Got an elderly friend who categorically does not wish to have a smart
meter fitted. EDF have apparently sent letters and are getting rather
stroppy.

Can't be enforced, can it? Anyone else in a similar situation?

--
Adrian C

Adrian Caspersz wrote:

Got an elderly friend who categorically does not wish to have a smart
meter fitted. EDF have apparently sent letters and are getting rather
stroppy.

Ask EDF if they wish to lose a customer?

Can't be enforced, can it?

No.

https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/consumers/household-gas-and-electricity-guide/understand-smart-prepayment-and-other-energy-meters/smart-meters-your-rights

On Wed, 17 Jan 2018 19:56:19 +0000, Andy Burns
wrote:

Adrian Caspersz wrote:

Got an elderly friend who categorically does not wish to have a smart
meter fitted. EDF have apparently sent letters and are getting rather
stroppy.

Ask EDF if they wish to lose a customer?

Can't be enforced, can it?

No.

https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/consumers/household-gas-and-electricity-guide/understand-smart-prepayment-and-other-energy-meters/smart-meters-your-rights

They are not the only ones.

The call center person representing Scottish and Southern seemed a bit
taken back when I read the section " Do I have to have a smart
meter?" from that back to them yesterday .

They had answered my Question "Why Do I have to have a smart meter"
with "because the government say it is a legal requirement for
everyone to have one by 2020".

As it was probably someone on minimum wage doing their best to earn a
few pounds I wished them a good day and hung up, if they were really
from SSE directly I may have asked to speak to someone further up the
chain and got argumentative.
As it is I've got more important things to attend to for a few days
but after I do intend to send a complaint to SSE themselves,or does
anyone know of someone better to contact.

G.Harman

In article ,
writes
On Wed, 17 Jan 2018 19:56:19 +0000, Andy Burns
wrote:

Adrian Caspersz wrote:

Got an elderly friend who categorically does not wish to have a smart
meter fitted. EDF have apparently sent letters and are getting rather
stroppy.

Ask EDF if they wish to lose a customer?

Can't be enforced, can it?

No.

https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/consumers/h...ctricity-guide
/understand-smart-prepayment-and-other-energy-meters/smart-meters-your-
rights

They are not the only ones.

The call center person representing Scottish and Southern seemed a bit
taken back when I read the section " Do I have to have a smart
meter?" from that back to them yesterday .

They had answered my Question "Why Do I have to have a smart meter"
with "because the government say it is a legal requirement for
everyone to have one by 2020".

As it was probably someone on minimum wage doing their best to earn a
few pounds I wished them a good day and hung up, if they were really
from SSE directly I may have asked to speak to someone further up the
chain and got argumentative.
As it is I've got more important things to attend to for a few days
but after I do intend to send a complaint to SSE themselves,or does
anyone know of someone better to contact.

G.Harman
OFGEM
--
bert

On 17/01/18 19:56, Andy Burns wrote:
Adrian Caspersz wrote:

Got an elderly friend who categorically does not wish to have a smart
meter fitted. EDF have apparently sent letters and are getting rather
stroppy.

Ask EDF if they wish to lose a customer?

Can't be enforced, can it?

No.

https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/consumers/household-gas-and-electricity-guide/understand-smart-prepayment-and-other-energy-meters/smart-meters-your-rights


Ah, I've had the offending letter read to me. EDF wants to replace the
old meter as it's end of life, close to the maximum count.

Fair enough - even though the rest of the letter is plastered with 'get
smart' advertising.

It does means it still can be replaced with a normal meter, which is
what they will be insisting on.

Thanks for the pointer to Ofgem

--
Adrian C

On 17/01/2018 19:47, Adrian Caspersz wrote:
Got an elderly friend who categorically does not wish to have a smart
meter fitted. EDF have apparently sent letters and are getting rather
stroppy.

Can't be enforced, can it? Anyone else in a similar situation?

No, they are optional.

I suggest you advise your friend to tell EDF to note on the account that
(a) a smart meter is not wanted and (b) any further contact from them
about fitting one in the next 12 months[1] will result in a complaint to
ofgem.

[1] best to give a reasonable time limit as there is the downside that
smart meters may be needed for better tariffs i.d.c.

--
Robin
reply-to address is (intended to be) valid

Now it was mentioned on You and Yours about a week back amongst other
places. Interestingly its the opposite of my experience with EDF. They told
me the following when I spoke to their team.

at present the current meters have two main problems. They do not comply
with the latest communication standard so other suppliers will be unable to
use them if you switch, and as you are on economy 7 and not dual fuel (ie
electric only), there is currently no solution for your usage profile (posh
name for me being an awkward bugger with no gas)

I also enquired about getting an audio enabled remote unit. They told me
that they do not keep stocks of these units but would swap out an ordinary
one for blind users if requested. The Offgen folk have already told me that
the talking remote units are out there and ready to go, so some
contradiction there too.
I suspect the real reason here is that they just want to show they are
trying and hence they will hit what they consider the low hanging fruit
first.
Cynical me?

Brian

--
----- -
This newsgroup posting comes to you directly from...
The Sofa of Brian Gaff...

Blind user, so no pictures please!
"Adrian Caspersz" wrote in message
...
Got an elderly friend who categorically does not wish to have a smart
meter fitted. EDF have apparently sent letters and are getting rather
stroppy.

Can't be enforced, can it? Anyone else in a similar situation?

--
Adrian C

On 18/01/2018 08:37, Brian Gaff wrote:
Now it was mentioned on You and Yours about a week back amongst other
places. Interestingly its the opposite of my experience with EDF. They told
me the following when I spoke to their team.

at present the current meters have two main problems. They do not comply
with the latest communication standard so other suppliers will be unable to
use them if you switch, and as you are on economy 7 and not dual fuel (ie
electric only), there is currently no solution for your usage profile (posh
name for me being an awkward bugger with no gas)

If I was on Economy 7 I wouldn't trust a "smart" equivalent. It might
morph into Economy 5, Economy 3, Economy "why don't you have your main
meal in the evening as electricity is cheaper then".

--
Max Demian

Brian Gaff wrote:

at present the current meters have two main problems. They do not comply
with the latest communication standard so other suppliers will be unable to
use them if you switch, and as you are on economy 7 and not dual fuel (ie
electric only), there is currently no solution for your usage profile (posh
name for me being an awkward bugger with no gas)

Hardly awkward/unusual, there is surely a significant proportion of
the population who don't have gas - like us, out in the countryside.

--
Chris Green
·

On 18 Jan 2018 17:16:15 GMT, Huge wrote:

Hardly awkward/unusual, there is surely a significant proportion
of
the population who don't have gas - like us, out in the
countryside.

We haven't had gas for over 30 years in two houses.

No gas here either, nor down in the village or any of the surrounding
farms. The town of Middleton-in-Teesdale doesn't have gas either
judging by the number of chimenys emitting wood or coal smoke in the
winter. So no doubt non of the surrounding houses/farms have gas
either.

A heads up for those with an old bolier ( 5 years is "old" in this
context). The rules have changed on the ECO free new bolier scheme. A
lot more people now qualify who didn't before.

--
Cheers
Dave.

Dave Liquorice wrote:

A heads up for those with an old bolier ( 5 years is "old" in this
context). The rules have changed on the ECO free new bolier scheme. A
lot more people now qualify who didn't before.

Presumably you still need to be on the sosh in one way or another?

On Fri, 19 Jan 2018 12:44:50 +0000, Andy Burns wrote:

A heads up for those with an old bolier ( 5 years is "old" in
this
context). The rules have changed on the ECO free new bolier
scheme. A
lot more people now qualify who didn't before.

Presumably you still need to be on the sosh in one way or another?

Yes, but they have removed the household income limit of 16 k ish and
only one person in the household has to be getting one of the listed
benefits.


https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/environment...pport-improvin
g-your-home

--
Cheers
Dave.

On 17/01/2018 19:47, Adrian Caspersz wrote:
Got an elderly friend who categorically does not wish to have a smart
meter fitted. EDF have apparently sent letters and are getting rather
stroppy.

Can't be enforced, can it? Anyone else in a similar situation?


Not stroppy, always polite, but showed dumb persistence. First it was
the phone calls. Each time, I told them that it wasn't going to be
convenient for quite some time, and I would contact them when I wanted
to proceed. Each time they said yes, that was fine, and no, it isn't
mandatory, and then phoned again a couple of weeks later.

Just when they seemed to have got the message, I got a letter from them
to say that they had made an appointment to fit a new meter on
date,time. They did at least provide a link to allow me to cancel it
on line, which I did, and under 'reason' ticked the box to say 'I don't
want a smart meter right now'. EDF sent an e-mail to remind me that it
was time to rebook my appointment.

A few weeks later, they sent another 'we have booked an appointment'
letter. This time they'd cunningly removed any mechanism for on-line
cancellation, so I phoned them. The young lady said she would 'opt me
out', and I haven't heard any more from them. But I understand that the
second-generation meters are expected to be rolled out sometime this
year, so I won't be surprised if it all starts again.

On 17/01/2018 19:47, Adrian Caspersz wrote:
Got an elderly friend who categorically does not wish to have a smart
meter fitted. EDF have apparently sent letters and are getting rather
stroppy.

Can't be enforced, can it? Anyone else in a similar situation?


Same thing (same company) covered on one of the R4 consumer programs the
other day. They did grovel slightly, IIRC

On 17/01/18 19:47, Adrian Caspersz wrote:
Got an elderly friend who categorically does not wish to have a smart
meter fitted. EDF have apparently sent letters and are getting rather
stroppy.

Can't be enforced, can it? Anyone else in a similar situation?


Adam Vaughan is looking for experiences relating to this for an article
in the Guardian
https://www.theguardian.com/profile/adam-vaughan

TW