Comments on: Electric Shocks!!!

By: Val

Val — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 19:43:18 +0000

Wow just a bit of a difference between what they billed you for and what you owe.
I remember the coin meters too, at least you know where you stand with them.
We only have electric and phone bills here, no mains gas so a bottle does the cooker which you pay for in advance. Oil heats the house which again is paid for in advance.
Although I only got oil under a month ago and it cost 290 euro and it’s almost run out now.

Sorry for the long ramble!

By: Kate

Kate — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 16:49:15 +0000

Nick – It would be nice to try but you just know they would have no sense of humour if the roles were reversed. Yes I’d love to know how they reached that figure too!

Don’t Bug Me – That must be it!!I must be paying for my neighbours too…. oh I better not be!!!

Taffy’s Mum – That was what I thought at first – after all we have greyhounds to keep warm don’t we – but when I checked the meter reading estimate it was way out!!

Barbara – It was a shock but I think it was so far away from what I thought it would be that it didn’t register for a few minutes – it was really quite a strange feeling! The new online bill came yesterday but the gas one has yet to arrive!

Tattytiara – Welcome – oh yes always ,always, check and give a correct meter reading! It works both ways too – sometimes they don’t estimate enough – I’ve had that happen in the past – not often though!

Cortes – I remember when I was a child we had prepayment meters and had some very dark moments while my parents searched for the appropriate coin – at least they always knew where they were and didn’t get a bill!!! No I don’t trust them – not one bit!

By: Cortes

Cortes — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 02:36:29 +0000

The devil you know versus the devil you don’t. I doubt any of them are that much different. Guess you simply have to check on them each time you get a bill. My opinion is that “it’s their meter, they should read the damn thing”. Still wouldn’t trust them though.

By: tattytiara

tattytiara — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 23:57:34 +0000

Woah. This is a good lesson to everybody about the value of checking utility bills carefully. Even when it’s not such a dramatic overcharge, it all adds up, and quickly!

By: Barbara

Barbara — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 16:57:05 +0000

Oh! my goodness what a shock this must have been. So glad you got the right price in the end although I know you did not need the stress and the hassle.

By: Taffy's Mum

Taffy's Mum — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 10:09:33 +0000

Help – I am with the same elec/gas company. Looks like I am going to have a BIG shock coming my way! Especially the amount of time we have had the heating on over the cold snap!
Ever since we changed to Southern when the salesman knocked on the door, meter readers have tried to gain access to read the meter leaving a calling card but it is always during the day when I am at work. EDF used to come back and try again in the evening! Maybe I need to look at changing too!

By: Don't Bug Me!

Don't Bug Me! — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 04:48:27 +0000

Our first gas bill was way off too – it had something to do with the fact that the gas company thought the neighbours meter was ours and vica versa. Apparently, our neighbours kept their house at 30 degrees celcius all winter and had three hot baths a day!?! Once the meters got switched, all was well.

By: Nick

Nick — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 13:44:45 +0000

I wonder how they produce their estimates if they turn out to be about 15 times the actual reading. That’s not an estimate, it’s a computer malfunction. And as Jay said, a bill like that could kill a frail oldie stone dead. Perhaps you should tell them you “estimated” your bill at £1.09 so that’s what you’re paying!

By: Kate

Kate — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 12:46:46 +0000

Daddy P- I can see what you’re saying but what I don’t understand is why I have to give them my readings every 3 months – which is what I’ve been asked to do….. what if I forget? Will they estimate again? I don’t feel comfortable with them now…

Geri – That’s right – I did feel victimised and I really don’t trust them now..

Baino – I always check my meter when I get a bill – but it was the size of this one that threw me….

Jay – The shock and distress of this single mid-fifties person had was huge enough. But, strange you should mention it I went over to see my (soon to be 93 year old) Uncle in the afternoon and I was telling him about it – he showed me his bill, it too had been estimated but when I went to check the meter in his council bungalow for the elderly – it was in an outhouse at the top of a wall around 7 foot high. Neither my uncle or I were tall enough to read it – so how would he know if he was being fleeced? He can’t climb on things and neither can I!!!!!

By: Jay

Jay — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 00:15:53 +0000

That’s appalling!! How dare they try to fleece people like that? Think of the shock and distress a single pensioner might feel on opening that. And I believe they do it deliberately as an attempt to ‘borrow’ our money. They can make good interest on that £1000 in the time it takes you to get it back or catch up.

OH regulary has fights with the service providers about how much they want to put our direct debit up.