MSE News: 'We need to change your meter'...

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  • Former_E.ON_Company_Representative:_Malc
    Former_E.ON_Company_Representative:_Malc Posts: 6,558
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    nicobrum wrote: »
    Midnighter do you know how old the meter is that Eon want to change? I had the same problem with them over a number of years but initially I agreed to the old Imperial Gas Meter being changed. The letter said that it had to be legally changed because of its age. However, they failed to turn up to two appointments and subsequently I just ignored the letters that were sent. That is until the end of 2015 when they sent me a letter with an already arranged appointment which was any time in a 6 hour slot. Previously when I complained about the failed appearances I was told they'd arrange another for a 2 hour slot but they never did. I phoned and explained I wanted a 2 hour slot because of what had happened previously and was given this. They turned up that time in Dec 2014 and changed the Gas meter for a new non-smart meter but it did take them about 8 weeks to get the system updated, during which time neither I nor Customer Service could input any gas meter readings.

    If your meter is old, they do I gather have a legal duty to replace it after its a certain age. This is different I understand to the attempts to get people to have smart meters.

    That said, about 12 months after it was changed I started getting letters again saying that had to change it. I ignored them as couldn't see why it was needed and couldn't face having to wait another 2 months for the system to be updated. In July 2016 an Eon project engineer turned up on the doorstep about it saying they had a project to change all the old meters but when I explained it had already been done and he saw the new meter, he apologised and said that he'd get it marked as replaced to avoid it happening again. Apparently when they changed the meter, nobody updated the project that was going on to say it had been changed.
    nicobrum wrote: »
    Does sound like the meter is probably at end of life and they are using the opportunity to push smart meter installation and avoid a return visit potentially in years to come. My gas meter was probably about 28 or so years old when they started pushing for its replacement and failed to attend. It definitely predates my purchase of the house and I suspect was probably the original when they were built. The electricity meter had been replaced about 10 years ago after the night meter stopped working when the neutral on the mains supply blew in front of the property. If I'd been paying more attention at the time, I'd have asked for it to have been replaced with a standard meter rather than E7 as there has been central heating in the house since before I purchased it, but wasn't paying sufficient attention. To be fair the only thing that would get me to agree to smart meters voluntarily would be to get the E7 meter replaced by a standard one at their expense and not mine. It would open up switches to other companies who don't combine meter readings as Eon and some others will do.

    I suspect you'll find if the meter is that age that at some point they will force an appointment on you as they did with me. It may be worth approaching and saying that if it is because of the meter age I'll agree for it to be changed but I don't want, and do not legally have to agree to, it being replaced by a smart meter. They should, as the EON rep has said on other posts, have no issue with that. I suppose the only issue may be if they replace it with a smart meter but do not activate the smart side of it, I gather they are more difficult to read than analogue meters. There is of course the issue of mobile reception, I suspect that the smart part of the meter would have issues round here as there is very patchy mobile reception and as the gas meter is about 6 foot up on a wall I personally could have issues being able to read it due to mobility issues so in many ways would be reluctant to have it changed. Currently its easy to read as it just shows the reading all the time but if there became the need to press any buttons on the meter, it would cause me no end of problems.

    Hello nicobrum and I'm sorry you had so many difficulties with the meter exchanges we did a few years ago. It's good you raised a complaint at the time.

    We could certainly change your meter from Economy 7 to a single rate. Whether or not a smart meter could be fitted would depend on the circumstances at the property as they're not available everywhere yet. It depends on things like the actual area, type of property, the strength of the mobile phone signal and the current metering set up. There are also certain local difficulties that don't become clear until a technician actually visits a property.

    There's no charge to replace your existing meters with smart ones. There would, though, be a charge to replace the Economy 7 with a classic/traditional single rate meter as this would be a non-essential meter exchange. This charge is currently £64.76 (inclusive of VAT).

    Hope this is of interest nicobrum.

    Malc
    Official Company Representative
    I am an official company representative of E.ON. MSE has given permission for me to post in response to queries about the company, so that I can help solve issues. You can see my name on the companies with permission to post list. I am not allowed to tout for business at all. If you believe I am please report it to [email protected] This does NOT imply any form of approval of my company or its products by MSE"
  • Former_E.ON_Company_Representative:_Malc
    Former_E.ON_Company_Representative:_Malc Posts: 6,558
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    Not be personally but I know of a gas meter that is way older than 15 years, it even has a sticker with 1989 as the installation date on! :rotfl:

    I'm sure there's more than one LeeUK. For E.ON customers, I would recommend they talk to us to report this and to book an appointment for a technician to exchange the meter. We don't charge to replace meters under a recertification.

    Malc
    Official Company Representative
    I am an official company representative of E.ON. MSE has given permission for me to post in response to queries about the company, so that I can help solve issues. You can see my name on the companies with permission to post list. I am not allowed to tout for business at all. If you believe I am please report it to [email protected] This does NOT imply any form of approval of my company or its products by MSE"
  • nicobrum
    nicobrum Posts: 40
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    We could certainly change your meter from Economy 7 to a single rate. Whether or not a smart meter could be fitted would depend on the circumstances at the property as they're not available everywhere yet. It depends on things like the actual area, type of property, the strength of the mobile phone signal and the current metering set up. There are also certain local difficulties that don't become clear until a technician actually visits a property.

    There's no charge to replace your existing meters with smart ones. There would, though, be a charge to replace the Economy 7 with a classic/traditional single rate meter as this would be a non-essential meter exchange. This charge is currently £64.76 (inclusive of VAT).

    Thanks Malc. To be quite honest, I'm not interested in a smart meter and after the time it took to get the system updated after the gas meter was changed, I think I'd hold fire for as long as possible. It wouldn't surprise me if the mobile coverage for smart meters in this area was not sufficient, although to be fair I don't know if anyone has one round here currently anyway. I've no intention of paying for a E7 to Standard meter change, as I said in my post, it would possibly be the only thing that would tempt me to change to a smart meter in the future and I've no real need for that currently. I think I'd have more concerns about the difficulties that may arise with a swap to a smart gas meter if the need arose for it to be read by myself. So for now I won't be taking up the offer. Its just a shame when the elec meter had to be swapped out in 2007 due to a fault, predating my days with Eon, that I didn't think about asking my then supplier to replace with a standard meter but hindsight is a wonderful science.
  • Former_E.ON_Company_Representative:_Malc
    Former_E.ON_Company_Representative:_Malc Posts: 6,558
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    nicobrum wrote: »
    Thanks Malc. To be quite honest, I'm not interested in a smart meter and after the time it took to get the system updated after the gas meter was changed, I think I'd hold fire for as long as possible. It wouldn't surprise me if the mobile coverage for smart meters in this area was not sufficient, although to be fair I don't know if anyone has one round here currently anyway. I've no intention of paying for a E7 to Standard meter change, as I said in my post, it would possibly be the only thing that would tempt me to change to a smart meter in the future and I've no real need for that currently. I think I'd have more concerns about the difficulties that may arise with a swap to a smart gas meter if the need arose for it to be read by myself. So for now I won't be taking up the offer. Its just a shame when the elec meter had to be swapped out in 2007 due to a fault, predating my days with Eon, that I didn't think about asking my then supplier to replace with a standard meter but hindsight is a wonderful science.

    That's fair enough nicobrum. As you say, hindsight is a wonderful thing. Just thought I'd put it out there in case you were interested.

    If the quality of the mobile phone signal isn't good, this could stop us putting in smart meters at this time anyway. These signals are important as they make sure the meters communicate with each other, the In- Home Display and the supplier. This is something we're working to sort.

    Thanks for letting me know nicobrum and have a good weekend.

    Malc
    Official Company Representative
    I am an official company representative of E.ON. MSE has given permission for me to post in response to queries about the company, so that I can help solve issues. You can see my name on the companies with permission to post list. I am not allowed to tout for business at all. If you believe I am please report it to [email protected] This does NOT imply any form of approval of my company or its products by MSE"
  • Charis
    Charis Posts: 1,302
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    edited 13 March 2018 at 4:54PM
    I posted this yesterday afternoon, probably in the wrong thread as someone has just directed me here...

    I have just had a woman from Scottish Power phone up and tell me she wanted to arrange for me to have a smart meter fitted. They are my supplier but I don't want one. I told her I am probably moving before the end of June, which I hope will be the case. She said I could still have one fitted. I said I didn't want one anyway, to which she replied that I have to have one, everyone is going to have to have one. I did not appreciate the tone of her voice and felt her behaviour to be unacceptable. I don't usually get annoyed on the phone but I said 'That's a lie, no one has to have one.' She persisted so I hung up on her.

    If this is an outright lie, as I believe it to be, is there someone official we can report it to? I found her very rude and I don't accept that I should be bullied in my own home. I think some elderly people might be so scared of these tactics that they have one fitted even though they have no idea what they are. From the comments I have read on another thread, this could lead them into difficulty and they probably wouldn't have a clue how to check their readings, even if they can reach their meter, which is not always the case. Several people on MSE have reported their boilers failing after a smart meter has been fitted. Elderly people can't wait for days for a solution to the problem, especially in the winter months. Why is this bullying allowed?

    No one in any official capacity seems to have come clean as to why these things are suddenly needed. I suspect, like others, that it is simply so they can increase the tariff when we are most likely to need electricity. Post no 61 by Hengus on this thread confirms my suspicions.

    These meters do not show you which appliances use the most energy, they merely show when the usage goes up and down. It should be easy enough to identify the energy guzzlers, most come with alphabetical ratings these days and the wattage should be in the instruction booklet. This insidious practice is not in the interests of the public. It's obvious the usage will go up when we all need it most. As will the price.
  • House_Martin
    House_Martin Posts: 1,462 Forumite
    Its a pity that the Tory Energy minister, on a whim, gave people the choice to refuse a smart meter. Utterly ridiculous !
    Even Labours Ed Miliband the Energy minister at the time, who began the smart meter roll out in 2009 had made them mandatory. Just like the whole of the rest of Europe did..with no problems.
    Germany and Sweden opted out only
  • badmemory
    badmemory Posts: 7,587
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    Perhaps the time to make them mandatory is when they actually manage to get them to work in a useful manner.
  • jamesd
    jamesd Posts: 26,103
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    Its a pity that the Tory Energy minister, on a whim, gave people the choice to refuse a smart meter. Utterly ridiculous !
    Making them and their privacy infringing capabilities mandatory is what would be ridiculous, along with pretty much the whole of the current dumb rather than smart meter rollout. These meters don't even support basic smart things like asking customer devices to reduce demand at high load times. Instead it's all about enabling remote meter reading at an unrestricted rate.
  • Spotter_2
    Spotter_2 Posts: 1 Newbie
    edited 22 August 2018 at 12:38PM
    Even after Money Saving Expert and Ofgem confirmed that having smart meters installed is not a legal obligation, E.ON continues on sending me emails implying that I am obliged by law to have a smart meter installed in my house. A quote from the email I received on 21 Aug 2018: "Just to remind you, we need to upgrade your electricity and gas meters to our self-reading smart meters". In addition, they imply that I have to call them to justify my refusal. I am not supposed to waste my time calling E.ON to justify why I do not want a product. This sounds like their attempt to convice me that I am legally obliged to have a smart meter installed, and their attempt to put pressure on me to have it installed.
  • gardner1
    gardner1 Posts: 3,154 Forumite
    Its a pity that the Tory Energy minister, on a whim, gave people the choice to refuse a smart meter. Utterly ridiculous !
    Even Labours Ed Miliband the Energy minister at the time, who began the smart meter roll out in 2009 had made them mandatory. Just like the whole of the rest of Europe did..with no problems.
    Germany and Sweden opted out only

    And even Ed Miliband who wasn't the sharpest tool in the box would have cancelled the rollout if he'd known how cackhanded it would be
    God knows what Comrade Corbyn would do
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