Is there a sweet spot for changing? In Jan

OpolE

My fixed contract ends on 1st Feb. (I imagine I can play with a few weeks worth of quoting)

Ideally I want to leave my current one as the IHD/Smart meter/Online Energy Hub never display correct but my bill is typically as expected at the end of the month. (Ive already claimed hundreds of £ of them for their errors but I get no leway anymore with complaining) Typically they are the cheapest every year.. 

How long does it take a qualified engineer from the new company to take out the old companies smart meter and put a new one in.

I am Economy 7 and I could do with finding a great night rate as I haven't even put my main storage heater on yet  

QrizB

Changing supplier will not generally result in a change of smart meter. The new supplier takes over the old meter, exactly as was the case with dumb meters.

Ildhund

OpolE said:

... the IHD/Smart meter/Online Energy Hub never display correct ...

Could you explain what this means? Of course the IHD, the meter itself and your online account should show exactly the same readings. If one of them is different from the others, there's something wrong somewhere, but all three can't be wrong - unless you have another meter to check with.  

quartzz

Ildhund said:

OpolE said:

... the IHD/Smart meter/Online Energy Hub never display correct ...

Could you explain what this means? Of course the IHD, the meter itself and your online account should show exactly the same readings. If one of them is different from the others, there's something wrong somewhere, but all three can't be wrong - unless you have another meter to check with.  

I was with Octopus for a few weeks before I changed to British Gas in Oct. the numbers that the smart meter (display) showed were different than the numbers Octopus charged me for. one day, I used £1.90 but they charged £2.50. Octopus gave me over email, some extremely vague and unconvincing story which generally said "sometimes the signal doesn't get read properly". and something (equally unconvincing) about there being 3 different ways of reading usage

Since being with British Gas, the amount I'm using according to their website, is exactly the same as the numbers displayed daily on the smart meter

OpolE

quartzz said:

Ildhund said:

OpolE said:

... the IHD/Smart meter/Online Energy Hub never display correct ...

Could you explain what this means? Of course the IHD, the meter itself and your online account should show exactly the same readings. If one of them is different from the others, there's something wrong somewhere, but all three can't be wrong - unless you have another meter to check with.  

I was with Octopus for a few weeks before I changed to British Gas in Oct. the numbers that the smart meter (display) showed were different than the numbers Octopus charged me for. one day, I used £1.90 but they charged £2.50. Octopus gave me over email, some extremely vague and unconvincing story which generally said "sometimes the signal doesn't get read properly". and something (equally unconvincing) about there being 3 different ways of reading usage

Since being with British Gas, the amount I'm using according to their website, is exactly the same as the numbers displayed daily on the smart meter

Yep, totally my deal with EDF. As I said above. I've caught them at every step and got hundreds of £ off them in complaints. Now I have to try leave as the ombudsman and EDF said I can't "re-complain" about the same things. Both problematic parties 

Gerry1

quartzz said:

Ildhund said:

OpolE said:

... the IHD/Smart meter/Online Energy Hub never display correct ...

Could you explain what this means? Of course the IHD, the meter itself and your online account should show exactly the same readings. If one of them is different from the others, there's something wrong somewhere, but all three can't be wrong - unless you have another meter to check with.  

I was with Octopus for a few weeks before I changed to British Gas in Oct. the numbers that the smart meter (display) showed were different than the numbers Octopus charged me for. one day, I used £1.90 but they charged £2.50.

You have to compare like with like.  The 60p difference is probably explained by the daily standing charge.  Also remember that the IHD is likely to include VAT whereas the kWh charges on the bill will exclude the 5% VAT which is added on at the end.

QrizB

Also, the IHD gets it's pricing info from the main meter, but there's no obligation on a supplier to ensure this info is correct. In effect, the cost displayed on the IHD can be completely wrong. The IHD will display the correct number of kWh which is why regulars on this forum will recommend that you leave the IHD displaying kWh not £££.

OpolE said:

 I've caught them at every step and got hundreds of £ off them in complaints.

I'm quite surprised that EDF paid you a penny if your complaint has only been about the IHD displaying wrong cost info.

OpolE said:

Now I have to try leave as the ombudsman and EDF said I can't "re-complain" about the same things.

Correct, once your complaint has been resolved you can't complain about it again.

OpolE

QrizB said:

Also, the IHD gets it's pricing info from the main meter, but there's no obligation on a supplier to ensure this info is correct. In effect, the cost displayed on the IHD can be completely wrong. The IHD will display the correct number of kWh which is why regulars on this forum will recommend that you leave the IHD displaying kWh not £££.

OpolE said:

 I've caught them at every step and got hundreds of £ off them in complaints.

I'm quite surprised that EDF paid you a penny if your complaint has only been about the IHD displaying wrong cost info.

OpolE said:

Now I have to try leave as the ombudsman and EDF said I can't "re-complain" about the same things.

Correct, once your complaint has been resolved you can't complain about it again.

I've had about 400-500 off them. Some refunds for charging me day rate in night rate times

Stuff like. Wrong rates, not turning on night rate at all so none of my water or heaters worked for days. Making me get an electrican out and then them losing face and paying me a concession for his time which was free as my mate did officially free of charge anyway. Nothing was consistent. Customer service lied numerous times or gave wrong info. They wouldn't give me complaints team for nearly 1 year even though the ombudsman eventually sided with me. Now imagine that happening every year