Hi, I live in Dundee, Scotland which is a fairly large city, senior citizen currently on pre payment meter THTC and know all about the RTS switch off. Made arrangements with OVO to change over to pay as you go Smart meter, Engineer arrived yesterday and couldn't do the switch as the Smart meter failed to connect, he sent the relevant information to OVO that no installation had been made, what happens next?
Engineer just said let OVO figure it out, can someone help
After 18 months, a few failed installations and miscommunication my new meter has been installed and seems to be working fine and it's all down to @Chris_OVO @Lukepeniket_OVO @Bradley_OVO and others working behind the scenes.
I have to give credit to them for their time, support and patience with me over this period of time but they pulled out all the stops, went above and beyond all expectations to get the job completed before my imminent rts switch off. Big job , Great team effort 👌
A big shout out to the SMS engineer who uninstalled the old meters and installed the new meter without leaving any mess behind whatsoever.
Finally, thanks to Forum Contributers/Advisers for their input throughout @Ben_OVO @Blastoise186 @Firedog spring to mind but am sure there were many more.
That's me sorted now and it comes with a great feeling of relief, as previously mentioned I couldn't have got to this point without the assistance of all of the aforementioned people.
So have had another more thorough engineer visit. He confirmed that the meters cannot be replaced due to not being able to access the wiring and needing some device that has not been designed yet. He didn’t suggest it was an issue with signal. He took photos and logged the issue but I’m still getting letters and texts from OVO saying I must book a meter fitting! I wish OVO had some joint up working between departments!
@FClarke I too kept getting texts and emails after my failed installation and when I contacted them they removed me from their mailing list. After my last conversation with them there wasn't a cure for no signal areas but they were working on the issues and would contact me as and when something was available. It's not a great scenario for me and others like me but there is no option but to wait and see unfortunately, hopefully something comes up sooner rather than later.
I am totally aware of the radio tele switch turn off… I have been following it for the last few years. I even tried to get a smart metre installed a couple of years ago but there was no such option for my configuration (there is now).
I decided to go ahead with it in January but it could not be done because my fuse boxes are too close to the metre needing replaced. I have raised it with the council but cannot do anything until they do the work.
2 months ago OVO tried to phone me to chase me up. I phoned them back explained the situation and asked them to put a note on my account. However, I am still getting communications trying to make me arrange another installation date.
What do I have to do to make them understand I am aware of the situation but my hands are tied until the council do the work (I chased them up last week and am planning on doing the same next week).
You are complaining about OVO being concerned that you need to have works done before your meter can be changed.
However if OVO weren't following that up, and chasing you to get the work done, then would you be complaining about that? Maybe not now, but no doubt if you haven't got this sorted by the time RTS switches off (or fails which is possible)you would shout that OVO hadn't followed up and made you aware how important it was.
Suppliers (not just OVO) have to make sure that those affected by the RTS shutdown are aware of how important it is to get their meters swapped out before the RTS shuts down.
If that means annoying a few people who do realise how important it is then I'm afraid that's the cost of making sure that everyone knows.
OVO are nagging you to remind you that you need to be nagging your council/landlord/factor if works need doing before the meter can be swapped out.
Personally in your situation I would be on to the council frequently and putting a rocket under them to get the work done. It may be time to start nagging them more than weekly. (And possibly I’d be making my own plans to get the Consumer Unit moved privately, at my cost if necessary).
Normally, OVO would be able to suppress this stuff with a few clicks. However, the suppression is bypassed for “critical” matters of which you’ve triggered two at once. Simply switching the comms off for those would allow someone to bury their head in the sand, so arguably OVO hasn’t really got a choice I’m afraid.
Securing energy by zapping security bugs... For that is The Blastoise Way! Remember, I'm just like you - AI Powered Evil Geniuses aren't Staff!
It’s a trick one and I’m glad a couple of our volunteers have already stopped by with some really helpful advice here.
If work does need to be completed before the meter is replaced then we’d suggest that is done as soon as possible. If it needs to be completed by a third party like housing association or council then that’s out with OVO’s power of reach and you’d need to get that arranged.
You’re not alone in, there are others in slightly similar situations whereby work must be completed before an exchange can take place. I’ve linked to a similar topic, although for a different reason, they too still receive the emails to remind them.
As the others have mentioned, we’d rather not lose touch with these customers while we’re working on this. I’m sorry for any inconvenience it may be causing but we cannot have these stopped.
I am totally in agreement with Wheels 496 about OVO’s lack of ability to stop the constant emails and letters when they know the situation. Clearly Nukcad doesn’t deal with housing when he thinks it’s that easy to get them to move a meter. I actually think this is important enough for OVO to be lobbying Local Authority and Housing association landlords. I think he might also find that local authority housing departments will not allow tenants to alter electricity meters/consumer units so Wheels 496 may well have his hands tied. I also have struggled to get OVO to stop sending me these letters and texts when it is their lack of technology to sort the issue in my house and half the street I live in! After 2 failed visits by engineers (contracter and OVO) and yet more phone calls they have now stopped. Clearly it is not possible by this late stage to complete this work by June. I even wonder if they are going to succeed by September which I’ve been told by both engineers that the deadline has been extended too for difficult areas. Perhaps SSEN need to be involved in helping to sort this out?? Whilst waiting for OVO to come up with a solution there is a worrying silence though……. A few ‘were still working to solve your setup issue’ communications would not be amiss!
Not trying to be awkward just highlight the uneasy situation people are in
I really can appreciate your frustration, both with the uncertainty over when the correct work will be carried out before the RTS shut down, and the repeated comms sent to you by OVO.
We’ve got a lot of teams working solely on fixing the issues that are stopping RTS meter replacement appointments, and we’ll update the Forum when we’ve got any new news. These back office teams are working together with other third parties in the Industry to get all issues fixed in time for the shut down. You’ll also be contacted when a fix for your personal situations is in place.
As for the repeated comms sent to you, you could try following @janie’s advice and asking our Support Team if they can stop any of them:
@FClarke I too kept getting texts and emails after my failed installation and when I contacted them they removed me from their mailing list. After my last conversation with them there wasn't a cure for no signal areas but they were working on the issues and would contact me as and when something was available. It's not a great scenario for me and others like me but there is no option but to wait and see unfortunately, hopefully something comes up sooner rather than later.
We appreciate everyone’s patience with this - I can assure you that our RTS teams are doing everything they can to get all issues resolved as quickly as possible.
Hi everyone, just to say it worked for me apart from 1 rogue email that got through, however I did receive an out of the blue phone call from ovo 2 days ago updating me that although they were working on solutions for no signal areas they weren't in my area yet......not much of an update I agree but it was reassuring to know I am still on their problem list and haven't been forgotten about.
The number started with 0345 and flashed up as spam on my phone so I nearly didn't answer it, I would imagine maybe a lot of people may be ignoring these calls.
