Standard meter in place of keycard

[steviethepar]

Hi all
have a customer moved house and there is a prepayment meter - signed up to new tariff and said they would fit today - didn’t arrives and when he called supplier scottish power said they dont fit standard meters - and where he lives (near town centre Dunfermline) smart meters can’t be fitted ?
pain as I was needing isolator (hopefully) fitted as well so I can upgrade older CU)

he was already a customer of them in older house so no issues. I was under impression they had to change out these meters especially when someone has moved into a house and doesn’t want.

 

[snowhead]

Big fail for Scottish Power, they could have told the customer when they wanted to sign for the supply.

Presumably there's no phone / network signal for the "Smart Meter", something it appears S-P think they already know.
Have they been to site and tested and confirmed a "Smart Meter" won't work?
It would appear not, it's based on historic evidence.

So as it's not the customers fault that they can't have a "Smart Meter" and that S-P wont fit a standard meter then they should be charging normal tarriff rates not prepayment rates.

Is this one of those Scottish areas where S-P are the sole supplier or was that another company?

And I believe that suppliers have to fit or replace standard meters when a "Smart" one won't work.

 

[steviethepar]

well is strange as there is phone and checked all networks are 4G and full strength near centre of large town. SP Energy will be the DNO, we are going to speak to neighbours see what they have been told if anything, suspicion is that SP haven't even tried / tested.

Like you, I was under impression they had to fit a standard meter. One good thing they sent a £50 credit key got yesterday.

Can go to others suppliers - though called EDF they said can't do credit checks until September,

Funny thing is SP website has FAQ on this and page was updated 1st July:

7. HOW CAN I REPLACE THE PREPAYMENT METER IN MY HOME WITH AN ORDINARY ONE?
We can replace your meter under certain circumstances. These include:

If you are struggling to use your prepayment meter due to your particular circumstances (for example, a vulnerability), we can help you and arrange to have your meter changed. Please call us to discuss this.

If you ask us to remove the prepayment meter for another reason, we’ll ask some questions to determine the suitability of a credit meter for your circumstances. This will involve a credit check and, depending on the outcome of that check, we may request a security deposit (usually £150 per fuel) before we can arrange to replace your meter. The security deposit will be repaid when you have made all payments for your energy bills on time over a year. We’ll ask you to confirm any address you’ve lived at during the last three years and we’ll also need up to date meter readings and any balance outstanding on your meter so we can provide you with your account balance.You should also call us to discuss your options.

 

[Timbo]

Scottish Power are carp. Was forced to them recently by Ofgen as my supplier stopped trading.
Changed fairly quick away.
They try and bully you into having smart meters fitted.