Faulty gas meter: unable to take readings

Jabba_flabba
Jabba_flabba Posts: 97 Forumite
First Post First Anniversary Combo Breaker
in Energy
I joined Economy Energy last year. What a poor decision that was. I've found their Customer Services to be worse than bad - near absent. As (bad) luck would have it, my smart (but in dumb mode) gas meter stopped yielding readings at the end of November. No output/lights on the meter's LCD display. Attempts to contact Economy Energy by email, 9 times out 10, have resulted in no reply. Fortunately I still have working gas. So after a month of attempts to get this sorted, I've lodged a complaint via their complaints email address, which I expect I'll also get no reply to.

In the meantime I'm left wondering:
  • assuming the gas meter isn't recording my usage, how will Economy Energy (or any energy supplier for that matter) arrive at a usage figure for the period when the gas meter wasn't recording usage? Do they just go on estimated/historical usage? Is actual usage recoverable in any way?
  • I'm assuming that Economy Energy won't have their own engineers (like British Gas) and that the engineer will come from "the energy network" or somesuch organisation. If I don't get anywhere with Economy Energy — which is a highly likely outcome — is there an alternative email address or number to get the meter repaired or replaced?
:(

Comments

  • molerat
    molerat Posts: 31,849 Forumite
    Name Dropper Photogenic First Post First Anniversary
    Metering will be sub contracted out to another company. They will estimate from last known read. It may be possible to recover readings from a dead meter if the techs are asked to do it by the supplier before it goes in the skip.
  • nxdmsandkaskdjaqd
    nxdmsandkaskdjaqd Posts: 782 Forumite
    Name Dropper First Post First Anniversary
    Out of interest what is the make of your meter?
  • Jabba_flabba
    Jabba_flabba Posts: 97 Forumite
    First Post First Anniversary Combo Breaker
    nxdmsandkaskdjaqd wrote: »
    Out of interest what is the make of your meter?

    It's a Landis Gyr G370 (installed ~2013)
  • ajbell
    ajbell Posts: 1,151 Forumite
    Just use as much as you like while its un-metered.
    4kWp, South facing, 16 x phono solar panels, Solis inverter, Lincolnshire.
  • House_Martin
    House_Martin Posts: 1,462 Forumite
    ajbell wrote: »
    Just use as much as you like while its un-metered.
    I would nt assume that it is unmetered.May be a big shock coming in down the line if that is the advice.
    I have experience with this very same meter (as a meter reader) which was showing a blank screen indicating a battery fail.
    Normally pressing the red button a couple of times will show if the battery is dead but on several occasions pressing the black button has brought the reading up so it was nt a battery fail.
    This meter is designed to shut the supply off when the battery fails prematurely, which is good. We don`t want an unlimited free unmetered supply of gas which then relies on the honesty of the occupier to inform the supplier
    .This is in the terms and conditions of all suppliers that occupants inform suppliers of faulty meters asap.
    As it is a smart meter if the battery had failed, it should have informed the supplier of low battery status
  • Andy_WSM
    Andy_WSM Posts: 2,217 Forumite
    First Anniversary First Post Uniform Washer Rampant Recycler
    House_Martin wrote: »
    As it is a smart meter if the battery had failed, it should have informed the supplier of low battery status

    Which also assumes the current supplier is communicating with the smart meter (which they're not). This whole smart meter situation is an absolute (expensive) joke.
  • House_Martin
    House_Martin Posts: 1,462 Forumite
    edited 9 January 2018 at 11:48PM
    Andy_WSM wrote: »
    Which also assumes the current supplier is communicating with the smart meter (which they're not). This whole smart meter situation is an absolute (expensive) joke.
    Lets face it, the current supplier is nt communicating with anyone neither ! .This is how the little cheapjack, here today gone tomorrow, suppliers work. No customer services to speak of, poor billing.A lousy service.
    That is the joke ! There are too many new suppliers sprouting up every week with some sort of gimmick. Its time OFGEM pulled the plug on the numbers. Its beyond a joke.
    They are cheaper because they employ the bare minimum employees in their rented call centres and fail on the main thing they are supposed to do..customer services.
    Pretty soon they will outnumber my Freeview TV channel list !
    When things go wrong then the tariff tarts start to realise that you get what you pay for.
    The meter is only 4 years old, its highly unlikely to be a failed battery.They have an average 10 years lifespan, more if its not in smart mode.
    The OP does not want to assume that the dippy supplier will not be able to take a reading from the meter
    The gas meter would have been sending off low battery signals a year before it dies so it would have been with BG at the time
  • Jabba_flabba
    Jabba_flabba Posts: 97 Forumite
    First Post First Anniversary Combo Breaker
    Thanks all for your contributions. No surprise that I've not even had an acknowledgement email from Economy Energy. I've experienced bad customer service before, but this company have in my eyes lowered the bar considerably.
  • DAVIDPJ
    DAVIDPJ Posts: 2 Newbie
    Anyone had problems with the Landis + Gyr Libra 310p meter? My reading seems to have jumped massively.
  • Robin9
    Robin9 Posts: 12,100 Forumite
    First Post First Anniversary Name Dropper
    DAVIDPJ wrote: »
    Anyone had problems with the Landis + Gyr Libra 310p meter? My reading seems to have jumped massively.

    Please see the replies under your other post.
    Never pay on an estimated bill
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