I’ve recently had a electricity smart meter installed and within the first day it was switched from Pay Monthly to Prepay Mode with no authorisation from me. I mentioned to the installer that OVO had recently sent me a “top up” card, and I had contacted them, and they agreed this was a mistake.
The installer showed me that the meter was in “Credit Mode” but did warn me he had had other customers that had been put into “Prepay mode” without their consent.
As mentioned, after a day, I have ended up in PrePay Mode, running out of emergency credit. After nearly 6 hours of web chat they have tried switching me to Credit mode twice, giving me codes to type in to the meter to add credit (but all come back with CRC Error). It’s been ridiculous.
What are my legal rights in this? I have no faith they will be able to restore it to credit mode, I have no faith it will STAY in that mode either! I want to go back to a traditional meter with the stress this has caused. If my meter finally “runs out” tomorrow and I am cut off I will also lose earnings as my work is from home.
Has anyone else had a similar problem?
Switched to PAYG by mistake. Hours spent trying to switch back! - NO SUCCESS!
Best answer by Lukepeniket_OVO
Has your IHD changed at all I.e. no longer showing a credit amount rather an amount used so far today? A photo would be good :-) 😀
If they don’t sort it our soon, just call another supplier and switch. New suppliers (not just energy) tend to be a lot more proactive in sorting out problems as they are winning new business.
I’m in a fixed contract for circa 8 months. I wonder if there is an exit clause for me if fault on their side?
+1- Plan Zero Hero
- 7867 replies
I’m afraid a downgrade to Traditional Meters won’t be possible - once the upgrade is done, there’s no going back.
I’d suggest reviewing your options at https://ovoenergy.com/feedback which is the best way to handle this. Punching codes into the Meter will NOT do anything to get you back on PAYM. Worth noting that technically, legal action and exit clauses probably aren’t the right move here - the Complaints Process is a lot faster and arguably cheaper.
Morning!!
Hey
It sounds like your meter mode has been changed in error. I’m really sorry, it sounds very frustrating.
Please contact the support team & they’ll be able to change your meter mode back remotely.
Has your IHD changed at all I.e. no longer showing a credit amount rather an amount used so far today? A photo would be good :-) 😀
My meter as at 11:07am 11/03/25!
There have been 3 attempts so far to change it to Credit remotely not including your attempt. Non have worked.
I have been denied an emergency appointment from someone in PAYG team as I am still on supply.
Well £2 left and then I’ll be off. The whole thing is fascicle.
Thanks for trying to help!
Does the particulars of the meter make any difference to the commands sent to it?
This is a 3-phase meter, I am wondering if that has any bearing on the attempted updates.
+1- Plan Zero Hero
- 7867 replies
Three-Phase wouldn’t be relevant.
Luke is on the case - he will get this resolved for you.
a mode change has been actioned and the advisor is going to tell me when it's done
every attempt so far I’ve been left “Pending”.
or as the last advisor worded it:
Nomfundo in PAYG Team 10/03/25 15:16
The mode change has failed again.
A payment mode change failed
A recent mode change was not successfully applied to this meter.
+1- Plan Zero Hero
- 7867 replies
Hmm… Sounds like a fault with that specific meter. If the mode switch continues to fail, Luke did say he can try to get an emergency meter exchange - this would still likely be a Smart Meter, but it’d be another one which hopefully won’t have this issue.
Hey
It sounds like your meter mode has been changed in error. I’m really sorry, it sounds very frustrating.
Please contact the support team & they’ll be able to change your meter mode back remotely.
I’ve already been on the webchat for probably over 7-8 hours in total now.
There have been:
- Multiple attempts to change to Credit
- Multiple attempts to add top-up codes to buy me more time (all failed on ‘Invalid CRC’ errors)
- Multiple requests from me to get an emergency engineer out
...and so far, nothing has worked.
To compound all that, it’s a whole load of stress for me and my family, and I am losing money through not working while trying to solve it. ! agh!
+1- Plan Zero Hero
- 7867 replies
Please allow Luke a chance to intervene. He has faster methods than what you can normally use and it sounds like he’s watching this one closely.
Hmm… Sounds like a fault with that specific meter. If the mode switch continues to fail, Luke did say he can try to get an emergency meter exchange - this would still likely be a Smart Meter, but it’d be another one which hopefully won’t have this issue.
The engineer that fitted it was waiting and waiting for the IHD to show anything about the meter (it took until around 20 hours later to show ANYTHING other than a “getting data” type message). While he was waiting, he started to mention that “usually these are dead quick to connect” and started telling me about some proprietary radio network that they work on. He was saying that where I am (south east of Manchester) is the “edge” of the network.
When I told him that OVO had sent me a top-up card which they later said was sent in error, he began to tell me about meters that had been put into prepay by mistake, and times where he was asked to replace a meter because they could not change it back to Credit remotely.
I joked that “I hope that’s not me”…. and here I am riddled with stress that my electric is about to get cut off and I have my family to worry about on a particularly cold night!
Please allow Luke a chance to intervene. He has faster methods than what you can normally use and it sounds like he’s watching this one closely.
Yep, I will do.
I’m just adding any further information I think could be relevant as I sit here worrying and unable to concentrate on my actual work! ha.
+1- Plan Zero Hero
- 7867 replies
Manchester is on the border between the Northern and Southern Territories, meaning some installs might use the Arqiva Comms Hubs, while others might run on Telefonica.
If you can tell me whether it has EDMI, Toshiba or WNC on it, I can tell you which network your setup is on.
If you can tell me whether it has EDMI, Toshiba or WNC on it, I can tell you which network your setup is on.
It says EDMI on it.
More information:
My WAN and HAN lights are flashing once every 5 seconds, which I believe is good.
I am still in prepay mode, as I drop below £2 EC!
Did you say you could organise an emergency engineer to come out?
It would be very helpful if you could, or the family will have a cold night tonight! 😨
Thank your customer for booking the appointment with us – and let them know an engineer from MDS will be round between 15:07 and 18:07 on 11/03/2025
They are en route!! Apologies for all this
Thanks for your help though. I am now trying to get OVO to get someone out who can actually solve their mess. EDIT: but it appears they are not available to handle enquiries at this time.
+1- Plan Zero Hero
- 7867 replies
You’re now in Friendly Credit hours, so your power should stay on overnight even if the credit runs out. It will remain on until 9am tomorrow.
My issue is, that even if the power goes off at 9am I will immediately be losing money as I have equipment here that is vital to my business staying open. A server being the key thing!
Swapping to a smart meter was the stupidest idea I ever had!
+1- Plan Zero Hero
- 7867 replies
If you lose power, call 105 and the DNO might be able to get you back on.
This is a rare issue - I’ve never seen it before and we’ve seen tons of Smart Meters on this Forum.
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