Energy meter

[MickyD]

1 minute ago, Zico said:

 

as for self checkouts

checkout operators instead now stand and watch waiting for the inevitable fuckwits who can't figure out what to do with them

I'd say they are busier than ever with that in mind

But one staff member looking after 10 checkouts. Great fun just before a TV cup game when everyone buys a case of ale and the checkout person needs to go round cancelling the red light.

Perhaps they ought to have a list of age restricted items* and if you’ve bought any you need to go to a proper till.

Alcohol, porn mags, knives, energy drinks, etc.

[globaldiver]

13 minutes ago, Zico said:

not if you have a smart meter

they send a guy to install it, then you don't have to do anything, or anyones job

as for self checkouts

checkout operators instead now stand and watch waiting for the inevitable fuckwits who can't figure out what to do with them

I'd say they are busier than ever with that in mind

Funny at Tesco recently.

I’ve downloaded the app, so my clubcard are on there.

Get to self checkout, wave barcode at machine. Nothing. Asked the helpful person what to do. She gets a piece of scrap paper and waves it through the voucher drop, the machine thinks it’s a paper voucher and we’re away. Technology, eh?!

 

[ZiggyStardust]

25 minutes ago, Zico said:

not if you have a smart meter

they send a guy to install it, then you don't have to do anything, or anyones job

as for self checkouts

checkout operators instead now stand and watch waiting for the inevitable fuckwits who can't figure out what to do with them

I'd say they are busier than ever with that in mind

Went in asda after the match on Sat, to pick a couple of bits up.

Went thorugh the scan as you shop bit, cashier on the end lane was sat there asleep.

[Sweep]

24 minutes ago, MickyD said:

 Great fun just before a TV cup game when everyone buys a case of ale and the checkout person needs to go round cancelling the red light.

Perhaps they ought to have a list of age restricted items* and if you’ve bought any you need to go to a proper till.

Alcohol, porn mags, knives, energy drinks, etc.

I don't generally buy energy drinks before a cup game

[Tonge moor green jacket]

1 hour ago, MickyD said:

But bills aren’t a little cheaper since the demise of meter readers.

Talking of meter readers, my grandad was a gas-meter reader so had the master key to all the coin operated meters in Bolton. His own meter never had a lock on it and he’d put the same shilling through three or four times. He was always good for a couple of bob when we visited too. Happy days.

How do you know they're not cheaper than they would have been?

Overheads down, prices down.

[MickyD]

44 minutes ago, Tonge moor green jacket said:

How do you know they're not cheaper than they would have been?

Overheads down, prices down.

As you say, we’ll never know how much of the saving was passed on to the customers. 

[Traf]

8 hours ago, Tonge moor green jacket said:

How do you know they're not cheaper than they would have been?

Overheads down, prices down.

 

7 hours ago, MickyD said:

As you say, we’ll never know how much of the saving was passed on to the customers. 

An educated guess, chaps. Do you think the energy companies are passing the saving on?

[DazBob]

6 hours ago, Traf said:

 

An educated guess, chaps. Do you think the energy companies are passing the saving on?

Not a chance.  Businesses reduce their cost base to increase (or maintain) profits, certainly not to give their customers a better a price.

[Zico]

20 hours ago, MickyD said:

But one staff member looking after 10 checkouts. Great fun just before a TV cup game when everyone buys a case of ale and the checkout person needs to go round cancelling the red light.

Perhaps they ought to have a list of age restricted items* and if you’ve bought any you need to go to a proper till.

Alcohol, porn mags, knives, energy drinks, etc.

 

19 hours ago, globaldiver said:

Funny at Tesco recently.

I’ve downloaded the app, so my clubcard are on there.

Get to self checkout, wave barcode at machine. Nothing. Asked the helpful person what to do. She gets a piece of scrap paper and waves it through the voucher drop, the machine thinks it’s a paper voucher and we’re away. Technology, eh?!

 

another thing that annoys me regards self checkouts

when my red light goes off for booze or no apparent reason, and I'm stood there waiting

and you wait ages because the person hasn't noticed or gone off to do something else

then other red lights come on

and they get seen to first

makes me angry

said it before

but I liken standing in the queue for self checkouts to watching someone in the crystal maze realy struggling with a mystery game

[Tonge moor green jacket]

If you have a basket, but a number of items in it, I'm not sure there is any benefit to using self checkouts. Temperamental over weights, security checks, and having to trawl through non barcode items when unfamiliar with the system all slow you down.

[Zico]

Just now, Tonge moor green jacket said:

If you have a basket, but a number of items in it, I'm not sure there is any benefit to using self checkouts. Temperamental over weights, security checks, and having to trawl through non barcode items when unfamiliar with the system all slow you down.

yeah but you get a buzz when you don't scan your bags for life

[globaldiver]

29 minutes ago, Zico said:

 

another thing that annoys me regards self checkouts

when my red light goes off for booze or no apparent reason, and I'm stood there waiting

and you wait ages because the person hasn't noticed or gone off to do something else

then other red lights come on

and they get seen to first

makes me angry

said it before

but I liken standing in the queue for self checkouts to watching someone in the crystal maze realy struggling with a mystery game

And then the pleasant surprise when you end up outside and something hadn’t been scanned. So I’ve heard.

[Sweep]

12 minutes ago, Zico said:

yeah but you get a buzz when you don't scan your bags for life

I also found a couple of quid in change when I last paid, somebody clearly didn't wait around for their change form a £10/£20 note. I was well pleased.

[FrancisFogarty]

On 01/03/2023 at 23:36, MancWanderer said:

Eon are pestering me. To me it saves going outside in the pissing rain, opening up the box, pressing buttons, writing down readings, going on website, submitting readings, etc. 

Makes it easier 

What am I missing that makes them bad?

It makes it easier for them, not us. We got mithered off Eon, so I had one in. I thought, I'll not charge it up, and see if they notice, and come on and tell me to charge it up. Nope, not a word from them. It's uncharged to this day, in the crap box under the sink with an old iphone 5 and some screws.

[MancWanderer]

1 hour ago, Francis Fogarty said:

It makes it easier for them, not us. We got mithered off Eon, so I had one in. I thought, I'll not charge it up, and see if they notice, and come on and tell me to charge it up. Nope, not a word from them. It's uncharged to this day, in the crap box under the sink with an old iphone 5 and some screws.

Eon are utter shite but no matter when and what comparison site I go on I never get a better deal. Thing is I get an email from them saying that they need my monthly reading and I just forget so it’s all done on estimation until I get my arse in gear. Meter might solve that problem?

[Sweep]

22 hours ago, Francis Fogarty said:

It makes it easier for them, not us. We got mithered off Eon, so I had one in. I thought, I'll not charge it up, and see if they notice, and come on and tell me to charge it up. Nope, not a word from them. It's uncharged to this day, in the crap box under the sink with an old iphone 5 and some screws.

The device you've got under the sink is just for your reference isn't it? so it doesn't matter if you've plugged it in or not. The actual part that does the reporting is physically attached to your meter isn't it? 

My display has been unplugged for almost two years, but I know the "smart meter" is still reporting my usage

[FrancisFogarty]

25 minutes ago, Sweep said:

The device you've got under the sink is just for your reference isn't it? so it doesn't matter if you've plugged it in or not. The actual part that does the reporting is physically attached to your meter isn't it? 

My display has been unplugged for almost two years, but I know the "smart meter" is still reporting my usage

The bit that does the recording and reporting is outside. The only thing smart about it is that it they don’t have to pay a bloke to freeze his bollocks off to read the meter.

[MalcolmW]

Companies are under pressure from Government t reach high targets for smart meter installations.

In reality there is no prospect of meeting the targets and maybe the deadlines will be eased. In the meantime company CEOs don't relish the thought of appearing before a parliamentary select committee inquiry, so they waste effrt and manpower on trying to achieve the impossible.

I take my readings on the 1st of every month (plus whenever EDF request them, which seems to be quarterly. Our usage has dropped  10% on a 12 month rolling usage over the last 6 months, with a reduction every month.

[Spider]

Ok

Heres the warning about them.

Although everyone on here is a millionaire, many people around the country occasionally fall on hard times - lose a job, end up with a big bill for house repairs etc.

There is scope within the energy companies small print to move you to pre-payment if you miss a payment. It doesn’t have to be multiple misses either.

Pre payment charges are higher and you could end up without energy quite easily.

This is already happening, and one of the big targets is the rental sector which is where a lot of payments do get missed.

90%+ of people pay their bills and it isn’t an issue. But as I say, as soon as you hit a rough patch, you could end up penalised.

For that reason alone I find the thought of them a bit sinister.The government are issuing targets, but it’s not a huge leap of thought to wonder who is putting pressure on the government to do that….

[Tonge moor green jacket]

Normal or smart doesn't matter in that regard though. Fall behind with payments and risk a pre payment job.

Real time usage/demand data may be useful for projected generation and Octopus as you will be aware, already have a tariff which charges according to the rate being paid by the suppliers. Can vary every half hour, and a review I saw the other day was talking about the risks and benefits of the tariff.

For the right person, such tariffs can save a chunk of cash, but they require a smart meter.

[Spider]

4 minutes ago, Tonge moor green jacket said:

Normal or smart doesn't matter in that regard though. Fall behind with payments and risk a pre payment job.

Real time usage/demand data may be useful for projected generation and Octopus as you will be aware, already have a tariff which charges according to the rate being paid by the suppliers. Can vary every half hour, and a review I saw the other day was talking about the risks and benefits of the tariff.

For the right person, such tariffs can save a chunk of cash, but they require a smart meter.

I see the benefits, obviously, but looking at the population as a whole, there is a genuine grievance in the energy industry that they provide a service before it gets paid.

Virtually everything else into your house is paid for before it arrives. Council tax, water, Sky etc.

[tyldesley_white]

7 minutes ago, Tonge moor green jacket said:

Normal or smart doesn't matter in that regard though. Fall behind with payments and risk a pre payment job.

Real time usage/demand data may be useful for projected generation and Octopus as you will be aware, already have a tariff which charges according to the rate being paid by the suppliers. Can vary every half hour, and a review I saw the other day was talking about the risks and benefits of the tariff.

For the right person, such tariffs can save a chunk of cash, but they require a smart meter.

Over here my house was built in 2006 and came with a smart meter, my electric provider gives me a rundown every month on what percentage of use as gone on what, A/C, Lights, fridge pool, shit that's on all the time etc., they appear to have all different energy signatures which the smart meter can detect.  

[Mounts Kipper]

I’ve been working home today and meter ticking over at a rate of knots, just got back from training to see it stood at 27.25 I’ve been telling everyone at work I’m often £20 plus per day…. Anyhow kicking off about the cost my lad had a look at the meter… seems this nob head had it set on kg co2 not £, was only £15. 🤣