has anyone got a smart meter

For years we were happy, that we didn't have smart meter, because our pipes were not suitable, to support one,

Scottish Gas eventually installed one. We were billed for £7000 for six month's gas usage over the sumer period. They refuse to acknowledge the meter was faulty.
They insulted us, by offering debt counselling, if we couldn't pay. 🤬
It took two years of accelerated complaints and threats of involving the Ombudsman, before they wiped the debt.

The meter was replaced by temporary one, then it started vibrating an making horrendous noises. I had to contact the emergency gas service, who removed it.
I had my granddaughter, lying on the couch with tonsillitis and all the windows and doors wide open.

The engineer only had a brand new manual meter in his van and had to install that. Oh joy!!
Then we started getting messages from Scottish Gas, saying they were going to increase our DD to £390 monthly, despite being nearly £1000 in credit. 🤬🤬🤬🤬

It has taken nearly a year to resolve this. Apparently, they hadn't twigged we had a manual meter and couldn't understand why our not so smart meter wasn't talking to them.
Fortunately, DH has a spreadsheet of every reading for the last four years, showing how little gas we use.
Three different people were dealing with this, but weren't talking to each other.
Last week, they finally agreed their figures were inaccurate and we were right.

I will glue myself to the manual meter, if the try to remove it!😉

Marydoll That's exactly why I don't want one, I've heard so many stories like this, and it's never the meters fault and customers are left banging their heads against a brick wall..

I have smart meters for gas and electricity and have never had a problem other than they changed to a second generation meter earlier this year so that it would send them readings every half hour - and it didn’t work. Their problem not mine and it was rectified. I’ve yet to be able to bring myself to unplug the in house display thingy so that it’s out of sight and out of mind.

I had mine installed by Octopus many years ago. Because of my sight impairment I couldn't read the meters although they were conveniently outside my front door.

I love my meter, especially the free electricity now and again. Touch wood, never a problem. Before installation, Octopus suggested I wait 6 months for the next generation which I did. The best freebie for ages. It was set and forget.

My gas meter broke and it became a long drawn out saga of me against the gas provider that went on for almost a year. Meanwhile I had no meter so they estimated my use.
Basically it was because I resisted having a smart meter. They used every excuse under the sun to not fit an old fashioned non smart meter. After huge aggravation I eventually gave in, so they fitted a smart meter, but that was only a very few weeks ago so I can't really say whether I like a smart meter or not. So far there have been no problems that I know of.
As for their estimated readings, it turned out when they finally were able to read the true amount I had used, that I was over £650 in credit! Which just shows how greedy their estimated readings are.

BlueBelle

I need to, they came a year or two back to change me over , they got a phone call half way through the operation, , so they put my old meter back in, and said they needed to abort it but would make another appointment to redo my new smart meter I ve never heard another word since
I must ring them and get them out again

We had something similar, BlueBelle. We eventually gave in and said that OVO could fit an electricity smart meter, but they couldn't do it as some bit of the wiring had to be moved. They sent a man to do that about a year ago, and we've never heard from them since.

Incidentally, we got the story about the certificate on our meter being about to run out, but I looked up our meter online and it's fine until 2030!

We’ve had no problems with ours at all. The problem is with the over zealous DH system. Watching it constantly, telling me I’m using power. Yes, indeed, I’m having lots of fun doing the washing, cooking etc. all things for my own personal pleasure. I’m a real Diva me. 😁

pably15

Marydoll That's exactly why I don't want one, I've heard so many stories like this, and it's never the meters fault and customers are left banging their heads against a brick wall..

But pably15 you cannot guarantee that nothing will go wrong if you have another traditional meter installed.

The problems are all with the installations, not the meter itself.
Most people on this thread have had no problems with their smart meters. We have had three installed at various times, none have caused any problems.

The installation of any meter can go badly wrong. You could choose not to have any meter installed. That will guarantee no problems, but also no gas.

We got a smart meter about six years ago. I haven't had any problems with it, and it's nice not having to submit meter readings. Octopus says there's going to be an upgrade and I'm not expecting any problems with that either.

We've had smart meters for water, gas & electricity since forever and have never had any problems. Never give them a moments thought.

i've had smart meters for years now and have had no problem.
however british gas told me that the meters need replacing and came to do the job but there was a problem.
i have pv panels on my roof (government scheme whereby they were installed and i got a kW free every day but not the feed in tariff) and the meter for that is in the attic.
the british gas engineer had to isolate this but couldn't do it as he couldn't get to the meters- although i'd had that meters upgraded a few months ago. i was told that i needed to board my loft out!
as I can't afford that i'm in limbo wondering what will happen if my meters aren't replaced.

Be careful of "British Gas" contacting you out of the blue, and be sure it's British Gas you're really talking to - there's lots of scammers out there just pumping for personal details.

MrsQuigley

We resisted for years then finally got smart meters for both electricity and gas. No problems, very handy to keep an eye on gas spend in the winter.

,.and that's the problem with Smart meters - people become paranoid by seeing a real time cost of usage. You should put the heating on when you feel cold, not when you think you saved enough by not having it on. We were told our gas meter was too old and needed to be replaced by a Smart meter a couple of years ago but we resisted and it's gone quiet since. It's no wonder given the number of people I know who say their Smart meter has stopped working or trapped them to their current supplier because they're not compatible with other suppliers

when i moved in here it was a key meter which being housebound was a really bad problem as i could not get to the shops. i did try to online it but to be honest it was a real pain especially as it was outside so often just went before i realised. not very good being plunged into the dark.
the company was very good and they put a meter in for me. i like the smart meter saves me going to the meter. as new tenant i can see how much is gone out of the money i pop on. it will take more in winter with my heaters but so far i am very pleased. even having a dishwasher etc i find £30 lasts nearly 3 weeks plus.
also the housing recently installed solar panels so i can see what solar energy is being uploaded

We have had one for about 3 years. I have always kept a close eye on our useage, even before we had a smart meter. I kept a spreadsheet of our monthly readings for years. When we got the smart meter - old habits die hard and I found myself writing down the balance each morning when I get up! I have to admit it has been useful, our immersion heater malfunctioned and one day the useage had shot up. It gave me the opportunity to locate the problem and sort it before we used too much more power than needed. Win, win for me. Our daily rate runs at between £2.25 and £2.70 at the moment, but have a new tarrif looming so keeping my fingers crossed.

It's only true of the older first generation smart meters that you are trapped with the current supplier. The newer ones are fine with any supplier.

There was a smart meter here when we moved in and they fitted a new one last year. I changed suppliers recently without any problem. I could see all our usage on the new supplier's app by the second day.

Since mine has been installed I have had no problems and find it very useful

I’ve had a smart meter for years - when I changed to Octopus 5/6 years the meter was compatible. I did have a problem which was easily resolved, and I think, even from this thread that the good tales outweigh the bad (sorry MD).
The display gizmo is still in its box and I use the Octopus App and have built up a decent credit for the Winter months. I’ve found Octopus very flexible in changing my monthly payment or returning a credit if wanted. I’d rather pay a set DD, than send in monthly readings and risk a nasty surprise.

I succumbed to pressure recently and got one. Means I don't have to read the meter anymore and I get reduced charges on Sundays. I wont have the digital display thingy showing usage, minute by minute though, that would drive me up the wall

MrsSquirrel

It's only true of the older first generation smart meters that you are trapped with the current supplier. The newer ones are fine with any supplier.

There was a smart meter here when we moved in and they fitted a new one last year. I changed suppliers recently without any problem. I could see all our usage on the new supplier's app by the second day.

Even with the 1st generation smart meter you were not tied to that supplier. The meter simply ceased to be a smart meter.. We had a first generation smart meter and changed supplier and that is what happened, we simply read the meter and sent the reading to our new supplier.

I was 'persuaded' into booking for the replacement.
I told the service man that I really didn't want it. He told me I was NOT obliged to have one and went away. He told me that the companies are paid £1000 by government for each one they install, hence the bullying tone of the emails I got! Amazing if true.

I’ve had one for a few years, no problems. Saves having to read meters. Can’t say it’s saved me any money though.

We've had them for some years, you can get special deals from some electricity suppliers such as Octopus with free power for a couple of hours at the weekend.
But for me the main bonus is that nobody needs to read your meter, so you don't have estimated bills.
I don't actually use the little "consumer" screen that you plug in to see how much power you are actually using at that moment or during that day, I don't think that it's worth the trouble.

Thanks for the clarification M0nica

Yes I have - I don’t bother to read it, I suppose I should. .They gave me a little screen thing, so I could keep a track of my usage. I couldn’t understand all the numbers on it.
I told them, I dumped it and suggested they send someone to read my meter regularly.