A complaint about my non-communicating Smart Meters

  • 14 September 2021
  • 7 replies
  • 241 views
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I have gone through the ombudsman to no avail with Boost complaint.

 

I changed over to boost some time ago now, they tried to set up a date to install new smart meters, we arranged a date they told me it would be between 8 am and 2pm, I explained I did not finish work until 2pm and would normally be home at 20 min past 2 could they fit me in at this time, I was told categoricity  no it has to be at the times stated and I would have to take time off work to fit in around the company set times, I told them to forget it and did not have meters installed.

I have been plagued by boost at every turn to have the new smart meters installed each time they called I was told I would have to take time off work in order for them to install meters as they would not work with me (The Customer).  I found my self unemployed for three month so called and arranged to have them installed.  Guess what they have not worked, the elctic neter will not connect to the smart box so I have no idea what electric I am using or what electric is on my accont. they told me on the 5th of July they would send out an engineer to sor it on a 17 day call out, they told me the same thing on the 5th August, we are now on the 14th September and still no engineer, I have made numerous phone calls to boost I have had web chats with them to no avail, the last web chat I had I was told if I want a call out I have to do it the day I call ?????… and I will have to explain it all to the next Person that takes my call ok.

I am at a loss as to how this company is still in business, the customer service team is astonishingley self riteous and oblivious to customer needs the worst absolute worst experience I have ever had the miss fortune to come across.  I have worked in customer service all my life and this is absolutely disgusting behaviour from any organisation.

I will be changing supplier

7 replies

Jess_Boost
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I’m so sorry to hear of your experience when getting a smart meter installed, @GaryO.

 

Whilst we do advise getting a smart meter installed as it offers greater flexibility and visibility in terms of your balance and topping-up, this does rely on us being in communication with the meters. I understand the frustration that your meters aren’t currently communicating with us and you’re not seeing the full benefits of going smart.

 

As you’ve mentioned raising a complaint, our complaints team will investigate the issues fully and be in touch to discuss a fair resolution. If we’re unable to offer you a resolution you’re happy with you’ll be issued a ‘deadlock’ letter after 8 weeks which would then allow you to escalate your complaint to the energy ombudsman for independent review.

 

I’m hoping this is resolved quickly for you.

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M
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I have gone through the ombudsman to no avail with Boost complaint.

 

I changed over to boost some time ago now, they tried to set up a date to install new smart meters, we arranged a date they told me it would be between 8 am and 2pm, I explained I did not finish work until 2pm and would normally be home at 20 min past 2 could they fit me in at this time, I was told categoricity  no it has to be at the times stated and I would have to take time off work to fit in around the company set times, I told them to forget it and did not have meters installed.

I have been plagued by boost at every turn to have the new smart meters installed each time they called I was told I would have to take time off work in order for them to install meters as they would not work with me (The Customer).  I found my self unemployed for three month so called and arranged to have them installed.  Guess what they have not worked, the elctic neter will not connect to the smart box so I have no idea what electric I am using or what electric is on my accont. they told me on the 5th of July they would send out an engineer to sor it on a 17 day call out, they told me the same thing on the 5th August, we are now on the 14th September and still no engineer, I have made numerous phone calls to boost I have had web chats with them to no avail, the last web chat I had I was told if I want a call out I have to do it the day I call ?????… and I will have to explain it all to the next Person that takes my call ok.

I am at a loss as to how this company is still in business, the customer service team is astonishingley self riteous and oblivious to customer needs the worst absolute worst experience I have ever had the miss fortune to come across.  I have worked in customer service all my life and this is absolutely disgusting behaviour from any organisation.

I will be changing supplier

 

 

Your not on your own with this GaryO I too have non communicating meters since they switched over to the new app and waiting for an engineer visit since June. I have rung countless times, done endless health checks. Sick of repeating myself to customer services. Im unable to see any balances on the app, meters or the IHD. They switched elec to credit meter but not the gas. I kept topping up as I would normally each month even though I cant see a balance. To then be told not to top up and they will refund everything back to me once sorted. I then said, well if the elec is on credit what if the gas goes off. To then be told “we will send an engineer the same day”!! So if they can do that, why not send one out to repair the meters!

I too said in the forum that I was going to raise a complaint about this, so your lucky that you have had a response to say yours will be investigated. I just got told to follow their complaints procedure. Well I hope they deal with their complaints a lot better than they treat their customers!

@Jess_Boost 

 

 

Jess_Boost
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I’m really sorry to hear you’re still waiting on a fix for your smart meter issues, @MikeYorks.

 

I’ve checked this one in with the team who have advised that in the case of a non-communicating smart meter our Support Team should look to book in a engineers appointment (these are usually available with 17 working days notice). In the meantime it’s recommended that you continue topping up as usual. Even if the top-ups aren’t currently reaching your meter they will be building up a credit on your account ready to cover your usage costs once the smart meter issues are resolved.

 

It’s disappointing to hear you’re still waiting on a engineer’s visit and a resolution to your complaint. If it’s been over 8 weeks since you originally raised the complaint you’re able to request that Letter of Deadlock as described above. Please reach out to the Support Team to escalate this one further. You can give them a call on 0117 332 3728 (lines open 8am - 8pm, Monday - Friday and 9am - 5pm on weekends) or contact them via webchat (by clicking the yellow speech bubble on our Homepage).

 

I really do hope the team is able to get this sorted for you.

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3
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After many phone calls and emails I decided to swap my old electric meter for a smart one so i gor an appointment for the 13/08 and my smar meter got fitted fine and it seemed working, I’ve been told to wait 48 hours to receive the balance left from the older meter. after 10 days i hd not received the older balance so i called Boost and they told me that the meter wasn’t communicating with them and that was why when i topped up I had to put the top-up code in by hand to actually get the top up in.

So i get another engineer appointment to fix the new non communicating smart meter for 17/09, almost a mont later. a couple of days before the appointment i receive a text and they reschedule for 24/09. On that day the same engineer as last time comes and install a brand new meter saying that this one should work fine and tells me to wait 2-5 days to receive my old balance on the new meter, note that now i’m owed two older baances because the first one never got arrived.

Right now the option to manually top up and the balance availeble are not on my IHD and when i look in Acoount it says: Account type Credit, Waiting for (CIN) and in meter info it says: waiting for MPAN.

i just called the customer service because i’m assuming that i’m running in emergency credit and since i’m not able to top up my supply is about to be cut off and I’ve been told to wait until my electricity gets cut off and then i can call back so they can book another engineer that will come the same day (highly doubt) to fix my non communicating meter.

Is this a joke? why can you not make an engineer come out now and fix the problem before i’m without elctricity?

Jess_Boost
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I’m really sorry to hear you’ve also been affected by some smart meter communications issues, @3Luca3.

 

I can totally appreciate the frustration that these type of issues cause and the difficulty you’ve had when contacting the team to try and get things resolved. I have passed these comments on to the team to make sure the advice we’re giving on the phone is accurate.

 

In terms of your exact smart meter issues:

 

 

Right now the option to manually top up and the balance availeble are not on my IHD and when i look in Acoount it says: Account type Credit, Waiting for (CIN) and in meter info it says: waiting for MPAN.

 

This would suggest that your meter is currently in credit mode, meaning it shouldn’t cut off your supply. We should still be looking to get the issues resolved though and would recommend you continue topping up as usual in the meantime.

 

If you haven’t already I’d advise carrying out a smart meter health check - this involves checking some details on the meter itself to help diagnose what might be causing the communication issues. The easiest way to contact the team to run though these details would be via webchat - you can find a link to this by clicking on the yellow speech bubble on our Homepage. Once a smart meter health check has been completed these responses can be forwarded on to our smart team who can determine whether the issues can be sorted remotely or whether we’d need to schedule in an engineers visit. 

 

If you’re still unable to get the issues resolved when contacting the team, it might be worth raising this as a formal complaint. This would allow us to fully investigate the issues to try and reach a solution. You can see our full complaints procedure here.

 

I hope this information helps get the smart meters back on track - please do get back in touch if you need anymore advice. :slight_smile:

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M
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12 weeks ago my electric supply was moved to PAYG smart. I was told my meter was not in communication and the problem would be passed onto the second team, despite phone calls emails and live webchat I'm still waiting to get it sorted. Having just made a complaint via the email complaint section I got the response "we no longer respond to emails" . What have I got to do to get some help?

Jess_Boost
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I’m really sorry that you’ve also been affected by some smart meter communication issues since your move to PAYG Smart, @Mark M.

 

I appreciate that you’ve tried to email the team as advised on our Complaints page - I’ve now requested this page be updated as we’re in the process of changing our contact channels, so I really apologise for any confusion that’s been caused. As you mentioned you’ve already spoken to the team, I’m guessing they would have already been through a Smart Meter Health Check with you, in which case I’ve outlined the expected process in a comment above:

 

 

I’ve checked this one in with the team who have advised that in the case of a non-communicating smart meter our Support Team should look to book in a engineers appointment (these are usually available with 17 working days notice). In the meantime it’s recommended that you continue topping up as usual. Even if the top-ups aren’t currently reaching your meter they will be building up a credit on your account ready to cover your usage costs once the smart meter issues are resolved.

 

It’s disappointing to hear you’re still waiting on a engineer’s visit and a resolution to your complaint. If it’s been over 8 weeks since you originally raised the complaint you’re able to request that Letter of Deadlock as described above. Please reach out to the Support Team to escalate this one further. You can give them a call on 0117 332 3728 (lines open 8am - 8pm, Monday - Friday and 9am - 5pm on weekends) or contact them via webchat (by clicking the yellow speech bubble on our Homepage).

 

I hope this helps get things sorted - Keep us updated if you do need more advice. 

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