British Gas have replaced smart meter and it now has a vastly different reading

VanillaSlice

MikeJXE said:

Could it be a new old one ? 

It would not surprise me if it was a "refurb" at all - nothng surprises me about BG or energy supplier

Gerry1

I thought these ever-so-wonderful smart meters stored 13 months' worth of data, so it shouldn't matter if the display had failed, the final reading should still be retrievable? If the new smart meter isn't really new, I'd be wondering whether it had been rejected by a previous customer as being faulty...

VanillaSlice

VanillaSlice said:

MikeJXE said:

Could it be a new old one ? 

It would not surprise me if it was a "refurb" at all - nothng surprises me about BG or energy supplier

or any energy supplier

[Deleted User]

VanillaSlice said:

Deleted_User said:

VanillaSlice said:

How do I deal with British Gas when they try to send a grossly and inflated bill. I dont want to have to complain to the consumer column of a national newspaper

How about you wait and see what bill they actually send you, and what readings they have used, rather than assuming they're going to "grossly inflate" it?

When we actually know what they have done, rather than just your guess, we might be able to help more.

Because I find it strange that it just stopped working before I had to supply a meter reading, especially since I dont pay for my gas via DD but when the bill comes in and so they really dont make (fleece) money out of me like they do with normal customers (last year my total annual bill was £370!)

Cynics like me might suggest that they switched it off deliberately to try and scam me for a lot more money (a bit like Norweb did)

They don't make any extra money from other DD payers compared to you - or are you deliberately confusing a credit balance with "fleecing money"?

Given your second sentence, I suspect the latter.

New meter - new meter serial number - new starting reading.  You've got an actual reading at 12 Nov, so submit that and they will estimate what you would have used from that time until the meter replacement (that's what they mean by 'unmetered energy').  If you've got good history of actual readings, you can argue with their estimate if you think its massively wrong.

You should then be billed from the new starting reading onwards on the new meter - you've got a photo of that so if they start your next bill from a reading of zero you can easily dispute it.

VanillaSlice said:

TadleyBaggie said:

When a new meter is fitted the starting reading should be submitted to the supplier by the installer. This is very routine.

This isnt in dispute, just the very large discrepancy ....

What discrepancy?  You haven't actually pointed out any discrepancy yet, just your assertion that there will be one.  When there is a discrepancy, and you can find out if it is large or not, then you can approach the situation.

VanillaSlice

VanillaSlice said:

MikeJXE said:

Could it be a new old one ? 

It would not surprise me if it was a "refurb" at all - nothng surprises me about BG or energy supplier

or any energy supplier

Gerry1 said:

I thought these ever-so-wonderful smart meters stored 13 months' worth of data, so it shouldn't matter if the display had failed, the final reading should still be retrievable? If the new smart meter isn't really new, I'd be wondering whether it had been rejected by a previous customer as being faulty...

I dont know about that, but every day I take a photo of my smart meter monitor or meter for both gas and electric (I have electric with another company) and keep all my bills and take regular screenshots of my accounts. Energy companies are addicted to high profits and treating customers as cash cows and not above lying or defrauding customers due to their addiction

VanillaSlice

Deleted_User said:

VanillaSlice said:

Deleted_User said:

VanillaSlice said:

How do I deal with British Gas when they try to send a grossly and inflated bill. I dont want to have to complain to the consumer column of a national newspaper

How about you wait and see what bill they actually send you, and what readings they have used, rather than assuming they're going to "grossly inflate" it?

When we actually know what they have done, rather than just your guess, we might be able to help more.

Because I find it strange that it just stopped working before I had to supply a meter reading, especially since I dont pay for my gas via DD but when the bill comes in and so they really dont make (fleece) money out of me like they do with normal customers (last year my total annual bill was £370!)

Cynics like me might suggest that they switched it off deliberately to try and scam me for a lot more money (a bit like Norweb did)

They don't make any extra money from other DD payers compared to you - or are you deliberately confusing a credit balance with "fleecing money"?

Given your second sentence, I suspect the latter.

New meter - new meter serial number - new starting reading.  You've got an actual reading at 12 Nov, so submit that and they will estimate what you would have used from that time until the meter replacement (that's what they mean by 'unmetered energy').  If you've got good history of actual readings, you can argue with their estimate if you think its massively wrong.

You should then be billed from the new starting reading onwards on the new meter - you've got a photo of that so if they start your next bill from a reading of zero you can easily dispute it.

VanillaSlice said:

TadleyBaggie said:

When a new meter is fitted the starting reading should be submitted to the supplier by the installer. This is very routine.

This isnt in dispute, just the very large discrepancy ....

What discrepancy?  You haven't actually pointed out any discrepancy yet, just your assertion that there will be one.  When there is a discrepancy, and you can find out if it is large or not, then you can approach the situation.

I pay for electric via monthly DD since I always need electric, but have never done so for gas - I always pay when the bill comes in - it encourages me to be energy efficient. Whenever I have moved and bought houses and asked suppliers for estimates when I moved in I was always cited extortionate amounts for gas monthly DD* so I always stuck to paying when the bill came in (obviously I only have the CH on for six months and in the other six monthsits just used for cooking pasta and rice, plus I have an electric shower)

* the energy companies say credit balance but I say interest free loan from the consumer

[Deleted User]

 and asked suppliers for estimates when I moved in I was always cited extortionate amounts for gas monthly DD*

All the supplier’s data collector has to go on is historical usage data. They are not to know that an extravagant family of 6 is being replaced by 2 frugal consumers. That said, all the suppliers that I have used over many years have allowed me to provide an estimate of my annual usage when setting up a new account.

VanillaSlice

[Deleted User] said:

 and asked suppliers for estimates when I moved in I was always cited extortionate amounts for gas monthly DD*

All the supplier’s data collector has to go on is historical usage data. They are not to know that an extravagant family of 6 is being replaced by 2 frugal consumers. That said, all the suppliers that I have used over many years have allowed me to provide an estimate of my annual usage when setting up a new account.

Thats interesting, but here's a story.

I was with a now defunct provider and paying £30 monthly DD for electric (prior to the pandemic I worked away from home 5 days a week and I'm single hence the low usage). I was shunted over to Shell Energy and had to setup the direct debit. So logged in and lo and behold the DD was set to £100 a month even though I never owed the previous provider any money (if I did I paid on a credit card straight away), I managed to wrangle it down to £35 a month. Nonetheless, every month Shell consistently try to put it back to £100 a month even after the energy payment had been applied - when I challenged them they always gave the "just in case" excuse eben when I said I always paid the difference on credit card.

[Deleted User]

VanillaSlice said:

Dolor said:

 and asked suppliers for estimates when I moved in I was always cited extortionate amounts for gas monthly DD*

All the supplier’s data collector has to go on is historical usage data. They are not to know that an extravagant family of 6 is being replaced by 2 frugal consumers. That said, all the suppliers that I have used over many years have allowed me to provide an estimate of my annual usage when setting up a new account.

Thats interesting, but here's a story.

I was with a now defunct provider and paying £30 monthly DD for electric (prior to the pandemic I worked away from home 5 days a week and I'm single hence the low usage). I was shunted over to Shell Energy and had to setup the direct debit. So logged in and lo and behold the DD was set to £100 a month even though I never owed the previous provider any money (if I did I paid on a credit card straight away), I managed to wrangle it down to £35 a month. Nonetheless, every month Shell consistently try to put it back to £100 a month even after the energy payment had been applied - when I challenged them they always gave the "just in case" excuse eben when I said I always paid the difference on credit card.

In which case, you've just proved that the DD you wanted set was not enough and that Shell are correct to try and make it higher.  You're not supposed to have to randomly make credit card top-ups.

VanillaSlice

Deleted_User said:

VanillaSlice said:

Dolor said:

 and asked suppliers for estimates when I moved in I was always cited extortionate amounts for gas monthly DD*

All the supplier’s data collector has to go on is historical usage data. They are not to know that an extravagant family of 6 is being replaced by 2 frugal consumers. That said, all the suppliers that I have used over many years have allowed me to provide an estimate of my annual usage when setting up a new account.

Thats interesting, but here's a story.

I was with a now defunct provider and paying £30 monthly DD for electric (prior to the pandemic I worked away from home 5 days a week and I'm single hence the low usage). I was shunted over to Shell Energy and had to setup the direct debit. So logged in and lo and behold the DD was set to £100 a month even though I never owed the previous provider any money (if I did I paid on a credit card straight away), I managed to wrangle it down to £35 a month. Nonetheless, every month Shell consistently try to put it back to £100 a month even after the energy payment had been applied - when I challenged them they always gave the "just in case" excuse eben when I said I always paid the difference on credit card.

In which case, you've just proved that the DD you wanted set was not enough and that Shell are correct to try and make it higher.  You're not supposed to have to randomly make credit card top-ups.

Well not really since the outstanding amounts were always for less than £10, and almost always in Autumn and Winter when electric usage was always slightly higher (eg a slightly warmer temp in the electric shower)

and I'd like to see the rule which says "You're not supposed to have to randomly make credit card top-ups" - I'm sure energy companies would love this "rule"