List of all EDF tariffs difficult to find

msknight

Gerry1 said:

If EDF are telling porkies about the certification expiration date, make a formal written complaint.  Go to the ombudsman upon receipt of a deadlock letter, or after eight weeks if they don't send one.

I don't think they're telling porkies. I think it's more than ten years by now. I'm just taking exception to them restricting the available tariff to... well... no choice really and they'll still be using the same readings off the same meter. It's just a punishment in my book. But hey ho.

Just when I think I've got the hang of the game... they change the rules!

My friend will be here in a few weeks so we can chat about it, and my current tariff runs until the end of April, so time is on my side to do more research, write letters to my MP and what not

Gerry1

msknight said:

Gerry1 said:

If EDF are telling porkies about the certification expiration date, make a formal written complaint.  Go to the ombudsman upon receipt of a deadlock letter, or after eight weeks if they don't send one.

I don't think they're telling porkies. I think it's more than ten years by now. I'm just taking exception to them restricting the available tariff to... well... no choice really and they'll still be using the same readings off the same meter. It's just a punishment in my book. But hey ho.

Exactly when does your meter expire?  There should be a sticker on it that shows the original certification date.

msknight

Gerry1 said:

Exactly when does your meter expire?  There should be a sticker on it that shows the original certification date.

No clue. It's a Landis+Gyr (Ampy) 5246C which was, "quality checked" on 21st Feb 2015.

edit - found it on that list. Page 6 at the bottom

msknight

The only date on it that is printed and obvious is - CI 2 2014 ... so if the certification period is 10 years, then mine went out of cert last month ... just my luck 

msknight

Hmm... looks like it's certified for 20 years if I read that list correctly. It could very well be that EDF are trying to pull a fast one. I'll ask my friend when he gets here and if that's the case, I feel a letter of complaint coming on.

Phones4Chris

msknight said:
............

I am the one on the timed meter because of radio reception problems, and there is no mobile signal for a smart meter to hook up to where the meter is anyway.

My friend is on a smart meter, it was there when he bought the house. So he can also benefit from the Octopus incentives, etc. 

The radio switch reception is a totally different thing from mobile signals. What part of the country are you in? So don't you have any mobile signal at all where you are?
If it's just the position of the meter that you think may be a problem where is it? They can supply Comms hubs with an aerial which may solve a possible issue.
If mobile signals is definitely a no no, AIUI they can supply "smart meters" that are pre-programmed with the E7 times, so you'd still have to provide manual readings, but if your friend is a smart meter expert he should be able to confirm that, I am only going by what I read somewhere so can't be sure. 

msknight

I'm in a village. Mobile signal is a real problem here and that couples with power cuts and the parish council and others are trying to solve the issue because of the change to fibre... when you lose power, you obviously lose the home side of the laser and that means no phone, so good mobile phone signal is essential to call emergency services... but there's nothing. Being in a village we're also more prone to power cuts and also have a fair portion of retired people... and with no power there is an increased risk of accident in the home, so an increased likely hood to need to call 999. - so no comms when the power goes out is an issue.

My friend said that when a utility company fits a smart meter and there is no signal, that there is an onus on them to report the issue and work towards a solution; and others have tried smart meters and failed for that reason, so there should be something in train to solve the mobile signal issue here, but when you're talking land owners, planning permission, etc. it all takes time.

I knew they could provide a smart meter and turn it to dumb mode, but what I've been reading implies they turn off the smarts so what's the point? I'm perfectly happy to provide readings like I do now. I'm on a payment method where I take the readings, they work out the exact cost and take it by DD every quarter. I'm not stuck in this stupid situation of paying a fixed DD and either getting into debt, or they've got too much of my money. I mean... one of the main bug bears I've got is that they've rolled out smart meters and have regular, accurate readings, yet I keep reading/hearing of people having payment grief. They should be calculating the exact amount and only taking what they're owed, in my book. As I work in I.T., I'm an infrastructure engineer, I know that the technology is there, it just seems to be political manipulation to keep people's money and earn the interest. So I'm very wary.

GingerTim

msknight said:

I knew they could provide a smart meter and turn it to dumb mode, but what I've been reading implies they turn off the smarts so what's the point? 

If our much-missed former member and smart metering expert @Dolor was still around, they would point out in regard to the oxymoron of a 'dumb smart meter':

Dolor said:

When I was last in discussion with someone who knows about smart metering, he told me that there is no such thing as a dumb smart meter: it is simply, a supplier not using smart meter readings for billing.  Installers need to fit a comms hub to install and commission a smart metering system, and it is self evident from the OP’s post that the comms hub was linked to a network - otherwise it could not be updated OTA.

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/80320924/#Comment_80320924

msknight

GingerTim said:

If our much-missed former member and smart metering expert @Dolor was still around, they would point out in regard to the oxymoron of a 'dumb smart meter':

That's a good one

I actually called EDF again this morning, armed with the information of the meter being perfectly serviceable for another 9 years and 11 months and that a smart meters won't connect in this area.

The agent refused to budge. If I want the tariff, I have to get a smart meter. There are no other tariff options available, I just drop to standard tariff. The agent also refused to lodge a complaint because there would be no point as the resolution to the complaint would be the installation of a smart meter. She would simply make a note on my file.

To my mind, this is sharp practice. 

GingerTim

msknight said:

GingerTim said:

If our much-missed former member and smart metering expert @Dolor was still around, they would point out in regard to the oxymoron of a 'dumb smart meter':

That's a good one

I actually called EDF again this morning, armed with the information of the meter being perfectly serviceable for another 9 years and 11 months and that a smart meters won't connect in this area.

The agent refused to budge. If I want the tariff, I have to get a smart meter. There are no other tariff options available, I just drop to standard tariff. The agent also refused to lodge a complaint because there would be no point as the resolution to the complaint would be the installation of a smart meter. She would simply make a note on my file.

To my mind, this is sharp practice. 

To be fair, I think there are two distinct issues here: a) EDF are entirely within their rights to make taking a smart meter a condition for a customer having access to a particular tariff, and b) the certification length of your meter being incorrectly recorded.