British Gas still using intimidatory tactics for smart meter appointments

MattMattMattUK

SAC2334 said:

Rest of the world (apart from Germany and Sweden) make fitting of utility meters mandatory .When the Labour party were in power all meters were fitted mandatory incl the first smart meters..
I find it pretty bonkers giving Joe public any choice in the matter .They never had that choice before but the Tory's surprised me actually giving anyone the choice. The whole business of fitting smarts has been an economic disaster.
.We had all the old token  prepays in UK replaced in a couple of years flat and the metrics were swapped for the old Imperial s without this fuss . The  DNO s were  in charge doing the fitting   going down each street doing the swaps in bulk . Here we are ten years later still begging people to allow us to fit our meters..Only in UK could this ridiculous situation happen .I have a friend who works for Eon meter fitting and he says he s lucky to fit two meters a day .
France and Italy and Irish Republic have all finished their roll outs because they made it all work by getting the DNO  s to fit them..with a single make of meter 

In the UK we seem to have a strange attitude that conspiracy theorists should be pandered to rather than ignored or dealt with, hence the originally optional nature of smart meters, or the fact that vaccine rules are/were so lax, to the lack of ID cards etc. For some reason it seems in many cases to give similar weight to invalid opinion as we do to fact. 

prowla

TheElectricCow said:

prowla said:

TheElectricCow said:

MWT said:

MattMattMattUK said:

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.

Why would it be intimidating? 

I don't usually agree with much of the resistance to smart meter installs, but telling me there is an appointment that I didn't ask for or agree to and threatening a penalty if I'm not in would annoy me as well, and yes, the £30 charge does feel like it is deigned to force customers to accept the appointment under threat of a 'fine' ...

I would be inclined to suggest this warrants a complaint.

Annoying? Absolutely 
Complaint worthy? Probably 
Intimidating? Not impossible to argue, but that’s pushing it.

Threatening to "fine" someone seems pretty intimidating to me.

Can't say it does to me, at least not in this context. I acknowledge that other people may read it differently, but to me all it seems like is a simple explanation of their terms. There is a charge for missed appointments - I don't personally see any extra emotion or frightening messaging in that.

Now, whether those terms are right or wrong, or even reasonably enforceable, is a different matter entirely.

I've made you an appointment for something you don't want and didn't agree to; if you don't cancel it in accordance with the terms I've set (which you also didn't agree to) then I'll fine you £30.

It's one step short of the parking scammers.

MattMattMattUK

prowla said:

TheElectricCow said:

prowla said:

TheElectricCow said:

MWT said:

MattMattMattUK said:

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.

Why would it be intimidating? 

I don't usually agree with much of the resistance to smart meter installs, but telling me there is an appointment that I didn't ask for or agree to and threatening a penalty if I'm not in would annoy me as well, and yes, the £30 charge does feel like it is deigned to force customers to accept the appointment under threat of a 'fine' ...

I would be inclined to suggest this warrants a complaint.

Annoying? Absolutely 
Complaint worthy? Probably 
Intimidating? Not impossible to argue, but that’s pushing it.

Threatening to "fine" someone seems pretty intimidating to me.

Can't say it does to me, at least not in this context. I acknowledge that other people may read it differently, but to me all it seems like is a simple explanation of their terms. There is a charge for missed appointments - I don't personally see any extra emotion or frightening messaging in that.

Now, whether those terms are right or wrong, or even reasonably enforceable, is a different matter entirely.

I've made you an appointment for something you don't want and didn't agree to; if you don't cancel it in accordance with the terms I've set (which you also didn't agree to) then I'll fine you £30.

The terms have been part of the supply agreements for some time now. 

MWT

MattMattMattUK said:

Qyburn said:

What_time_is_it said:

 The communication is clear. And many vulnerable people would feel intimidated by this. 
Basically, we've set something up without your consent. If you don't cancel we will charge you £30.
Unacceptable

People are challenging the term "intimidation" but does anyone actually think that sort of behaviour is acceptable?

They booked in an appointment, gave the OP notification and gave them the time and opportunity to change it to a different date if that was not suitable, with a notification that there would be a £30 charge if they did not cancel or keep the appointment. Under no rational measure can that be classed as intimidation, nor does it seem unacceptable, if the date/time is inconvenient then all one has to do is change the date. 

I would agree if the appointment had been requested by the OP, it is the fact that they are imposing an appointment without consent and with a penalty attached that makes it unacceptable.

[Deleted User]

Ofgem has given suppliers smart meter rollout targets. Suppliers are fined if the target is not achieved. Ofgem also approves of suppliers coming up with new ways of increasing smart meter take up.

The BG letter is similar to organ donation. The Government changed the rules in favour of ‘you are in unless you opt out’ for organ donation. I suspect most people have not opted out.

BG’s approach may upset a few but I suspect many will just accept the appointment as something they meant to get around to or it is just inevitable that I will end up with smart meters.

Qyburn

MattMattMattUK said:
The terms have been part of the supply agreements for some time now. 

I wouldn't be at all surprised if they include the right to access or change the meter, with or without notice. But do they really include the right to charge a penalty if the customer doesn't actively cancel an appointment made without their prior agreement? 

I can't see it in Octopus's terms and conditions. If it does appear in BG's then I hope there are some safeguards, for example minimum notice period for a unilaterally foisted appointment, and some confirmation that the notice had been received and not just blindly sent.

Qyburn

Just saw Dolor's post. I think some of the discussion is going off track as if the issue was meter replacement rather than the unilateral penalty. I dont think many would be complaining if that appointment notice hadn't included the threat.

TheElectricCow

prowla said:

TheElectricCow said:

prowla said:

TheElectricCow said:

MWT said:

MattMattMattUK said:

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.

Why would it be intimidating? 

I don't usually agree with much of the resistance to smart meter installs, but telling me there is an appointment that I didn't ask for or agree to and threatening a penalty if I'm not in would annoy me as well, and yes, the £30 charge does feel like it is deigned to force customers to accept the appointment under threat of a 'fine' ...

I would be inclined to suggest this warrants a complaint.

Annoying? Absolutely 
Complaint worthy? Probably 
Intimidating? Not impossible to argue, but that’s pushing it.

Threatening to "fine" someone seems pretty intimidating to me.

Can't say it does to me, at least not in this context. I acknowledge that other people may read it differently, but to me all it seems like is a simple explanation of their terms. There is a charge for missed appointments - I don't personally see any extra emotion or frightening messaging in that.

Now, whether those terms are right or wrong, or even reasonably enforceable, is a different matter entirely.

I've made you an appointment for something you don't want and didn't agree to; if you don't cancel it in accordance with the terms I've set (which you also didn't agree to) then I'll fine you £30.

It's one step short of the parking scammers.

Still, that doesn’t read as intimidating to me. My reaction to that if I didn’t want the appointment or the fee would be to cancel the appointment in accordance with their terms, not to feel like they were trying to scare me into handing over some money or forcing a smart meter on me.

I’m afraid I’m not sure what you’re referring to with the parking scammers, a google search only brings up results of cases where literal thieves are actively trying to defraud people by either posing as an authority requiring payment for a false fine or attempting to divert genuine payments away from the real parking operator. British Gas is a real company and I don’t think the authenticity of the appointment is in question here, so neither of those seem relevant.

Somniac

TheElectricCow said:

prowla said:

TheElectricCow said:

MWT said:

MattMattMattUK said:

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.

Why would it be intimidating? 

I don't usually agree with much of the resistance to smart meter installs, but telling me there is an appointment that I didn't ask for or agree to and threatening a penalty if I'm not in would annoy me as well, and yes, the £30 charge does feel like it is deigned to force customers to accept the appointment under threat of a 'fine' ...

I would be inclined to suggest this warrants a complaint.

Annoying? Absolutely 
Complaint worthy? Probably 
Intimidating? Not impossible to argue, but that’s pushing it.

Threatening to "fine" someone seems pretty intimidating to me.

Can't say it does to me, at least not in this context. I acknowledge that other people may read it differently, but to me all it seems like is a simple explanation of their terms. There is a charge for missed appointments - I don't personally see any extra emotion or frightening messaging in that.

Now, whether those terms are right or wrong, or even reasonably enforceable, is a different matter entirely.

My problem was not really with the charge itself but with an appointment being made without my involvement or consultation and THEN being threatened with a fine. I had a Text message before the email and ignored it because I thought it was a scam as I had made no appointment. If I had continued to ignore it, it may well have resulted in charge. I would then have had to go through a process of getting it cancelled when I had not made the appointment in the first place.

Somniac

prowla said:

TheElectricCow said:

prowla said:

TheElectricCow said:

MWT said:

MattMattMattUK said:

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.

Why would it be intimidating? 

I don't usually agree with much of the resistance to smart meter installs, but telling me there is an appointment that I didn't ask for or agree to and threatening a penalty if I'm not in would annoy me as well, and yes, the £30 charge does feel like it is deigned to force customers to accept the appointment under threat of a 'fine' ...

I would be inclined to suggest this warrants a complaint.

Annoying? Absolutely 
Complaint worthy? Probably 
Intimidating? Not impossible to argue, but that’s pushing it.

Threatening to "fine" someone seems pretty intimidating to me.

Can't say it does to me, at least not in this context. I acknowledge that other people may read it differently, but to me all it seems like is a simple explanation of their terms. There is a charge for missed appointments - I don't personally see any extra emotion or frightening messaging in that.

Now, whether those terms are right or wrong, or even reasonably enforceable, is a different matter entirely.

I've made you an appointment for something you don't want and didn't agree to; if you don't cancel it in accordance with the terms I've set (which you also didn't agree to) then I'll fine you £30.

It's one step short of the parking scammers.

Exactly this.