A man has resorted to unplugging his smart meter and locking it away in a cupboard after it told him he had spent £40,000 in one day on electricity. Paul Davies says he contacted EDF about the mistake after they sent him a message saying his bill would need to rocket to cover the extra spending.
And he says he was told smart meters are 'never wrong'. When he turned it back on to check, the meter had registered another £25,000 on electricity in one day - and £960 in gas.
Paul was told his bill would be going up by £400 to cover the expense, and when he called EDF they said there was nothing they could do. Paul argued his case and was eventually told there was a software issue.
He said: "EDF were looking at putting my direct debit up to £400 a month because of these faulty readings. I can see what I'm using myself by looking at the app so I knew something was wrong. This has been going on for a few months, but in that period I reset it countless times to try and fix the issue, but it kept coming up with the £40,000 figure. As a result, I've just thrown it in the cupboard and I rely on my own meter readings to keep on top of all my bills."
Paul said he rang EDF to speak about the matter, but claims the attitude of the staff made the situation even worse. He said: "Their attitude on the phone was a massive problem. They kept telling me the amount was right and that I must've used that much. At one point they told me a smart meter is never wrong.
"How the hell does one person use £40,000 worth of electric in one day? It was as if my meter was paying for the whole street. It was only because I kept talking to them that I got the problem sorted, otherwise it may have persisted."
Whilst speaking to Grimsby Live, Paul turned on his smart meter to see if the problem was still happening. He said: "I've just got the readings up and it says I've spent £25,000 on electric today and £960 on gas."
Paul Davies' smart metre said he was spending £40,000 a day on electric (Image: Paul Davies)
Paul said: "It's been a nightmare with them and if I didn't notice things could have been much worse. Somebody who is a bit older or maybe buries their head in the sand when a bill comes through could have had a heart attack, or worse, killed themselves. Everything is going up these days, but this is not what you need."
Grimsby Live has contacted EDF for comment but is yet to receive a response.
