[LynneD]

A little before Covid19 hit us I had arranged for a gas and electric smart meter to be fitted by N-Power.

The engineer fitted a faulty unit, but he realised and eventually installed the electric side of the meter. As he had been on the job for too long, he apologised and explained that he had to go to another installation, under the instruction of his line manager. I was told that the gas part of the smart meter would be installed as soon as possible to complete the job at a later date.

Several weeks went by and I contacted N-Power a few times for an update but was told there were no available slots as all the engineers were busy, but the matter "would get resolved soon".

This never happened. Covid19 came along and no technicians were allowed into peoples homes.

N-Power then gets taken over by E.On Next. So, I asked E.ON Next on several occasions when my gas meter would be added to the electric smart meter and was met with an poor "we don't know yet" answer.

Now I am told by E.On Next [Quote email]

"Hi,

I hope this email finds you well. I tried to call you but I wasn't able to get hold of you so I am emailing you with the details/reply from the smart metering team.

Unfortunately we can't book a smart appointment for gas only because it doesn't work (we did a lot of tests and it doesn't work). The electric meter, the main meter (connects with us and sends us the reads), will not connect with the gas meter because the connection needs to be done at the same time. The appointment should have been done on the same day by Npower and I am really sorry the Npower engineer wasn't able to finish the job.

We don't have a time scale when we will be able to book a smart appointment for gas separately. The only option we have at the moment is to exchange the electric smart meter to a normal meter and after this is updated in our system and national database we can book a new appointment for a smart for both fuels. It's a charge to exchange from a smart meter to a normal meter. The charge is 235£. Please let me know if this is an option for you or if you prefer to keep the meters as it is at the moment.

Kind regards".

So, in a nut shell I can leave it alone and have an electric smart meter, but not for gas.

Or, pay £235 for a disconnection and re-connection for both gas and electricity.

I was of the understanding that the installation of the smart meter was free of charge originally with N-Power.

And, according to.....

https://www.eonnext.com/smart/smart-meter-installation

"How much does it cost to have smart meters installed?

Absolutely nothing. Not a penny. We'll do it all for free, including setting up your in-home display."

I cant help thinking that I am being played as a fool.

E.On Next are reneging on a promise that was made to me before before I got transferred to them by N-Power. I really do not see why I should be made to pay for the convenience of a smart meter when the onus of responsibility falls upon their shoulders by accepting our contract/account in the first instance.

I have emailed them, but, as expected, I have heard nothing from them.

What can be done to resolve this?

[Beki]

@LynneD Hi there, Beki here 👋 I hope you are well and that your surgery recovery is going well. Thank you for taking the time to get in touch with us about your existing smart meter. For me, something doesn't seem to be sounding quite right and I would love to take a look into your account to see if there is something that hasn't been looked into for you. Sometimes a fresh pair of eyes over the whole thing really does help. (I say fresh in the loosest of terms as I have 3 kids 😂)

Would you pop me a private message with your account number and address and I can have a look for you?

Beki 😊

[theunknowntech]

Hi.

Please could you post photos of your meters as they are now. I think I have a theory but I could do with being able to see what you've got first.

Thanks!

[theunknowntech]

Hi,

I think someone has been telling you porkie pies here, especially if you've got a SMETS2 Smart Electric Meter (it probably is if it was installed in late 2019/early 2020). Could you post some photos of it when you get a chance? I'd like to double check what you've got, just to be sure. Either way, you should not be expected to pay a penny in this situation. Meter Exchanges to go from a traditional meter to a Smart Meter are meant to be free anyway, even if the engineer has to go away and come back later.

The process E.On is trying to perform is a waste of time and completely unnecessary. Why waste a perfectly good piece of equipment just for this!!! Do not agree to go ahead, you're being ripped off.

In actual fact, you don't need to set up both meters at once either - you don't pair the meters to each other, so much as you pair them both to the Communications Hub that usually sits above the Electric Meter. It would be a massive design flaw if literally nothing else could join the Home Area Network after the Comms Hub is first installed! But that's not the case for fairly obvious reasons. As far as I'm aware, a Smart Gas Meter can be installed at a later date and paired to your HAN just fine, using pretty much the same process as would be used to do both meters at once. The only real difference is that a few steps can obviously be skipped, on the basis that some of the work is already done.

There's at least 10 reasons I can think of which justify why a gas meter can be set up separately from the electric meter if needed. Seems as if someone at E.On doesn't understand what they're saying.

It's literally just a case of swapping out the gas meter for a smart one, then following the usual commissioning process for the gas meter. Simple! The electric meter and Comms Hub can remain in place as-is too, so there is no need to downgrade those either.

If E.On aren't willing to do this for you, then it might be worth switching to an alternative supplier that will. I know the one I use is more than happy to do so, but I won't name them to avoid this being potential advertising.

[Landmark]

@LynneD I suggest you immediately complain on Let us know if you're unhappy – complaints | E.ON Next (eonnext.com) and follow the instructions; no matter what❗

[LynneD]

Thanks for your replies.

It seems that E.On are not going to budge on their offer and have sent me a Deadlock letter to which I have to contact the Ombudsman.

I am not about to accept their method of remedy and I will provide further details in another post as I have just read this thread since coming home and recuperating from surgery.

[theunknowntech]

Make sure to get some rest and recovery, I hope you get well soon.

The only other possibility I can think of, is whether Npower fitted a SMETS1 electric meter at the time of the original install, rather than a SMETS2. Strictly speaking, suppliers were supposed to avoid installing S1 meters from 2019 onwards, but were allowed to do so in a few cases, such as to flush out any leftover stocks from inventory rather than wasting them. There were also incentives put in place to encourage S2 installs rather than S1 installs - suppliers were only able to claim them if the installation was an S2 once these meters became available. However, towards late 2019 I would have expected pretty much of all those S1 stocks to have been exhausted, so I doubt that you have S1.

Even then, I find it extremely unlikely that a gas meter cannot be paired after the electric meter has already been commissioned - this would have caused nightmares if it really was the case! The only exception is that you can't mix S1 and S2 equipment, it all has to be either S1 or S2. But even then, the fix is simple - MEX out the electric meter for an S2 and then fit an S2 gas meter at the same time. Even on the older S1 meters, the Comms Hub was always still a separate component from the electric meter. It was just a case that it was managed through the electric meter for the purposes of commissioning. This is no longer the case with S2, as everything has been completely split up to make it all more flexible.

Escalating to the Energy Ombudsman is likely to be your best option if you want to get E.On to resolve this matter without switching supplier. Otherwise, your only other feasible option might be to switch away and find another supplier that is willing to sort this out for you. While I know the supplier I'm with can probably sort this out, I won't name them here in the interests of playing fair.

[LynneD]

@Beki

I have PM'd you regarding the details you requested.

Thanks.

Lynne

[Landmark]

Originally Posted by LynneD

@Beki

I have PM'd you regarding the details you requested.

Thanks.

Lynne

Could you please let us know here what the outcome will be to your case, I am curious, as opposed to nosey🧐