Meter readings not updating account balance

thanks for your reply shads and no, in the past 2 and half years since beginning of 2022 when i got the smart meter, 20th sept was the one and only time i saw a reading as “smart”, all other ones are manual ones, but what I am baffled by is, why does the app keep asking for manual readings and yet when I do submit the readings, it still can’t calculate the usage? is the customer really expected to calculate the bill, surely that’s the job of ovo the service provider?

Hi @pinkfloyd198,

I’m sorry to hear this and completely understand your frustration. 

We’ve passed this on to our Forum_Support team who’ll be looking into this for you now.

I've had similar issues since the enforced switch over from SSE to OVO .

I give regular monthly/ bi - monthly readings and the electricity updates no problem,  gas never has since the switch Apr 2023 .

Therefore have no previous readings history for gas .

Have been through LIVECHAT today and as expected was told I have to have a Smartmeter to rectify . - Rubbish ( polite version) . Smart meters are notorious for going wrong and giving incorrect readings and there's so much negative press around them of late . They won't save me money , they won't make my life easier,  and it takes 15secs for me to give my own readings online . 

The suppliers are under pressure to reach their roll out targets for Smart Meters and are fined if they miss them . The only people who really benefit are the suppliers . Yet even if we don't have them we're paying for the universal roll out in our bills . Watch the programmes such as ' the trouble with Smart Meters'  etc.. Basically if something says 'Smart ' it ain't! Take Smart Motorways 😡 All a money-saving con by Govt/Companies involved. 

Anyway I digress . As Livechat couldn't help re gas updates without me switching to a Smart Meter I uninstalled OVO app and reinstalled to no avail so guess I'll just have to put up with it . Main thing is they're receiving my submitted readings their end .

Another thing that OVO and many others do is this regular monthly direct debit thing which means your balance is either + or - , in my case + mostly and so the supplier is therefore getting interest on your monet and will quarterly adjust your dd in judgement of where they think you're balance will be in a year's time fgs .😡 What happened to pay for what you actually use ? With SSE I had a quarterly VARIABLE dd which deducted what I ACTUALLY used .OVO doesn't do them along with many others . They want to hang on to your money which compensates for the millions they're losing in unpaid bills 😡 Again , conscientious, law abiding citizens being penalised for others misdemeanours ! ( through no fault of those in need I may add - been there)! 

I now try to keep my balance on an even keel and should I go into a negative one a happy to top up by card but they seem insistent on keep upping my dd in view of what my future predicted balance will be in a year's time.  Therefore I have to regularly call or go on Livechat to reduce it as it won't let you via app.

The whole thing is loaded in favour of the utility companies at a time when we the customer is paying more on everything during a credit crisis .

It stinks ! 

Why cant we just go back to paying for what we actually use ( plus the standing charge 😡) either monthly or quarterly and stop all this unfairness in favour of the supplier or be trusted to top up/adjust balances when needed ourselves without enforcement? Whatever happened to Customer Service ? 

Rant over , OVO & others pls take note ! 🙏

P.s. Will try app on other platforms but unlikely to update still methinks ? Prob a glitch to entice you over to Smart Meters - no fear ! 

I wonder where you’re getting your information from. I can’t think of a single case in these forums where someone has complained - justifiably - that the readings provided by their smart meter are incorrect. 
  

If you opt to pay by Direct Debit, you agree to the relevant terms. This is a cheaper option than paying only for the energy used each month in arrears. One of those terms is:
“ … you agree that … you’ll keep your energy account in credit by paying for the supply in advance;”

If your account slips into debt, your DD isn’t high enough to keep the account in credit.
  

You’re welcome to do this. It just can’t be done by Direct Debit; you’ll have to make other arrangements to pay each month. It’s considerably more expensive to do it this way, and it excludes you from several advantageous features like fixed-rate plans which can work out cheaper than the standard variable tariff in the long run.

Actually, I can think of at least one undeniable and completely undisputable benefit of Smart Meters.

The place I live at has a Meter Cupboard downstairs. It’s locked with a key held by the landlord, mostly for safety reasons because of the type of folks who live here. I can request the key whenever I want, but it’s a pain in the neck to have to keep asking for it.

It goes without saying that I upgraded to a Smart Meter almost immediately after moving in. My meter readings now get submitted every day automatically - even if the Meter Cupboard key goes walkabouts (and it does… A LOT!) without having to pester my landlord.

We - as the Forum Volunteers - also know of at least one OVO customer who lives in a block of flats where getting hold of the Meter Cupboard key is even more of a nightmare, since they have to ask the Council for it two weeks in advance and even then they have to wait for Council staff to take the meter reading. We see these stupidly terrible arrangements from time to time, which makes Smart Meters all the more useful for those use cases.

They do have their uses!