Smart meter British Gas

Gerry1

Sounds dodgy.

Why would BG need to send someone round to offer you a smart meter when they have your contact details because you are a customer?  The only exception would be if they wanted to fit a smart prepayment meter because you were in persistent debt and had not engaged with them, but even that procedure is on hold at the moment after the BG Debt collection scandals revealed by The Times.  (BTW, I'm not suggesting that you are in debt !)

It's curious that you were then booked in to have a smart meter fitted.  That would suggest that he was working for BG.  However, energy suppliers are very keen to fit smart meters (they get fined if they miss their quotas) so perhaps some call centre agents may accept a request from anyone claiming to be calling on behalf of 'Rosie at 17 Acacia Avenue' without worrying too much about following the usual security procedures, especially if they are paid a bonus for every installation they chalk up.

Knowing that a smart meter installation was planned, this could enable the dodgy bloke (or one of his mates) to pop round, gain admission and 'case the joint' on the pretext of checking that there was room for smart meters and that there was a usable signal.  It sounds far fetched, but fraudsters are getting ever more devious.

Anyone who has agrees to have a smart meter installed should be very wary of anyone calling before the planned time: don't let them in without checking their identity and calling BG on their published number to verify that they are genuine.

Edit: Hadn't seen your latest post that he'd been in a car and had paperwork.  Nevertheless, anyone who is cold called in this way or is visited unexpectedly ahead of a planned smart meter installation should be on their guard.

Rosie1001

Car had no branding on it 

Mstty

This does sound like cold callers paid if they make a smart meter appointment.

Definite complaint with as much information to BG as possible. Name if they gave it etc.

Rosie1001

I’ve rang them . they  cancelled the appointment and I’ve put a complaint in regarding the cold caller rep ….

see if I get any feedback,I doubt it 

Mstty

Rosie1001 said:

I’ve rang them . they  cancelled the appointment and I’ve put a complaint in regarding the cold caller rep ….

see if I get any feedback,I doubt it 

Let us know if you do get anything back.

diystarter7

Rosie1001 said:

I’ve rang them . they  cancelled the appointment and I’ve put a complaint in regarding the cold caller rep ….

see if I get any feedback,I doubt it 

Hiya

Well done.

However, with the supplier that was contacting me when I did not want them to re smart meters, I had to email them, twice. The situation was slightly different and not as challenging as yours was but I did find it concerning and a lot of wastef of my time and effort.

With an email, you have an easy-to-access record of who you reported your concerns to and what the outcome/s were.

The caller, the situation reminds me of the days you had cold callers trying to get you to switch suppliers but the only difference is that they are trying to get you onto a smart meter.

Many thanks not just for sharing your concerns but for taking the time and effort to update all here.

Take care