British Gas still using intimidatory tactics for smart meter appointments

[Deleted User]

Somniac said:

I also note gas meter must be closer than 10 metres or according to some 18 metres apart. I am on the 5th floor and my electric meter is on the same floor whereas the gas meter is on the ground soit could be they couldn’t fit it anyway but nowhere on the BG site does have this info that I could find. They could fit the meter and it won’t work because it’s too far from the electric meter.

Suppliers can now fit dual-band comms hubs and gas meters which gets around the distance limitation associated with the Zigbee 2.4 wifi band for most domestic situations. There is also an Alt-HAN solution for high rise flats.

https://althanco.com/

Somniac

[Deleted User] said:

Somniac said:

Gerry1 said:

Yes, it's incorrect.  For gas, they have to bleed the air from downstream of the new meter.  For electricity, apparatus and sensitive items need to be closed down individually before the power is switched off.  Obviously this cannot be achieved without the householder in attendance.

Even then, things can still go badly wrong when smart meters are fitted:-

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5776998/smart-meter-fitted-now-boiler-broken

A very interesting thread. Thanks. I have read of numerous cases like this with gas meters.

The physical process of changing a gas meter has not changed in decades. The installer turns off the gas; removes the meter and the regulator; fits a new meter and regulator; turns on the supply; tests the system pressure and purges all air out of system. A boiler failing is most likely due to the fact that ELECTRICAL power is also turned off to protect the boiler.

There are now over 32M smart meters in our homes with over 3M being installed each year. A few posts about a gas boiler PCB failure on this forum does not constitute ‘numerous cases’. PCBs deteriorate over time.

I am not referring to this forum.

Somniac

[Deleted User] said:

Somniac said:

I also note gas meter must be closer than 10 metres or according to some 18 metres apart. I am on the 5th floor and my electric meter is on the same floor whereas the gas meter is on the ground soit could be they couldn’t fit it anyway but nowhere on the BG site does have this info that I could find. They could fit the meter and it won’t work because it’s too far from the electric meter.

Suppliers can now fit dual-band comms hubs and gas meters which gets around the distance limitation associated with the Zigbee 2.4 wifi band for most domestic situations. There is also an Alt-HAN solution for high rise flats.

https://althanco.com/

Thank you.

Mstty

One little nugget I see British gas and using the words (you'll be able to see how much energy you're using in pounds and pence)

So many things wrong with this when the correct prices for SC and kWh are not updated.

Anyway it's definitely worth a little complaint but be careful the words "may be charged" not will be charged £30.

[Deleted User]

Somniac said:

[Deleted User] said:

Somniac said:

Gerry1 said:

Yes, it's incorrect.  For gas, they have to bleed the air from downstream of the new meter.  For electricity, apparatus and sensitive items need to be closed down individually before the power is switched off.  Obviously this cannot be achieved without the householder in attendance.

Even then, things can still go badly wrong when smart meters are fitted:-

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5776998/smart-meter-fitted-now-boiler-broken

A very interesting thread. Thanks. I have read of numerous cases like this with gas meters.

The physical process of changing a gas meter has not changed in decades. The installer turns off the gas; removes the meter and the regulator; fits a new meter and regulator; turns on the supply; tests the system pressure and purges all air out of system. A boiler failing is most likely due to the fact that ELECTRICAL power is also turned off to protect the boiler.

There are now over 32M smart meters in our homes with over 3M being installed each year. A few posts about a gas boiler PCB failure on this forum does not constitute ‘numerous cases’. PCBs deteriorate over time.

I am not referring to this forum.

OK - so where are you getting ‘numerous cases like this with gas meters’ information from? 

Gerry1

Mstty said

Anyway it's definitely worth a little complaint but be careful the words "may be charged" not will be charged £30.

In the image below, BG make it quite clear (after the Bit In Bold) that you WILL be charged if you miss an appointment OR change it with less than 24 hours notice.  The only 'may be' is whether either of the above events actually happens.

So if your appointment is for 2pm on Thursday but some disaster strikes at 3pm on Wednesday (e.g. you or a close relative admitted to hospital in emergency) then you're hit with the £30 penalty.

What_time_is_it

I don't have smart meters, but I'm not massively fussed either way.
What I do object to is when companies insist on saying something is "for my benefit" when clearly it is for their own benefit. I would be more inclined to listen if they were honest about the reasons for wanting to fit a smart meter. As it is, whenever I get a letter or email about smart meters being for my benefit I choose to ignore it.
And if I was threatened with a fine for not being in for an appointment I neither chose nor scheduled then I certainly would not pay that fine. Putting the onus on the individual to have to cancel something they never wanted in the first place is out of order.

Scot_39

Somniac said:

Hi all

I recently got a notification (unsolicited) for a smart meter installation (which I don't want). They had made an appointment for installation with a warning I would be charged £30 if I wasn't in or didnt cancel soon enough. After some struggle,I found the appointment on the gas account not on the electric account. I have now cancelled the appointment. This seems to me to be intimidatory.

Had you ignored any previous correspondence or request to have a Smart meter fitted ?

BG had an obsession with replacing meters with one of their own for a while - even a  c18m-2yr old Smets2 in one of my neighbours cases.

And my own digital meter was only c2 years old when replaced with Smart by EOn  - as they no longer wanted to support that meter type.  I resisted Smart when 1st offered, 2 years earlier, and went digital,  but accepted 2nd time.

mmmmikey

Gerry1 said:

Mstty said

Anyway it's definitely worth a little complaint but be careful the words "may be charged" not will be charged £30.

In the image below, BG make it quite clear (after the Bit In Bold) that you WILL be charged if you miss an appointment OR change it with less than 24 hours notice.  The only 'may be' is whether either of the above events actually happens.

So if your appointment is for 2pm on Thursday but some disaster strikes at 3pm on Wednesday (e.g. you or a close relative admitted to hospital in emergency) then you're hit with the £30 penalty.

Good grief - more complete and utter nonsense! Not sure which is dafter - this post or the one about smart meters damaging your boiler!

Just because BG have the right to charge for missed appointments doesn't mean they always do.

When my Mum forgot about her BG smart meter installation and went for a walk instead she called them about it to apologise and reschedule. They made no mention of a fee and rescheduled. My Mum asked if she needed to pay anything for the missed appointment and they said no, it was obviously just a simple mistake and they wouldn't charge her.

So based on my experience it seems that contrary to the apparent beliefs held by some, energy supplier's don't just employ the children of the devil - most of them are decent, reasonable people. And they're not hell bent on doing every they can to rip us off either - they realise that the best way to maximise profits in the long term is to be helpful. They don't always get it right of course but it's not for lack of trying.

[Deleted User]

What_time_is_it said:

I don't have smart meters, but I'm not massively fussed either way.
What I do object to is when companies insist on saying something is "for my benefit" when clearly it is for their own benefit. I would be more inclined to listen if they were honest about the reasons for wanting to fit a smart meter. As it is, whenever I get a letter or email about smart meters being for my benefit I choose to ignore it.
And if I was threatened with a fine for not being in for an appointment I neither chose nor scheduled then I certainly would not pay that fine. Putting the onus on the individual to have to cancel something they never wanted in the first place is out of order.

I would argue strongly that there are consumer benefits from having a smart meter:

1. Cheaper time of use tariffs. I am presently paying just over 4p/kWh for gas.

2. Detailed information about actual energy usage.

3. Access to Grid voltage information.

4. In future, tariff comparisons based not just on the amount of energy used but when it is used by using 12 month’s worth of actual smart meter data pulled from the meter.

5. Accurate monthly billing.