I'm still waiting for an engineer to fix my smart meter so it can give readings

I'm sorry no one else has yet responded.

It is frustrating the the Energy Suppliers have to rely on the availability and efficiency of a plethora of 3rd party installers to work on Smart Meters. I'd really like to know what level of choice and oversight OVO have on this matter. Could a Moderator enlighten us?

In the situation you describe, it isn't possible to tell whether it's OVO or Lowri Beck who have slipped up. I would've thought that OVO's Customer Services would have instant access to a database showing the progress of your job. The fact that they asked you to call Lowri Beck suggests an IT failure rather than an OVO employee being difficult.

I heard yesterday from a non-OVO customer who moved into a house with a 12-month old Smart Meter which seemed to have a new earth cable to an external copper rod. Not only did the stake not have an accessible test-point (which is mandatory), but the sub-station is "PME" which means that the earth is provided through the incoming cable. The house shouldn't have its own earth connection.

A qualified electrician confirmed this layout shouldn't exist because if there is a neutral fault in the underground cable, then houses downstream of that fault have their mains supply floating, making metal appliances "live" at up to half the supply voltage. The earth was therefore disconnected.

Now we find that the house is indeed floating! A multimeter between the concrete ground floor and the house wiring "earth" reads 110v !

Instead of putting in an improperly-installed earth stake, the Smart Meter installer should've informed the DNO that he'd detected an earth fault. After all, they're the ones paid to maintain the grid.

But I believe that Smart Meter installers are not required to be qualified to the level required to be a domestic electrician. They don't issue test certification, and don't appear to be answerable for potentially life-threatening mistakes, even if the homeowner believes something is wrong.

So I too would like to hear what control OVO have over those who they commission to install and check Smart Meter installations. Is it just administrative? Or are these companies required to actually file technical reports on the jobs they are being sent to do?

Hi @bella1690; Yes, I take your point.

I'm still suggesting that there appears to a deficiency in the IT methods being used to get Smart Meter engineers to a site. It seems to me inadequate for OVO to simply send a message to LB giving details of your job.

I feel there should be a bi-directional communication. OVO's CS Team should be able to look on their database and see

• an acknowledgement from LB with a date/time stamp on it
• an update from LB to give an approximate date for the job
• an alert flag to highlight that 8 weeks is almost up and there's no completion date yet posted by LB

etc.

This would give CS a fighting chance of actually providing you with the Service that you're expecting!

If they're left looking at a computer which simply gives them the date that LB was told to attend your site, then they don't even know whether the original message has been received.

In the case of the unsafe meter-installation I was referring to, I discovered that there was no feedback or report from the Meter Engineer to that company (not OVO) which had sent him to site in the first place. So the Energy Supply Company was completely unaware that he'd not only installed a meter, but also a completely new earth-system.

It's the general lack of computerised job-management which I find bizarre.

After all, the customer's contract is only with their Energy Supplier. We have no control over the Meter Engineer's Company (LB in your case). So we are left totally reliant on the Energy Supplier to effectively manage the work which is required. I can't see how that can be expected to happen if OVO can't even check whether LB have you somewhere on their "jobs to do" list!

Frustrating!

Good response, @Nancy_OVO.
I hope this isn't now going to take another 8 weeks! Please @bella1690 let us know when you have the engineer visit and actually get the Smart Meter working.

Great news to hear that OVO are wanting to train your own engineers. That's no mean feat to try and cover the entire country. However, I think you really must make the SM Installation Engineers directly accountable to OVO.

Firstly, your current database seems to be providing Cust Service with naff-all information on the status of site visits. I wonder if you even receive test results from meter installations? And yet there are safety issues to be evaluated, and the SM installations are being undertaken under a contract with OVO, rather than your customer.

This currently leaves the customer in a very weak position.

Secondly, as OVO extends its portfolio into the realms of Li-ion Home Batteries and EV's, you really do need site installers who also adequately check the bi-directional communications between the equipment and OVO's in-house computers.

• Electricity/Gas SM interaction (2.4GHz?)
• In-house display
• Smart Meter to/fro DCC (GSM network)
• XStorage battery to home WiFi
• WiFi router to OVO's battery management mainframe
• App control for managing Home-battery and EV charge timeframes

This network all has to hang together, and really does require an OVO in-house team to take full responsibility.

If you do need to use 3rd parties to cover remote areas, surely you would be better to recruit existing domestic electrical contractors who not only know their locality, but are also already qualified to work around meters and distribution boards. They could include OVO meter installations as an additional service within their business, and they'd be able to provide safety test certificates (which your existing 3rd party SM installers can't do!)

Need to complain now as private messaged Ovo as per Nancy but not heard a thing, it is really worrying me to the point that I am not sure my gas smart metre is not safe!!

Thank you for your advice - will keep you posted

Hi Sorry for not responding sooner but all is now resolved as engineer called 28th March to enable metres to talk to each other. Only problem was that the engineer said I would be able to view usage once they sync....however this was not possible as can only see from 28.3.18.
But one happy customer now - thanks for all your responses and information

yes it was however the first guy did not finish the job correctly - he no longer works for the company apparently lol

Ah... and that's another reason why we'd like OVO to have their own team of Meter Installers!

We do - we use a range of engineers from Lowri Beck, OVO and SMS. 🙂

Hey @BrianB,

As frustrating as it sounds we are doing all we can to get this rectified as quickly as we can. If you've been in touch with our team and they have advised you are down for a revisit, we will be in touch with you as soon as there is an available appointment.

I've changed the title of your question and added some tags, to help other users find the topic.

Thanks!