[scott]

I have had two meter swaps. Neither time the engineer could get them sending readings to DCC. Eventually the electric meter is sending readings a few weeks ago, the gas meter is not. Eon.next say i have to wait until Nov 19th to see if gas meter is working as that is next read date. I already know it is not working. It can't connect to HAN. I have Hildebrand Bright app which can pull readings from DCC directly. Last gas reading was May 9.

I have an Ombudsman complaint open about this the Eon Next people on Whatsapp say they are not allowed to talk to me because I have an Ombudsman case. The person managing the ombudsman case is supposed to contact me. They have not, they have also not put anything in the case apart from initial info. How can I contact them?

I am withholding payment of part of my bill until this is been resolved and I have been compensated for the engineer bricking my Hildebrand Glow CAD by not following correct meter swap procedure. The engineers are clueless about this, he called his supervisor who knew nothing about this ether. I spoke to a random EDF engineer who knew about this, so why do Eon Next engineers not have correct training? I get calls chasing payments every couple of days, twice today. I tell them the situation, they can do nothing about the auto dialler they say.

Its absolutely frustrating, Ive wasted days of my time speaking to eon next about this, staying at home for meter swaps. Is there anything Eon Next staff on these forums can do to progress my issue with the Smart Metering team? Once this is resolved I can buy a new CAD and move on with my life.

[JoeSoap]

@scott

I’m not sure the forum staff can assist in this but it might be worth getting the view of our volunteer smart meter expert so I will tag @theunknowntech who may be able to assist.

[theunknowntech]

Urf... I can't easily get involved either while the Ombudsman is investigating I'm afraid.

I'm really sorry, but Blastoise186 has previously warned me against interfering with anything where the Energy Ombudsman has been summoned. My assistance cannot be provided at this time. If you need me again after the Ombudsman case is closed, I'll be able to help then.

Sorry about that.

[theunknowntech]

The only advice I can offer is to have a chat with Hildebrand. They MIGHT be able to unbrick your Glow CAD somehow but it's not something me or Blastoise have ever asked them about.

[meldrewreborn]

If somebody has an in house display I’ve always thought that it’s data comes from the meters via the communications hub attached to the electricity meter. If I’m correct then any failures in the in house display not getting data correctly held on the meters is not down to DCC. The meters send consumption data in the form of readings through the DCC to the supplier. I think although I’m not sure that apps get their data from the online account held by the supplier. The supplier sends tariff data via the DCC to the meters via the communications hub. If that data from the supplier doesn’t reach the meters then that could be down to configuration issues between supplier and DCC, between DCC and the communications hub or between the communications hub and the meters.

it’s a complex system but as the smart meter roll out is over halfway through, something like 14 million households have now got them and those involved have been at it for years, are we entitled to expect these systems to work better than they do. Accepting that components will break down from time to time, should it be so difficult and time consuming to get things out right?

[meldrewreborn]

If @scott hadn’t mentioned the ombudsman could the forum have helped him? Why does the fact that there is an ombudsman case ongoing prevent the problem being discussed here? We’re not E.On Next staff are we?

[theunknowntech]

You can still help if you'd like to, there's no rule saying you can't. :)

I just have a thing with Blastoise that generally means the two of us avoid getting involved under these circumstances because we don't like to trample on the Ombudsman. I can, of course, still help with anything not related to active Ombudsman cases. It kinda just helps to prevent too many cooks spoiling the broth.

If it hadn't reached that stage though, I feel like I might have had a chance at figuring something out.

[meldrewreborn]

@theunknowntech

If you think the ombudsman will have any interest in our witterings here on this forum I have to say that I think you are deluding yourself.

As to trampling on the ombudsman - words fail me.

[scott]

@meldrewreborn @theunknowntech There are encryption keys and pairings and such on the meter that must be copied to the new meter when a meter swap is done to enable the CAD to continue to work. The EDF engineer I spoke to said they have a guided app on their tablet and it asks if the IHD or CAD is being retained. If they say yes he assumed that credentials are copied from the old meter to the new one. Eon Next never retain ihd from what i understand. They think its always ok to supply a new one, ignoring the fact that customer may own their own CAD. Hildebrand have confirmed all this with me and its a constant source of customer dissatisfaction for them. Hildebrand do have the ability to unbrick their CAD but its something that needs the unit to be sent back to them. Its not a service they want to offer, since the supplier should be doing their job properly in the first place. Hildebrand have shared DCC docs with me that outline responsibility of providers that are not being followed. Hildebrand have advised me to wait until gas meter is working before purchasing a new CAD.

Maybe I am naive, but I though ombudsman complaint was a way to escalate issues and get things done after months of failings. It seems the opposite is true and nobody from eon next will talk to me apart from call centre staff chasing payment.

[meldrewreborn]

@scott
the supplier having reached their final position, will only change when the ombudsman forces them to. Delays in the ombudsman process result in in a temporary black hole - the case goes into it nothing visible to the customer happens and then eventually a decision binding on the supplier but not on the customer emerges.