Can ombudsman force BG to fix smart meters?

mr-b

Tx for the helpful comments.

@mmmmikey yes you've boiled it down to the key issues - tx for the clarity!

It's hard to know about how widespread #1 aka the SM issue is as I've only read a few isolated reports and without any detailed analysis, though the description from @[Deleted User] does help. If it's widespread then why isn't more noise being made about it, given there was a Gov directive to push SM onto everyone? Or was that just mere greenwashing?

One of the engineers who did make the appt said that replacing the entire installation of meters was the only sol'n to the faulty comms hub issue that he'd found to work reliably. But in the end one (I think) still had to be recommissioned after several days, but they did work for several months.

For @Robin9 the readings in Jan were E: 566 kWh, G: 27 m3. Today E: 2706, G: 941.

RE #2 billing, I ended up lifting all the confusing numbers from the statements and putting them into a spreadsheet so I can analyse what's happening. Hopefully everything will settle down after the next bill, I'll just forget about the SMs and resume my monthly meter read. And as per @Alnat1 move to another supplier! ;-)

[Deleted User]

mr-b said:

Tx for the helpful comments.

@mmmmikey yes you've boiled it down to the key issues - tx for the clarity!

It's hard to know about how widespread #1 aka the SM issue is as I've only read a few isolated reports and without any detailed analysis, though the description from @[Deleted User] does help. If it's widespread then why isn't more noise being made about it, given there was a Gov directive to push SM onto everyone? Or was that just mere greenwashing?

One of the engineers who did make the appt said that replacing the entire installation of meters was the only sol'n to the faulty comms hub issue that he'd found to work reliably. But in the end one (I think) still had to be recommissioned after several days, but they did work for several months.

For @Robin9 the readings in Jan were E: 566 kWh, G: 27 m3. Today E: 2706, G: 941.

RE #2 billing, I ended up lifting all the confusing numbers from the statements and putting them into a spreadsheet so I can analyse what's happening. Hopefully everything will settle down after the next bill, I'll just forget about the SMs and resume my monthly meter read. And as per @Alnat1 move to another supplier! ;-)

There is no widespread problem as such but, to a large extent, it depends on where you live. There are issues in some parts of the North relating to getting planning permission for UHF relay masts. There is little that the communications provider Arqiva can do if NIMBYS and Councils do not grant planning permission. For those in the South/Central regions which use the O2 network there will be black spots which can be overcome if the DCC elects to move an area from WAN to MESH but first they have to identify some meters that have a WAN connection.

If it is a National issue with some communications hubs then it may well be firmware related. I was told by someone working in the sector that there is an issue with one communications hub that the DCC is working on. He would say no more as it is apparently the subject of a NDA.

mr-b

Tx @[Deleted User] for that - interesting. I'm in the Central region and I vaguely recall my original SMETS1 meter used the Vodafone network. But either way it's odd that the meters worked fine for a few months (via O2) and then ceased so it rather points to the national issue.

Do you know who oversees the DCC? Let's hope it's not like Openreach who ceased to be accountable to consumers after they largely moved assets out of BT. Someone must have invested a fair sum in setting it all up.

Just spotted it's Ofgem https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/energy-policy-and-regulation/policy-and-regulatory-programmes/smart-meter-transition-and-data-communications-company-dcc

[Deleted User]

mr-b said:

Tx @[Deleted User] for that - interesting. I'm in the Central region and I vaguely recall my original SMETS1 meter used the Vodafone network. But either way it's odd that the meters worked fine for a few months (via O2) and then ceased so it rather points to the national issue.

It rather points to a communications hub  than a National issue. Your supplier should have made a request to the DCC for a remote comms hub reset. The DCC then sends out an instruction to the hub to disconnect itself from power for 15 minutes. If this doesn’t work, then the supplier will normally send out an engineer to do a hard reset by pulling the main house fuse. 

What is the manufacturer and model number of your communications hub? My money would be that it starts with a W and ends with a 1.

mr-b

It's a WNC UBC-TN6 Cellular SKU1.

How much did you win? I'm afraid I've only got quite a few damp squibs  - obvs left behind in the meter cupboard by all the engineers.

[Deleted User]

mr-b said:

It's a WNC UBC-TN6 Cellular SKU1.

How much did you win? I'm afraid I've only got quite a few damp squibs  - obvs left behind in the meter cupboard by all the engineers.

I believe that this is the comms hub that is causing the DCC some issues. Mine went offline in January (no HAN or WAN but all the LEDs were flashing normally). It required an engineer to carryout a hard reset. I would press BG as it sounds like it is waiting for the DCC to rollout a fix. You may have a long wait. At the very least, the DCC should have attempted a remote reset.

Inigo_Montoya

I moved to BG Evolve due to a supplier going bust & had a SMETS2 meter that stopped providing auto reads

BG Evolve (now just BG) refused to fix the meter because the meter could still be read manually

When I moved to Octopus they had no issue at all with fixing it

So a change of supplier might help depending on what the problem is