With all the modes of contacting people I find it hard to understand why
inside a bank and inside a council and its contractors, people do not
communicate, ending up in cheques being refused or bin collection
arrangements not going on as desired.
Just yesterday, I got a letter from my bank, on paper which I did say,
being blind I could not read, refusing to issue a large cheque for money to
go to my building society, despite having gon into the branch personally and
told them it was not a fraud. They now tell me that it will take another 10
days to clear. That seems to me to be gross incompetence.
Then the waste contractor sends a letter out about a month ago asking me if
I still need my bins collected on assisted collection, giving a form to fill
out and the address of Kingston council, so I ring waste at said council,
and they registered my reply to the letter on the database. Today, I get
another paper letter from the contractor reminding me I had not filled in
their paper form. I do despair, after all not only do these people not
understand you are blind but never talk to each other about what they
already know from me before they send out letters. If this type of non
internal communication is widespread, no wonder things cost so much.
After all they only have to call or send an email to each other and me and
it would all be sorted.
Brian

--

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Blind user, so no pictures please
Note this Signature is meaningless.!

On 01/12/2023 09:49, Brian Gaff wrote:
> With all the modes of contacting people I find it hard to understand why
> inside a bank and inside a council and its contractors, people do not
> communicate, ending up in cheques being refused or bin collection
> arrangements not going on as desired.
> Just yesterday, I got a letter from my bank, on paper which I did say,
> being blind I could not read, refusing to issue a large cheque for money to
> go to my building society, despite having gon into the branch personally and
> told them it was not a fraud. They now tell me that it will take another 10
> days to clear. That seems to me to be gross incompetence.
> Then the waste contractor sends a letter out about a month ago asking me if
> I still need my bins collected on assisted collection, giving a form to fill
> out and the address of Kingston council, so I ring waste at said council,
> and they registered my reply to the letter on the database. Today, I get
> another paper letter from the contractor reminding me I had not filled in
> their paper form. I do despair, after all not only do these people not
> understand you are blind but never talk to each other about what they
> already know from me before they send out letters. If this type of non
> internal communication is widespread, no wonder things cost so much.
> After all they only have to call or send an email to each other and me and
> it would all be sorted.
> Brian
>

Employees know that no one ever lost their job by being a blind rule
following arsehole
Some years ago I bought a 'elderly friendly' mobile phone for my FIL. It
featured Big Buttons and no smarts.

Sadly the instructions were printed in a 6 point font. Even I couldn't
read them.. Scanning at 600dpi and trebling the size to print on A4
mostly sorted the issue.

--
"Nature does not give up the winter because people dislike the cold."

― Confucius

Since being moved from SSE to OVO, everytime I receive a bill I receive
a letter promoting getting a remote reading meter.

These have claimed that there is a meter waiting me with my name on it
or that there are people working in the area. But when I go online to
check, I am told it is not possible at the moment.

I eventually rang them up and the person in the call centre said he stop
the letters being sent whilst they cannot do the change. I told him
that it makes the company look stupid if they cannot check before
sending out the letters.

They did stop but have not started again.

Must be costing them thousands or pounds as well as making OVO look stupid.

Yes, Offgem did a major publicity surge last year about that if you cannot
see the in home smart displays, all companies now have access to talking
versions and when I had my smart meter installed by EDF, I had no issues
getting one. Spool forward to this year and many blind friends are saying
their energy companies when they arrange for a meter are saying they know
nothing of these displayers, which is daft, as if you talk to anyone else
involved they all say they have major stocks of them. This is a classic case
of poor staff training and once again assuming that the customer is an
idiot.
It is not going down well with the advocate organisations, since the cost
of these devices is minimal in any case.
Brian

--

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Note this Signature is meaningless.!
"JMB99" <mb@nospam.net> wrote in message
news:ukcj72$1s4in$1@dont-email.me...
> Since being moved from SSE to OVO, everytime I receive a bill I receive a
> letter promoting getting a remote reading meter.
>
> These have claimed that there is a meter waiting me with my name on it or
> that there are people working in the area. But when I go online to check,
> I am told it is not possible at the moment.
>
> I eventually rang them up and the person in the call centre said he stop
> the letters being sent whilst they cannot do the change. I told him that
> it makes the company look stupid if they cannot check before sending out
> the letters.
>
> They did stop but have not started again.
>
> Must be costing them thousands or pounds as well as making OVO look
> stupid.
>
>

On 02/12/2023 13:34, Brian Gaff wrote:
> Yes, Offgem did a major publicity surge last year about that if you cannot
> see the in home smart displays, all companies now have access to talking
> versions and when I had my smart meter installed by EDF, I had no issues
> getting one. Spool forward to this year and many blind friends are saying
> their energy companies when they arrange for a meter are saying they know
> nothing of these displayers, which is daft, as if you talk to anyone else
> involved they all say they have major stocks of them. This is a classic case
> of poor staff training and once again assuming that the customer is an
> idiot.
> It is not going down well with the advocate organisations, since the cost
> of these devices is minimal in any case.
> Brian
>

One of the recent letters said they had to change the meter for
calibration, which has always been the case, so want to change to remote
reading meter but when I checked they said it was not available to me
without any reason given.

(I refuse to call them 'smart' meters - anything called 'smart' is
rarely smart as with the Killer Motorways).

On Sat, 2 Dec 2023 14:53:48 +0000
JMB99 <mb@nospam.net> wrote:

> On 02/12/2023 13:34, Brian Gaff wrote:
> > Yes, Offgem did a major publicity surge last year about that if you
> > cannot see the in home smart displays, all companies now have
> > access to talking versions and when I had my smart meter installed
> > by EDF, I had no issues getting one. Spool forward to this year and
> > many blind friends are saying their energy companies when they
> > arrange for a meter are saying they know nothing of these
> > displayers, which is daft, as if you talk to anyone else involved
> > they all say they have major stocks of them. This is a classic case
> > of poor staff training and once again assuming that the customer is
> > an idiot. It is not going down well with the advocate
> > organisations, since the cost of these devices is minimal in any
> > case. Brian
> >
>
>
> One of the recent letters said they had to change the meter for
> calibration, which has always been the case, so want to change to
> remote reading meter but when I checked they said it was not
> available to me without any reason given.
>
> (I refuse to call them 'smart' meters - anything called 'smart' is
> rarely smart as with the Killer Motorways).
>
>

I had one of those letters, and when I told them that I did not want a
'smart' meter, the need for calibration suddenly got forgotten.

--
Davey.

On 02/12/2023 17:48, Davey wrote:
> I had one of those letters, and when I told them that I did not want a
> 'smart' meter, the need for calibration suddenly got forgotten.

Meters have always needed regular calibration every few years.

On Sat, 2 Dec 2023 22:50:29 +0000
JMB99 <mb@nospam.net> wrote:

> On 02/12/2023 17:48, Davey wrote:
> > I had one of those letters, and when I told them that I did not
> > want a 'smart' meter, the need for calibration suddenly got
> > forgotten.
>
>
> Meters have always needed regular calibration every few years.
>
>

Maybe, but mine suddenly didn't need it after all.
--
Davey.

Yes but this in fact has little to do with smart, it is merely a blue tooth
connected display so you can see your current usage. In my case its
electricity only and has economy 7 built into the meter and the cool thing
is that the spoken output when enabled tells you the cost of units and can
be toggled between units and how much it is costing you, plus several
summaries of month week etc. So I giuss it all depends on your definition of
smart. Yes they can disconnect remotely and since the data has to go back to
base, they can adjust the current charges of a unit, but then you can also
see or hear it. I'm on a fixed price deal till next September before which
they have to tell me my options either by email or letter.
I have to say on the down side the first meter failed but did fail in a way
to still give me supply but no economy 7. As it was a day before Christmas,
they had to change it after the holiday, and then gave me a discount due to
the unknown economy 7 usage.
The engineer told me they had begun to see a pattern of failures on the
Toshiba made meters, and had now sourced meters from another maker.
Brian

--

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briang1@blueyonder.co.uk
Blind user, so no pictures please
Note this Signature is meaningless.!
"JMB99" <mb@nospam.net> wrote in message
news:ukfgdr$2d5t8$1@dont-email.me...
> On 02/12/2023 13:34, Brian Gaff wrote:
>> Yes, Offgem did a major publicity surge last year about that if you
>> cannot
>> see the in home smart displays, all companies now have access to talking
>> versions and when I had my smart meter installed by EDF, I had no issues
>> getting one. Spool forward to this year and many blind friends are saying
>> their energy companies when they arrange for a meter are saying they know
>> nothing of these displayers, which is daft, as if you talk to anyone else
>> involved they all say they have major stocks of them. This is a classic
>> case
>> of poor staff training and once again assuming that the customer is an
>> idiot.
>> It is not going down well with the advocate organisations, since the
>> cost
>> of these devices is minimal in any case.
>> Brian
>>
>
>
> One of the recent letters said they had to change the meter for
> calibration, which has always been the case, so want to change to remote
> reading meter but when I checked they said it was not available to me
> without any reason given.
>
> (I refuse to call them 'smart' meters - anything called 'smart' is rarely
> smart as with the Killer Motorways).
>
>

Apparently, all meters of the older kind have supposedly a finite life,
after which they are swapped out for a recalibrated one and the old one goes
out for calibration. This has gone on for many years, and I'm surprised they
let it go, as for all they or you know, one might be paying more or less for
a given amount of usage. On course many companies, despite smart metering
like you to pay a monthly amount, an amount that always leaves them holding
your money. I won't do this on principal that it could be more useful in my
account than theirs until the next bill.
However, as there are knowledgeable folk here, if you do have gas, also
read by the same display everyone gets, or the talking one, How does the gas
meter send its data back? As often these meters are not co sited, I'm told
it relies on batteries. So does this mean a customer has to change these, or
does a man with a van come out and do it?
Brian

--

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The Sofa of Brian Gaff...
briang1@blueyonder.co.uk
Blind user, so no pictures please
Note this Signature is meaningless.!
"Davey" <davey@example.invalid> wrote in message
news:ukfql6$2eq4m$1@dont-email.me...
> On Sat, 2 Dec 2023 14:53:48 +0000
> JMB99 <mb@nospam.net> wrote:
>
>> On 02/12/2023 13:34, Brian Gaff wrote:
>> > Yes, Offgem did a major publicity surge last year about that if you
>> > cannot see the in home smart displays, all companies now have
>> > access to talking versions and when I had my smart meter installed
>> > by EDF, I had no issues getting one. Spool forward to this year and
>> > many blind friends are saying their energy companies when they
>> > arrange for a meter are saying they know nothing of these
>> > displayers, which is daft, as if you talk to anyone else involved
>> > they all say they have major stocks of them. This is a classic case
>> > of poor staff training and once again assuming that the customer is
>> > an idiot. It is not going down well with the advocate
>> > organisations, since the cost of these devices is minimal in any
>> > case. Brian
>> >
>>
>>
>> One of the recent letters said they had to change the meter for
>> calibration, which has always been the case, so want to change to
>> remote reading meter but when I checked they said it was not
>> available to me without any reason given.
>>
>> (I refuse to call them 'smart' meters - anything called 'smart' is
>> rarely smart as with the Killer Motorways).
>>
>>
>
> I had one of those letters, and when I told them that I did not want a
> 'smart' meter, the need for calibration suddenly got forgotten.
>
> --
> Davey.
>

Brian Gaff wrote:

> if you do have gas, also read by the same display everyone gets, or
> the talking one, How does the gas meter send its data back? As often
> these meters are not co sited, I'm told it relies on batteries.
Smart gas meter (powered by a Lithium D-cell about twice the capacity of
similar alkaline) transmits reading every 30 minutes to smart
communications hub (which may be built into older smart elec meter, or
standalone unit).

> So does this mean a customer has to change these, or does a man with
> a van come out and do it?

Mine was fitted in mid 2011 and it's still on original battery, doubt
the customer changes it, but since the meter needs power from the
battery to register gas usage, I doubt they'll leave it reading zero for
long ... maybe they'll replace one or both meters?

Not Bluetooth. They use Zigbee.

Tim

Brian Gaff <brian1gaff@gmail.com> wrote:
> Yes but this in fact has little to do with smart, it is merely a blue tooth
> connected display so you can see your current usage. In my case its
> electricity only and has economy 7 built into the meter and the cool thing
> is that the spoken output when enabled tells you the cost of units and can
> be toggled between units and how much it is costing you, plus several
> summaries of month week etc. So I giuss it all depends on your definition of
> smart. Yes they can disconnect remotely and since the data has to go back to
> base, they can adjust the current charges of a unit, but then you can also
> see or hear it. I'm on a fixed price deal till next September before which
> they have to tell me my options either by email or letter.
> I have to say on the down side the first meter failed but did fail in a way
> to still give me supply but no economy 7. As it was a day before Christmas,
> they had to change it after the holiday, and then gave me a discount due to
> the unknown economy 7 usage.
> The engineer told me they had begun to see a pattern of failures on the
> Toshiba made meters, and had now sourced meters from another maker.
> Brian
>

--
Please don't feed the trolls

Whatever, its UHF and uses a digital protocol of some kind. I notice you
often see entries for the cloud and wifi, nether of which I have ever seen
enabled and working on these things .
Brian

--

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Note this Signature is meaningless.!
"Tim+" <tim.downie@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:1594001178.723319137.020564.tim.downie-gmail.com@news.individual.net...
> Not Bluetooth. They use Zigbee.
>
> Tim
>
> Brian Gaff <brian1gaff@gmail.com> wrote:
>> Yes but this in fact has little to do with smart, it is merely a blue
>> tooth
>> connected display so you can see your current usage. In my case its
>> electricity only and has economy 7 built into the meter and the cool
>> thing
>> is that the spoken output when enabled tells you the cost of units and
>> can
>> be toggled between units and how much it is costing you, plus several
>> summaries of month week etc. So I giuss it all depends on your definition
>> of
>> smart. Yes they can disconnect remotely and since the data has to go back
>> to
>> base, they can adjust the current charges of a unit, but then you can
>> also
>> see or hear it. I'm on a fixed price deal till next September before
>> which
>> they have to tell me my options either by email or letter.
>> I have to say on the down side the first meter failed but did fail in a
>> way
>> to still give me supply but no economy 7. As it was a day before
>> Christmas,
>> they had to change it after the holiday, and then gave me a discount due
>> to
>> the unknown economy 7 usage.
>> The engineer told me they had begun to see a pattern of failures on the
>> Toshiba made meters, and had now sourced meters from another maker.
>> Brian
>>
>
>
>
> --
> Please don't feed the trolls