Gas Meter Still Increasing Whilst Gas Isolated (Siemens/Landis+Gyr E6S)

MeteredOut

Spoonie_Turtle said:

MeteredOut said:

I contacted the ombudsman this week to inform them there had been no progress, and got this response:

"EDF told us they were planning to exchange and test the gas meter on 16 October. It appears there is some discrepancies in what we're being told."

That's diplomatic!

Hehe, yes, I did chortle when I read that.

I can't quite decide whether EDF are being disingenuous in their actions, or whether this is the standard incompetence in their customer service/internal communications and the 16/10 appointment did also include the OFMAT. I'm leaning towards the former, as EDF made it clear that any OFMAT would have to be paid by me in advance, and no-one contacted me to agree to that.

Chrysalis

How hard can it be to test a mater, the resistance is ridiculous, keep at it.

ArbitraryRandom

MeteredOut said:

Spoonie_Turtle said:

MeteredOut said:

I contacted the ombudsman this week to inform them there had been no progress, and got this response:

"EDF told us they were planning to exchange and test the gas meter on 16 October. It appears there is some discrepancies in what we're being told."

That's diplomatic!

Hehe, yes, I did chortle when I read that.

I can't quite decide whether EDF are being disingenuous in their actions, or whether this is the standard incompetence in their customer service/internal communications and the 16/10 appointment did also include the OFMAT. I'm leaning towards the former, as EDF made it clear that any OFMAT would have to be paid by me in advance, and no-one contacted me to agree to that.

I've read a few threads on here where the customer was told they would have to pay in advance for the testing but then weren't. 

I would also wonder that if the testing is due to an ombudsman ruling if you would still be required to pay? 

MeteredOut

ArbitraryRandom said:

MeteredOut said:

Spoonie_Turtle said:

MeteredOut said:

I contacted the ombudsman this week to inform them there had been no progress, and got this response:

"EDF told us they were planning to exchange and test the gas meter on 16 October. It appears there is some discrepancies in what we're being told."

That's diplomatic!

Hehe, yes, I did chortle when I read that.

I can't quite decide whether EDF are being disingenuous in their actions, or whether this is the standard incompetence in their customer service/internal communications and the 16/10 appointment did also include the OFMAT. I'm leaning towards the former, as EDF made it clear that any OFMAT would have to be paid by me in advance, and no-one contacted me to agree to that.

I've read a few threads on here where the customer was told they would have to pay in advance for the testing but then weren't. 

I would also wonder that if the testing is due to an ombudsman ruling if you would still be required to pay? 

From the EOS final ruling (my bolding):

In considering step 1 (You will be contacted to agree a time for its removal and the installation of a replacement.) I see no reason to change the remedy requested in this case. The meter will need removing and replacing and sending off for testing. Any charges associated with this just need discussing with <customer> if this has not already happened.

DPatroller

Our case got settled today. We had a (Siemens E6) gas meter change in September in the middle of our Ombudsman case over the faulty meter readings. On the day of the change we were completely unable to ensure the meter would be sent for OFMAT testing and rang the Ombudsman explaining the problem. In our case however the meter was so faulty (on many occasions recording gas usage when the supply to it was off) that there seemed little doubt anyone could argue otherwise. So Energy made no submissions to the Ombudsman at all and the case was found in our favour together with a total of £330 of charges and an apology. In our submission we suggested that the Ombudsman apply benchmark gas usage for prior years (rather than looking at go forward usage and extrapolating backwards) and that was agreed to. The difference between readings from the faulty meter and the outcome is in excess of £10,000. The scale of error with these ultrasonic meters can be very significant indeed and worryingly our new Smart Meter looks remarkably similar to the old one -  albeit with a much newer battery. With at least two Siemens E6s down our road overreading significantly I find it surprising that there aren't many others in the same position. We've read our meter every day this year - sometimes several times a day - and were pleased when we found proof of why our past bills were so high. We will definitely be keeping a closer eye than we used to on gas usage after this experience.        

MeteredOut

Update: No update

I did get a generic email/letter from EDF stating they "are awaiting the availability to book an appointment to exchange the meter as there is currently none available; once the earliest available date is found this will be booked and you will be informed."

No mention of the meter accuracy test.

I've nudged the EOS a few times and they continue to nudge EDF.

In the meantime, I now have an EV, and have solar panels/battery on order, but am unable (or reluctant) to move even just my electricity tariff over to a time-of-use tariff where i can benefit from cheaper overnight usage and daytime SEG payments; I'd need a smart meter to get those.

MeteredOut

DPatroller said:

Our case got settled today. We had a (Siemens E6) gas meter change in September in the middle of our Ombudsman case over the faulty meter readings. On the day of the change we were completely unable to ensure the meter would be sent for OFMAT testing and rang the Ombudsman explaining the problem. In our case however the meter was so faulty (on many occasions recording gas usage when the supply to it was off) that there seemed little doubt anyone could argue otherwise. So Energy made no submissions to the Ombudsman at all and the case was found in our favour together with a total of £330 of charges and an apology. In our submission we suggested that the Ombudsman apply benchmark gas usage for prior years (rather than looking at go forward usage and extrapolating backwards) and that was agreed to. The difference between readings from the faulty meter and the outcome is in excess of £10,000. The scale of error with these ultrasonic meters can be very significant indeed and worryingly our new Smart Meter looks remarkably similar to the old one -  albeit with a much newer battery. With at least two Siemens E6s down our road overreading significantly I find it surprising that there aren't many others in the same position. We've read our meter every day this year - sometimes several times a day - and were pleased when we found proof of why our past bills were so high. We will definitely be keeping a closer eye than we used to on gas usage after this experience.        

Thanks for the update. Although ours was recording usage when isolated from the mains, it was not £10K out like yours, so not so clear cut; in fact, the meter "seems" to be recording usage ok for the past month or so (although this is against a baseline of 2 years ago, so I can't say 100% it was measuring correctly then).

How much compensation was in the £330?

I did speak to the ombudsman about the potential of dozens/hundreds of people across the country unknowingly overpaying for their gas due to the issues with this meter; he assured me they look out for trends such as that and would take action with suppliers if such a trend was identified. I must admit I wasn't convinced... 

Spoonie_Turtle

MeteredOut said:

In the meantime, I now have an EV, and have solar panels/battery on order, but am unable (or reluctant) to move even just my electricity tariff over to a time-of-use tariff where i can benefit from cheaper overnight usage and daytime SEG payments; I'd need a smart meter to get those.

If you were to switch supplier to do that and tell them from the start you can't change your gas meter, only electricity (explaining why) then you might be alright.  Then when the meter fitter comes, tell them upfront before they start work so they know for sure, and they'll either do the electricity meter only or neither (if they've been told to do both) but either way you won't end up with the gas meter accidentally being changed.

I can understand your hesitance, but that could be a safe approach to take. 

MeteredOut

I've not checked with EDF, but would i still say on Gas SVT if I moved away from their dual fuel and onto gas only?

Spoonie_Turtle

MeteredOut said:

I've not checked with EDF, but would i still say on Gas SVT if I moved away from their dual fuel and onto gas only?

Yes.  The whole thing about 'typical dual fuel customer' is literally just, people who have both gas and electricity (and use the average amounts of each), as opposed to people who only have electricity.