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Why has my smart gas meter battery failed? I was left off-supply over the weekend!

Forum|Forum|8 years ago
July 16, 2018
43 replies
15187 views

Hi,

Our smart meter failed over the weekend which resulted in being without gas for nearly 24hrs? Can OVO provide answers to the questions below?

1. Why did the smart meter not proactivly inform me or Ovo that the meter was about to fail ? No warning it just died and left us ( family with 2 children under 5) without gas for heating,Hot water or cooking. Not very SMART ?

2. We thought the battery life of the smart meter was on avergae 10 years? this lasted 3 at best ? engineers that have visited say that on average its 2 -3 years? Why are we being informed its 10 years ? Essentially are we looking at replacements every 3 years? Not very SMART ?

3. Upon discovering we had no gas we tried to contact OVO out of business hours... which is a challenge , number on this site and on the internet are business hours only and it took a lot of searching to actually find an emergency contact. once we did get through we were informed that there was nothing they could do till 9am the following day?? We are in a heat wave but imagine this in the middle of winter with young children and no Gas?? Not very SMART?

4. When the emergency engineer did arrive the following day to replace our SMART meter they replaced it with a pre paid card meter ? Why? We didnt have a pre paid card meter before and didint want one, we want a replacement SMART meter like the one we had before.

5. So we contact OVO again this morning and a new job is raised to replace the incorrect Pre Paid card meter that was installed yesterday. The engineer arrives.... sorry i'm a pre paid card meter engineer and I cant replace the (incorrect) pre paid card meter with a smart meter that you require. Engineer leaves and we contact OVO again... another emergency job logged. Not very SMART !

So in summary its a dreadful customer expiriance and massivly inconveniant that working familes with young kids have to face such disruption to accommodate a process that is anything but SMART !

Why are smart meter batteries failing so fast? Why can we not easily contact OVO out of hours when we have no Gas? Why are we facing potentially havIng to be subjetced the the replacement of 3 meters to get back to the orginal smart meter we need? Why cant a failed smart meter just be replaced with a new smartt meter in one emergency callout ? Engineers onsite today informed me that they carry them but cant install them?

Look forward to OVOs reponse on how this is going to be resolved and how we will be compensated for the massive disruption to a long term customer, who after this experiance will be seriously questioning if they remain with OVO.

Best answer by Nancy_OVO

Updated on 14/10/25 by Ben_OVO

First of all, I just want to say sorry for this experience and the inconvenience it's caused you and your family, it’s never nice to hear of issues occurring which leave a family off-supply.

All gas meters (smart and traditional) have an internal battery that power them. This is designed to last for up to 20 years, with a meter recertification (exchanging the meter to replace it with a new one) scheduled every 10 years, so it’s unusual for this issue to crop up so soon.

If your gas smart meter is making a beeping sound, it indicates that the battery is low and the meter will need replacing. If the battery fails this can affect the supply, so it’s important to reach out to our Support Team if you do ever notice that your meter is beeping.

It’s really distressing to hear that this happened out-of-hours and you were unable to give us a call - we do have emergency contact details here and would encourage you to use these to report any urgent issues when our phone lines are closed.

Additionally, I'm so sorry that a prepayment meter was installed during your emergency appointment. This isn’t what should have happened and I can only apologise for the hassle you’ve now had to go through to get a pay monthly gas meter replacement.

I think the best course of action would be to contact our Support Team to raise this as a complaint - this will make sure we investigate what went wrong and will provide important feedback to any internal processes that might need improving. We’ll also be able to see what we can do to put things right - getting you the right meter as quickly as we can and discussing a fair goodwill gesture to make up for the shortfalls in service you experienced.

Show previous replies

Blastoise186

Super User

I see. You’ll need to get the meter replaced. It will most likely be smart as you cannot downgrade anymore. Please contact the Support Team and they can make the request.

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Tim_OVO

OVO Forum Legend

I agree, @Rickmil - it sounds like the meter needs replacing. That warrants an emergency appointment. I’m not sure if that’s what has been booked as this means an engineer shows up that day. Please call us to report that you have a faulty meter and need an emergency engineer appointment: 0330 303 5063.

If one has already been booked, the agent should be able to check why the engineer still hasn’t arrived. This seems unlikely though...

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Rickmil

Newcomer

Finally got put through to someone who organized an engineer.took 3 days till i spoke to an operator who knew what to do got sorted within 20 mins had engineer out in 3 hrs.first 2 operators need more training.all sorted eventually

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Andy Ox

Newcomer

Gas meter was reported faulty 10 days ago as it was not updating with new readings, gas was still being supplied.

Today gas supply has stopped completely and now unable to contact OVO due to it being after 6pm. Will have to wait until tomorrow to speak to someone but looking for any advice or feedback from anyone who has had a similar issue with a faulty meter, no supply or poor customer service.

BPLightlog

Super User

You should be able to apply for an emergency meter exchange (EMEX) if you are off supply.
There are the social channels as well as the support call but of course, out of hours is always difficult.

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Emmanuelle_OVO

Retired Moderator

Hey @Andy Ox,

Really sorry to hear this,

Please contact Support and they’ll be able to book an emergency meter exchange and get someone out to you within the next 3-4 hours.

Hope this helps.

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Andy Ox

Newcomer

Hi, I have this morning had contact with OVO customer service and they have organised for a meter replacement today, the engineer is here and changing the meter. Unfortunately my electricity meter is generation 1 and not compatible with the new smart meters so he is initially fitting an older manual gas meter just to get the supply working. How do I go about getting this upgraded so I can get new smart meters fitted for both supplies.

BPLightlog

Super User

You should put in another request for a smart meter @Andy Ox and that should take care of the emergency unit. It might depend on the status of the other if that’s upgraded at the same time. SMETS1 meters are going through an upgrade process anyway and if it’s not upgradable it will be changed

https://smart-booking.ovoenergy.com/getting-started

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