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How long is the wait to have a smart meter fitted?

  • 27 September 2017
  • 20 replies
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  • RobC2
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I am a new OVO customer and already have a Gen 1 smart meter fitted by my previous supplier who fitted it in about an hour, therefore there should be no issues of site suitability etc.
I rang OVO to apply for a smart meter and was told they would put me on a waiting list for a cancellation in my area as the allocation is currently but full in the meantime I should watch my online account for an offer to fit.
Does this mean I still need to officially apply or that the application for a cancellation installation means I have now applied?
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Best answer by Lucy_OVO 11 October 2017, 15:23

Thanks for that stateofit, have done what you suggest and asked for a cancellation booking but I still don't have any idea on how long I will have to wait for an appointment!
'We are not currently in your area' could mean they are only in my area once per blue moon, or will never get here until the rest of the country is completed.

Hey RobC2. It will mean that we don’t have any trained engineers installing smart meters in your area at the moment.

We’re continuously training and rolling out more engineers to cover a wider area, but I imagine that there won't be any engineers in your area until next year at the earliest.

Lucy
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20 replies

stateofit
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There's a link to the booking platform, so you can watch for an appointment yourself :)

type the following into your browser :

If you're on Bills :

smart.ovoenergy.com/credit

It asks your for account number and postcode and a couple of other details, and then should show you a calendar, with available slots...
You can't have everything. Where would you put it...?
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Thanks for that stateofit, have done what you suggest and asked for a cancellation booking but I still don't have any idea on how long I will have to wait for an appointment!
'We are not currently in your area' could mean they are only in my area once per blue moon, or will never get here until the rest of the country is completed.
Lucy_OVO
Userlevel 5
Thanks for that stateofit, have done what you suggest and asked for a cancellation booking but I still don't have any idea on how long I will have to wait for an appointment!
'We are not currently in your area' could mean they are only in my area once per blue moon, or will never get here until the rest of the country is completed.

Hey RobC2. It will mean that we don’t have any trained engineers installing smart meters in your area at the moment.

We’re continuously training and rolling out more engineers to cover a wider area, but I imagine that there won't be any engineers in your area until next year at the earliest.

Lucy
You guys know what’s watt
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That's what I feared Lucy!
Next year could well mean I might have to wait until December 2018!
The other thing is that my current BG very smart looking smart meter monitor is actually 'less smart' than my daughters BG not so smart looking BG monitor because hers is still monitoring her OVO usage while mine is dead!
Tim_OVO
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Userlevel 7
That's what I feared Lucy!
Next year could well mean I might have to wait until December 2018!
The other thing is that my current BG very smart looking smart meter monitor is actually 'less smart' than my daughters BG not so smart looking BG monitor because hers is still monitoring her OVO usage while mine is dead!

I'm not sure how that BG monitor works, @RobC2 - might need to ask them directly about whether it will still work when on supply with OVO.

^Tim
Carbon neutral - we need a community to get there!
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When I contracted to OVO last September they promised that once I had signed for a dual fuel contract they would fit new smart meters as the existing British Gas smart meters would not work with OVO.
After over six months of continual emails and telephone calls in which they fob me off with feeble excuses of just how busy they are in my area (DOVER). They keep saying that they will put me on their fitting list which has a two months waiting period but two months come and go but no smart meter ever gets fitted. We are pensioners with mobility problems and I have told them that I can't get down into the cellar to read the meter any more but they just keep sending emails asking for the meter readings and now totally ignore my requests for smart meters.
What a poor show from OVO!
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Sorry to here of your plight DJB, I'm in Deal & I felt the same when I just kept getting the answer that they 'don't have engineers in your area at the moment' which I now believe simply means 'we are trying to get to you', it would be more reassuring to individuals if they just said that as 'not in your area' gives the impression they might as well be in Timbuctoo!
I take it you have filled out the online form agreeing to an anytime cancellation, if not do it now.
I did that and after a few weeks got a 'cancellation appointment' notice of a couple of days when I accepted the first appointment offered & cancelled other things I had on.
Other than that I'm afraid you will just have to keep badgering them.
Transparent
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Hmm, @DJB Dover. I don't think that's how the Smart Meter system works. I'm a fellow customer, but may I please clarify a couple of points?

1. It is true that there aren't enough Smart Meter installers to go around. It may not be immediately obvious, but they need considerable training/awareness. Often they get asked to install meters in locations where something else isn't right with the electricity and/or gas feed to a property.

They have to cope with houses that don't have safety earth-bonding to the gas main, or where the electricity earth is a tiny piece of brass wire looped around an old lead water pipe! It is also common for them to discover incorrect fusing and damaged wires.

There's a heck of a lot to think about, and it is vital that installations are left in a safe condition, regardless of the previous situation. It's not just a matter of replacing one meter with another (as it appears to be at your house).

2. I've never previously heard of a customer (of any Energy Supplier) being given an exchange of one physical Smart Meter with another of the same SMETS1 standard.

It is true that the "language" spoken by SMETS1 meters varies from one Supplier to another. So the "correct" solution is to perform a software change, upgrading the existing meter to the new SMETS2 protocols. This new standard can be universally understood by all Energy Supply Companies.

SMETS2 isn't yet being released. The main software has been tested and works. But... it hasn't yet obtained Certification. Much of this is related to the need to protect the UK Energy Supply market from being hacked. No one is going to be installing SMETS2 until we are certain that 3rd parties cannot illegally interrupt supplies or alter your settings.


In your situation, it doesn't make sense to me that you would want to swap one SMETS1 meter for another. We expect SMETS2 to be released before the end of 2018, and this is the obvious solution for you.

In the meantime, if you are having difficulty reading a meter, may I ask if you are on the Priority Services Register with OVO?

If not, say so here and I'll explain more.

I hope that helps.
Save energy... recycle electrons!
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Sorry “Transparent” (Ninja)? But IMO you have not in any way helped DJB by blogging the correct technical problems & training associated with smart meter fitting.

DJB simply wants to know why he or she has not had a smart meter fitted after 6 months of complaining. I’m sure it would have been mentioned if technical difficulties at DJB’s address had been previously identified.

Now that my smart meter has been fitted less than three months after signing up to them, I am a very happy OVO customer but would still be unhappy if like DJB I was still waiting after six months.
Like in my last post I hinted that “not in your area” is a bit of a fob off......ie. what is an AREA & when are they going to be in MY AREA is more to the point?
In my case I had signed up for a cancellation & from memory I think I was finally offered a slot in one of three consecutive days, the first slot being in only three days time so I jumped at the first day & slot without hesitation.
As it happened the fitter identified a technical problem which would normally have prevented him fitting my gas meter but to his credit he spent 15 minutes on his mobile telephone in obtaining permission from the gas network people to go ahead when they came two days later & fixed the problem to which they had been alerted.
So overall in my case a job well done...thanks OVO...but try to help DJB by changing your unintended policy of keeping customers guessing!
Transparent
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@RobC2,

My Point-1 addresses why there are such long delays in getting Installers.
It doesn't mention anything about technical issues at @DJB Dover's house.

The rest of my posting is suggesting two matters he may not have considered, both of which are relevant:
  • An upgrade to SMETS2 rather than requesting that OVO replace an entire meter
  • The enhanced support for PSR Customers

I have no policy of keeping other customers guessing anything.
Save energy... recycle electrons!
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Just to clarify matters I just want smart meters as was promised when I took out the contract with OVO. They said they would fit one once I was under contract NOT some time after 6 months!
The remarks made by Transparent Ninja are quite ridiculous and appear to be defending OVO almost to the point of being a member of their staff. I never once said that I wanted to swap a SMETS1 for a SMETS2 as I haven't a clue what they are so your assumptions are way off.
I already had British Gas smart meters in my house so please don't assume that there was any problem in fitting smart meters I was just being fobbed off. OVO told me that their system won't work with British Gas meters so that is why they promised to switch over the meters as soon as I became under contract.
However, there is a positive outcome. I managed to get the email address of the OVO MD and wrote directly to him outlining the problem and hey presto I got a telephone call the very next day to say that my complaint was being dealt with immediately and they made an appointment to fit smart meters for me next week.
So Transparent Ninja feed that into your SMETS1 & SMETS2 bumf and think again.
Lucy_OVO
Userlevel 5
Thanks for helping out here @Transparent.

@RobC2 @DJB Dover I'm really sorry if you didn't find @Transparent comments helpful.

Smart meter availability can vary from region to region and I'm glad to hear that you've managed to get an appointment now @DJB Dover.

I would strongly advise speaking with our Social team further about this @RobC2 to see if they can give an up to date time frame on the waiting time for a smart meter.

Lucy
You guys know what’s watt
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How much better it could have been if you had got DJB the appointment Lucy-OVO!
Yes I know the company don’t give you that authority but hopefully they DO listen to you!

So glad to hear you have it ‘almost finally’ sorted DJB!

Don’t hold your breath after installation, my OVO smart meter has been in for exactly two calendar months now & my bill has not been updated yet.
I assume (to assume makes, An-aSS-of-U-and ME) it will be updated at the end of a quarterly period that I’m not yet aware of?

I don’t know how it happened but I was somehow invited via OVO to ‘Help’ on DJB’s comments & post. As a none believer in social media & one who rarely comments on forums I’m so glad to be out of this now because I could feel myself becoming sucked into the Black Hole!
I still have plenty to say on this subject but have thought better of it because in my very long experience of life I have found the vast majority of companies only pay lip service in listening, I hope OVO are not one of them but how can one ever tell?
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Hi
I recently switched to OVO and wanted to get a SMETS2 smart meter fitted. Checked online and all it says is that there are no appointments available in my area. It's quite a rural area where I live (LD3 postcode), so how long am I likely to need to wait before getting an appointment ?
Thanks.
Nancy_OVO
Userlevel 6
Hey @Chainsawuser - I've moved your post over here where you should be able to keep up to speed with news on SMETS2!

Hope this helps!
Your guiding light(bulb)
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Does anyone else know the absolute maximum time you have to wait for a Smart Meter to be fitted?
Ovo say around 6 weeks, give or take a few weeks for engineers to be located 'in the area.' I would have thought 8 weeks would have been enough?
Mine was ordered by e-mail on 10.7.18, not as much as a call back yet. Perhaps the moderator could intervene? I don't want to lose my monthly rebate for asking a question as simple as this.
Others in our estate (seemingly not with Ovo) seem to gloating with theirs, so its not as if these 1G meters do not work in our neck of the woods. Obviously, if I am going to wait 6 months or more, the G2 meters seem more attractive long term, but how long do I wait? Any advice for a savvy OAP eager to join the meter revolution before its too late? 😃
Eva_OVO
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We already had a topic on this, @Crafyrose, so I've moved your query over here.

Availability is different in every area, so there's no way of knowing how long it will be until there's an appointment available to book.

We can arrange for our Smart Outbound team to call you when an appointment comes up in your area, just send us a message on Facebook or Twitter to do this. You'll need to confirm your name, DoB and account number.

If you don't use social media, just send our Customer Care team a message using our online chat, you can access this through the Help Centre.


Eva

My friend told me how electricity is measured and I was like Watt!
Transparent
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Although I mostly write on the Forum about Smart Meters and associated technology, @Crafyrose, I too don't yet have one!

It doesn't surprise me that there are few installation-slots available in rural areas like we live in. Energy Suppliers are trying to hit Government-imposed targets which are impossibly high, and take no account of the 6-months delay in ratifying the SMETS2 standards.

There may be factors outside of OVO's control which still prevent them installing as many SMETS2 meters as they'd like. I have no idea if the manufacturers are able to supply them in sufficient quantity, for example. There's no point in OVO training more engineers than they have meters available to fit!

Personally, I wouldn't now want a SMETS1 meter. And most of the functionality added for SMETS2 isn't yet attainable because the matching bits of the jigsaw aren't yet released. These include:
  • Half-hour variable tariff
  • Vehicle-to-Grid and Home Storage reselling
  • In-Home-Device that facilitates price-per-unit preferences
  • Smart washing-machine / dish-washer etc

So I'm currently content to wait.

Is there something in particular which you are wanting to achieve with a Smart Meter, @Crafyrose?
Save energy... recycle electrons!
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So Transparent, that all makes it right to wait does it? I didn't realise one had to give reasons as to why I want a smart meter. That should be obvious.

Sounds to me as if you are some sort of moderator chiming in, who offers neither real world advice or an action plan to get anything done.

Sorry, but I'm not on here to chit chat, I want to find out how long I am to wait, and if its too long, I'll look elsewhere.
Transparent
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Apologies @Crafyrose, but I am a fellow customer like you.

This Forum can't answer your question about how long any individual customer has to wait. That's entirely governed by direct communications between you and OVO, which is why @Eva_OVO suggested it.

This is discussion Forum where we have opportunities to reply to each other.... or chit-chat, if you like.
Save energy... recycle electrons!

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