Dumb meter, dumb company

[Murox]

I finally succumbed to the demands of electric company X and allowed them to fit a smart meter. Another company had tried some years ago and took it out again as it couldn't communicate . I warned company X that this was the case , they were of course quick to claim SMETS2 would work well.
The installer duly arrived today having driven four and a half hours to get here since the ferries were broken, again! and it was his only job down here today. He predicted that the meter wouldn't work but at least I would get a shiny new one.
He duly removed the clockwork device that's been happily whirring away since the early 1970's and fitted a very neat looking box of tricks.
Unsurprisingly when it came to communicating, it couldn't , so I will continue to do as I have done for years and send in the meter readings each month.
Why is it that these dumb companies will not believe the householder or even take heed of previous experiences and still insist on sending an engineer on a nine hour round trip to supply and fit clever electronic devices to areas in which they don't/can't work??

 

[Jules59]

Why did it take Eon 9 weeks to tell me they couldnt erect "compliant " scaffolding around my house to install solar panels? That was after a surveyor had been out, taken lots of pics and said he thought it would not be a problem.

Suffice to say Ive now found a local company that will carry out the same installation for £2K less, and erect scaffolding.

 

[The Poot]

I finally succumbed to the demands of electric company X and allowed them to fit a smart meter. Another company had tried some years ago and took it out again as it couldn't communicate . I warned company X that this was the case , they were of course quick to claim SMETS2 would work well.
The installer duly arrived today having driven four and a half hours to get here since the ferries were broken, again! and it was his only job down here today. He predicted that the meter wouldn't work but at least I would get a shiny new one.
He duly removed the clockwork device that's been happily whirring away since the early 1970's and fitted a very neat looking box of tricks.
Unsurprisingly when it came to communicating, it couldn't , so I will continue to do as I have done for years and send in the meter readings each month.
Why is it that these dumb companies will not believe the householder or even take heed of previous experiences and still insist on sending an engineer on a nine hour round trip to supply and fit clever electronic devices to areas in which they don't/can't work??

It’s a reflection of how determined they are that EVERYONE must have one. (I wonder why).
Yesterday I tried to change my supplier as my tariff was ending. I could roll on to a new tariff with X, but I noticed lots of info in the Ts and Cs about smart meters….so I looked elsewhere.
I found a supplier that was roughly the same price, that openly specified there is no compulsion to have a smart meter.
I went through several screens to sign up and, at the payment prompt, the usual “by ticking this box you’ve agreed to our terms and conditions “ appeared. So I thought to check them - and lo and behold a clause stated that I was agreeing to have a smart meter.
So they didn’t get my business!