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Failed smart meter installation, what next?



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Thank you @Tim_OVO for your help. 

Best wishes

Judy

I had a smart meter installation today but no engineer turned up

Userlevel 7

Hey @Damex,

 

Really sorry about this, 

 

Not what we want to hear on the Forum, hopefully Support can get an appointment re-booked for you as soon as possible.

 

This similar thread will help explain the next steps:

 

 

Come back to this thread if you have any more questions and we can offer some advice. 

Our Smart Gas Meter stopped sending readings in August-21 and Ovo said they arranged for an engineer to replace the device on 19-Dec-22 and again on 02-Feb-23 neither of the visits were made, no notification, apology, or explanation.

 I have now been receiving estimated bills for six months. What is going on and how do I get out of this mess.

Userlevel 7
Badge +5

If you had confirmed appointments @derekz you can make a claim against a non-visit .. I think it’s around £30.

That doesn’t get you another visit though. It looks like they’re short of availability in some parts. 
You should be able to send manual readings in the meantime while you try and get another appointment 

Thanks for your reply, however any claim for compensation is ignored. 

Manual readings are impossible as the meter screen is blank.

I have complained by Phone, Email and Chat - still unresolved and useless.

Userlevel 7
Badge +5

If you can’t reach anyone perhaps try this ..

https://www.ovoenergy.com/feedback

Done that, but there is no one at home.

Userlevel 7

Hey @derekz,

 

Sorry for the issues you’re having,

 

I’ll get Forum_Support to reach out, please keep an eye on your private messages.

Userlevel 2

For the third time my appointment to have an engineer fix my, not so smart, non functioning gas meter has resulted in a no show.  No phone call or email.  Given this meter has not functioned properly since it was installed in February 2022, and the second occasion in a row where this contractor has failed to show up, I’m debating whether it’s even worth complaining.  I’m seriously annoyed that this company values their time over mine, the customer.  

Userlevel 7
Badge +2

Make sure you put in for compensation for any missing appointments

£30 for each one.

Then another £30 for each one if the payment is not made within 10 days of the appointment

Given the phones etc seem to be busy i would simply ask via a complaint which can be done via email so hopefully simple

https://www.ovoenergy.com/feedback

Userlevel 7

So sorry to hear about this, @Scotia121. You’re not the first one this week to call it out, so I’m wondering if this is a wider issue. Of course there are unexpected events which can prevent an engineer sticking to their schedule, but these should be rare and you should be notified...

 

As Jeffus has mentioned, you’re owed £30 compensation if you weren’t given at least 24 hours notice of the cancellation. If that isn’t sent within 10 working days it gets doubled. This should happen automatically, you don’t need to request it. Worst case scenario is you get twice the compensation. Of course if you wanted to rebook or find out why the engineer failed, our Support team can help.

Userlevel 2

I rang them and the call handler called it a ‘goodwill payment’ which of course it’s not.  They are legally obliged to pay it. Anyway my question now: supposed to turn up on 15th March and of course didn’t .  Rang them that day.  New appointment booked.  My billing period ends on 27th of the month and as yet no sign of the payment on the bill.  Also since my gas meter no longer shows a reading at all, what do I do about them asking for a reading which I can’t give.  They will estimate the bill and I’m not happy about that.  I am not at fault because their meter has not worked properly since it was installed more than a year ago.  

Userlevel 7
Badge +2

I rang them and the call handler called it a ‘goodwill payment’ which of course it’s not.  They are legally obliged to pay it. Anyway my question now: supposed to turn up on 15th March and of course didn’t .  Rang them that day.  New appointment booked.  My billing period ends on 27th of the month and as yet no sign of the payment on the bill.  Also since my gas meter no longer shows a reading at all, what do I do about them asking for a reading which I can’t give.  They will estimate the bill and I’m not happy about that.  I am not at fault because their meter has not worked properly since it was installed more than a year ago.  

You could try calling ovo collections and see if they will freeze your readings until the new meter or see if they will agree an estimate that is acceptable to you. I think the latter is more likely. 

0800 0699 831

When was the last working smart meter reading? It will have the word smart next to it. 

https://account.ovoenergy.com/meter-readings/history/gas

 

Userlevel 2

Last smart meter readi g for gas was last September!   Been trying to get them to fix it ever since.  When the meter went dark, 8t was pretty much the last straw.  Absolutely terrible customer service  from Ovo.

Userlevel 7
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Last smart meter readi g for gas was last September!   Been trying to get them to fix it ever since.  When the meter went dark, 8t was pretty much the last straw.  Absolutely terrible customer service  from Ovo.

Hopefully this won't be needed....

If you haven't already i would put in a complaint about the whole thing now

https://www.ovoenergy.com/feedback

Then if they don't turn up for the next appointment, ask for a deadlock letter rather than waiting the 8 weeks and ask the Energy Ombudsman to intervene. 7 months from the last smart meter reading is a painful amount of time to wait to get things fixed. 

Keeping threads like this updated can sometimes help. 

You can always link to this thread if it helps

https://forum.ovoenergy.com/smart-meters-136/engineer-no-show-14400

Some customers have written to the CEO of OVO when cases have gone on a long time, with some success. So if things continue to drag on this is something to think about. 

https://www.ovoenergy.com/ovo-newsroom/press-releases/2022/february/new-ceo-announcement

1 star reviews on Trustpilot sometimes get picked up and escalated

https://uk.trustpilot.com/review/www.ovoenergy.com

Expecting an OVO Engineer today after a 5 week lead time for a job (for all of which time you had my money), Engineer didn’t show, no explanation, no apology and no capability to give me a new date from your support team for up to 5 days.

Sorry but this is really poor service, damn right I’ll claim the compensation but that's not what I’m here for, I want a new date and an engineer to actually turn up this time.

As your support staff said, its “out of our hands”, which is amazing when I look to see who has my money in their hands already!

 

 

Userlevel 7
Badge +2

Expecting an OVO Engineer today after a 5 week lead time for a job (for all of which time you had my money), Engineer didn’t show, no explanation, no apology and no capability to give me a new date from your support team for up to 5 days.

Sorry but this is really poor service, damn right I’ll claim the compensation but that's not what I’m here for, I want a new date and an engineer to actually turn up this time.

As your support staff said, its “out of our hands”, which is amazing when I look to see who has my money in their hands already!

 

 

Hi @paulhoad sorry to hear that.

I am just a customer like you. 

It can be useful to highlight issues on this customer forum, but no one here including the OVO moderators can access your account, book appointments etc. 

This is primarily a forum for customers to chat together and help each other out. 

You could try posting on the official OVO Facebook or twitter feed. The OVO staff there have access to your account unlike this customer forum. Although i don't know what access they have regarding appointments. 

https://www.facebook.com/ovoenergy

 

Userlevel 2

Jeffus I did send them a written complaint but not expecting them to action it any time soon.  I'm pretty raging at their treatment of their customers.  And to top it off they sent me an email today telling me how much more of my hard earned they are going to help themselves too.  

If the next appointment is also a no show I will request a deadlock letter.  Thanl you for that.

I have been so fed up with unkept promises so have transferred to Octopus who replaced the Gas meter within week. Nothing more to say.

Userlevel 2

I rang them and the call handler called it a ‘goodwill payment’ which of course it’s not.  They are legally obliged to pay it. Anyway my question now: supposed to turn up on 15th March and of course didn’t .  Rang them that day.  New appointment booked.  My billing period ends on 27th of the month and as yet no sign of the payment on the bill.  Also since my gas meter no longer shows a reading at all, what do I do about them asking for a reading which I can’t give.  They will estimate the bill and I’m not happy about that.  I am not at fault because their meter has not worked properly since it was installed more than a year ago.  

Had to ring them again today.  No compensation for missed appointment in March and on checking, no payment for missed appointment in February either.  Given the missed March date was more than 15 days, does this mean they owe me double for that? 

Userlevel 7

Hi @Scotia121 yes if you’re owed compensation for a missed appointment and it’s not paid within 10 working days, it will get doubled. 

 

I’m also happy to say that this will soon all be automated to prevent further delays of this kind. I’m sorry that you’ve been affected. 

Userlevel 2

So once again an appointment today to replace my dead gas meter and for the 4th time no one showed up.  I am so sick of this dreadful level of service.  To recap, there were no shows in January,  February,  March and now April.  They haven't credited me for February and the £60 just put on my account should have been double as they didn't add it within 10 days.  The meter is now blank so can't take readings and therefore getting estimated bills.   

I have to say I'm pretty raging at their lack of respect for their customers.  

Userlevel 7
Badge +2

@Scotia121 Blimey that is really terrible service. 

You would have thought someone in OVO would have made sure the last visit went ahead as a priority given the previous missed appointments.… Or quickly arranged another one asap. 

I think i saw @Tim_OVO post somewhere that he was going to look into whether there was a wider issue of increasing missed appointments due to the number of posts on the subject. I haven’t seen him post anything about it since then. No conciliation obviously. 

Have they given you another date? 

 

 

Userlevel 2

@Scotia121 Blimey that is really terrible service. 

You would have thought someone in OVO would have made sure the last visit went ahead as a priority given the previous missed appointments.… Or quickly arranged another one asap. 

I think i saw @Tim_OVO post somewhere that he was going to look into whether there was a wider issue of increasing missed appointments due to the number of posts on the subject. I haven’t seen him post anything about it since then. No conciliation obviously. 

Have they given you another date? 

 

Had an email from someone from their "Specialist Advanced Resolution Team" whatever that is yesterday.  Said they will contact me on the 14th but I will ring them today.  Again.  No further date given but on past performance i am not confident they would show up.  I'll let you know what they say.  Am also aware yesterday was a bank holiday but at the time the appointment was made, i had no idea given it was a month ago and they should have been aware since they chose the date.  

 

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