Stupid Smart Meters!

SierraSue

Had new Smart Meters fitted by British Gas (Gas and Electric) on 15th March 2024 - only they don't send out any meter readings!  So what is the point?  The old smart meters sent out readings so in theory there shouldn't be a problem.  Now every month British Gas ask me to send them my readings - but this elderly arthritic lady has no intention of getting down on her hands and knees to read the damn things - both meters are quite low and the gas one is outside.  Speaking to B.Gas about it is like talking to a brick wall - I know others are having similar problems - any ideas how to get this resolved?

double_dutchy

Do you have an IHD (in home device), the little display unit that shows your usage? You may be able to get the meter reading from the IHD

p00hsticks

We're in a similar position - had gas and electric smart meters and an IHD with British Gas, although BG for some reason only seemed to receive the electric reading automatically, so I was using the IHD to get readings to submit monthly. Last month they said they needed to replace both meters for some unknown reason, and since they have  they appear to have received no readings for wither electricity or gas and the new IHD says it has not been commissioned, so we are in a worse situation that we were before.

victor2

SierraSue said:

Had new Smart Meters fitted by British Gas (Gas and Electric) on 15th March 2024 - only they don't send out any meter readings!  So what is the point?  The old smart meters sent out readings so in theory there shouldn't be a problem.  Now every month British Gas ask me to send them my readings - but this elderly arthritic lady has no intention of getting down on her hands and knees to read the damn things - both meters are quite low and the gas one is outside.  Speaking to B.Gas about it is like talking to a brick wall - I know others are having similar problems - any ideas how to get this resolved?

Did BG say why they were replacing your old smart meters with new ones?

It does appear from reports on here that BG customer support is pretty useless, but as above, if you have a working IHD, you may be able to see the readings on it. If you're not sure how to do that, if you can post the IHD model number on here someone may be able to help, although not all IHDs can show the meter readings.

To get it resolved, you could try raising a formal complaint with BG online or by email (to keep a record), not over the phone. Then you can escalate it if they don't sort it out.

Marksfish

Had smart meters fitted in September last year and replaced electric this April with BG. On both occasions, they "forgot" to correctly commission them. Raise a complaint to the executive office about it, don't hold out much hope though as I had to go to the ombudsman for mine to be correctly commissioned. They still haven't paired the IHD though, but at least I can now see my usage on Hugo.

bob2302

SierraSue said:

Speaking to B.Gas about it is like talking to a brick wall - I know others are having similar problems - any ideas how to get this resolved?

Move to a better supplier and ask them have your meters fixed.

SierraSue

Unfortunately I didn't receive a IHD when they installed the new meters.  Mind you with the old smart meters I never used the IHD and just had it in a drawer.  So it looks like the only solution is to write a letter of complaint to B.Gas - I'll let you know how I got on.

Thank you for your replies - it's nice to know I'm not the only one with these problems.  And yes when my current tariff ends I'll be leaving B.Gas.