wish I could at least submit manual readings but I can't even access that