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Solution:
Remove a section of my picket fence and park the car on the grass when charging using the OHME recommend 8m lead to an OHME E-Pod on the house.
This removes the need for a “dangerous long cable”.
Will OHME agree to this or will their installer still say no????
I finally received a reply from OHME regarding my proposal to fit an OHME-Epod, as opposed to an OHME Home Pro at an installation cost of £1343 and use a 15m cable (purchased by myself) from the EPod.
Totally ridiculous reply, are OHME implying the charger cable over 8m are dangerous, if so all suppliers selling these cables are putting EV owners at risk.
Or, is this reply based on the installer, no profit with a standard install?
Does OHME police every OHME-Epod charge point installed, just incase someone uses a “long cable”…..I think not!!!
Just total nonsense from OHME and their installer.
The email read:
Hi J*******,
We received an update from our account operations team and installation partner today advising that we would not be able to do the installation as per your description below. We wouldn’t be comfortable offering an installation where a long lead from the charger to your parking space was the proposed solution.
Whilst I understand that this is frustrating because it means that we have to revert to the original proposal, this is the only installation we feel comfortable completing and ensuring that it meets our high quality expectation of every installation.
If you’re unhappy with this outcome, we would encourage you to reach out to our complaints team at complaints@ohme-ev.com.
For the time being, we have placed your account on hold until you make a decision about how you would like to proceed.
Kind regards
I spoke with Ohme this morning about my proposition and plan to opt for the Ohme E-Pod and they asked if I could summit the request by email, which I have done and copied in Motability.
The advisor on the phone was on about submitting a “home survey”??? Really, they have more information about my property than I have.
I explained that it is only the charger model that needs to be changed, fitted to the house, no additional work etc. But, OHME advisor still confused, despite having all the information in front of them.
I also requested that another installer be assigned to the job, not Smarter Utility, but apparently they (ohme) would have to restart the process from day one to facilitate this.
Eh? nothing has changed since the first home survey, just pass the details to another installer.
So, email sent and I await a reply.
Thanks Kezo, genius idea.
I could have the Ohme E-Pod charger on the house to the extreme right of the electric box, about 2 feet in from the fence, then it’s out of the way and there is no vehicle or pedestrian traffic on that side of the garden, so no worries about people tripping over the cable etc.
Then as you suggest a 15m cable to the driveway and problem solved.
Why can’t the great minds at Motability and Ohme think like this, ah not enough profit.
Thanks again, I will contact Ohme tomorrow with this solution.
*The diagram/plan below shows where the charge point on the driveway was going to be placed, so the charge point location can now be ignored.
Interesting, the Motability advice was different 6 hours ago, when I highlighted to one of their account managers t0 their “What is non-standard installation” where it mentioned a fence.
Funny how the webpage has been amended so quickly???
You might need a non-standard installation if:
• Your parking space is not directly next to your home
• Your charging unit needs to be mounted on something other than your home, like a fence or a post
• The cable route from your meter or unit is longer than 15 metres
• The charge point provider needs to drill through more than one wall for the cable route• Your electrical equipment needs to be upgradedMy house is 8m from the driveway.
From electric box (at front door) to charge point on driveway, taking into account rise and fall of cable = 14-16m
Exactly, so why are OHME stating that Motability contributed £300.00?
Did Motability actually contribute or did OHME just reduce the quote to make it look better????
Plus, when I spoke to Motability 2 weeks ago, they stated that they couldn’t contribute, even as a gesture of goodwill, towards the non-standard costs.
Finally managed to get an itemised breakdown from OHME for the quote:
”Hi,
Thank you for getting back in touch. I’m sorry about the delay in coming back to you. As you receive a contribution from Motability to cover some of the non-standard costs, we had to confirm with a different department about the itemised cost for each section.
Please see below a line-by-line breakdown of each of the costs for you:
– Post mounting and back plate – £462.00
– Post block (concrete) – £396.00
– Groundworks – £462.00
– 10m EV Ultra (cable) – £141.90
– 2 hours additional labour – £158.40
Total – £1,620.30
Total minus Motability contribution – £1,342.30If you have any further questions or need any additional support, please feel free to reach out by email or by phone and we can address this.”
Mounting Post £462.00? The most expensive one I can find online for the OHME Home Pro is £270.60. So, a 71% mark up here.
Post Block (concrete) £396.00. I have no idea what a post block is either. But after calling Micromixconcrete in Edinburgh, I can have 4 square meters of concrete delivered for £380.00. So no idea what £396.09 for concrete is for.
A charger post base or ground box costs £99.00 and 2/3 bags of Postcrete £30.00, job done for £130.00.
Groundworks £462.00, but does not specify what groundwork is required. In my opinion, none apart from the post base.
10m Ultra EV cable £141.90.
Tool Station – 10m Doncaster Ultra EV cable £56.00. A mark up of 153%!Labour £158.40 for 2 hours. So what does the groundwork charge cover?
Obviously being seriously ripped off !!
Also, where did the £300 Motability contribution appear from?
Take away the Motability contribution, and the original quote from Smarter Utility was over £1,600.09…..,Mindblowing
Oh dear, the plot thickens, fictitious address on the DNO application, what next?
Not an expert, but grateful if you could share what is wrong with the installations.
Interesting the amount of “companies” set up recently under the Smarter Utility umbrella??
Results from Companies House
SMARTER UTILITY LTD
SC648051 – Incorporated on 25 November 2019
159 King Street, Rutherglen, Glasgow, Scotland, G73 1BZ
SMARTER UTILITY GROUP LIMITED
SC686191 – Incorporated on 18 January 2021
Block 4 Unit 4 Fullwood Industrial Estate, Burnbank Road, Hamilton, South Lanarkshire, Scotland, ML3 9AZ
SMARTER UTILITY HOLDINGS LIMITED
SC742920 – Incorporated on 30 August 2022
Block 4, Unit 4 Fullwood Industrial Estate, Burnbank Road, Hamilton, Scotland, ML3 9AZ
SMARTER UTILITY RENEWABLES LTD
SC761594 – Incorporated on 9 March 2023
4 Block 4 Unit 4, Fullwood Industrial Estate, Hamilton, South Lanarkshire, United Kingdom, ML3 9AZ
SMARTER UTILITY CIVILS LTD
SC711185 – Dissolved on 31 January 2023
Unit 2 High Street Industrial Estate High Street, Kirkintilloch, Glasgow, Scotland, G66 1PN
The last one is interesting, as it was dissolved on 31 Jan 2023, but they used this company and this address on the EVCP & HP Connections Form v3.3, which is dated 06/02/2024.
A year after the company was dissolved and still using that address etc.
Something not quite right here?
I do think that Motability say one thing to one person and another thing to the next?
Is my husband expected to park the vehicle at another address to charge it, then walk back to that address and get the car every time I need to go out?
Especially when I have a perfectly good driveway outside my house.
Just another fob off excuse from Motability, who would be better off just sorting out the obvious problem – OHME.
No, it was Motability that came up with the option of have the charger fitted at another address?
I have no idea why, as the only named driver is my husband and aways has been.
My house is nothing special, semi-detached with front garden and driveway in front of garden.
Max 17m from electricity box to driveway/charge post.It’s the quote to run the cable and installation of charge post that is the problem. £1,343.00 from Ohme or £550.00 from local contractor.
But, Ohme does not allow any contractor/ installer, other than their own to complete this work.
Bottom line – Accept Ohme’s quote or lose the free charger offered by Motability.
Bit of a farce really!
I just can’t figure out the set up between Motability, OHME and OHME’s “registered installers”, apart from a consortium with a monopoly over disabled customers.
Disabled customers are offered a “free product” by one member, then quoted an inflated amount by another and the middle member makes up the rules in order to retain all the work, with spurious claims that anyone doing work outside their circle will void a warranty and only their partner can carry out any work required.
Where else does such a practice exist, where a customer is basically “sucked in” by an offer and once in (after ordering an EV) they are at the mercy of the next partner and have no option but to accept a quote from the third partner(s).
Are any of the above parties in breach of Competition Law
“Competition law is contained in Chapters I and II of the Competition Act 1998 and is policed by the Competition Markets Authority (CMA). UK competition law is designed to protect the ‘underdog’ consumer or business from anti-competitive agreements or abuse of dominant market positions.
Is being denied the right to have works carried out on your own property by a qualified/ certified contractor, an abuse of market position. E.g Use our installers/contractors or lose the free offer.
The extortionate quotes sent out might also raise a few eyebrows.
I will contact the Competition and Markets Agency (CMA) and find out what their take on this set up is
I will also contact my MP, SMP and the Minister for Disabled People, explain the situation and request their view on this matter.
It has got to the stage that the financial part is not a huge deal, it’s the rights of the disabled customer to be treated with respect and fairness.
Would a normal everyday customer put up with this, where they can obtain a charger from the manufacturer and be told they can only use the manufacturers installers and cannot obtain quotes for work on their property from anyone else? I think not!
The call was as expected, no further forward despite supply 3 quotes for a full install, including charger and additional works, which all came in around £1,400.00 and clearly proved that Ohme was overcharging on their quote.
Motabilty are going to look into the quote again, but last weeks effort by Motability did not change Ohme’s position one bit.
So back to square one and seriously thinking about ditching the whole thing and cancelling the EV which is due for delivery next week. Renault will not be impressed.
But, firstly I will await a reply from Motability and see what the outcome is with Ohme.
<p style=”text-align: left;”>The reason given by Ohme as to why a homeowner cannot get the groundwork’s done themselves is because “it would affect the 3 year warranty if the installation is not carried out by their own specialist installers”</p>
Competition and Markets Authority???I have a call back at 3:30 from an account manager on the back of emailing Andrew Miller last night.
I have already been through the Motability contacting Ohme to justify costs, to which I received the reply:
Hi, I’ve been checking this issue with our scheme partner team, who contacted Ohme on your behalf today. They have advised that we are unable to cover the £1343 costs and we cannot allow you to do your own ground works, If you are unable to manage this amount, please contact our Application team on 0300 456 4566 to discuss installing the charge point at an alternative driver’s address instead. Kind Regards Motability
It will interesting to see where this afternoon’s conversation goes, as I have also forwarded 3 quotes, all under £1,400, for full installation, including additional works, from 3 local EV charger installers.
I will update on the outcome.
My husband obtained a quote this morning from a local EV installer and they quoted £1,446.00 including VAT.
This included “Additional non-standard installation works” with post for £347.50
So, when compared to the OHME quote of £1,353.00, OHME have over quoted by £1,000.00.
OHME are just ripping off Motability customers, plain and simple, and I suspect that their installers are aware of this, hence the outrageous quotes???
I would say “stuff it”, but why should I?
I was offered a “Free charger with standard install” when I ordered my EV.Why should I then pay up to £1,400.00 to have an EV charge point fitted myself, when in reality with the free offer, I should only be paying circa £550.00?
I have emailed Andrew Miller and await a response.
My quote from OHME was provided to them by:
Smarter Utility
Block 4 Unit 4 Fullwood Industrial Estate, Hamilton, ML3 9AZ
Who are apparently OHME’s specialist for central Scotland, but 60 miles from me.
I cannot understand why this installer was chosen, as there are dozens of EV installers in the Edinburgh/ East Lothian area.
For £1343.00, they would be running the cable from inside my front door (electric box inside) along the bottom of a wall to my driveway ( in front of 5m garden/grass), then digging a small hole, placing a post base, pouring some concrete in and finally fitting and OHME Home Pro post to the base.
No trenches, no major groundworks and apparently this could affect the warranty and CAN only be done by OHME’s “specialist installers”.
Absolute tosh, anyone with a nuance of DIY could complete this work at a fraction of the price.
Just a total rip off, preying on the misfortune of Motability’ disabled customers.
At least the normal person can tell OHME to stick it if they came back with such ridiculous quotes.
The Motability customer has that option, but has the forfeit the “Free Charger” offer they accepted when placing their EV order.
This is just not fair and Motability need to step in and sort this out, as I suspect a lot of Motability customers will think they are getting a good deal and pay up.
I’m having exactly the same experience, I was also shocked by the cost quoted. For a charger post, post base, 10m cable and labour (2 hours to dig a hole?) the quote came back at £1,343.00.
I then costed all the items contained in the quote, all from certified and reputable suppliers and obtained a quote from a local contractor to install. Total cost included materials, VAT and labour = £557.00
So, with a difference of £786.00 I went back to OHME to enquire if I could dispense with the quote and have the “additional works” carried out myself.
OHME replied with – quote:
“In regards to the non-standard work which needs to be completed, we are unable to permit a third party to complete the work as this would effect the three-year warranty that comes with the Ohme charger. If a fault developed which was the result of non-standard works, we wouldn’t be able to offer to cover any repairs.
Our internal policy is that all installation work must be completed by Ohme and our registered installation partners in order to ensure that we can maintain the high standard of work we set across our whole business.”
How does digging a hole, pouring in some concrete and placing a post, affect the 3 year warranty?
The “additional works” does not involve any specialised or electrical work and is purely groundwork’s.
I might be missing something, but are all OHME’s registered installation partners, who are predominantly electrical contractors , more proficient at digging holes and performing groundwork tasks, than a certified groundwork’s contractor?
Anyway, the final decision by OHME is basically accept the quote and pay us £1,343.00 or you lose the “free charger deal” from Motability in full!
This cannot be right, to profit from disabled customers and offer no option, apart from pay up or lose out.
Could this practice be breaking competition rules?
I too spoke to Motability, not interested, they suggested cancelling the EV.
Any ideas on the best way to progress with this, as it seems that a lot of Motability customers are being ripped off, and OHME know that there is nothing we can do about it without support from Motability.
New vehicle due next week and still no way of charging it !!!!
