Octopus - Smart Meter waiting lists

Posted 25th May 2023

I've been on Octopus Energy's tracker tariff since February this year and recently I was told that they will not be able to offer this tariff to me without a SMETS-2 meter if I ever switch away and would like to return again. During the conversation, they stated a very vague "long" waiting lists for these meters.

For now, I just have a standard mechanical meter for both Gas & Electricity. I've been happy with submitting weekly meter readings, up until recently when Octopus started to average my bills over a monthly period.

Does anyone know how long it took for Octopus to provide your meter, after joining the list? Or at least did Octopus provide you with a more accurate estimation?

21 Comments

sorted by

crumpetman
25th May
When you say variable tariff, do you mean the tracker tariff?

About four weeks ago I clicked the link from my Octopus account to book a smart meter install and it was done few days ago. I chose the earliest date available. There was no waiting list but a list of available dates and times.

I probably wouldn't have bothered but for the fact I want to get on the tracker tariff for electricity and they would not let me have it on a non smart meter.
CJones Author
25th May
Apologies, yes I meant the tracker tariff. I've edit the post to clarify.

Thanks for the info.
jjmmww1
25th May
Got a smarts1 (dumb) and just have to wait until they can do something for me otherwise I have to sit on the normal rates untill the DCC can confirm it can't be fixed unknown time period
IAmATeaf
26th May
I had SMETS 1 meters and quite a while ago they emailed to say good news we’ve upgraded them and they now allow over the air meter readings?

Didn’t know about the tracker tariff and just applied a week or so ago after seeing a thread here, hope I don’t have too long a wait. (edited)
BigBoss85
25th May
If you're providing weekly readings then why are they averaging your bill
CJones Author
25th May
I used to get weekly bills, 24hrs after I submitted a reading but now they started billing me monthly. I called them to ask why, but they offered no explaination. I think they are trying to get me to move to a smart meter, or perhaps they think I'm a conspiracist by not having one!?

I'm hoping that once I do get one installed, I'll be billed with much greater accuracy, rather than the unit price being averaged across the whole month. (edited)
zworlds
25th May
Booked my SMART meter installation. Engineer didn't turn up on first atempt due to family emergency. Second time, he turned up, asked us for a parking permit. We told him to park on one of our neighbour's driveways and he disappeared!
Now, I am back on the waiting list!
Uridium
25th May
I'm on the Octopus tracker Tariff and only have SMETS1 meters.
johnleverton
25th May
Wouldn’t put me on tracker plan until I got a smart meter,got meter 6 month wait to get tracker !!
bluetang
25th May
Meanwhile, every single time I log in to my account I get a pop up telling me Octopus meter installers are in my area and do I want a meter.

Nope.
CJones Author
26th May
Why don’t you want a smart meter, just out of interest? By the way there was some, erm, person on the Octopus Tracker discussion tread that was calling everyone a conspiracist if you didn’t have a smart meter. You best watch out for him (edited)
chris_hla4
25th May
Save your breath I've been with octopus for 4 years over the past 12 months I've lost count with the amount of times I've phoned emailed and even through my account tried to get a smart meter installed, now I can't be bothered with them on that matter.that said they for me are by far the best energy supplier around,before them I used to switch supplier every year.
wpj
26th May
We booked online and it took less than a week for the installation.

The display is useless for pricing, but good for looking at usage. Pricing is via the octopus app.
tinkerbellian
26th May
You can book online , for my area the initial first appointment on a suitable date was about a 4 week wait, however they cancelled the day before . Waiting for my next appointment now which took about 2 months to get as I needed a weekend date . However if you are flexible in when it can be done there was again appointments in about 4 weeks.

I wouldn’t bother with the waiting list again though , as they never actually contacted me while I was on it . (edited)
zbbzbb
2 m ago
My experience was that the website constantly said "no installs in your area, try again later". When I rang and emailed octopus they just said to keep trying each week. It went on for months like that.
Eventually I replied to a "do you want a smart meter" post on their Facebook page, explaining how long I'd been trying.
After that, a rep replied and kept me informed and I got one within a month.
Could have been coincidence, but I think their social media reps try a bit (lot) harder. Worth a try if you get stuck like I was.