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Gas Smart meter failed battery failed and I'm off supply - How can I get an emergency appointment at the weekend?

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Blastoise186
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Then please show your research. SmartMe is written by actual smart meter engineers who know their stuff, but do so in their own time.

There’s been many mentions of failed Traditional meters here over the years. You just need to look back through the archives.

Securing energy by zapping security bugs... For that is The Blastoise Way!
K
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I’m afraid you’re somewhat incorrect. The supplier does have the responsibility to restore supply. However, you still have a responsibility to pay for what you use.

A Prepayment Meter whether Smart or Traditional that fails is unable to charge for what you used, so therefore it will cut your supply off if a fault/failure occurs to prevent fraud (otherwise it’d be abused like crazy). Smart Meters actually reduce the probability of failure as they’re better built but the Smart functionality does not have any part to play in this sort of thing.

In all cases, a catastrophic failure might cut the supply for safety reasons and this is NOT caused by Smart features or anything to do with Smart Meters specifically. Safety cut-outs are safety cut-outs which act independently of that.

Who you contact is easy. Your supplier - if the electric fails, you can also call 105.

 

 

That’s why I mentioned “but someone who’s on pre-paid payment method should also have the right to continuous supply of energy when they make payments”. When they make payments properly, they should not be cut off when the energy meter becomes faulty. Because, it is not their fault isn’t it?

Blastoise186
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Except that with Prepayment, the payment is taken from the meter credit at the point the energy is used, hence the term Pay As You Go. You don’t pay in advance - you pay at the point of use.

Securing energy by zapping security bugs... For that is The Blastoise Way!
K
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Then please show your research. SmartMe is written by actual smart meter engineers who know their stuff, but do so in their own time.

There’s been many mentions of failed Traditional meters here over the years. You just need to look back through the archives.

The facts article you shared was also not based on any research. Therefore, I assume that there is no proper research conducted to prove either side. However, “Are there similar issues discussed on online forums related to traditional meter faults?”. As I see, I didn’t find people complaining about faults on any traditional meters at least at the same rate as Smart Meters. Does it indicate anything? 

Blastoise186
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Actually, it was based on fact. Here’s the proof.

https://www.smartme.co.uk/documents/Aclara-SMETS2-Single-Phase-Electric.pdf

You’ll find it in there. Please tell me what page you find the information on.

Securing energy by zapping security bugs... For that is The Blastoise Way!
K
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Except that with Prepayment, the payment is taken from the meter credit at the point the energy is used, hence the term Pay As You Go. You don’t pay in advance - you pay at the point of use.

I think I should have reworded it as “As long as they keep making payments on time”. What I mean is, if they are not in debt to the energy company and have made payments properly, their energy supply should not be disrupted due to faulty equipment fitted by an energy supplier or national grid. If something happens like that, there must be someone accountable and more importantly reachable in order to fix it immediately. If Smart Meters are reliable, why don’t energy supplier provide a warranty/compensation-model to give assurance rather than paying engineers to write articles?

Blastoise186
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Warranties are bonded to the owner of the device and it’s manufacturer. No other party can enforce the terms of said warranty. Because the customer doesn’t own the meter - it belongs to the supplier - and therefore the warranty is between the manufacturer and the supplier you are not entitled to make warranty claims against it.

And besides, faulty meter replacements are already free to the customer anyway. So there’s erm… Nothing more that a “warranty” could do.

If you’re interested, that ownership is enshrined by law under the Gas Act 1986 and Electricity Act 1989.

Securing energy by zapping security bugs... For that is The Blastoise Way!
K
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Actually, it was based on fact. Here’s the proof.

https://www.smartme.co.uk/documents/Aclara-SMETS2-Single-Phase-Electric.pdf

You’ll find it in there. Please tell me what page you find the information on.

Did you add the wrong link by accident? Appliance Specifications and firmware versions etc 😅 … Or did you intend to confuse me by assuming that I am just a dumb user who carries just an opinion? 

Do you have any research information to debunk the idea that Smart Meters have introduced more faults/disruptions to peoples’ energy supply compared to traditional energy meters? Because that is what people complain about and all the worry about replacing the existing meters with Smart Meters.

 

The product components, specifications, firmware versions and debug manuals are technical specifications that can be even different from one manufacturer to another. If you say that is facts, can you elaborate on how this Appliance User Manual is related to the Article you shared on which points in the article? 

Blastoise186
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Try reading it in full (as in all 108 pages) and you’ll understand where I’m coming from.

Have a nice day.

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K
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Warranties are bonded to the owner of the device and it’s manufacturer. No other party can enforce the terms of said warranty. Because the customer doesn’t own the meter - it belongs to the supplier - and therefore the warranty is between the manufacturer and the supplier you are not entitled to make warranty claims against it.

And besides, faulty meter replacements are already free to the customer anyway. So there’s erm… Nothing more that a “warranty” could do.

If you’re interested, that ownership is enshrined by law under the Gas Act 1986 and Electricity Act 1989.

Yes, that’s fine. The customer does not even have to involve in product warranty-related matters. What the customer should get is a guarantee of NO DISRUPTIONS in the energy supply due to faulty meters. Technical issues can happen and will happen! Especially, with smart tech where there are many dependencies compared to traditional/simple tech, the probability of that doesn’t get lower. If the energy suppliers, and smart meter manufacturers claim that the rate of faults/disruption hasn’t gone up (if they are that confident) why can’t they offer a compensation model? The energy supplier can claim it back from the equipment manufacturer. Keeping someone in the cold and dark in the weekend due to a faulty smart meter isn’t fair, is it?

Blastoise186
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So in other words… Suppliers have to payout because you caused a fault by tampering? Suppliers have to payout because you refused to let them swap a meter before wear and tear killed it? Suppliers have to payout because you deliberately ignored a low battery warning for several months…?

Doesn’t work that way. I think you already know that what you’re asking for is impossible even with Traditional Meters.

I rest my case

Securing energy by zapping security bugs... For that is The Blastoise Way!
K
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Try reading it in full (as in all 108 pages) and you’ll understand where I’m coming from.

Have a nice day.

I understood where you are coming from 😅 (from this point onward, it is a matter of credibility; I think you understood it yourself when I asked you to elaborate and connect the dots between the article you pointed out and the smart meter appliance user manual you sent afterwards.)

Thank you, and have a nice day. 

The reason I engaged in this discussion is not to fight against smart meters. I was a bit fascinated by the in-home display and I felt that it would be a cool thing not to worry about crawling under the electrical cabinet to take readings etc and to have an IHD as a cool gadget. Most of the content I found online and feedback from people who have Smart Meters installed were negative. Therefore, I was in a way looking for one credible source to help me believe that I won’t have to regret my decision. 

I’ve been committed to things in this country by trusting professionals and companies who show expertise in what they do. But every when something goes wrong, the experience was very similar to what @Turratim has described in their comment. With energy suppliers also, the experience is much better now once OVO took over from SSE due to the good online portal experience—but I’m not sure if contacting someone has become any easier. 

 

K
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So in other words… Suppliers have to payout because you caused a fault by tampering? Suppliers have to payout because you refused to let them swap a meter before wear and tear killed it? Suppliers have to payout because you deliberately ignored a low battery warning for several months…?

Doesn’t work that way. I think you already know that what you’re asking for is impossible even with Traditional Meters.

I rest my case

It doesn’t have to work that way either! What are you talking about?

You are bringing irrelevant stuff to confuse the discussion by adding noise. Who asked to pay for tampering-related issues? I was ONLY talking about a scenario where a homeowner gets their existing meters replaced with smart meters as per the supplier’s instructions and then has to go through disruptions due to a faulty smart meter. It’s a very precise scope that I’m talking about.  A very precise scope which the homeowner has no fault or control over.

Blastoise186
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This is my last comment on this thread.

In recent memory, there has only been ONE case on this forum that I can think of where a Smart Meter in Credit Mode totally failed due to something messing up with Smart functionality. That was around October/November last year and even then, the supply remained active. I happened to be visiting OVO’s Bristol HQ that week and asked one of the internal experts for a diagnosis by showing him the thread. We came to the conclusion it probably died as a result of firmware corruption, but the Metrology Processor and therefore Metrology Firmware managed to remain alive to enough of an extent to keep the supply on.

That meter was replaced as faulty but the customer wasn’t disrupted in the meantime.

There’s tons of tricks that help with this. The manual I gave you documents some of them.

Securing energy by zapping security bugs... For that is The Blastoise Way!
K
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This is my last comment on this thread.

In recent memory, there has only been ONE case on this forum that I can think of where a Smart Meter in Credit Mode totally failed due to something messing up with Smart functionality. That was around October/November last year and even then, the supply remained active. I happened to be visiting OVO’s Bristol HQ that week and asked one of the internal experts for a diagnosis by showing him the thread. We came to the conclusion it probably died as a result of firmware corruption, but the Metrology Processor and therefore Metrology Firmware managed to remain alive to enough of an extent to keep the supply on.

That meter was replaced as faulty but the customer wasn’t disrupted in the meantime.

There’s tons of tricks that help with this. The manual I gave you documents some of them.

By the way, I apologise if my comments in any manner affected you professionally. Also, thank you a lot for all the responses/feedback.

K
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This is my last comment on this thread.

In recent memory, there has only been ONE case on this forum that I can think of where a Smart Meter in Credit Mode totally failed due to something messing up with Smart functionality. That was around October/November last year and even then, the supply remained active. I happened to be visiting OVO’s Bristol HQ that week and asked one of the internal experts for a diagnosis by showing him the thread. We came to the conclusion it probably died as a result of firmware corruption, but the Metrology Processor and therefore Metrology Firmware managed to remain alive to enough of an extent to keep the supply on.

That meter was replaced as faulty but the customer wasn’t disrupted in the meantime.

There’s tons of tricks that help with this. The manual I gave you documents some of them.

Also, thanks a lot for the quick response you have given in the other thread regarding smart meters. That was quite helpful. 

R
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Phoned ovo yesterday about faulty meter and got told an engineer will be around within 4hrs, I’m a vulnerable person and have had no heating or hot water for 48hrs now.
Why is there not a 24-7 phone number to talk to someone?

you only find out how good a company is when you have an issue and clearly now I’ve read the forum and feedback I’m probably going to change suppliers as I need a reliable energy supplier. 

Blastoise186
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It’s not just OVO that are closed on a Sunday and have limited weekend service - just about all suppliers are the same. But it is changing as of December.

If you’re off supply for electric, call 105 and your DNO will assist.

The forum is not a good place to use for a decision like that - many OVO customers are perfectly happy but never post here. 99% of posts are from people who have a question, want to rant/moan or have a problem.

Securing energy by zapping security bugs... For that is The Blastoise Way!
D

No gas supply, gas meter displays error message FAILED and it’s out of opening hours with no way of getting help

Jeffus
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Hi @Davison01 

I don't work for ovo, I am just a customer like you 

Unfortunately there is no out of hours phone number for gas

If it happens again outside hours try a direct message via the official ovo Facebook or Twitter/X. Include your name, address, date of birth and account number to get pass security. You may then get a reply out of hours via these routes

https://www.facebook.com/ovoenergy

 

Hope you get sorted soon when ovo open this morning 

https://www.ovoenergy.com/help#contact_us_container

If you post how you get on it may help other customers in a similar situation in the future 

Abby_OVO
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Hey @Davison01 

 

Sorry to hear about this.

 

Jeffus has left some good advice about the use of social media, but all contact channels are now open.

 

Have you been in touch with someone about the issue this morning?

Location: Electric Avenue
A
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It’s Saturday 30th December 2023. The gas smart meter screen is blank, the local gas engineer says the valve is open but no gas going to house. The online account information telephone number is closed until Tuesday, the alternative number 03303035063 adviser says they cannot help as it is a meter fault that ovo need to sort. The online account smart meter check questions are not relevant when the screen is blank - it’s obviously not working! I have MS and am a priority customer but there is no immediate contact emergency number for me to use that I can see, just how to register and sign up! I am stuck now with no heating, cooking facilities, hot water etc. why can I not ring someone to come and help me before next Tuesday, even though it’s the holiday period? What can I do to resolve this asap, I am cold and really struggling with my ms in this cold house. Just tell me what to do………

J
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I am new to the forums, and don’t have much knowledge, but a year ago someone had a similar problem, and the advice they got might be useful to you.

 

You might want to try the  Facebook or Twitter avenues ASAP, incase someone is monitoring them now.

I hope this helps. 

A
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Thank you Joanx will have a look

Jeffus
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@Anitaking try sending a direct message on twitter as well as a general post.

Along with your direct message include your name, address, phone number, account number and date of birth to get pass security. Clearly don't include this in a general post. Include the word Emergency in your description of the situation.

If you are lucky someone may pick it up.

Else try the blue button for Facebook messenger you should see 

 

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