Another Stupid Octopus Bill

MWT

Qyburn said:

Much to my surprise I got a reply today. According to the reply, the credit and re-billing was triggered by them receiving "a reading for the 7th of April 2025" from their Data Collectors. I don’t know what that reading was, hh data or an index reading. But comparing the original and the corrected bill for 7th the day total, and cost is the same for both.

That will have been an index reading(s) as the data collectors have no ability to access HH data on site.

Are you even on a HH tariff though?

This does highlight the issue with expecting Kraken to stick to a fixed billing date as any meter index reading, wherever it comes from can trigger a billing cycle. Other issues can occur if you have gas as well as all it takes is a late arriving calorific value and the billing for gas and electric can get split over two bills with different periods. 

Ildhund

MWT said:

That will have been an index reading(s) as the data collectors have no ability to access HH data on site.

Is 'data collector' just a posh name for 'meter reader', then? I thought it was a data service provider who has the supplier's permission to access meters on their behalf, so not 'on site'. Perhaps one of their number could tell us: @SAC2334

But yes, this will have been index reading(s). I suppose that as MHHS and half-hourly ToU tariffs become the norm, DSPs will have to get used to retrieving Hh usage data routinely as well.

Qyburn

MWT said:

Are you even on a HH tariff though?

Yes. Octopus specifically said this update didn't affect data used for billing.

Qyburn

Ildhund said:

Is 'data collector' just a posh name for 'meter reader', then? I thought it was a data service provider who has the supplier's permission to access meters on their behalf, so not 'on site'. Perhaps one of their number could tell us: @SAC23

I won't have been anyone on site, we've not been accessible by normal vehicle for a couple of weeks. Could an onsite meter reader even access an index reading from 9 months ago, and why would they do so?

Qyburn

Alnat1 said:

 the penny you're stressing about .

I was responding to the poster who asked if I check the bill.

MWT

Qyburn said:

Ildhund said:

Is 'data collector' just a posh name for 'meter reader', then? I thought it was a data service provider who has the supplier's permission to access meters on their behalf, so not 'on site'. Perhaps one of their number could tell us: @SAC23

I won't have been anyone on site, we've not been accessible by normal vehicle for a couple of weeks. Could an onsite meter reader even access an index reading from 9 months ago, and why would they do so?

If they say it was a 'data collector' reading they are talking about a meter reader visit, why it was not processed at the time it was collected I do not know, but the person who collected it would not have been accessing old meter readings, just the current index readings. 

EssexHebridean

Alnat - I think you're slightly missing the point  here. If I'm understanding Qyburn correctly, this isn't anything to do with the money, it's due to the difficulty that the random billing makes with getting accurate figures for monthly import/export - and for someone who wants to keep proper data on that, the supplier messing about with dates makes a difference between a very simple process and a very complex one! For those who just want to know that their bill is roughly what they should be paying, sure, it's a minor issue and not worth trying to fix,  but there are a lot of folk on here who for all sorts of reasons want to keep far more detailed records than that! 

Qyburn

MWT said:

If they say it was a 'data collector' reading they are talking about a meter reader visit, why it was not processed at the time it was collected I do not know, but the person who collected it would not have been accessing old meter readings, just the current index readings. 

I wonder if they have a different meaning. To directly quote ..
"we received a reading from our Data Collectors. They are a third party company that is responsible for many things, like validating readings and estimating each property's projected consumption, which is what we use to calculate direct debits. It appears as though they recently issued a reading for the 7th of April 2025."

 They do now show a reading on the 7th, but I can't say whether it's newly appeared or whether it's always been there. They have readings ..
 01 Apr 2025     0   (meter replaced)
 02 Apr 2025     5   (estimated and wrong, a bit too high but I didn't question at the time)
 07 Apr 2025    33  (?)
 24 Jun 2025    89  (the day they replaced the CH and it worked for a few days)

The reading on the 7th can't be right. H/H data from the 1st to 7th, inclusive, totals 10.68 kWh. 

Qyburn

EssexHebridean said:

Alnat - I think you're slightly missing the point  here. If I'm understanding Qyburn correctly, this isn't anything to do with the money, it's due to the difficulty that the random billing makes with getting accurate figures for monthly import/export

Exactly, and on that note Octopus reversed to unwanted billing for part January, and have confirmed billing will be on 1st Feb.

MWT

Qyburn said:

EssexHebridean said:

Alnat - I think you're slightly missing the point  here. If I'm understanding Qyburn correctly, this isn't anything to do with the money, it's due to the difficulty that the random billing makes with getting accurate figures for monthly import/export

Exactly, and on that note Octopus reversed to unwanted billing for part January, and have confirmed billing will be on 1st Feb.

... until something makes it change again...