April 23, 20242 yr Got sent a bill, part of it was from smart meter submissions, part from estimating (why, I have a smart meter now). No big issue, I take my own readings and submit them, and get this. How can submitting less units than the bill stated be calculated as using more units. They really have become complete (expletive deleted).
April 23, 20242 yr I don't have this issue with Octopus. I submit a monthly reading on the last day of the month and they produce a bill based on that reading. Why does it have to be difficult?
April 23, 20242 yr Count yourself lucky, British Gas were counting my metric units as imperial and my bills were absolutely ridiculous. 2.8x higher than they should have been. Had to spend many hours on the chats with people who had absolutely no idea what I was talking about in the slightest. Eventually it all got sorted but it was just stupid as it's all smart metered and has been for years, no idea what changed.
April 23, 20242 yr 1 hour ago, SteamyTea said: Got sent a bill, part of it was from smart meter submissions, part from estimating (why, I have a smart meter now). They really have become complete (expletive deleted). Call me a conspiracy theorist, but there is a alarmingly high number of 'needless estimations' and 'accidental prepay metres installed'.. Its almost as if they are benefiting from the additional cashflow
April 24, 20242 yr 6 hours ago, ProDave said: I don't have this issue with Octopus. I submit a monthly reading on the last day of the month and they produce a bill based on that reading. Why does it have to be difficult? I too do this, no problem at all 6 hours ago, Super_Paulie said: it's all smart metered Smart, I don’t think so, dumb more like it.
April 24, 20242 yr Author 7 hours ago, Kelvin said: Fewer units Yes. 7 hours ago, ProDave said: I submit a monthly reading I should not have to do that. 7 hours ago, Super_Paulie said: British Gas I refuse to use them as they could not get my meter readings correct, 25 years ago, nice ot know they have not improved. 6 hours ago, FuerteStu said: alarmingly high number of 'needless estimations' Yes, EDF said last month my meter was not reporting, then they said I refused a smart meter. 33 minutes ago, joe90 said: I too do this, no problem at all Why should you have to manually submit smart meter readings?
April 24, 20242 yr All the suppliers are fairly hopeless, I had one who took 4 visits to swap out a 3P meter. And another where I accidentally exchanged some digits in a meter reading … apparently ‘using’ 2 years of power in one month. Their system wouldn’t let me, or apparently any of their staff amend the reading or put in a lower reading the next month. Yes, that’s right, their system designers hadn’t allowed for anyone ever putting in a wrong reading. It took nine months and a letter to the CEO to sort that out. In the meantime, I was being pursued by collection agencies for a couple of £K.
April 24, 20242 yr Author 3 minutes ago, Alan Ambrose said: Their system wouldn’t let me, or apparently any of their staff amend the reading or put in a lower reading the next month I had that same problem a while back. I had to send in pictures of the meter readings. I do wonder how many people who pay by direct debit have over paid. I seem to remember that is was something like £4bn that the energy companies have from overcharging, though I am not sure how much of that was for people on fixed monthly payments and how much was energy companies over estimating.
April 24, 20242 yr 2 hours ago, SteamyTea said: 3 hours ago, joe90 said: Why should you have to manually submit smart meter readings? Mine is not a smart meter, and nothing I read in this thread is making me want to have a smart meter.
April 24, 20242 yr Author Just now, ProDave said: Mine is not a smart meter, and nothing I read in this thread is making me want to have a smart meter. Mine was not until they insisted on changing it, and that is when it all went wrong. Why I put a complaint in to the ombudsman (a painless processes run by grown ups). I don't understand why EDF cannot just read the data in real time, like I can from their website. It is pretty easy to understand, no need to estimate.
April 24, 20242 yr Most of the big suppliers are a bit shit and I reckon still suffer from the malaise of when they were still electricity boards. Octopus don’t have any of that legacy nonsense to deal with so are a bit more fleet of foot and much more responsive to problems. I had some experience of this when the company I worked for TUPE transferred a few hundred engineers from BT. They were mostly good at what they did but their broader attitude was still stuck in past before BT was privatised. Ironically many years later they TUPEd back to BT (well Openreach) and the number of phone calls I got telling me how shit it was and that actually we were a very good employer by comparison so can we come back. I felt a little sorry for them in all honesty.
April 24, 20242 yr i was moved to British Gas by default when the majority of the small-fry went under a few years back. Frankly they have been a shambles since day 1, quite staggering for such a huge company to appear so tin pot.
April 24, 20242 yr >>> I do wonder how many people who pay by direct debit have over paid. Oh yes, they take the .... mickey, have mine on pay-actual-usage-at-end-of-month to avoid the BS.
April 24, 20242 yr Another Octopus benefit is YOU can set your monthly payments at the correct level without someone else telling you what to do.
April 24, 20242 yr 47 minutes ago, ProDave said: Another Octopus benefit is YOU can set your monthly payments at the correct level without someone else telling you what to do. A benefit of So Energy is I can also set my own monthly payments. I send my own monthly meter readings as I do not have a Smart (you have less control on what happens) Meter. No problem. ( We charge our car when we like).
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