Meter readings

[Dave2002]

We have contracts with British Gas for electricity and gas. I had thought we are on a tariff which is not fully electronic, and that we had not agreed to provide meter readings. During the last year I have received a number of emails requesting meter readings, though they are not specific enough, not specifying which readings are required and why. This has been a source of confusion and doubt.

I phoned the company recently to ask about this, and was told that they like to have at least one reading a year of both gas and electricity, but they are not legally required to do a reading each year, only within a five year period.

I don't particularly mind doing the readings, but some might find this inconvenient. For us the gas meter is more problematic, as it's more difficult to reach, and more importantly, difficult to read.

Others may have noticed this too. I have requested a visit to check out the possibilities of Smart Meters, though I'm not absolutely sure that they can be fitted in our property, or that even if installed they will overcome all the problems. Otherwise the Smart Meters do seem a good idea, though currently they appear to rely on mobile phone technology, so might not work where there is poor coverage.

The sales team don't seem to have a good idea how the meters work. I suspect that the gas meter uses wi-fi to connect to the electricity meter, and that then sends out readings by the phone network, but I could be completely wrong about this.

One might hope that sales/advice teams could have some very basic understanding of what's involved, but I don't think they're particularly clued up on what they're providing.

However, if the Smart Meters do work satisfactorily, having the ability to monitor usage in half hour intervals does seem a potentially rather helpful feature.

[umslopogaas]

EDF last read my electricity meter in May. The latest bill, in August, requested me to either provide a reading, or pay an amount estimated from previous payments. It would actually be no trouble to provide a reading, its a digital meter, but its one more thing to do and since my usage is fairly constant it seems reasonable to go on paying estimated amounts, with an actual reading by EDF once a year to provide any needed correction.

I dont have a gas meter, I use bottled gas for cooking. I only use about one cylinder a year, cost about sixty quid.

[Conchis]

I'm with Eon. At the beginning of the year, I switched over from monthly direct debits to quarterly bills.

Whenever I am requested for a meter reading, their website rejects my readings as being 'too low', although when I phoned them up to give them the readers I've been unable to input, they seem to accept them (which makes me suspicious).

I don't use a lot of energy and am frequently away from home. Have considered changing suppliers but that just seems to open a whole new can of worms.

[Anastasius]

Smart meters use the mains electric I believe. At least the leccy ones do. However I would not have one because I have no faith in their security since they can be instructed to turn your electric off either by your supplier (by mistake perhaps ) or by hackers

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

I'm with Eon. At the beginning of the year, I switched over from monthly direct debits to quarterly bills.

Whenever I am requested for a meter reading, their website rejects my readings as being 'too low', although when I phoned them up to give them the readers I've been unable to input, they seem to accept them (which makes me suspicious).

We used to be with Eon, paying by monthly direct debit. The trouble was that throughout our time with them, they always owed us - never the other way round. They wouldn't even discuss reducing monthly payments, even though we challenged them in April, just after the high winter consumption had passed and we were still owed over £200. We changed to British Gas, and - so far so good.

[mangerton]

What Anastasius said. Smart meters are an invention of the devil, and are to be avoided at all costs.

I don't have gas. I read my electric meter on the first of every month, and put the reading in a spreadsheet. Sad? Perhaps, but I used to work in the trade, and experience has taught me it is a wise thing to do. As far as suppliers are concerned, I'll go with the cheapest price, as the suppliers' admin. services are all equally bad. For every good tale of a supplier, someone will come along with a bad tale, and the posts above illustrate this.

Last month, I moved my aged mother's electricity supply from Scottish (ie British) Gas to another supplier. This beggars belief, but they had written to her saying, "You have paid too much for electricity over the last year. We will send you a refund. You are not paying enough for your electricity, so from next month your payments will rise by....." It was an increase of 46%. I read mum's meter, too!

The refund, by the way, was small, less than £20. I know how much she uses, and how much I use, and the DDs are set accordingly. We are now both with different suppliers, as we live in different PES areas, and this makes a significant difference to how much we pay.

[Dave2002]

mangerton

Years ago I was aware of some very poor practice by utility companies. A work colleague discovered that his mother was actually paying to THREE different utility companies for the same supply. Each had managed "apparently" to take over the supply from the previous one - but the payments continued to be made. It took some sorting out. Needless to say the hapless woman was getting on in years, and didn't have a clue what was being done "behind her back". Scam/unscrupulous or what?

My daughter also had a problem with a flat in Stirling, when one company managed to take over her supply for a short period - fairly clearly without authorisation - before she noticed and, as far as I can remember, insisted that it was all put back, and appropriate compensation provided.

There are some very unscrupulous people and/or organisations out there - or maybe - to be more charitable - some rather less than competent ones.

[Serial_Apologist]

I consistently use the same amounts of gas, year in, year out, having been with E.On for a decade on a direct debit payment method. In 2010/11 I was paying £51 per month. This went down to £48 in the first part of 2013, then up to £86, which was half expected after constant doom-laden pre-announcements of price rises, and price comparisons had advised staying put, though the near doubling was rather a shock. It then came down to £71 in Feb 2014 and dropped to £33 in March of this year, only for me to be advised that it is to go up once again to £74. About half of my readings are estimates, whereas until a couple of years ago a meter reader always visited, and in any case I always do a reading of my own after receiving the quarterly statement. But regardless of the amount of gas used remaining steady, and almost always being in credit, there seems to be no rational correlation between the rises and falls in what I am expected to pay. With this uncertainty, and worries about what is going to happen to my pension and the few investments I have that keep the wolf from the door, together with reports from friends of similar experiences regardless of supplier, I shall stick to paying my quarterly electricity from the same supplier by cheque, as always.

[alycidon]

What Anastasius said. Smart meters are an invention of the devil, and are to be avoided at all costs.

I don't have gas. I read my electric meter on the first of every month, and put the reading in a spreadsheet. Sad? Perhaps, but I used to work in the trade, and experience has taught me it is a wise thing to do.

Don't beat yourself up, mangerton. When we got married in September 1966, a chap in my then church, who worked for the South Western Electricity Board, advised me to read my meters once a week, and I have done so, every week, for 49 years! I don't put my figures into a spreadsheet, but Mrs Alycidon and I do hold an inquest if the reading is higher than it should be.

It is much, much easier, to investigate an apparent spike in usage, on a weekly basis, rather than waiting for the bill to arrive and then wondering why it was higher than it should be.

Thank you for advising me to avoid smart meters.

All the best

Alycidon

[eighthobstruction]

....Recent email from British Gas:

Thanks for your enquiry about the meter reading reminder.



I'm sorry you didn't receive the notification to submit the meter readings.



I’ve checked your accounts and see that we’re regularly sending you the email notification to submit the meter readings. On this month, we’ve sent the meter readings reminder on 10 August 2015.



It's been highlighted that a small number of email and internet providers mark some of our notification emails as Spam. As a result, some of our customers may not receive all of the notifications we send. It’s possible that this is why you have not been receiving your meter readings notification emails.



We are working to resolve this issue with internet and email providers, but in the meantime there are a few easy steps you can follow, to ensure our emails aren’t marked as Spam and go straight to your inbox.

>>>>>>>>...............don't you just love folk who are "working to resolve this issue"....governments even....

[Flosshilde]

I was visiting my late mother when she had a telephone call from British Gas asking her to read the meter. I explained to them that that was impossible for her to do (since she had almost no sight & limited mobility), & could they send out someone to do it. Oh no, not possible, as they didn't have enough meter readers for the number of customers they had . I would have thought that the answer was quite simple - employ more. But of course this would reduce their profits, so we are expected to take on jobs that in the past would have been the responsibility of the service provider - just like self-service tills in supermarkets.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

But of course this would reduce their profits, so we are expected to take on jobs that in the past would have been the responsibility of the service provider - just like self-service tills in supermarkets.

I always refuse to use those self-service tills, however long the queues at the check-outs. Some of the staff can become quite uppity when I say that if I use the self-service tills, I'm condoning the policy of trying to make those very same people lose their jobs.

[Dave2002]

I always refuse to use those self-service tills, however long the queues at the check-outs. Some of the staff can become quite uppity when I say that if I use the self-service tills, I'm condoning the policy of trying to make those very same people lose their jobs.

Several tube stations in the area where I used to live are having their ticket offices closed. There are ticket machines which prospective passengers are expected to use. According to London Underground, the stations will still be manned, and the staff will be employed more effectively. I do wonder what, exactly, they will do. Perhaps they need to be on hand for when the ticket machines get jammed, or don't issue tickets, or the ticket machines in the car parks fail!

It does make sense if there really is a service level improvement, and if no jobs are lost, but otherwise .... In our local station we used to have a brilliant man in the ticket office, who'd often work out the cheapest option for passengers, but presumably the railway companies saved money in several ways when they let him go / he took retirement - 1. by saving his pay and 2. by the passengers who would have paid more for their journeys. However, that office is still manned until 12 noon most days, unlike many others.

[Mary Chambers]

I was visiting my late mother when she had a telephone call from British Gas asking her to read the meter. I explained to them that that was impossible for her to do (since she had almost no sight & limited mobility), & could they send out someone to do it. Oh no, not possible, as they didn't have enough meter readers for the number of customers they had . I would have thought that the answer was quite simple - employ more. But of course this would reduce their profits, so we are expected to take on jobs that in the past would have been the responsibility of the service provider - just like self-service tills in supermarkets.

I can't read my gas meter. It's set a long way back under the stairs, so reading it involves crawling on the floor and even then my eyesight isn't good enough to see it. Last time I made a fuss, and they did send someone. Rather dreading going through all this again soon when my next reading is due. I hate estimated readings.

[french frank]

I wonder how one gets one's gas meter moved outside the house? When I had the central heating installed, that's where the meter was fixed, and I imagine all new builds would have it there.