Octopus energy smart meter issues

brig001

Qyburn said:

brig001 said:

i think R1 and R2 stay the same in the meter, but the contractor sends the units as day and night, and they swap day = R1 to day = R2 and back again

Brian

By "contractor" do you mean the DCC, or prehaps an intermediate between Octopus and DCC? We're talking about smart meters so there's no physical meter reading going on.

Yes, smart meters - non smart is a whole different kettle of fish

I’m guessing the intermediate between Octopus and DCC, but I don’t really know - it was a 15 minute conversation with a CS advisor, and that time included sorting out my final bill

Brian

Phones4Chris

Suppliers (as do 3rd party App suppliers) get your Smart Meter data from your meter via the DCC, there is no intermediary.

pete-20-11

Well, technically there might be. Octopus gets the data from TMA doesn't it - they have the software that interacts with the meter. So it's meter - TMA - DCC - Octopus ? Or something like that? 

The_Green_Hornet

DCC smart meter infrastructure diagram.

Meetheed

ive been having a nightmare with Octopus since September 2023 and it sounds in ways similar to the OPs post (if ive understood correct). There are 3rd party apps that let you view the data from your meter at the DCC. this might prove if it actually is a meter problem or not, as in my case i dont believe it is. Ive been to the ombudsmen, who sided with me, but octopus then appealed .their appeal was rejected, and now i still wait for Octopus. My complaint that started on the 12th September 2023 is still ongoing.

The issue i had was that i have the intellegent tarriff, with lower off peak rates for charging a car. i have an Ohme EV charger so as well as the off peak night rates i get discounts for any electiricy consumed by the EV charger on its "smart charge" schedule. Which can mean cheap electicity at time that might otherwise be at the peak rate.

It worked fine for 2 months, i had bills no problem and everything aligned, then my bills stopped. usage dissapeared from the octopus app. i contaced them. they fobbed me off a lot,. took forever to reply, ignored my questions. Promised people would contact me who never did. After while usage came back in the Octopus app, all my 30 minute reads were visible again, so all looked good. but they never billed me. i raised the bill issue over and over but they just said that my meter isnt sending the 30 minute data and they were looking into it. this is despite their own app showing me 30 minute data around 24 hours behind real time. i also used the 3rd party android "bright" app to view/download all my meter data from the DCC. I sent this to them privind the data was being sent out by my meter and the issue was just in how they were processing it. but Octopus insist the meter isnt sending the 30 minute data. 

After 4 to 5 months they said they wanted to install a new meter (6 week wait for an engineer on that). at this point i also decided to raise this with the ombudsman. As soon as i did that. Octopus stopped answering my queries, they removed a good will credit i had been given previously and then they back charged me for my electiricty right back to the day this problem started at the price cap rate. So over 4 months of electiricty at the highest allowed rate. 55% of my usage is typically off peak (charging a car) so my blended average rate being about 16/17p per kwh. they charged me the full ~28p per kwh rate (because there was no meter data apparently). They also kicked me off the intellegent tariff back to thair standard variable tarrif at the same time. They never communicated any of this, i just noticed all the changes and bills in my account the day they first repsponded to the ombudsman case.

i also noticed Octopus started displaying energy i had "exported" in my account, this exported energy started the day my bills stopped. the exported energy matched exactly what the octopus app and the DCC were listing as what i had used. i highlighted this to Octopus. but they wouldnt acknowledge it. the new meter they wanted to install went in and my readings form the new meter look to be getting billed correctly. but the old meter still shows on my account, with various references to it "exporting" electicity rather than recording what i use. 

Octopus still say they want to charge me the full premium rate for all usage right back to the 12th September, because my meter never gave them 30 minute reads. Meanwhile i have a 170+ screenshots of their app, every single day of the issue, displaying 30 minute reads, and ive provided them with the download of 30 minute reads from the DCC. they still deny having access to my meter data. Thankfully the ombudsman agreed with me and asked them to bill me based on my actual usage. because its there, anyone can access it. but they appleaed and said they cant because there is no 30 minute usage data. their appeal was reviewed and rejected by the ombudsman. So im still waiting. 

i strongly believe this whole issue was just because somewhere down the line, the usage from my meter started being logged as energy i had exported rather than consumed. they have the 30 minute data, they just handle it wrong (they even show it to me in their own app). They wont consider that being the problem however, they keep trying to brush this off and then just bill me at a considerably higher rate and move on. 

So when they tell you your meter isnt sending the data, i would personally check that is the case. I think the data is there they just have an issue processing it. Their T&Cs for the smart tarrifs say something along the lines of if the meter isnt sending 30 minute reads, they will default you to the standard variable tarrif, which is why i feel they like to instantly point the finger at the meter, charge people more, and then move on rather than address the underlying problem.

LYNDBO

brig001 said:

@LYNDBO are you with Octopus or someone else?

Brian

Octopus energy

Misterwtf

I curently have issues with Octopus that goes back to 2020 according to Octopus. I now call it the "Post Office Syndrome". Watch this space. It will run and run... I am sure.

BarelySentientAI

Misterwtf said:

I curently have issues with Octopus that goes back to 2020 according to Octopus. I now call it the "Post Office Syndrome". Watch this space. It will run and run... I am sure.

Cryptic accusations of a systemic coverup, attached to a four month old thread by a brand-new poster?  Not sure quite how useful that is.

Mum161111

I know what you mean, Misterwtf.  It took a long time for Octopus to address my complaint and, during the prolonged process, I became really quite stressed.  I only complained formally as a last resort.   I was satisfied with the eventual outcome but I really dread the prospect of ever having a similar problem with Octopus in the future.  At my lowest ebb I wondered if I was becoming a bit paranoid as 'they' seemed to be ignoring my communications by replying with inappropriate responses and, in the process, were winding me up.   

I was so relieved when they upheld my complaint and made amends.

EssexHebridean

Could those likening their issues with smart meters to the Horizon Scandal please just take a moment to remember that people were imprisoned, lost their liberty, lost their likelihoods, in many cases their relationships and in some cases even their lives, over what went on with the post office. Whilst I'm sure we can all appreciate that having time consuming complaints with energy providers can indeed be both irritating and of course stressful, hopefully we can all also manage to keep at least a degree of perspective and avoid comparing it with the true devastation that the Post Office employees faced?