Ev / charging cost woes

[westfield_bumble]

9 minutes ago, Stuart said:

I sent EDF a proper snottogram at 0730 today. As if by magic the multiple meter issues I'd been politely tackling them on for 3.5 months were sorted by 1pm. Just have to see if the next bill is accurate now. 

Fingers crossed

[westfield_bumble]

13 hours ago, corsechris said:

Brace yourselves….summary at the bottom if you have better things to do….
 

Had a double-reading meter situation for quite a while after I switched to Octopus. It was OK before with the previous supplier. In their defence, they did fix it. Initially by making manual billing adjustments, then by replacing the meter. It was blamed on ‘software’. 
 

The new meter was another matter though… it wouldn’t send readings reliably, so their automated system didn’t generate bills. I had to keep nagging them. That went back & forth for a very long time and I got properly grumpy on their forum, which prompted their CTO to get involved. The eventual and reliable solution, and the one I’d suggested to them more than once was to fit an aerial to the meter. Of course, that’s far too simple, so they fitted yet another new meter with a different comms module. The fitter was obviously having a bad day because the excuses started before he even came in the house. I had already prepared a location for the aerial in the loft, within reach of the meter, having done my homework and knowing what to expect as far as cable length & mounting requirements, but even then, I had to go fit the aerial because the guy didn’t want to (fully boarded & illuminated loft, with proper access). The final insult, the guy screwed up the commissioning and left with the meter not communicating. It then took about 2 more months before I finally got to speak to an “engineer”.  This guy did know his job though. He asked me to read him the MAC address on the meter….the installer hadn’t updated the system so it was still looking for the old meter. Correct MAC entered, everything burst into life. The guy actually exclaimed he was so impressed with the speed data was coming in “fastest I’ve ever seen” he said. Amazing what decent comms will do.  
 

Overall, it was over 2 years to get to a reliable, working setup.  I wasn’t out of pocket for actual energy use and Octopus kept giving me ‘goodwill’  payments, although I’d have been much happier if they’d just sorted it sooner. The main issue I lost out on was periods where they wouldn’t put me on a dual rate tariff because of erratic readings(!). 
 

Probably the only reason I spotted the issues of double billing was because I have solar PV and a home battery, and both have their own metering which I tend to keep an eye on. 
 

TLDR, been there, got the T shirt. It took a very long time, but Octopus did actually sort it. Many other suppliers apparently do not. 
 

 

I replaced the daily with an EV this year as well. It’s fonking awesome and I am NOT going to apologise to anyone for buying it or liking it!!

Well i've been in the house 8years with this metre. Previously with a different supplier. Unsure when its gone wrong. 

 

And yes a big thanks to the Ev for makijg me aware

[corsechris]

26 minutes ago, westfield_bumble said:

Well i've been in the house 8years with this metre. Previously with a different supplier. Unsure when its gone wrong. 

 

And yes a big thanks to the Ev for makijg me aware

The issue I had with the double billing was after switching. All had been fine with the previous supplier. I’d switched supplier with the same meter before without problems.  
 

It was a while ago, or perhaps I’ve just blanked it(!), so I don’t recall exactly when I spotted it, but the bills/usage seemed too big compared to before I switched. It was easy to prove the error - meter reading at start of period  + charged units > new meter reading at end of period!  Bizarre that they had no error checking in their billing software for something so basic. And as I said, I also had two other measurements courtesy of the PV inverter and the home battery monitoring as backup, even though they wouldn’t be deemed accurate. 
 

Once the issue was raised, they said a fix was being worked on. I left it for a good while but in the end asked for the replacement meter….which fixed the double billing, only to replace it with the patchy comms/missing reads issue. Aaargh!

 

Anyhoo, stick with the complaints - they have to fix it eventually. 
 

eta. This topic is bringing back just how hugely frustrating it was at times though. 
 

 

[corsechris]

And having just reviewed the thread, it sunk in you switched to Octopus. Sounds like the exact fault I had. Demand a new meter because clearly they haven’t fixed the fundamental issue. Unfortunately, you have to be (incredibly) patient while they work through every possible option other than the one that actually solves it. They have a script that they won’t deviate from and will try everything possible before putting in a new meter…because that’s expensive.

 

Hopefully you don’t get the same comms issues with the new meter that I had! 
 

Happy to discuss offline if you want, just PM me if you want.