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peterbirksWell, I've just been in the middle of a marvellously surrealistic conversation with my electricity supplier, London Energy, soon to be renamed EDF Energy after its foreign owner.
I pay a direct debit of £37 a month. This is, if anything, a fraction high, but I don't worry about it. Every so often, someone comes to read the meter, goes away, and a bill arrives to confirm that the reading was, more or less, in line with the estimate, and my bill would continue at the same level.
Until this week.
Two separate letters arrived, both dated May 23 (go figure...). One stated that:
"A meter reading called at your property recently and obtained a meter reading. However, after comparing it to previous meter readings thaken it appears to be incorrect. Due to this we have estimated your latest bill based on your previous electricity use."
Note that final phrase. Because the bill (which was in the other letter) went as follows.
Previous estimate, 9476. Current estimate, 14862. Bill, £448.92.
Accompanying this was the line "we need to ask your bank for an extra £279.80 to pay off your balance. We need to change your direct debit to £50."
Now, let's see if you can cope with London Energy's logic, because I know that I can't.
They send someone to read my meter. He takes a reading.
This reading doesn't seem right to London Energy, so they ignore it, and slap on a higher reading, which (they claim) is in line with my average electricity use.
But, because the estimated reading is so high (because they thought that the actual reading that they took was too low), they need to take nearly £280 out of my account on June 6 and they need to increase my direct debit by 30%. Which means, as far as I can see, that the estimate cannot possibly be "in line with my previous average usage".
Needless to say I was on the phone fairly promptly, only to be put through to an automated system. After giving all the details, the automated system disintegrated. "We are experiencing technical difficulties, please wait until we can transfer you", it said. Well, at least it was polite.
I gave all the details again to a real person, and the customer service woman said that "the reading we took in May was lower than the one we took in February".
"I see", I said, "so you automatically assumed that the recent reading was wrong, rather than the previous reading, even though the recent reading is more in line with my average usage. And, unless I had phoned you, you would have taken £280 out of my account on June 6. What if I had been on holiday?"
"Well, obviously, the money won't be taken out of the account, now", said she, (for whom I really did feel quite sorry, so I didn't enter normal bluster mode) sidestepping the actual question.
"And the direct debit?"
"Well, obviously, that will stay at £37".
Let's hope so.
But, I mean, really, it's a bit of a disgrace, isn't it? And it's one of the dangers of direct debits. I've had London Energy's assurance, but I'll still be checking my account carefully to make sure that the money hasn't been extracted anyway. And what if my current account was in a precarious state, and I had been on holiday? Bank charges could have ensued and everything could have got very messy indeed.
A cynic might think that this has more to do with cash flow at London Energy than with actual meter readings. I don't recall any comment in February that the reading was way out of kilter. Neither did my bill reflect this in March. Perhaps London Energy's line was: "Let's just bash out a few thousand of these bills and see who doesn't notice, eh?"
Scumbags.
I pay a direct debit of £37 a month. This is, if anything, a fraction high, but I don't worry about it. Every so often, someone comes to read the meter, goes away, and a bill arrives to confirm that the reading was, more or less, in line with the estimate, and my bill would continue at the same level.
Until this week.
Two separate letters arrived, both dated May 23 (go figure...). One stated that:
"A meter reading called at your property recently and obtained a meter reading. However, after comparing it to previous meter readings thaken it appears to be incorrect. Due to this we have estimated your latest bill based on your previous electricity use."
Note that final phrase. Because the bill (which was in the other letter) went as follows.
Previous estimate, 9476. Current estimate, 14862. Bill, £448.92.
Accompanying this was the line "we need to ask your bank for an extra £279.80 to pay off your balance. We need to change your direct debit to £50."
Now, let's see if you can cope with London Energy's logic, because I know that I can't.
They send someone to read my meter. He takes a reading.
This reading doesn't seem right to London Energy, so they ignore it, and slap on a higher reading, which (they claim) is in line with my average electricity use.
But, because the estimated reading is so high (because they thought that the actual reading that they took was too low), they need to take nearly £280 out of my account on June 6 and they need to increase my direct debit by 30%. Which means, as far as I can see, that the estimate cannot possibly be "in line with my previous average usage".
Needless to say I was on the phone fairly promptly, only to be put through to an automated system. After giving all the details, the automated system disintegrated. "We are experiencing technical difficulties, please wait until we can transfer you", it said. Well, at least it was polite.
I gave all the details again to a real person, and the customer service woman said that "the reading we took in May was lower than the one we took in February".
"I see", I said, "so you automatically assumed that the recent reading was wrong, rather than the previous reading, even though the recent reading is more in line with my average usage. And, unless I had phoned you, you would have taken £280 out of my account on June 6. What if I had been on holiday?"
"Well, obviously, the money won't be taken out of the account, now", said she, (for whom I really did feel quite sorry, so I didn't enter normal bluster mode) sidestepping the actual question.
"And the direct debit?"
"Well, obviously, that will stay at £37".
Let's hope so.
But, I mean, really, it's a bit of a disgrace, isn't it? And it's one of the dangers of direct debits. I've had London Energy's assurance, but I'll still be checking my account carefully to make sure that the money hasn't been extracted anyway. And what if my current account was in a precarious state, and I had been on holiday? Bank charges could have ensued and everything could have got very messy indeed.
A cynic might think that this has more to do with cash flow at London Energy than with actual meter readings. I don't recall any comment in February that the reading was way out of kilter. Neither did my bill reflect this in March. Perhaps London Energy's line was: "Let's just bash out a few thousand of these bills and see who doesn't notice, eh?"
Scumbags.
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no subject
With BT, I am paying through a Standing Order rather than a Direct Debit. I would with npower as well if I had the chance.
*shakes fist at domestic electricity suppliers*
Powergen!!!
Date: 2006-06-12 11:59 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-05-29 11:08 am (UTC)They were quick.
"And, well, bugger me, I had left the hob on all night. I wonder what the electricity cost of that was?"
Aksu
no subject
Date: 2006-05-29 04:09 pm (UTC)I was reminded of a comedy sketch from the mid 1990s.
A man phones the electricity company to complain about his $5,000 electricity bill for his Manhattan apartment.
"How many refrigerators do you have, sir?"
"What kind of dumb question is that?"
"Please just answer the question, sir".
"Eighty, about eighty. I leave the doors open to cool the flat."
+++++++
no subject
Date: 2006-05-29 12:18 pm (UTC)And ex-boyfriend of mine's family one day had an electric bill that was about $2000. Most families pay about $50-150 per month, depending on the size of the home, electric vs. gas, and tons of other things, just like England, I'm sure.
Anyway, they called and complained, of course. The electric company sent someone out, things went round and round for a while, but in the end, the company claimed they had actually used that much electricity in one month, and must pay the bill.
Although outraged, the family made an arrangement with the company to pay a portion each month, on top of the regular bill. After about six months of paying $200 for the back bill, and the regular bill, the company finally sent them a notice that a mistake had been made. No apology, of course, and a credit for the amount they had paid. Jerks.
As an aside, many people in the USA, especially here in Arizona where we get over 300 days of pure sunlight per year, could easily be using solar power. The government has a tax credit program, and the electric companies have programs to help reimburse the cost of the solar equipment. Sounds nice, right? Wrong. The reason almost no one has solar in Arizona is because the equipment is so incredibly expensive, and then the rub is that the electric company is triple dipping, taking huge advantage of people who have solar. They take the solar from you, without even a reach around, pay you NOTHING for giving it to them, bill someone else the full price for it, like THEY are the ones providing the electricity, then bill YOU for fees and other costs associated with being on the grid. Lovely. Someone at the electric company told us the other day, "We are trying to change this." Um, no. YOU aren't trying to change this, why would YOU want to? The government is trying to stop you from triple dipping! It's fine if our govenment wants to double or triple dip (I won't even discuss any further levels, although they exist), but the government doesn't want YOU doing it, lol!
So we are waiting to buy the equipment until they force the electric company to stop this. I doubt it will be much longer.
no subject
Date: 2006-05-29 04:13 pm (UTC)That, as far as I am aware, is the system used by those with solar panels in the UK. These panels have become much more efficient in recent years and even in the UK a roof fitted with such panels (cost, about $15,000) generates a fair amount of electricity. Sure, it's probably going to take you a long time to recoup the capital allocation, but at least you don't get the electricity company taking the power that you have generated away from you.
PJ
no subject
Date: 2006-05-29 04:18 pm (UTC)Two, we wouldn't be giving anything back. It would be for our own, personal use, and anything we had left over would just be stored or go to waste. In other words, we are penalized for trying to "help."
no subject
Date: 2006-05-29 05:03 pm (UTC)PJ
no subject
Date: 2006-05-29 05:08 pm (UTC)We are going to do it either way. We will just take longer, and buy recycled parts this way. I just pray Glenn doesn't electrocute himself while messing with the wiring, lol.
wrong
Date: 2006-05-29 05:18 pm (UTC)Batteries, however, do not have infinite storage. Once the batteries are fully charged, anything additional that the panels generate is "wasted"; cannot be stored. This is where being on the grid would be useful. Not just that we'd be paid for the excess, but that we'd help others and that, hopefully, less coal or nuclear would be used (ie given enough people that would do solar if grid payback was policy).
no subject
Date: 2006-05-29 06:38 pm (UTC)When trying to describe my current customer, phrases involving arses and elbows often spring to mind.
As an aside, your little run in with your present supplier is probably a good cue to have a squint at something like Uswitch (http://www.uswitch.com) to see if you could do better elsewhere.
As for alternative power generation, plans are afoot in the UK to let people who install their own systems actually sell their surplus electricity back into the local grid at market rates.
Div (http://pokerdiv.blogspot.com)
and Gas is no better
Date: 2006-05-30 10:13 am (UTC)I went hunting again and confirmed it was none of the basement meters. So I tried outside and found a meter-box with a triangle lock on it.
Powergen woman rings back a third time (I'm not happy by now) so I tell her it's locked and they'll have to send a meter-reader after all. "Oh that's OK - we have a reading from 2 weeks ago - we just wanted to check it." The bill when it came showed no marked variation from the norm, so I've been charging round the building for no reason at all.
We hadn't changed suppliers because the electrics in the basement are a total nightmare. Six separate bills, nine meters and some wiring that looks untouched for the last 50 years.
Why I throw things at the British Gas advert
Date: 2006-05-30 10:41 am (UTC)I was looking to change suppliers when a plausible uong fellow from BG comes round while I'm busy to explain how much we can save by taking dual fuel from BG. As there is a cooling off period my wife signs up and shows me the deal. As BG are going to save us almost zero I send in the cancellation form, ring to confirm they have it and breathe a sigh of relief.
Two weeks later I get a letter from my electricity supplier saying that they are sorry to lose me to BG! I ring BG and get told by a patronising call supervisor that my cancellation was processed and they did not have my electricity supply contract!
Inevitably I then get a bill from BG for the next quarters electricity!!!
It then took 4-5 weeks to transfer my supply to Scottish Power as BG still denied ownership of my electricity! OFPower are a waste of space as they said I had no reason to complain about a company illegally taking over my power supply!
So avoid BG like the plague - sooner they are out of business the better!
Re: Why I throw things at the British Gas advert
Date: 2006-05-30 11:22 am (UTC)Jiggery mentioned Uswitch but, let's give EDF Energy some credit here -- the person I was speaking to was English and knew what to do (compare and contrast with any conversation with Party Poker or, apparently, the Orange call centre). In my experience ANY change of supplier is fraught with difficulties and it's a matter of much more than cost. Moving my direct debits and the like from Lloyds to Smile took several weeks, while an attempted shift of mobile phone supplier turned out to be theoretically impossible because the first supplier had put my number on a group business contract without telling me.
British Gas is known to be woeful when it comes to its maintenance contract and when it comes to supplying electricity. However, it supplies gas quite well and has never billed me wrongly. The same goes with my broadband contract with BT. Not the cheapest, but it's a long-term one with an old-style connection number to a service centre in Glasgow, not Kolkata.
As for Powergen telling me to give them a reading - they can sod off if I don't know where the meter is.
PJ
Re: Why I throw things at the British Gas advert
Date: 2006-05-31 09:31 pm (UTC)Mike