IHD hell

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  • meldrewreborn's Avatar
    Level 91
    @Warrenpeace

    I sympathise, I really do! I'm fully behind those who quite reasonably say that, having had smart meters fitted, it is only reasonable for them to actually perform as promised. The reality is completely different.

    So I fully support you complaining - if necessary taking it to the ombudsman. Things will not improve if customers roll over and allow their justifiable gripes to be ignored.

    However, in the meantime, remember that nearly half of all meters are non smart, and by use of records and spreadsheets many customers are able to manage our consumption more than effectively. I take 3/4 readings of both fuels each month. Some are more rigorous, but I find I can keep oversight of my consumption (and thus my costs) well enough with just that level of record keeping.
    Current Eon Next customer, ex EDF, Zog and Symbio. Don't think dual fuel saves money and don't like smart meters. Chronologically Gifted. If I offend let me know by private message, but I’ll continue to express my opinions nonetheless.
  • Warrenpeace's Avatar
    Level 5
    First of all, please accept my apologies for my extreme tardiness over providing a conclusion (of sorts) to my problem. LONG POST ALERT:

    The ombudsman finally reached a decision, which was passed to E.ON for comment/action. Unfortunately, as both my meters are working, the ombudsman cannot compel E.ON to replace my SMETS1 electricity meter with the SMETS2 unit I want (but that isn't the end of the story; read on).

    The ombudsman DID agree that E.ON's customer service had been deplorable, so told them to send me a letter of apology and to credit my account with a hundred quid as a goodwill gesture.

    There's more...

    I was under the impression that the government wanted everybody to be using smart meters, full stop, from which I inferred that, as I already have them, I would simply have to put up with my current lash-up of a configuration. However, the ombudsman has stated that the actual aim is for everyone to have FULLY COMPLIANT smart meters, which apparently means 'latest generation', i.e. SMETS2, so I should get the upgrade eventually, when it becomes a higher business priority for the energy suppliers to do more installations. The target date is some time in 2025 (!)... and that's likely to slip!

    Taking that into account, the ombudsman also told E.ON to prioritise me on their register for (eventual) SMETS2 rollout – and has suggested in conversation with me that, meanwhile, I might try to find a supplier willing to give me the electricity meter upgrade in return for switching to them (which I had already thought of).

    As mentioned elsewhere, even when you HAVE a coherent smart meter configuration capable of providing a dual-fuel display on a single IHD, you won't necessarily be able to trust the energy cost it shows you because it is based on tariff rates stored within your actual meter(s), which may NOT be the same figures as your supplier is using! Your supplier CAN update these remotely with just a few keystrokes (it doesn't happen automatically if and when your tariff changes), but many suppliers simply can't be a***d to do it! In my case, E.ON eventually carried out the update... but only after I'd requested it more than once. Again, the ombudsman couldn't compel E.ON to update these figures in good time, but would expect their systems to be fit for purpose and accurate for their customers.

    As for IHD alternatives, I eventually settled on the Bright app, which can display in real-time, but only when used in conjunction with their proprietary display and CAD unit. However, there would still be the potential tariff inaccuracy – and I'd need TWO of them for now!

    CODA...

    Perhaps my main reason for wanting a coherent smart meter installation was that my energy bill had been slowly increasing and I couldn't understand why, particularly as I also look after my elderly father's finances, his energy use is on a par with mine, he is also with E.ON... and both his bill and monthly direct debit had been going DOWN. However...

    E.ON had meanwhile emailed me to say that they would be lowering my energy price, but my direct debit would stay the same to help reduce what I owed them. Then, according to my next bill, I now owed them over a grand, chiefly made up of gas use... in the summer, with the heating off!

    I suspected that something was wrong (nothing gets past me), and after confirming via the Bright app that I'd used less than a hundred quid's worth of gas over the previous THREE MONTHS, I rang E.ON to complain... again!

    Turns out that, since installing my smart gas meter, they had been using the wrong 'units to Kwh' conversion factor. It was about 2.5x what it should have been to begin with, but was now (presumably due to adjustments associated with their recent reduction in price) out by a factor of 100!

    As a result, THEY paid ME over £1100. I could also have had my direct debit reduced by about sixty quid a month, but as it's customary to run up a credit during the summer to offset the cost of increased winter consumption, I left it as is.

    Suffice to say that I can't recommend E.ON to anyone!

    Apologies once again for the delayed response and the long post, but I hope it may prove helpful and informative for some. Grateful thanks to everyone who responded.
    Last edited by Warrenpeace; 16-04-24 at 08:54.
  • meldrewreborn's Avatar
    Level 91
    @Warrenpeace

    Well done for persisting and getting something out of Eon Next, but I have some reservations.............

    If your MK1 meters are working OK then there is no pressing need to replace them. There are millions of non functioning meters in the queue before you. And millions more customers still don't have any smart metering.

    The difference between 100 cu ft and 1 cu metre is 2.83.

    As many of us have said - a simple spreadsheet for monitoring energy consumption and costs is all that is necessary to keep on top of things. I don't have any smart metering, nor do i want any, but I'm still able to control my consumption - the idea that a smart meter is essential to do this is a fallacy.

    Even on the IHD, the conversion of gas volume to energy used is an inaccurate approximation for all consumers, as the exact calorific value of the gas consumed in a period cannot be known until your bills are actually produced.
  • Warrenpeace's Avatar
    Level 5
    @meldrewreborn

    I agree... and now that the mystery of the excessive overcharging has been resolved, it all seems that much less of an issue.
  • Warrenpeace's Avatar
    Level 5
    EPILOGUE...

    A few weeks ago, I belatedly thought of acting on the ombudsman's suggestion to find a supplier willing to upgrade my electricity meter in return for switching to them. I chose Octopus, for no better reason than they seem to be the current 'flavour of the month', and it would appear that I have fallen on my feet.

    My first contact with Octopus was on 20 August, the switch of suppliers was actioned four days ago, and an engineer came out to upgrade the meter this morning!

    All done and dusted in just twenty-three days. Meter upgraded (tidier, more compact installation), dual fuel data showing in the Octopus app and on a combined IHD display, and interest in an Octopus Home Mini registered. Exactly the kind of smooth, seamless installation I had always assumed you got with smart meters from the off (ahem). More to the point, it's everything that E.ON accepted that they should do, but refused, to fix the lash-up they had created. By comparison, all contact with Octopus customer services has been swift, polite, and to-the-point. I'm also getting a ten pound reduction on my monthly bill!

    Signing off. Thanks once again to everyone who responded.
    Last edited by Warrenpeace; 11-09-24 at 17:38.