Thanks for posting this topic - it’s a shame to hear about this smart meter battery issue, and the high phone bill you’ve received.

All gas meters 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's likely that the battery is low and the meter will need replacing free of charge. Reach out to our Support team to arrange this.
 

Calling our Support team should be charged at a local rate, so we’re sorry to hear you were charged more than expected.  It sounds like you may have found a premium number which re-directed you to our contact centre. These can often appear when using google to search for a company’s number and we’re unable to guarantee the rates these unofficial numbers charge. We’d always advise using our website to locate the contact number in future as this is the only number we can guarantee.

  
If your smart gas meter is making a strange sound that isn’t beeping, see this topic for what it is and what to do.

You can also find a full guide on meter faults here.