Smart Meters 'forced' on people?

[Taylortwocities]

I think that was the older system, I think the smart ones do things all online, or via a phone app.

Yes, looks like online options including website and smartphone app. I think there’s a telephone option for those who aren’t tech savvy.

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

We've seen pics of smart meters in this forum with 'keyslots', they may very well be older generations.

Hope the none techies have plenty of time and not in any special need, to get the power back on - ringing energy companies is no quick task.

 

[Taylortwocities]

Hope the none techies have plenty of time and not in any special need, to get the power back on - ringing energy companies is no quick task.

Just realised that my MIL’s landline phone’s base station is mains powered, so that’s not going to be an option for her.

 

[DetlefSchmitz]

Just realised that my MIL’s landline phone’s base station is mains powered, so that’s not going to be an option for her.

So she can't make an emergency call if the power goes off. They do say you need one phone powered from the phone line.

 

[SUNRAY]

So she can't make an emergency call if the power goes off. They do say you need one phone powered from the phone line.

That'll be the case for all of us soon anyway.

 

[Taylortwocities]

So she can't make an emergency call if the power goes off. They do say you need one phone powered from the phone line.

Obviously that’s a sensible thing but I do not know that it is mandatory. Nobody I know keeps a corded phone connected (or even in a cupboard) in the case of power failure.
In fact the increasing use of voice over broadband makes this impossible (I have this over my home fibre broadband).
Maybe she’d just have to use her mobile.

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

Obviously that’s a sensible thing but I do not know that it is mandatory. Nobody I know keeps a corded phone connected (or even in a cupboard) in the case of power failure.

If you include me under 'know', then I have a corded phone in a drawer in the kitchen. It is permanently plugged into a socket at the back of the drawer, but with the ringer switched off.

 

[DetlefSchmitz]

I have a corded phone in the conservatory (if I remember correctly). We have sockets in most rooms. I'm sure there's no regulation, it was just common sense plus cordless phone manufacturers' recommendations. I guess these days there is a lower regard for people when introducing new technology.

 

[winston1]

Obviously that’s a sensible thing but I do not know that it is mandatory. Nobody I know keeps a corded phone connected (or even in a cupboard) in the case of power failure.

Well I do. It is in the kitchen.

 

[ETAF]

we also have a corded phone connected - and i recommend any friends with a landline have 1....

 

[mattylad]

Another reason that I will be the last in the country to have one!

Oh no you will not!
I will be having one fitted after you have

 

[ETAF]

but i will be last to have one ........ so that makes you 3rd and 2nd to last

 

[foxhole]

Complaints were made because people were being switch to prepayment without notifying the customer , before or afterwards .

 

[Old Salt]

I have a corded phone for emergency use. In its box on top of the cabinet in the dining room. Its even got a label.

 

[SimonH2]

The item said they can be switched to pre-pay if they are in debt. Why shouldn’t the company be able to do that? I don’t know what business you are in but if a customer owed you money, would you keep on supplying them with more and more of your services or goods for free or would you request that they paid up front whilst at the same time paying off a little of what they owed you?

Lecky is one of those key services, so there are some fairly tight rules about what the provider needs to do before they disconnect someone. So yes, the law does in fact mean the provider has to keep supplying you, even if you are in debt - but all the suppliers went into the market knowing that, and they will have factored into their business plans an expected level of bad/unrecoverable debts.
In the past, changing the meter meant a visit to the premises, and if the customer didn't agree, then it also meant getting a warrant before turning up mob handed (meter fitter to do the change, police officer to control proceedings, locksmith to make entry, dog handler if there's any hint of a dog being present, ...) Just getting the warrant would mean someone putting their name to a form saying they'd tried everything and this was a last resort - and I could imagine the policeman stopping proceedings if the homeowner showed him evidence that the statement wasn't correct (such as having been trying to work things out but the supplier being like we know big companies can be - impossible to deal with).
The change now is that - at least in theory - they still need a warrant, but switching is a matter of clicking a button on a computer screen to send a message to the meter to switch modes. There is no longer that last resort of having a real person, in the house, with the power to look at the customer's evidence and say "something's wrong here".

"EDF told the BBC a switch to a prepayment meter was "a last resort" after extensive attempts to discuss support and agree a resolution with the customer.
A spokesperson added: "In this situation, moving a customer to pay-as-you-go will prevent them from continuing to accrue debt at an uncontrollable rate and prompt the customer to take control of their ongoing energy payments."

And the article also includes examples of people who claim that they had been trying to deal with their supplier, but hitting all the usual problems we've heard : "computer says otherwise", "your query doesn't fit out on screen prompts", "sorry, I can't find any notes about your last call", ...
And the stats certainly indicate that the providers are - keeping the language polite - far less reserved about switching customers that have a smart meter.
Looking at the article on BBC news, immediately above the EDF quote you have given, is this side of the story from the customer :
"I've been calling EDF on and off since January to sort it," she said. "Then I got a letter saying they would change me on to prepayment."
Kelly tried again to talk to her supplier and told the BBC that communication has been poor and notes on her case were not properly updated.
Then, in October, she simply got a text telling her that she was now on a prepayment plan. "I suddenly only had £3 on my electric until payday. I was so unhappy."
That version does not sound like "last resort".

Hope the none techies have plenty of time and not in any special need, to get the power back on - ringing energy companies is no quick task.

And again, the article raises this as an issue. For some, they were either unaware, or unaware of what the messages meant, so the first they knew was when the power went off. That's no time to be having to set up online accounts etc in order to put money in the meter. And bear in mind that most of the people affected are likely to be those on lower incomes, so quite possibly without the spare cash to have mobile internet on their mobile - just at the time that the power has gone off and they can't use their landline based internet which relies on a mains powered router.

The problem here is that the power balance has shifted. It's now too easy for the energy companies to remotely switch a customer - even where the energy company is in the wrong (we've all heard stories of absurd billing errors which the providers have been unwilling to consider as an error on their part). As above, in the past it took a lot longer, and was a more "hands on" process to switch someone. Now it's too easy to just switch someone and leave then to argue the toss after the change is fait accompli.