Energy Salesman Smart Meter Flim Flam - Truth or lies?

bucksboomer

I am with a top six energy provider, I called them up about a billing issue and as always they tried to pretend that it was because I did not have a smart meter.

They launched into a very smooth pitch on why I should get a Smart Meter, but then they said something which I found hard to believe.

They said that out of all the Smart Meters that their company had installed (millions I imagine) their company had only 8 Smart Meters that were faulty!

I thought that this was highly unlikely considering that BBC reported over 4 million faulty Smart Meters reported in the UK as reported by the BBC based on the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero reports.  

Am I right to think that this was Salesman flim flam or is their some way for an energy company to twist the truth and lies?

The experience made me really distrust the firm involved.

Ayr_Rage

Very few smart meters are faulty.

Many smart meters are operating in dumb mode because they cannot connect to the data networks to "phone home", those are the numbers which the nay-sayers like to quote.

I still cannot for the life of me understand why anyone would be keeping an outdated meter when new models are offered for free and if they work in smart mode enable access to TOU and EV tariffs.

It's a bit like saying my Nokia 3310 still works fine on 2G and even though you want to give me a new 5G phone for free I think I'll just stay in the past, thanks.

WiserMiser

It depends on your definition of faulty.  They're no doubt referring to a smart meter that's lost its communication but correctly recording kWh usage as working correctly.  You're probably thinking it's faulty if manual meter readings have to be sent monthly.

zxzxzx

If you are getting regular issues ‘as always’ get a new meter.
if you don’t trust them get a new supplier and a new meter.

flaneurs_lobster

Given your thread title and contents it seems you have already made up your mind about this energy company and their smart meters.

Wrong forum if your are simply looking for posts that support your views. 

EssexHebridean

The BBC's 4 million includes all those where the IHD no longer functions, where for whatever reason readings aren't being sent to the comms hub, and I suspect also the situations where someone has a smart gas meter but no smart electricity meter, and therefore in most cases, doesn't actually have a comms hub at all. It's incredibly rare that a meter is actually tested and found to be actually faulty. 

I'd have a stab in the dark and suggest that a brand new SMETS 2 meter is far less likely to become faulty than an out-of-certification-period non-smart one. 

"4 million" makes for more impressive reporting than "427 - and that's if you could John in Solihull* who is still adamant that his is wrong even though it's been checked and found to be absolutely fine..." 




* Apologies to any "Johns" in the West Midlands who have been caught up in this! 

bucksboomer

Sadly nobody seems to have actually answered my question yet, but let me address the issues you raised.

Ayr_Rage said:

Very few smart meters are faulty.

Many smart meters are operating in dumb mode because they cannot connect to the data networks to "phone home", those are the numbers which the nay-sayers like to quote.

If we were to compare this to an phone or TV that was not fit for purpose we would be entitled to a refund.

Nobody cares WHY it does not work, just that it does not work.

I don't think it helps for you to create derogatory phrases to call people names.

They are not naysayers and nor am I, when I heard of the promised benefits I was in principle not against the project, I figured that even if the only benefit was that thousands of meter readers would be fired or redeployed, in the long term it would bring down costs and lead to better pricing.

I used to have a standing charge of zero on both Gas and Electricity with energy rates lower than the top 6 energy providers.

Later I went to a supplier with 5p and 10p standing charges and even lower rates.

So no cost benefits have been passed on to me, I have to pay ever £300 a year before a single kWh is used.

The BBC and the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero reports are respected organisations, so calling them naysayers is also unwarranted.  They are simply quoting the facts.  LBC Consumer show Barrister Dean Dunham cautions his audience to stay clear of them, he is not against them per se, just too many people with problems.

I am from a large family, we cover most segments of society, the number who have had problems with Smart Meters is almost all who have switched.  One was on a first floor flat and the gas meter did not send the signal so they got overcharged, you can quickly retort "they need a booster widget" but that is not the point,  British Gas told them it was not a priority.  Two years later they left that flat with the problem unresolved, they bumped into the new owner when they were passing a few months ago and it was still not working.  They left that property over 3 years ago.

The four million meters are clearly faulty, they do not work as intended, they do not provide the promised functions, they are not fit for purpose and the FAULT requires a fix, hence they are faulty.

When I first heard about the Smart Meter project I was intrigued to hear that they planned to spend billions creating their own data network, called the DCC.  This seemed to me at the time to either be a potential money earner or a white elephant suffering from spending other people's money.  Sadly the latter seems to be the case, if you are blaming the Data Network then surely you are blaming the very tech that we all paid for.  Personally I would have done a deal with existing broadband providers to use their hotspot networks which have both visible and hidden networks, it is quite feasible to create a secure VPN tunnel via these networks, I use one myself to connect family members together and I used one in my workplace for 10 years when working remotely was considered rare.

Whether it be lack of access to data network or the fact that an energy company stuffed in a naff SMET1 meter just to get the install fee, only to leave the customer completely in the dark now, all the customer know and cares about is that it does not work and there are no firm plans or dates to fix it.  The new soft rules by OFGEM will not change much, I would have put the penalties much higher and made them monthly fees or perhaps given all consumers affected a rebate on their full Standing Charge for every month the Smart Meters were not fully functional.

it is totally unacceptable to blame the victims and gas lighting them with derogatory terms.

Ayr_Rage said:

I still cannot for the life of me understand why anyone would be keeping an outdated meter when new models are offered for free and if they work in smart mode enable access to TOU and EV tariffs.

Try to understand that different people have different opinions than you, opinions that they are perfectly entitled to hold. Some people are early adopters and defenders of new tech even if they end up being unwitting beta testers.  Insulting people with different opinions just because they have a different opinion creates division in our society and it is social bullying.

At the other end of the scale there are people who follow an old saying that "a wise man is he who learns from the mistakes of others and does not make the same mistake".  So when people hear of cases like the smart meter that was recording the reads of a meter that was hundreds of miles away or they hear of 4 million consumers with faulty meters.  Anyone who listens to consumer shows will hear of Smart Meter issues, anyone who reads the one star reviews of any of the top six energy companies will read of real world negative experiences. Ironically a lot of these are from people who were not in the group you negatively label, many get messed around for the appointment, have bad installs and are told that someone will come back and fix it but they never do.

If people who are reticent because of what they read and hear about real world negative Smart Meters it is totally reasonable that they decide to wait. 

I asked AI the same question about the likelihood of the 8 faulty

"It's highly unlikely that only eight smart meters were faulty in one energy company, as recent government figures from March 2024 indicate that almost four million smart meters across the UK were not working correctly at the end of 2023. These issues often stem from meters being left in "dumb mode" due to poor signal connectivity, but suppliers are now required to improve their performance, with a new government consultation launched in August 2025 to address these problems and implement automatic compensation for affected customers, according to Money Saving Expert."

They are not free, they cost us £15bn and when the IHD's fail we are expected to pay for a new one, My meter is not outdated, it is intended to work until at least 2032 and if there was no smart meter project it would probably last until 2050 which is far longer than I expect to last! 

Not everyone has an electric vehicle and the state of EV at the moment is that there are not enough charging points, those in flats will have to pay extortionate rates sometimes 10x what they might have paid at home. The number of people calling consumer shows with problems EV's is growing at an alarming rate considering how new the tech is and when there is a problem many cases are told that there are no spare parts and will not be for a year. Problems with App design for EV's make accessing basic things in a car require an App and thus a device to run that App. 

Whilst it is frowned upon to like Tesla, I have driven one on hire several times and it seems to me that it's USP is making driving less tiring and less stressful, it spots speed changes and adjusts speed very smoothly. One bad thing was that it tends to drive in the gutter rather than the centre of the lane and this splashes mud up onto the cameras. I would not buy an EV at the moment, if I had the money then Hybrid is the way I would go. So basically no benefit from a smart meter on EV Front.

If a Smart Meter does not work because of a data network or old firmware will it be able to access TOU and EV tariffs or would requesting those suddenly give the energy company the incentive to actually fix the problem?

Ayr_Rage said:

It's a bit like saying my Nokia 3310 still works fine on 2G and even though you want to give me a new 5G phone for free I think I'll just stay in the past, thanks.

Well there are benefits to having a non-smart phone, particularly as a way to avoid giving children access to the web but giving them a means of communicating with their parents in case of emergency.

I still have a couple lying around that I use as a security device to receive SMS in the event of a change of password etc.  What is interesting is they never get scammer calls, nobody can use social media to stalk them on a plethora of social media platforms (as happened to a member of my family even though they had blocked the stalker).

Nobody has offered to give me a new 5g phone or equivalent, any kit I do get will be bought and paid for by my standing charge so let's dismiss that myth immediately.

As it happens I was considering moving to an energy company who does far more with a smart meter than most, my energy company has issues with their billing system, anecdotal comments suggest this is deliberate for customers who do not have a smart meter. 

I have a family member who has moved to the energy company I was considering jumping to, they have had their own issues which I have been managing because they have special needs.  Despite all of that I was still considering the new firm, I am just wary of jumping out of the frying pan into the fire. 

What I was trying to establish was whether my existing supplier installed some fantastic model of Smart Meter and hence they only had 8 faulty or was this just flim flam sales patter?

If anyone has any information that suggests that the 8 smart meter figure is accurate, then I would be pleased to hear it, but not if it excludes or gas lights people for being victim of a faulty service or product.

bucksboomer

WiserMiser said:

It depends on your definition of faulty.  They're no doubt referring to a smart meter that's lost its communication but correctly recording kWh usage as working correctly.  You're probably thinking it's faulty if manual meter readings have to be sent monthly.

Thanks for your reply, it is not me "thinking it's faulty" it is the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, in simple terms if the meter needs a fix then it is by default faulty. It is not delivering the hoped for benefits promised in the original project plan. 

Clearly the fact that OFGEM have had to bring in a scheme suggests it recognises that there is a widespread issue that needs to be resolved or else penalised.

My question was actually about whether the number of 8 is truthful.

I was wondering if there is some fantastic model of Smart Meter that certain companies use or some that are inherently faulty.

There seems to be a lack of smart meter reviews and as far as I can tell the consumer has no say in requesting a particular model.

booneruk

bucksboomer said:

My question was actually about whether the number of 8 is truthful.

Who knows. It depends what their classification is doesn't it? The basic function of a meter is to count the amount of energy passing through it and I'd say the vast majority of in-certification meters are going to be doing this just fine (whether or not the readings get sent, or if the IHD works or not are separate things).

bucksboomer

zxzxzx said:

If you are getting regular issues ‘as always’ get a new meter.
if you don’t trust them get a new supplier and a new meter.

Thanks for your message

There are no regular issues with my meters, the issues I have are will the billing system used by my supplier.

I don't trust people who make up lies or twist the truth in order to achieve their objective.

I am considering jumping ship which will involve a Smart Meter because the company I am considering has a lot of value added extras provided by their App which uses the Smart Meter data.

bucksboomer

flaneurs_lobster said:

Given your thread title and contents it seems you have already made up your mind about this energy company and their smart meters.

Wrong forum if your are simply looking for posts that support your views. 

I think your message is judgemental and shows a lack of tolerance for people you think have different views to yourself.

I am not looking for posts that support these alleged views you "assume" I have.

I asked a question, you have not answered it, instead it appears you are trying to bully me off this forum.

Please cease and desist from such behaviour.