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Rate on my Pipit IHD incorrect

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  • ALH
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A rant!

 

On 21 November I telephoned OVO to say that the gas energy rate showing on my PIPIT home display was incorrect and as a result it was difficult to keep a continuous check on my usage.  I was told that ‘the team’ would be notified and that they would get back to me by phone or email.  A month later, having heard nothing, I contacted OVO again on Live Chat I contacted OVO again through.  I was told that I had to wait 43 days from the date of my first contact to allow time for ‘the team’ to contact me!? Yesterday, 50 days after my first contact and still having heard nothing I contacted OVO again by Live Chat.  Having gone through another barrage of questions and explaining exactly what I told them on 21 November I was told that ‘the team’ would be notified.  They were supposed to have been notified on 21 November!!!   I left British Gas because of imilar issues with their customer service.  On another note, when using Live Chat you have to answer a series of automated questions.  Having done all that a message comes up to say you are in a queue.  Having waited up to 30 minutes for a real person to come online they start by asking the same question that you have already answered and then disappear for another 15-20 minutes!!!  Hope you haven’t got a headache reading this!

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Best answer by Tim_OVO 13 January 2023, 13:44

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Welcome to OVO  :)

Tim_OVO
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Hi @ALH and thanks for flagging this experience. I’m sorry to hear about the delay.

 

Usually there’s a specific command to the smart meters that OVO can do, which will correct any wrong prices showing on the meters or the In Home Display. Hopefully the team pick up this request for you soon, although my understanding was that a frontline agent could do this for you... 

 

In the meantime please be aware of the great ways to view your usage and costs. The OVO online account’s daily usage section (your smart meters will need to send us half hourly readings) are here: https://account.ovoenergy.com/usage?datePeriod=daily&unit=kwh

 

There’s also free third party apps you can use:

 

 

Carbon neutral - we need a community to get there! My green tech: Aclara SGM 1411-B smart meter, Chameleon IHD6
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I have to check my online account daily bcause the home display is incorrect.  However, being able to see what you are using in real time and not the day after is the purpose of the display.  Don’t use smarphone etc, so no apps here …………..

Emmanuelle_OVO
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Hey @ALH,

 

Sorry for the issues you’re having,

 

It sounds like the issue is with your smart meters themselves @ALH, can you take a look at this guide to check please:

 

 

Renewable Energy? Big Fan.
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How would thaty affect what my PIPIT display shows?

Tim_OVO
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Hi @ALH 

 

The smart meter gets sent your tariff information from your supplier, which sends this to the In Home Display (IHD) along with your usage info. So the team that have been sent the details of your issue will likely first check that the tariff on the smart meter is correct. 

 

I’m sorry it’s taken so long and still ongoing. Hopefully you won’t need to wait too much longer. 

 

being able to see what you are using in real time and not the day after is the purpose of the display.  Don’t use smarphone etc, so no apps here …………..

 

You’re correct in saying that the IHD is the place for live (real time) usage when it’s working correctly.

 

 

Carbon neutral - we need a community to get there! My green tech: Aclara SGM 1411-B smart meter, Chameleon IHD6
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Couldn’t find what I was looking for in the link provided.  However, having searched online and found out how to check the tariff showing on the smart meter it does indeed show the incorrect figure - the same as the home display.  Unfortunately I can’t find out how to change the tariff on the meter - yet.

 

Jeffus
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Couldn’t find what I was looking for in the link provided.  However, having searched online and found out how to check the tariff showing on the smart meter it does indeed show the incorrect figure - the same as the home display.  Unfortunately I can’t find out how to change the tariff on the meter - yet.

 

@ALH you may already know this, in normal circumstances asking the OVO Support Team to issue the SMETS command Update Tariff Configuration will then refresh the tariff info on both the smart meter and the IHD. Have you tried asking them to do that? 

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Pretty sure I mentioned that in my phone call to OVO on 21 November.  However, I decided to try again today by Live Chat.  Waited almost an hour to be informed that there was nothing that could be done until 45 working days had elapsed from my first contact!  

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Sure there is a way of manually changing the amount on the smart meter but haven’t been able to find out how to do it.

Jeffus
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Pretty sure I mentioned that in my phone call to OVO on 21 November.  However, I decided to try again today by Live Chat.  Waited almost an hour to be informed that there was nothing that could be done until 45 working days had elapsed from my first contact!  

@Emmanuelle_OVO @Tim_OVO Must say am surprised that the Support Team couldn't at least arrange for the SMETS command to be issued, even given the ongoing case? 

What do you think? Seems the simple check may not have been done to see if this fixes the issue? 

 

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I’m appalled by the seemingly lack of interest to be honest! 

Blastoise186
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Heya!

I’m one of the volunteers here who specialises in this stuff. I can’t make the change myself, but I spotted a question I can answer.

Sure there is a way of manually changing the amount on the smart meter but haven’t been able to find out how to do it.

Not an option I’m afraid. Those same rates are used for calculating how much to charge when you’re on Prepayment Tariffs, so if you could arbitrarily change them yourself freely on the meters themselves, there’d be nothing stopping you from making it 0p/Day Standing Charge and/or 0p/kWh Unit Rate.

Only the supplier can make that change.

Securing energy by zapping security bugs... For that is The Blastoise Way!
Emmanuelle_OVO
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Hey @Jeffus,

 

It depends if @ALH has an issue with his meters themselves, which I am assuming given the timeframe provided by Support. 

 

If the meter isn’t in communication with us the IHD won’t be working, the best way to see usage information would be through the Online Account where the manually inputted meter reads would bill to the accurate rates. 

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Jeffus
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Hey @Jeffus,

 

It depends if @ALH has an issue with his meters themselves, which I am assuming given the timeframe provided by Support. 

 

If the meter isn’t in communication with us the IHD won’t be working, the best way to see usage information would be through the Online Account where the manually inputted meter reads would bill to the accurate rates. 

Fair comments @Emmanuelle_OVO 

Personally i would have tried issuing the command to see if that helps. No harm in trying i would have thought and it might save a lot of time and effort. But obviously i don't have all the details. 

The meter is communicating with the  IHD and ovo. The readings are getting to ovo and the ihd. It looks like it is simply the gas tariff that isn't updating on the meter and hence the ihd. The electricity tariff is getting to the meter and ihd correctly. 

We often suggest that to customers, you  mentioned it in this thread as well i see. 

We have seen a variety of responses from the Support Team when customers mention the command. It is obviously difficult to know why as we don't have all the details. 

I assume it makes sense to still recommend it? 

 

 

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The meter must be communicating with the home display as it shows what I’m using in both KWs and cost.  It’s just that the gas unit rate is incorrect - the KW figure is correct as I can confirm that by checking the previous days usage on the display against that in my online account.  The difference is that the online account uses the correct unit cost whilst the home display is about 2p per unit less.

juliamc
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Sorry to jump in here but is that vat ?

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No.  The correct rate is 9.41p plus VAT.  The display is showing 7.434

Jeffus
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The meter must be communicating with the home display as it shows what I’m using in both KWs and cost.  It’s just that the gas unit rate is incorrect - the KW figure is correct as I can confirm that by checking the previous days usage on the display against that in my online account.  The difference is that the online account uses the correct unit cost whilst the home display is about 2p per unit less.

Yep. The IHD seems to be communicating fine with the smart meter, but until the tariff is updated on the smart meter, so the correct tariff won't appear on the IHD. 

Is the electric rate ok? 

I doubt there is anything more we can suggest other than waiting the 45 days now. 

The costs on the IHD should include VAT and the standing charges.

The costs on the plan page on the ovo account don't include vat. 

The costs on the usage page on the ovo account don't include vat or standing charges.

Am only posting this for others benefit who may read the thread. 

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The electricity display is correct and includes daily charge and VAT.  daily charge and VAT not included in online usage - correct.

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Yesterday’s gas cost, including daily charge and VAT (online) was £7.09.  Display shows £5.45.

KWs used is the same on display and online.

Jeffus
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Are you getting daily smart meter readings on your account? Does it say smart next to every day. Just double checking there are no estimates anywhere. That would help confirm to ovo there are no issues communicating with your meter for gas. 

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

 

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Yes, smart next to all readings, including gas 

Jeffus
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@ALH you could send ovo a link to this thread so they can see what we have been through in terms of questions.

https://forum.ovoenergy.com/smart-meters-136/complaint-13446

You don't need to phone them. 

Simply send them a private message on twitter or Facebook which are official ovo support channels. The staff there can access your account. 

You need to include your name, address, account number and date of birth in the private message, along with your message. You could also try again and see if they will try the SMETS Command Update Tariff Configuration just in case it will work. 

You may still have to wait the 45 days but may be worth trying assuming you are ok with Facebook or twitter

Good luck and let us know how you get on and if there is anything else we can try and help with. 

 

 

 

Tim_OVO
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@ALH I agree that unless there’s some details that we aren’t aware of (which is very possible) the agent should be able to request the SMETS Command Update Tariff Configuration. Let us know how it goes via social media. There’s one more lever I can pull if need be...

Carbon neutral - we need a community to get there! My green tech: Aclara SGM 1411-B smart meter, Chameleon IHD6

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