Moving a gas meter

Crouchie64

This feels like a legalised scam to me.
We bought a bungalow recently and the rusty old gas meter was in a low level kitchen cabinet. I contacted British Gas and told them I had an unhygienic gas meter in the kitchen and needed it moved outside. The advisor asked if I wanted it to be a smart meter and I informed as long as it was moved outside that would be fine. He arranged the appointment and I was under the impression it was to be moved to the outside of the house.
The day before the appointment I was talking to a builder at the house and he expressed concern that the process seemed a bit too easy and I should confirm with BG that they were moving the meter. I spoke to BG and they said no arrangements had been made to move the meter and only a smart meter was to be installed, I cancelled the appointment and expressed my disgust at their service.
I spoke to BG a couple of days later about moving the meter and was put through to the correct department. The guy seemed helpful, in view of the poor service has was prepared to waive the £100 plus fee and I needed to get a quote from a company called Cadent to have it moved. I rang Cadent and spoke to a lady there, told her the meter was being moved from inside to outside the house, the distance was about 2 feet. She told me there was a charge of £750 to have this done. I laughed thinking she was joking to which she replied, yes it is eye watering isn't it!! I told her to cancel it.
EDF advertise £80 to have meter moved, which is without doubt a lie and they should not be allowed to do this. I spoke with them and they confirmed £80 to have the meter moved, every time the conversation was about gas and needless to say I was very pleased with this. When the agent gave me the number of UK Power Network to organise this I gave them a call. Their reply was we only move electric meters, not gas! I rang EDF back, not sure how many times I have spoken to them now, who told me that once again Cadent were the people to talk to. An engineer came out to do a survey and said the MINIMUM charge, subject to us doing most of the work was £680. When I called EDF back I eventually got some sense out of an advisor who said that Cadent charge a fee for switching the service.
I have ordered a Smart meter to be installed and am on a very long waiting list no doubt but I am assured it will be brand new and hygienic.
I do feel like I have been conned by EDF on this and BG have been focussed on hitting their Smart meter targets rather than providing any semblance of a service.
Has anyone else had a similar experience or found someone who will move it for a sensible price?

Gerry1

Welcome to the forum.

This may help.

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6468442/sgn-quote-gas-meter-move

MeteredOut

You've had 2 quotes in the same ballpark price. I'd assume the prices you are being quoted are the sensible (market) prices.

https://www.checkatrade.com/blog/cost-guides/cost-moving-gas-meter/

Can you not just have the meter replaced where it is, with a smart meter? Access should be less of a requirement.

matt_drummer

I think you need to think about how the price is made up.

£120 is VAT so you are already down to only £580

They have to travel to you, they have to provide tools, they have administration costs, there are material to buy and the people who actually do the work to pay.

It all adds up.

It doesn't sound unreasonable to me.

Brie

While I do agree that moving a meter could be expected to just a few hundred I think part of the problem is that EDF for one said it would be £80.  If they said that's the price I would assume that they are picking up the balance.  If they aren't then they should be raked over the coals for telling porkies.  

MeteredOut

Brie said:

While I do agree that moving a meter could be expected to just a few hundred I think part of the problem is that EDF for one said it would be £80.  If they said that's the price I would assume that they are picking up the balance.  If they aren't then they should be raked over the coals for telling porkies.  

From the EDF website:

What does it cost to move a meter?

• We're moving your meter
  Our standard cost to move a meter is £80; but there may be additional costs depending on the work involved. You'll need to pay this before we can confirm your appointment.
   
• Your local network operator is moving your meter
  The operator will give you a quote for the work.

https://www.edfenergy.com/help-support/faq/move-meter

I'm not one to defend EDF (I'm currently having in a 12+ month battle with them over a faulty gas meter) but it's hardly telling porkies. Its a case of someone reading what they want to read.

We don't know exactly what the OP was told on the phone.

matt_drummer

MeteredOut said:

Brie said:

While I do agree that moving a meter could be expected to just a few hundred I think part of the problem is that EDF for one said it would be £80.  If they said that's the price I would assume that they are picking up the balance.  If they aren't then they should be raked over the coals for telling porkies.  

From the EDF website:

What does it cost to move a meter?

• We're moving your meter
  Our standard cost to move a meter is £80; but there may be additional costs depending on the work involved. You'll need to pay this before we can confirm your appointment.
   
• Your local network operator is moving your meter
  The operator will give you a quote for the work.

https://www.edfenergy.com/help-support/faq/move-meter

I'm not one to defend EDF (I'm currently having in a 12+ month battle with them over a faulty gas meter) but it's hardly telling porkies. Its a case of someone reading what they want to read.

We don't know exactly what the OP was told on the phone.

The standard cost is £80 if EDF are doing the work although there is a caveat that additional charges could be levied depending on the work involved, there's no lie here.

EDF have not agreed to move the gas meter.

The local operator, Cadent need to do it and they have given a quote for the work.

The cost quoted may not be acceptable to the OP but nobody has been lied to.

MeteredOut

matt_drummer said:

MeteredOut said:

Brie said:

While I do agree that moving a meter could be expected to just a few hundred I think part of the problem is that EDF for one said it would be £80.  If they said that's the price I would assume that they are picking up the balance.  If they aren't then they should be raked over the coals for telling porkies.  

From the EDF website:

What does it cost to move a meter?

• We're moving your meter
  Our standard cost to move a meter is £80; but there may be additional costs depending on the work involved. You'll need to pay this before we can confirm your appointment.
   
• Your local network operator is moving your meter
  The operator will give you a quote for the work.

https://www.edfenergy.com/help-support/faq/move-meter

I'm not one to defend EDF (I'm currently having in a 12+ month battle with them over a faulty gas meter) but it's hardly telling porkies. Its a case of someone reading what they want to read.

We don't know exactly what the OP was told on the phone.

The standard cost is £80 if EDF are doing the work although there is a caveat that additional charges could be levied depending on the work involved, there's no lie here.

EDF have not agreed to move the gas meter.

The local operator, Cadent need to do it and they have given a quote for the work.

The cost quoted may not be acceptable to the OP but nobody has been lied to.

I'm not sure why you felt the need to repeat/paraphrase what I wrote.

matt_drummer

MeteredOut said:

matt_drummer said:

MeteredOut said:

Brie said:

While I do agree that moving a meter could be expected to just a few hundred I think part of the problem is that EDF for one said it would be £80.  If they said that's the price I would assume that they are picking up the balance.  If they aren't then they should be raked over the coals for telling porkies.  

From the EDF website:

What does it cost to move a meter?

• We're moving your meter
  Our standard cost to move a meter is £80; but there may be additional costs depending on the work involved. You'll need to pay this before we can confirm your appointment.
   
• Your local network operator is moving your meter
  The operator will give you a quote for the work.

https://www.edfenergy.com/help-support/faq/move-meter

I'm not one to defend EDF (I'm currently having in a 12+ month battle with them over a faulty gas meter) but it's hardly telling porkies. Its a case of someone reading what they want to read.

We don't know exactly what the OP was told on the phone.

The standard cost is £80 if EDF are doing the work although there is a caveat that additional charges could be levied depending on the work involved, there's no lie here.

EDF have not agreed to move the gas meter.

The local operator, Cadent need to do it and they have given a quote for the work.

The cost quoted may not be acceptable to the OP but nobody has been lied to.

I'm not sure why you felt the need tor paraphrasing what I wrote.

I am joining in on a topic that I have already contributed to.

I don't feel the need to do anything here, I was just highlighting that EDF hadn't even agreed to do the work.

What's your issue?

I have offended you?

Taken credit for your work?

Devalued your input?

Something else?

MeteredOut

matt_drummer said:

MeteredOut said:

matt_drummer said:

MeteredOut said:

Brie said:

While I do agree that moving a meter could be expected to just a few hundred I think part of the problem is that EDF for one said it would be £80.  If they said that's the price I would assume that they are picking up the balance.  If they aren't then they should be raked over the coals for telling porkies.  

From the EDF website:

What does it cost to move a meter?

• We're moving your meter
  Our standard cost to move a meter is £80; but there may be additional costs depending on the work involved. You'll need to pay this before we can confirm your appointment.
   
• Your local network operator is moving your meter
  The operator will give you a quote for the work.

https://www.edfenergy.com/help-support/faq/move-meter

I'm not one to defend EDF (I'm currently having in a 12+ month battle with them over a faulty gas meter) but it's hardly telling porkies. Its a case of someone reading what they want to read.

We don't know exactly what the OP was told on the phone.

The standard cost is £80 if EDF are doing the work although there is a caveat that additional charges could be levied depending on the work involved, there's no lie here.

EDF have not agreed to move the gas meter.

The local operator, Cadent need to do it and they have given a quote for the work.

The cost quoted may not be acceptable to the OP but nobody has been lied to.

I'm not sure why you felt the need tor paraphrasing what I wrote.

I am joining in on a topic that I have already contributed to.

I don't feel the need to do anything here, I was just highlighting that EDF hadn't even agreed to do the work.

What's your issue?

I have offended you?

Taken credit for your work?

Devalued your input?

Something else?

Just thought it was curious that you responded to my post where I pointed out that EDF made it clear that £80 was not a fixed price, that there could well be additional charges and that EDF were not lying, by effectively saying "£80 is not a fixed price, there could be additional charges, EDF are not lying".

As you were.

matt_drummer

MeteredOut said:

Just thought it was curious that you responded to my post where I pointed out that EDF made it clear that £80 was not a fixed price, that there could well be additional charges and that EDF were not lying, by effectively saying "£80 is not a fixed price, there could be additional charges, EDF are not lying".

As you were.

It was not a response to you.

It was for everybody.

I quoted your post  so I could refer to the fact that EDF's price was not even relevant to the OP as EDF had never agreed to do the work.

It had always been the local network operator that would move the gas meter and the OP would have to pay what they quoted.

I have not criticised you at all and was just adding some detail that I thought was relevant.

Next time we both contribute to a topic I'll be more careful.

I apologise for any upset caused.