[ASP]

Hello there,

I'm writing to file a complaint in regards to my electricity meter and subsequent follow up by your emergency team.

At around 6:15pm on Wednesday 4th December, my electricity meter seemingly exploded (not short circuited as power remained available to my flat) and set off my smoke alarm due to the smoke & soot emitted (pics attached show charred meter and soot marks inside the cupboard where it was located).

I shortly phoned your eon emergency line and explained the situation to a staff member who informed me I would need to speak with the Network energy provided (which was not the correct course of action) as you could not do anything. So I phoned Scottish & Southern Energy and explained the issue. They informed me someone would arrive to inspect and to also inform the fire department as this issue could represent a fire risk.

The Fire Brigade arrived, inspected and did advise me to shut of all power to the flat as there could indeed be a fire risk due to the unexplained nature & source of the meter explosion. A Scottish & Southern Energy engineer arrived shortly after at around 7:30pm and then concluded that this does indeed sit with my energy supplier (you, eon) and also disabled all power to my flat by removing the fuse located in the Electricity supply locker in the hallway outside the flat.

This left me without any electricity, lighting or heating from 8pm onwards. I then phoned your emergency line again and clearly explained my situation has worsened since I no longer have any power due to the fire risk and asked for an engineer to be sent. I promptly received an email from you saying an engineer will arrive between 9pm - 1am .

I waited until 12:50am as no one had yet arrived and phoned you guys again to ask where the engineer is. Another member of staff explained an issue with the booking and then said another engineer will come between 1-5am which really annoyed me. So I tried to sleep while awaiting the call but by 7am, no one had arrived.

I again rang you guys up for the 3rd time in 12 hours to once again ask for assistance due to the nature of the situation. Again, excuses were made blaming Morrisons Data Services etc. and I got a third email saying someone will be sent within 3-4 hrs.

Finally, an Engineer arrived at around 8am and replaced my meter. He also clearly stated this was a serious emergency that warranted immediate action due to the significant damage the explosion caused.

Now I am writing all this in detail so as to make you aware of how incompetent your services are. The excuses made by your staff essentially essentially summarised that any emergency outside of regular working hours (6am-6pm) will not be picked up until the next working hour commences due to your abysmal booking service. I cannot believe this is how any paying customer is treated. Not only was I left without any heating or lighting for 12+ hrs but the significant risk posed by the meter (I could have been within the vicinity of it when it exploded, potentially causing serious harm) is yet to be explained. Also, I have no idea if this affects other customers.

I am also stating here that I will be pursuing legal recourse as I am yet to receive any compensation for the missed engineer appointments and also the faulty meter.

I hope to hear from you soon

[retrotecchie]

@ASP

You'll need to file your complaint directly with E.On Next unhappy@eonnext.com rather than here which is primarily a customer to customer forum and not a direct conduit to customer services.

[meldrewreborn]

@ASP

In my nearly 3 years on the forum this is the first time I've see a tale like yours. It must Have been truly upsetting and frightening.

If you have buildings and or contents insurance I would report the matter to them, claim for all damages and claim any excesses from Eon Next. Things will happen quicker that way.

As @retrotecchie says you should render your complaint as he suggests. I doubt that their response will be that swift, as essentially the emergency is over.

Was the meter old? There are no pictures that I can see, but .jpg files can be loaded using the third icon form the right in the banner above.

From your description of events, you did everything correctly, and Eon Next didn't.

[geoffers]

@meldrewreborn - similar story, but with a much better outcome...

Nearly 40 years ago when I first moved into my post-war terrace, my Dad & I rewired the lighting ring (sockets had already been done) and installed an electric shower. Sitting down to brew a cup of tea and admire our handiwork, all the lights started flickering - aaargh : what had we done wrong?

Quickly realised we hadn't touched the circuits the kettle was connected to - opening the meter cupboard there was a crackling sound coming from the main 80amp supply fuse. (Purely by chance this had decided to give up the ghost and started arcing at precisely the same time)

I called the electricity board who sent someone out immediately to do an emergency fix to the supply fuse (with the full replacement to be done some time later). I got chatting to him and asked advice on replacing the fuse box, which looked something like you see in a Frankenstein film

He said (unofficially) he would "forget" to put the wire seal on the fuse, so I could pull it to isolate the meters and fuse-box, allowing me to replace it with a more modern consumer unit - result!

Update>>> I have more recently had all the wiring tested & certified by a qualified electrician, with a new RCD consumer-unit installed meeting all the BS7671 requirements

[Poppy_EONNext]

Good Morning @ASP

Firstly I would like to sincerely apologise for all the issues you have experienced over the last few days, this must have been extremely terrifying!
I have worked in Energy for 4 years and this is my first experience with this type of issue and I am so sorry you had to go through this! There absolutely needs to be an investigation as to why this happened, has this been arranged?

Have you raised a complaint with customer service with all the above information?
I would also like to apologise for the engineers not arriving when they said they would, did you get any communication as to why they didn't arrive in the time slot given?
Please let us know.

[ASP]

Update from me.

Firstly, thank you all for your advice & recommendations.

Eon replied back to me and offered somewhat of a compensation. I've also reached out to my building maintenance company as someone suggested.

But I am still very confused as to whose responsibility this falls under i.e. Energy company, building maintenance company etc. ?

I am also still waiting for an explanation in regards to the missed appointments and also the investigation into the faulty meter. I'm basically writing this on the customer forum site because I think its important other people are aware of this as it could happen to anyone.

[retrotecchie]

@ASP

Everything up to the meter and the main fuse is the responsibility of the DNO. The meter itself and the meter tails as far as your consumer unit is the responsibility of your energy supplier. The consumer unit and everything beyond that is your responsibility, or the landlord or their agent if it is a rented property. Those demarcations are non negotiable.

[meldrewreborn]

@ASP

the meter is the responsibility in the first instance of your supplier. However meters are actually normally the property of a meter supply company who rent them to suppliers- I’ve never quite understood why but there it is. Actual ownership though need not concern you the meter exploded and caused damage which in law the supplier is responsible for. Whether they eventually try to reclaim their cost from another isn’t your concern.

did you tell us the approximate age of this meter?

[retrotecchie]

@meldrewreborn

Well put. Ownership of the meter is rather irrelevant. But it is the supplier responsibility. The onus is on the supplier to ensure the meter is safe, within certification window and in good order. Meter readers or third parties such as Morrisons Data Services and other interested parties have a duty to inspect meters periodically and report any problems to the supplier who should then attend to remedial work in a timely manner.

In theory, my meter should have been reported to E.On Next as it is out of certification. I myself have flagged up on more than one occasion that my meter is out of date, but they are in no hurry to do anything about it. They don't physically operate in my area, won't replace the meter with a newer one unless it's a smart meter, and I can't have a smart meter as they don't work here and apparently I have a non-compliant SSC. I shouldn't have any kind of SSC at all as I have a standard single rate meter rather than E7,E10 or RTS.

Fortunately I have two check meters in my property so despite my main meter being outside the certification window, I know it's still recording within the required accuracy tolerances. If anthing, reading a tad under the check meters, so to my advantage by a few pence a year.