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.
… it has been consistently stated throughout a 5 terminal traditional pay as you go economy 10 was required,
Hello again, Jane 👋 It’s been a long time …
I seem to remember that we worked out last time that a smart meter couldn’t communicate from your property over the Wide Area Network (WAN) because you’re on the wrong side of the Law, so radio communication to the Angus TV mast doesn’t work well enough. A lot has changed since then, and new Communication Hubs (CH) that connect via a 4G mobile network are now available to Scottish customers in your situation. This being the case, there’s no need to insist on getting a ‘traditional’ - i.e. non-smart - meter. If even a new-style CH refuses to connect initially, the installing engineer should have some remedies in his van.
If it is possible to get a smart meter to communicate from your property, it’s probably not so important to have it ‘pre-programmed’ for Economy 10; the engineer should be able to arrange for that configuration while he’s installing the meter. It’s also quite easy to switch a communicating meter from prepayment to credit and vice versa. I hope you’re not making things too difficult for yourself - you’ve been waiting too long for the process to fail now because of unnecessary ‘requirements’.
Noel | I have no official status; I'm just a volunteer who comes here to help other customers. My gear: Aclara SGM 1416-B Electricity-only E7 meter; Chameleon IHD3-PPMID-AAA | It may look as if I know what I’m talking about, but don’t let that fool you. |
Thanks for your response, I do appreciate what you're saying about improvements being made to help with communications etc but I am still in a no signal area and neighbours 2 doors away can't top up their pre payment gas and electric smart due to this problem, they have to contact ovo support every time they top up which seems to me there is no obvious communication improvements in this area.
I was told in November by ovo there was no resolution for no signal areas and my only hope was a 5 terminal economy 10 pre payment to which I readily agreed.
The engineer did not have the correct meter with him and said he wouldn't be able to do it anyway because it was an sms team job, @Lukepeniket_OVO @Ben_OVO were made aware of this and it was to be arranged.
Sms team arrived yesterday and needless to say only had a 4 terminal pre payment meter on the van.
I'm not being difficult, I'm constantly being told by ovo there is no resolution to no signal areas ((my 2 doors down neighbour can verify this)and that I need a five terminal economy 10 pre payment meter, hopefully @Lukepeniket_OVO may be able to shed some further information on this, in the meantime I will wait to see if ovo support can arrange a further appointment with the sms team to proceed with another appointment with the correct meter.
I just had an update with @Lukepeniket_OVO this morning, and he mentioned that he's raised another ticket with all the info needed and sent it off to SMS. They should be reaching out to you soon to set up another appointment, hopefully to get the right meter installed this time!
Luke is also following up with one of his contacts internally to help speed things along, since we all know how long this has been going on. I’ll keep you posted on any more updates! 😊
As Chris said, keep an eye out for SMS to call (again), they recieved the wrong job type before and I can see the incorrect job raised. So this time ill be keeping a close eye on this and shouting as much as possible!! =]
OVO Operations Excellence Manager and Former Field Operations Team Leader
Another day, same saga, I received an email from Ovo yesterday saying the date for rts switch off in my area is scheduled for 5th May so anyone following this thread will see that after the last failed sms meter swap on 5th Feb Luke Peniket arranged another appointment for a 5 terminal pay as you go meter on economy 10 and to wait on sms contacting me.
Because Ovo have given me a definite date of 5th May for switch off in my area I contacted sms and they have done an extensive search on both my name and address and can find no request whatsoever for this, they have all the details of the last failed swap with the wrong meter but nothing else.
Any ideas anybody as I 'm starting to get alarmed, this has been ongoing for 18 months now.
I completely understand how frustrating this must be for you. I've reached out to Luke internally, and he is aware of the situation. He’ll keep us updated on what is happening. Thank you for your patience with us here!
In-between @Chris_OVO reply on my current predicament I had launched a complaint with OVO who got back to me this morning by telephone.
They have allegedly booked me in for a meter exchange on 24th April , I literally cross examined him on every aspect of the installation and he assured me it would definitely be a 5 terminal traditional PAYG meter on economy 10 tariff.
I don't want to sound too negative at this stage but I thought only the SMS team could give appointments for this type of job.
Your thoughts on this would be greatly appreciated.
@Lukepeniket_OVO’s has looped me and the rest of the Forum team into an email conversation he started with some of the department heads. We're working together to get you some extra support since this has been dragging on for too long. We really appreciate your patience and understanding, and we want to make sure you get the help you deserve. We'll keep you in the loop with any updates from our side, and please let us know if you hear anything from the installers.
