Smartmeters

[Denise cran]

Hi, just wondering if anyone has faced this issue, so I was booked to have smartmeters fitted by British Gas, unfortunately I needed to change the appointment, they cancelled the old one but wouldn’t give me a new date because apparently I am not eligible for a smart meter because I have diabetes and have insulin stored in my fridge. Their reasoning is that the power will be off a short time, the whole fitting is supposed to take at most 2 hours, insulin in a fridge without the door being open will be fine, and it’s december and there is snow on the ground so it’s not mid summer. Anyway I find this discriminatory as I’m not eligible due to my diabetes, seems wrong to me. They booked it in the first place so if I hadn’t had to change my appt, they’d have been none the wiser.

 

[Vince_UK]

Hi, just wondering if anyone has faced this issue, so I was booked to have smartmeters fitted by British Gas, unfortunately I needed to change the appointment, they cancelled the old one but wouldn’t give me a new date because apparently I am not eligible for a smart meter because I have diabetes and have insulin stored in my fridge. Their reasoning is that the power will be off a short time, the whole fitting is supposed to take at most 2 hours, insulin in a fridge without the door being open will be fine, and it’s december and there is snow on the ground so it’s not mid summer. Anyway I find this discriminatory as I’m not eligible due to my diabetes, seems wrong to me. They booked it in the first place so if I hadn’t had to change my appt, they’d have been none the wiser.

Hi Denise
Forgive my ignorance hence the stupid question. How did they know you are diabetic?
If they orgininally booked the appointment I find it extremely bizarre and downright discriminatory to be honest.
Maybe worth while checking with the DiabetesUK helpline.

 

[Denise cran]

Hi Denise
Forgive my ignorance hence the stupid question. How did they know you are diabetic?
If they orgininally booked the appointment I find it extremely bizarre and downright discriminatory to be honest.
Maybe worth while checking with the DiabetesUK helpline.

Hi, that’s my point I booked the original appt, but when I had to change they asked if anyone was under 5,over 65 or had a medical condition, so obviously I said yes, I had diabetes and then they said I wasn’t eligible, they didn’t even ask these questions the first time around.

 

[Vince_UK]

Hi, that’s my point I booked the original appt, but when I had to change they asked if anyone was under 5,over 65 or had a medical condition, so obviously I said yes, I had diabetes and then they said I wasn’t eligible, they didn’t even ask these questions the first time around.

I would Check with the Helpline Denise, seems a total load of garbage. They cannot discriminate because of that I woud have thought. Another thing may be to call another supplier such as EON for example and just say you are considering changing and would like a Smart Meter and tell them you are Diabetic and just see what answer they give you . Just a thought.
My understanding is that the installation takes up to 2 hours but the power is not off 2 hours.
This needs further investigation.

 

[AJLang]

I can't begin to understand why on earth they are concerned about the electricity being off for two hours. What do they think would happen in a power cut. I had my Smartmeter fitted several years ago by British Gas with no problems with the smart meter, although I've found the meter to be a waste of time with incorrect bills etc.

 

[Denise cran]

I can't begin to understand why on earth they are concerned about the electricity being off for two hours. What do they think would happen in a power cut. I had my Smartmeter fitted several years ago by British Gas with no problems with the smart meter, although I've found the meter to be a waste of time with incorrect bills etc.

Maybe they’ve saved me the hassle then thanks for replying.

 

[trophywench]

Gordon Bennett! We've occasionally had BETTER service cos of me - we had a new meters when we moved here cos everything was ancient (elec box had fusewire fuses so we replaced that too but the lad who lived next door then was a local version of Hobie and came and did the 'tails' for us - not a DIY job however good Pete may be at DIY!)

Br Gas said we'd have to ring Transco which Pete did and breath sucked through teeth, can't come till a year next Weds week mate etc etc so Pete responded 'in kind' with the dramatic - Oh noooooooooo - my wife's disabled - that's why we're having to move to this bungalow, whatever shall we do with no heating or cooking facilities for months? and they could suddenly come a day later. This was before we moved in and Pete's bro oversaw them but noticed a marked smell of gas outside before they left so they started digging and found an old gas pipe down the side of the house that hadn't been capped off properly so also did that, and reconcreted over the trench. Success!

Did they actually ask if you kept insulin in your fridge anyway?

 

[Northerner]

Sounds like they are going overboard in trying to cover themselves! 😱 As others have recommended, I would contact the Diabetes UK Helpline and see what they say, details here:

https://www.diabetes.org.uk/how_we_help/helpline

 

[Hepato-pancreato]

Switch to sse. I seem to remember asking them how long the power would be off due to insulin being stored in fridge. Told me 2 hours maximum. I said fine my neighbour will pop them in her fridge if there was any problems. Just common sense. Seems that this day and age everyone is frightened of doing or saying the wrong thing. Where as they are discriminating instead of compromising. By the way smart meters are great for seeing how much power everyday gadgets use.

 

[mikeyB]

I wouldn’t get a smart meter to be honest. There are so many reports of bizarre readings. There’s nothing wrong with the old meters. Conspiracy theorists reckon this is just another way to fleece you, while saving them the bother of reading your meter.

 

[grovesy]

If you switch providers they are not always transferrrable either.

 

[trophywench]

No - they aren't transferrable - ours is a Scottish Power one and we haven't used them for years now cos Martin Lewis hasn't recommended them for a long time!

 

[Vince_UK]

I am fairly tech savvy but Smartmeters are something I just feel need a lot of further development and there appears to be many issues with them such as wrong billing and consumption readings.
One would suit me ideally as I travel most of the year but leave the fridge freezer on and the heating thermostat set low for cold weather and it does turn on in weather such as that being experienced now in the UK. I leave my wifi on so I can control my lights and security cameras etc. from wherever I happen to be therefore I do have some usage. Currently I have to get someone to call up and read the meter and submit the readings for me.
At the moment I have no faith in them whatsoever.

 

[Northerner]

I've got my own little device that you just clip around one of the wires and it sends data to a display 🙂

 

[Hepato-pancreato]

If you havn’t Had the meters installed switch to a company who will install them. As for transfer post switch you still can . You may need to switch meters also. Eventually everyone will be forced to have a smart meter like everything else they impose on us. My mum swore she would never have hole in wall card.No choice when pension books were scrapped. Even then you are forced to use a card in the post office.

 

[FM001]

If you switch providers they are not always transferrrable either.

That is the case with the first generation of Smartmeters which are still being installed by some company's, but there's a second generation out whereby you can freely switch between energy company's without any issues, always worth checking if the meter being installed is the SMETS II version.

 

[grovesy]

Well we have told them we don't want it.

 

[trophywench]

Wonder if they're sticking em - and water meters - in new builds automatically now?

We had a letter from Severn Trent earlier this year with an appointment to read our water meter.

What? it's under an inspection 'flap' at the road end of our drive - and we've never had a gate across the end of it since we bought the place in 1998 and it didn't have one, or evidence of one on the 'gate pillars' - brick ones, then. So Pete rang em - yep it was bollards - so ignore it!

 

[Northerner]

I like the water meters - my bill went down significantly when it changed to metered from the rates 🙂 Mind you, they did try and pull a fast one at first - My bill used to be about £27/month on the rates, but the first metered bill they sent me was asking for £60/month! 😱 I rang them up and they reduced it to £12...! 😱 🙂 I do wonder how many people didn't question it though

When my electricity meter blew up recently and they couldn't take a reading they sent me a quarterly bill that was double anything I have received for the same quarter over the past 5 years, so I called them and they are still working out what they can get away with 2 months later 🙄 They're all crooks 😡

 

[Vince_UK]

@Northerner
Crooks indeed.
Water meters are interesting.
I had a situation 3 years ago where I decided I was paying to much for my water cnsumption considering I am away most of the year, Did some checks and found I could save approx. 50% by having it metered. Simple logic, No Home = No Use Water.
So, I sent them an email requesting a meter to be installed.
Within 2 days I had a reply. Basically the reply stated that as I was in a "Special Catchment" area, whetever that means, I was entitled to "Special Rates" which tured out to be a 60% reduction on what I was paying annually at that time. WOW Methinks I'll have some of that.
It would appear I have been paying above the odds it would seem for a long time and yet if I had not requested a meter, I would have not been informed.
So I accepted their offer.
I then told all of my neighbours and they all did made the same request. Consequently, they ALL got the special rate also and yet no one had been informed of this until they requested water meters to be installed.
I also totally refuse to pay them by Direct Debit as I do not trust them at all and pay on half yearly payments and make them wait until the last day of the period.
Nothing short of disgusting ethics from the water company in my opinion, they had been overcharging for years.
Agree N, Crooks indeed.