Very pushy replacement energy meter calls

MeteredOut

prowla said:

Well - 6:55 and the engineer just left.

And, more importantly, how was breakfast...

EssexHebridean

It does help prove the point that smart meters are money saving too - yours had earned you £30 before it was even installed! 😂

prowla

EssexHebridean said:

It does help prove the point that smart meters are money saving too - yours had earned you £30 before it was even installed! 😂

Good point! :-)

Rivers_mum

Our gas meter was replaced 4 yrs ago and is analogue, their choice, nothing to do with us. The electric one has 15 yr lifespan left. Not very green replacing them. 

They’re not tampered with. Readings submitted every month, I’m on the cheapest non TOU tariff don’t have solar or electric car, don’t feel the need to change at this time. Nothing in my suppliers T&Cs asks we have a smart meter. 

Hang me! 

FlatFour

Sorry all, I only got a notification this evening of further replies to this thread... not caught up yet.

No more communications from my current provider yet regarding a new meter.  Considering it's potentially just days away at this point, I wonder if they've halted the process again just like before.  Actually planning to switch to another provider shortly anyway, waiting to hear back from them and suspect I'll have to chase, as it's been a little while.  Been with the same provider for a few years at this point and they've never actually gotten as far as even making an appointment to fit a smart meter thus far, despite telling us we must have one much of that time.

To get any benefit from a Smart Meter, we have to switch providers as the current provider's offerings - considering we have Solar - are utter rubbish.  The main reason it's not been urgent for us to switch, is due to us consuming most of what we actually produce, thanks to the battery and a bit of a life-style change in regards to how and when we use power.  Add to that the house is occupied all day, so things get done while actively generating, rather than excess power being "wasted" during the day while everyone's at work.  With the days lengthening though, I can see that we could potentially get some benefit from feed-in, but not with our current provider.

Do many providers insist on fitting their own specific Smart Meter when you switch?  I think I'd rather switch to a new provider and have them fit "their" meter, rather than have them inherit that of another provider...  Also, I wonder if the current provider might find some justification to charge a customer if they move right after a new meter is installed.  That's a cost to the Provider of course that only benefits the new Provider.

No update on my friend's install either...it's all gone radio silent.  I did communicate some of what's been said here though and, other than the pushy "sales" call, she's quite happy to have a Smart Meter installed on principal, she just wants it done at a mutually agreed time and not be "ordered" to be in on the energy company's (well, the sub-contractor handling the Meter installs) whim.

As a sort of related aside, of late, due to the sunny weather, we actually pay more in daily standing charge than we do for power.  After a fairly sunny day today, we're still at 83% battery at 11:30 in the evening.  The only things drawing power are the Fridge Freezer and a Separate Freezer - both pretty energy efficient - a TV in the lounge, the Computer I'm typing on right now, and a couple of (LED) lights.  Changing up a few things really makes a difference.

BarelySentientAI

FlatFour said:

Do many providers insist on fitting their own specific Smart Meter when you switch?  I think I'd rather switch to a new provider and have them fit "their" meter, rather than have them inherit that of another provider...  Also, I wonder if the current provider might find some justification to charge a customer if they move right after a new meter is installed.  That's a cost to the Provider of course that only benefits the new Provider.

Some suppliers use mainly one brand, some vary, all are interchangeable.

And no, they don't charge if you leave the day after.

EssexHebridean

Rivers_mum said:

Our gas meter was replaced 4 yrs ago and is analogue, their choice, nothing to do with us. The electric one has 15 yr lifespan left. Not very green replacing them. 

They’re not tampered with. Readings submitted every month, I’m on the cheapest non TOU tariff don’t have solar or electric car, don’t feel the need to change at this time. Nothing in my suppliers T&Cs asks we have a smart meter. 

Hang me! 

Your current meters are within certification, so no issues there. Any change at this point to smart meters would come from a voluntary change by you, so it’s completely your call, and nothing for anyone to “hang you” about. It may still be - actually, almost certainly would be - that you’d be able to pay less for your energy if you had smart meters of course - and at some stage you might want to change to a tariff that will require one. I suspect that well within the remaining certification period for that electricity meter the law is going to change and smart meters are going to become mandatory, mind you, so I suspect you won’t be stuck with that one for the full period of it’s certified lifespan. 

I’ve never seen anyone on here who actually knows what they are talking about taking a pop at someone for not going smart metered when they have good, reasoned and logical reasons for not doing so. Where we lived before we had E7 electric and generally speaking tended to be with smaller suppliers. We made a solid decision that we were not prepared to get a smart meter fitted because at the time the risk of being SOLR’d to British Gas - who could not cope with E7 on a smart meter - was too high, and we didn’t want to risk the problems that would cause.  The people who cause frustration on here are those who are either believing - or worse, perpetuating- conspiracy theories around smart meters. The reason that causes frustration is because of the genuine harm that sort of misinformation can cause to those who are more vulnerable. 

Qyburn

FlatFour said:

After a fairly sunny day today, we're still at 83% battery at 11:30 in the evening.  

How does that leave you the next day? Sounds like a couple of sunny days in a row will se you exporting. 

SAC2334

Scot_39 said:

Chrysalis said:

If I was an energy company and I got a customer who was resisting a routine swap, I would be doubling down on it, as in my opinion it makes it more likely they have a tampered meter.

Meter tampering - or at least those caught for doing so is still fairly rare.

Counted in 1000s e.g.

https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/publications/energy-regulator-steps-action-against-festive-fraud

I like my smart meter / IHD - but suspect millions are reluctant to go smart. 

Some who have wish they hadn't as problems when they occur are handled badly by suppliers.

When they are selling tariffs that can only be billed accurately when the meters operate reliably - like EV and TOU tariffs based on multiregister or 1/2 hourly data - they need to be far more responsive at fixing problems.

Days / weeks not weeks / months.

Its not at all rare . Don t believe those  absolutely ludicrous  figures . I can confidently claim that in my Borough of 330,000 residents that just here alone there are many thousands routinely tampering electric and gas meters and there will be hundreds of cannabis farms in operation . Last winter the police had a purge on cannabis growing and raided 7 in one street alone .
As a long term meter reader working in a rough Northern town for 20 years meter tampering has exploded once word got round that , A . very unlikely to be dragged before a court and prosecuted for stealing £10,000 worth of energy or actually get caught  . B , that nearly all the suppliers take no active steps to either try and stop meter tampering or ever investigate why someone is paying nothing for their energy and that includes standing charges . Only British Gas have a proper working Revenue Protection Team and I know for a fact that they target small businesses like Takeaways as a main target because they are likely to recoup what has been stolen and therefore earn a percentage of the money recovered as bonus earnings .The rest of the suppliers in the UK make minimal or no effort at all and that includes Eon, EDF and Scottish Power 
Once on the standard dumb prepayment meters occupants will make sure not to admit a meter reader to examine the meters . Recording a refused access would not generate a warrant of access to forcibly view the meters even if the occupier lived there for years and was nt paying anything at all for their energy costs .