Smart gas meter not being read

[davecooper]

I wasn't going to mention the other issue I am having at the moment as hopefully it is in hand. But after seeing someone had said that they trust their billing to be correct, I thought I would just mention my other issue.

Although we are mostly gas, we do try to keep our consumption down to a reasonable figure, perhaps below 30kw/h per day in the middle of winter. We use very little gas in the summer months so it all averages out to a level where we are classed as a low consumer. With my previous supplier, we generally were in credit by a minimum of £100 all year. So imagine my surprise when, two months in to my Octopus contract I am already £360 in debit. I could not believe we were using this amount of gas so I checked my IHD and it indicated that I had used far less kw/h per month than that on my statements.

So I sat down with a cup of tea, last years EON statements, the first two Octopus statements and a calculator ready to churn some numbers to see if I could figure out why the bills were so high. It didn't take much of my cuppa to see the problem. Because Octopus cannot remotely read my gas meter, I am sending manual readings. My gas meter reads in cubic meters, they were taking the reading as 100's cubic ft, the conversion factor being cubic meters x 2.8 so they are overcharging me by a factor of 2.8. I would have thought that all new meters read in cu metres now so why they are using cu ft I have no idea. EON always used cu meters in their calculations. Anyway, the issue is now with their "technical team" so hoping for some resolution soon.

 

[JohnW2]

.... Because Octopus cannot remotely read my gas meter, I am sending manual readings. My gas meter reads in cubic meters, they were taking the reading as 100's cubic ft, the conversion factor being cubic meters x 2.8 so they are overcharging me by a factor of 2.8.

Interesting!

I would have thought that all new meters read in cu metres now so why they are using cu ft I have no idea.

As you say, it makes no real sense. You are, after all, talking about a 'smart' meter, and I would have thought that such things were not even a figment of anyone's imagination at a time (decades earlier) when they would have considered measuring in cu ft ! Very strange.

Kind Regards, John

 

[davecooper]

My old meter measured in cu ft and my old EON charges were based on cu ft readings. Once I had the new meters fitted, my statements went to cu metres as expected. I didn't expect to regress back to cu ft 12 months later. Very odd but hopefully being sorted out.

 

[JohnW2]

My old meter measured in cu ft and my old EON charges were based on cu ft readings.

Fair enough - but, as I said,I find it very surprising that any meter manufactured in recent decades would measured in cu ft. Maybe I'm naive

Kind Regards, John

 

[FunkMaster]

I had smart meters installed by EON in November 2022. However, they were never able to read my gas meter remotely, only my electricity meter. As a result, I had to send monthly manual gas readings. I asked if they could investigate this problem a number of times but nothing happened. In the end, I got fed up with the lack of support so switched to Octopus last November. I was still half expecting the gas meter issue to persist, which it has. However, I am hoping that Octopus might actually investigate the issue.
However, in the meantime I just wanted to check there was nothing at my end that might be causing a problem. I am aware that the smart gas meter sends regular readings to the electricity meter which then sends both the gas and electricity readings to the energy supplier. As such, this would suggest that my gas meter is not sending information to the electricity meter or it is sending info but it is not reaching the electricity meter. However, my home display unit is picking up the gas meter information. Is this transmitted in a different way to the gas meter to electricity meter signal?
My meters are in an under stairs cupboard on different walls and around 1.5m apart. I have lot in this cupboard including a tumble drier, racks for shoes, vacuum cleaner, ironing board and coats etc. Is there any chance that any of this could effect the signal between the two meters? Any advice welcome.

I’m no expert in this but …

I moved into a new build and the gas / electric meters were installed be E-on too.

When I moved, I switched to Octopus (better rates, etc.)

Been a busy few months but got sometime in December to look at a few things and then I noticed that my gas bill were estimated. On contacting Octopus, they said my gas meter wasn’t sending readings.

I did some looking around when I noticed that the electric meter SMET2 has been sending readings to the IHD, but the gas hasn’t.

Got back in touch with Octopus and spoke to their energy team, not sure if I am allowed to post the # to call.

But long story short, the chap from Octopus said that the meter (gas) hadn’t been commissioned properly by Eon.

Two options: Ask them to request the auth ID which can take a few months or they send an engineer and replace my gas meter.

Am booked in for end of the month for them to come replace it …

To me it sounds like yours hasn’t been commissioned either

…. Just to add, in my old house (1930’s build, I had my gas / electric in the middle of the house, under the stairs packed full of stuff. I don’t believe where it’s located is the issue, it’s just not been commissioned to send data to your supplier.

 

[davecooper]

That's interesting. Originally I thought that my gas meter wasn't sending readings to the electricity meter either. However, I am getting gas readings on my IHD and a check via the Citizens Advice website showed the gas meter was sending out readings. In some ways I wish the meter wasn't sending readings as then I would know for definite why there was a problem. I contacted EON about this a few times and they said they would sort it out but never did. I hope I am not going to have the same problems again.
Like I said, if there is a good technical reason why my gas meter can never be read remotely then fine, I will just have to settle for sending in manual readings. However, I would like to know why if this is the case.

 

[davecooper]

Fair enough - but, as I said,I find it very surprising that any meter manufactured in recent decades would measured in cu ft. Maybe I'm naive

Kind Regards, John

Sorry John, that statement of mine wasn't very clear. What I really meant to say was that my old meter read cu ft and this was reflected on my old statements prior to my smart meters being fitted. As soon as the new meters were fitted, my statements went to cu metres. Even though I was still sending manual meter readings to EON, they knew the units had changed to cu metres.
Regards.

 

[JohnW2]

... As soon as the new meters were fitted, my statements went to cu metres. Even though I was still sending manual meter readings to EON, they knew the units had changed to cu metres.

Again, fair enough. However,as you say/imply, since they knew it was a new 'smart' meter, which would have been sending them figures in cu meters had it been communicating satisfactorily, they really should have realised that the manual readings you were providing were also in cu metres!!

Kind Regards, John

 

[davecooper]

Yes they should. However, today I have had an email apology from Octopus stating that they were using the wrong units. They want photos of my gas meter front panel so they can correct this at their end and thus correct my previous bills accordingly. I will also be bringing up the issue of remote gas meter readings while I have their attention.

 

[JohnW2]

Yes they should. However, today I have had an email apology from Octopus stating that they were using the wrong units. They want photos of my gas meter front panel so they can correct this at their end and thus correct my previous bills accordingly. I will also be bringing up the issue of remote gas meter readings while I have their attention.

Thanks for the update. That all sounds pretty promising. It would be good if you could let us know if there are any 'relevant developments' in the future!

Kind Regards,John

 

[davecooper]

Just a (hopefully) last update on this issue. I sent Octopus the pictures they requested and they said they could now go about the process of getting my gas meter communicating correctly. Shortly after, they emailed to say they were now receiving remote gas meter readings and attached an amended statement based on my "true" readings.
I looked at this and nearly spat out my cornflakes. My debit had doubled! I looked at my gas volume reading on the statement which said 1100 cu m when my gas meter said 875! I sent a not unsarcastic email asking how this could be now that my meter was being read correctly to which they apologised and asked for a picture of the meter display showing the 875 cu m reading so they could correct the problem.
This I did and I finally received a statement which appears to be correct. I am now in credit and the statement readings tie up with the local readings. My only issue now is that they have my estimated annual gas bill down as £5600! I did question this and they said this was based on last year's usage. I wasn't even with Octopus last year so god knows what figures they have used. Anyway, I am not bothered about this as it does not effect my bill and should sort itself out in time.
So that's it, hopefully this whole sorry tale has come to a satisfactory end. Time will tell.

Just a quick edit. I am not necessarily taking aim at any particular energy company here. The problems started when Eon installed my smart meters and they could not sort out the problems thereafter. Octopus then picked up the issue but have sorted it out eventually, even though I had to tell them there were still problems with the figures they were using.

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

I wasn't even with Octopus last year so god knows what figures they have used. Anyway, I am not bothered about this as it does not effect my bill and should sort itself out in time.

Suppliers can back track, to see what usage you have made of energy, before you joined them.

 

[davecooper]

Maybe, but I would like to see the figures they based their £5600 estimate on. Probably the ones that Eon used to try and charge me over 7 grand for a few months gas!

 

[davecooper]

Well well! Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water as they say. As mentioned previously, my estimated gas useage on my statement was £5600. I did mention this to Octopus a while back but they said not to worry about it as it was not used to set monthly payments and it would sort itself out after I had been with Octopus for 12 months. So imagine my surprise when I received an email saying that, based on my estimated gas useage, my monthly payments would be going up from £107 to £460! If that was not enough to take in, on the same day, before I had replied to that little bombshell, I received another email from a different person telling me there was an error on my bill and rather than moving into credit as I had just done, I was now £150 back in debit.

I had tried to be polite on previous correspondence but I am afraid that had worn thin and I made my feelings plain this time.

With respect to the estimated useage, they basically said that after looking at the amount, it did seem excessive and they would look at the issue, (I told them this months ago). However it could take 21 days to correct! In the meantime, my payments would remain at the original amount.
With respect to the billing error, apparently they did not receive remote gas meter readings for two months but only noticed this five months later. They apologised for not picking this up sooner but this was the reason for the new balance.

That was a couple of weeks back. Yesterday, I got the normal monthly email saying how much they were taking for the month and what my balance was. However, rather than my "normal" £107, they were taking £156! This time, as well as questioning this new figure, I also called into question their so called gold standard customer service. Apparently, this shouldn't have happened and was raised automatically, possibly based on estimated useage. They said this was in error and my monthly payments would stay as is.

Previously I have pointed out that I seem to be the subject of an excessive number of billing errors. As such, they have apparently raised a customer complaint. If nothing else, I would like an apology for what has been a less than pleasant seven months with Octopus.

 

[Murdochcat]

Record monthly readings on paper and with photos. I hear about more issues with these so called smart meters all the time - and what mpst companies seem to want to do is send a person to take a look first hand. Eyes on site trump internet comments or feedback.

Also OP - you need to put a claim in against them for not fixing the issue quickly - I think its £60 - I got my MIL £150 out of EONnext for there sheer incompetence