How to get my supplier to set up my Economy 7 smart meter properly

Phones4Chris

catwin1 said:

I called UW again this morning, the advisor understood my issue and asked the smart meter programming team to correct it, and they said it couldn't be done on their end and I need to call an electrician... I guess they don't know how 5-port SMETS2 meters work - surprise!

At this point, I would actually call an electrician, but from my understanding, they would not be able to change the timer that starts my off-peak circuit, correct? This can only be done by programming the meter?

UW are talking total !!!!!!. And an electrician certainly wouldn't be able to do anything. UW have programmed your meter incorrectly, it's their fault and their responsibility. As @Scrounger has said, raise a formal complaint and get the reference number.
Whilst it annoying takes time and effort to present the case (and I should know as well as the others in the thread mentioned), even if you take it to the ombudsman it won't cost you anything, even if UW managed to wriggle out of it, you could still consider taking them to the small claims court for what they overcharged you. Make sure you keep the n3rgy usage data as from that you can calculate exactly how much you've been overcharged.

Rip=Off Britain is certainly an interesting idea 

catwin1

Thank you all!
Do you know if I can switch AND continue my complaint procedure?
I'm pretty sure they will say the meter is faulty and send a technician (one advisor already said that, and that they didn't have any appointments before January), and who knows if the new meter will work better, especially if they don't know how to configure it...

Scrounger

At a very basic level the meter is faulty as it is not performing as it should.
If replacement meter doesn't fix the problem than that is more serious as it would suggest that many more of their E7 customers may be similarly affected.

Switching away now I think will make a complaint with UW more difficult to persue but may well get the issue resolved faster.

I hope you get it sorted one way or another.  Please keep us informed of progress as it may provide useful information for others.


Scrounger

catwin1

Thanks all.

An advisor called me back today after enquiring about it again with the smart meter team and they said that if the time switch on my Economy 7 was out by 3 hours then they would take a look at my meter, but not below that threshold... someone at Citizen's Advice had mentioned this 3 hours limit as well. I asked UW for an official regulatory link but they had nothing, just sent a text with the above. I may ask Citizen's Advice if I can bear being on hold for an hour.

I think they're both confusing the auxiliary circuit switch with the Economy 7 rate times again, no? What would be the point of 7 off-peak hours if almost half could be charged full rate? Makes no sense!

catwin1

Now on hold with EDF (very long, longer than Octopus) - I'm considering switching to prepay as they also offer a referral discount (although not sure if that'd work with prepay) and the night rates are really good (my night usage is 80% of my total usage).
Any opinions on their customer service and understanding of how smart meters and Economy 7 work?

And UW said I could keep my complaint open and switch, and that I wouldn't have to pay for the smart meter install (I've read stories of people having to pay even though it was free initially, because they switched soon after).

catwin1

Ha so I waited 30 minutes to talk to an advisor at EDF who thought the off-peak DNO times and circuit switch time were the same thing... lol. And they can't put people through to a technical advisor.

Octopus it is then, where I was actually able to speak to a technical advisor (albeit in a very noisy environment) who knows what an ALCS is and sent me a few emails, answering my questions, after our chat  

Swipe

Truly shocking service. Shame on EDF! The 3 hour threshold reeks of BS to me.

EssexHebridean

If you think UW's customer service is bad (it is) then you probably didn't want a switch to EDF anyway - almost as bad, in my opinion!  I'd certainly expect better from Octopus...

Scrounger

EDF are OK in my book; they resolved my meter trouble with compensation.

And they only charge 3.64p/kWh inc vat for gas (fixed until March 24) 

Credit where credit's due.


Scrounger

jrawle

catwin1 said:

Thanks all.

An advisor called me back today after enquiring about it again with the smart meter team and they said that if the time switch on my Economy 7 was out by 3 hours then they would take a look at my meter, but not below that threshold... someone at Citizen's Advice had mentioned this 3 hours limit as well. I asked UW for an official regulatory link but they had nothing, just sent a text with the above. I may ask Citizen's Advice if I can bear being on hold for an hour.

I think they're both confusing the auxiliary circuit switch with the Economy 7 rate times again, no? What would be the point of 7 off-peak hours if almost half could be charged full rate? Makes no sense!

The three hour limit almost certainly refers to the amount the E7 timings can be out by. For example, if your region's E7 is supposed to start at 11:30pm, but it is actually switching at 2am, they won't send someone out to adjust the timer (from the days when many people had a mechanical clock that had to be adjusted). This is not the same as the time billing switches and the time the E7 circuit comes live being different. The rules probably don't even consider that as a possibility, as it would not have occurred in the pre-smart meter era (and should never occur).

The trouble with smart meters is that you need smart people manning the support line!