We were due to have a smart meter installed in April 2020. The engineer arrived, saw we had a night storage heater and said it was not possible to fit the meter and moved on to his next job. No worries. But then when we got our next bill we saw the readings had been set to zero and it was obviously on Scottish Power’s records that a new meter was fitted.
You would have thought it would be a simple matter for Scottish Power to contact the National Database and adjust the records. Not for Scottish Power, it isn’t. For 18 months they have failed to do so despite the issue being escalated to a formal complaint. In August the stakes were raised higher still by referring it to the Energy Ombudsman who will be adjudicating in the next two weeks.
The only good to have come out of this is that we thought it best to stay with Scottish Power until the imbroglio was sorted. That was a fortunate move - Scottish Power will not go bankrupt but the company we might have moved to could have done. Also our fixed rate tariff, good till March 2022, is cheaper than any other deals on offer when we looked at the end of August. So we’ll stay with them until Spring and look at the market again. Meanwhile we await a goodwill payment from Scottish Power when the ombudsman stands them on the naughty step, though the standard compensation is a rather paltry £50 and often it’s nothing, just an apology.
I just hope the apology is better than SP’s last correspondence which said they were sorry and hoped “you and your family are doing good”. It does not inspire you when they employ semi literates, or maybe they were urging us to do more charitable work.
'Doing good' @BenCotto....jeez. Doesn't really surprise me though. The shocking standards, in all sorts of communication, is astonishing. It's the ones that address you by saying 'Hey *******' which was in an email I got recently from a company. Not impressed at all with that, and it was the tip of the iceberg Not surprising about the hassle you've had either. No wonder everything's so expensive - they must be spending a fortune constantly having to try and educate their staff...and failing miserably. Mind you, once they've finished creaming off proceeds for all sorts of dodgy dealings, they probably can't afford decent staff. Cynical? Moi?
I've heard that about the meters too - as soon as you switch supplier, they magically cease to work. Marvellous eh? A total con.
It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
I am being pressured to have a smart meter. My heating engineer said he would stick with the old meters as long as they keep working. Our gas meter is so old it's been right round,to zero and is going round again. 😄
I must have hit lucky. My smart meter is working perfectly well. So much so I called the supplier and got my monthly bills reduced on the basis of my daily use
Jo the Energy Performance Certificate EPC is around £60 and I think mainly a joke. You have to pay for one in the UK as soon as you market your property. Bloke went up in our last loft, wrote the insulation was 6inches deep,it was well over a foot!
Nanny Beach said: ! Grandaughter just started high school, been taking a packed lunch which she never ate,she hates sandwiches. So daughter said she could have school meals,OMG chicken,chips, cookie,drink,six quid!!!my friend thought that was per week,no, one day, one meal.
I'm not sure that they're a con - just badly thought out roll out plan. After posting about SMs above I checked with DCC and they're saying that SMETS1 meters (old V1) should be upgraded by the end of this year (and if the model can't be upgraded, replaced with a SMETS2). I'm not overly sure though what the benefit is. I had mine set to provide readings every 20 minutes or so and BG could then provide stats based on that frequency - grand. But at what cost? What have I actually gained? - I didn't have to provide monthly readings was about it I think. I now have what is effectively a wireless modem - a mobile phone - in my cupboard that's on all the time - there'll be a raft of servers somewhere collating and serving that data.
I suppose the benefit is in the power network itself - maybe the additional data (they must have had usage data anyway pre smart) helps them manage the power network more efficiently?
That’s what they claim Steve😀 For years now when I upgrade to a cheaper tariff I’m told I must have a meter for this tariff, still haven’t and no one is forced to have one. I’ve never changed companies, just go into comparison sites and use the same company again. Always a better deal.
Gardening on the wild, windy west side of Dartmoor.
I suppose the benefit is in the power network itself - maybe the additional data (they must have had usage data anyway pre smart) helps them manage the power network more efficiently?
The idea is that you'll be able to manage your power relative to the whole network in the long run. If you are charged less (or even paid) for using energy when there is a surplus - a windy, sunny day - and more for using it when there is a high demand, then the expectation is that you'll begin to change your usage to fit with when it's cheapest. Extend that principle to include the batteries in electric vehicles being charged when energy is cheap and discharged when energy is expensive, so you make money from the car if you don't use it. The ability of the Grid to a - use far more renewables and b - level out demand so we don't get the high peaks and troughs we do now, then the likelihood of us meeting our Paris Agreement commitments vastly increases. But that can only be managed if everyone has smart meters and well enough insulated homes so that turning off your heating for a few hours when the grid is straining won't mean you get cold.
Gardening on the edge of Exmoor, in Devon
“It's still magic even if you know how it's done.”
Posts
You would have thought it would be a simple matter for Scottish Power to contact the National Database and adjust the records. Not for Scottish Power, it isn’t. For 18 months they have failed to do so despite the issue being escalated to a formal complaint. In August the stakes were raised higher still by referring it to the Energy Ombudsman who will be adjudicating in the next two weeks.
The only good to have come out of this is that we thought it best to stay with Scottish Power until the imbroglio was sorted. That was a fortunate move - Scottish Power will not go bankrupt but the company we might have moved to could have done. Also our fixed rate tariff, good till March 2022, is cheaper than any other deals on offer when we looked at the end of August. So we’ll stay with them until Spring and look at the market again. Meanwhile we await a goodwill payment from Scottish Power when the ombudsman stands them on the naughty step, though the standard compensation is a rather paltry £50 and often it’s nothing, just an apology.
I just hope the apology is better than SP’s last correspondence which said they were sorry and hoped “you and your family are doing good”. It does not inspire you when they employ semi literates, or maybe they were urging us to do more charitable work.
Doesn't really surprise me though. The shocking standards, in all sorts of communication, is astonishing. It's the ones that address you by saying 'Hey *******' which was in an email I got recently from a company. Not impressed at all with that, and it was the tip of the iceberg
Not surprising about the hassle you've had either. No wonder everything's so expensive - they must be spending a fortune constantly having to try and educate their staff...and failing miserably. Mind you, once they've finished creaming off proceeds for all sorts of dodgy dealings, they probably can't afford decent staff.
Cynical? Moi?
I've heard that about the meters too - as soon as you switch supplier, they magically cease to work. Marvellous eh? A total con.
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
https://www.gov.uk/apply-free-school-meals
For years now when I upgrade to a cheaper tariff I’m told I must have a meter for this tariff, still haven’t and no one is forced to have one.
I’ve never changed companies, just go into comparison sites and use the same company again. Always a better deal.
Householders - Retrofitworks
“It's still magic even if you know how it's done.”
“It's still magic even if you know how it's done.”