Octopus Smart Meter Experiences

[bangtidy]

So I've just relocated the aerial slightly to a position where my phone does at least get a signal so I guess I'll just have to leave it now and wait 14 days before I can chase Octopus.

 

[Irata]

Every single install I've had the moment they hit problems they walked away without commissioning the meter.

The first one didn't even tell me anything was wrong..

Indeed, it's bad isn't it.

Are you a single rate meter? If they walked away on a dual/multi rate customer (say it was economy 7), then walking away means they can't calculate a correct bill when the new meter is stuck on a single rate. Walking away can cause serious issues for the consumer.

 

[Tony Hoyle]

Usually they spin some line about 'it should start working in the next couple of days'.

First few times they handed me a box with an unpaired IHD in it as well. They're gathering dust in a pile..

It's totally contrary to what they're supposed to be trained to do.. but seems common.

 

[Tann_man]

I switched over to ‘go faster’ on the 18th. Was previously on a two rate smart tariff with EDF, could always see on the display I was paying the correct pence per kWh at the right time. When switching, the pence per kWh almost instantly went from the standard peak rate to the ‘go faster’ peak rate. When it switched over to off peak that evening, it has decided to stay off peak ever since. Contacted octopus, they said all is ok, asked for it in writing which we got.

 

[Roy W.]

As a balance to all the horror stories about Octopus in these pages, I’m pleased to say that their customer service response has improved considerably for me.

On Thursday I sent Octopus an email about my gas tariff and got a reply in two hours and 46 minutes.

I replied again and three hours later my gas tariff had been changed.

 

[oconnellm]

Email from octopus yesterday, saying they are putting my direct debit up £26 a month. So I've complained again, saying a proportion of this week will be because I'm still on the tracker tariff, as you haven't sorted out my meter, so I can't charge cheaply at night! I reduced the increase to £13. And asked them for a list of steps they are going to take to get it sorted!

interesting as they have quoted me a similar uplift.... maybe there is a pattern here. I only joined a month ago with electricity connected to the smart meter but the Gas not showing a price - so I have pushed back on them too.

 

[Irata]

I'm now close to 3 months of waiting since the smart meter install and I'm still waiting, I'm convinced they have a bottleneck in the process.

Just the same situation, I am waiting to swap tariff. I get the same response every time, they are chasing the meter team. I see half hourly energy usage in my account, but no meter reading, therefore no bill and so everything is stuck.

I do wonder if they have put all their resources into something else.

 

[john19951]

Octopus do do strange things.

I changed my direct debit a week ago to a new bank account - all accepted and confirmed by Octopus. Today I was sent a bill by email, and they say "As you have no Direct Debit in place" please pay off your outstanding balance.

Needless to say, I will not be doing anything, as I am sure the Direct Debit will be paid on the due date and my balance will be back in credit.

Direct Debit was taken on time from my new bank account. Octopus account now shows the direct debit received, and my Octopus balance is back in credit.

I don't know what triggered the Octopus warning message, was it the new bank account for the direct debit, or the fact that Octopus raised a new bill just before the monthly direct debit was due to be paid, or a combination of the two.

Conclusion from all this is if you receive an Octopus warning message about "no direct debit in place" wait to see what happens before taking unnecessary action.

 

[ACarneiro]

As a balance to all the horror stories about Octopus in these pages, I’m pleased to say that their customer service response has improved considerably for me.

On Thursday I sent Octopus an email about my gas tariff and got a reply in two hours and 46 minutes.

I replied again and three hours later my gas tariff had been changed.

I emailed them for shits and giggles about my IHD still not working (meter was fitted in November) and I got a reply about 10 days later.
Their ethos is good, the execution is absolutely horrific.
IHD still doesn’t work, by the way. Apparently they were forwarding the case to the “metering team”.

 

[Mw66455]

I have been waiting since February 2020! They said I could not have a smart meter as no signal. Sent them a picture of a working LAN from the original British Gas SMIT1 meter. Have emailed Gregg to see if that helps. They have said they will issue a credit when new meter installed,but,that was in August. Fingers crossed, as I am doing 20k plus miles per year

 

[bangtidy]

So I've just relocated the aerial slightly to a position where my phone does at least get a signal so I guess I'll just have to leave it now and wait 14 days before I can chase Octopus.

Just as a quick follow-up to this. Relocating the antenna within the reach of it's own 1.5m wire didn't appear to help. I asked Octopus to request a T3 external aerial be fitted but their response was comical:-

"Our engineers have been in touch and notified us that T3 aerials are very new and the process hasn’t been established yet and they are waiting to receive an update on this. We recommend getting in touch over the next few months to see if they're available."

So I purchased a 5m SMA extension cable from Amazon for a tenner, relocated the antenna to high up in the room above the cellar and then rebooted the communications part of the meter.

Not sure if it was a coincidence or not, but I got an email from Octopus that same night saying that it was all up and running now.

So, all good finally!

 

[Tigermad]

Just as a quick follow-up to this. Relocating the antenna within the reach of it's own 1.5m wire didn't appear to help. I asked Octopus to request a T3 external aerial be fitted but their response was comical:-

"Our engineers have been in touch and notified us that T3 aerials are very new and the process hasn’t been established yet and they are waiting to receive an update on this. We recommend getting in touch over the next few months to see if they're available."

So I purchased a 5m SMA extension cable from Amazon for a tenner, relocated the antenna to high up in the room above the cellar and then rebooted the communications part of the meter by unmounting and remounting it.

Not sure if it was a coincidence or not, but I got an email from Octopus that same night saying that it was all up and running now.

So, all good finally!

You messed around with the comms unit yourself? Glad it’s working now but that’s not really your property, it’s Octopuses property.

 

[ACarneiro]

He saved himself and Octopus a lot of hassle and headaches.
Good for him

 

[Tigermad]

People are saying unless you have the very new IHD it won’t pick up the Go tariff on it. Is that right?

 

[bobbychariot]

It works on my SMETS1 meter

 

[Kryt3n]

Hi, Has anyone got a Elster SMETS1 meter working with Octopus go? Apparently these meters have now been updated to the single meter network as of March 2021. My current provider Green started getting updates from it recently. Octopus website say they only support SMETS2 or Secure branded SMETS1, but that may be out of date?

Thanks

 

[MrBadger]

Moderator comment - a couple of posts moved to Snippiness - people have had their say on the matter now

 

[phil4]

My IHD doesn't seem to take into the Go tariff overnight, but that doesn't fuss me as long as the bill is right... and that seems to be the case.

 

[nightowl]

Switched from Bulb to Octopus last month (on an Economy 7 meter), having been in touch with Octopus via Twitter to confirm that they would be able to supply me with a smart meter.

I have storage heaters, fed from a separate consumer unit and so needed a 5 terminal/port meter, which apparently have only recently become available. Couldn't find anything about this on their website but they confirmed that they can fit these.

My other concern was that there may not be enough space in the meter cupboard, as my Zappi installer put a consumer unit in there for it. I've read posts about smart meter installers refusing to install a meter where this kind of arrangement is in place, so I was a bit worried about this.

Anyway, smart meter was installed this morning with both of the above concerns turning out to be no issue whatsoever. The installer neatened up the existing wiring a bit, where the feed had been split off to go to the extra consumer unit. There were problems getting it onto their system but a few minutes after the installer left, he phoned me to say that it should work now and went through how to register on the IHD. A few minutes later, it was all sorted.

Now just need to wait for the Go tariff to become active.

 

[Dilly]

It works on my SMETS1 meter

...and mine