Stevo985 Posted September 10 VT Supporter Share Posted September 10 2 minutes ago, rodders0223 said: As someone who deals with utility companies as a part of my job and their billing. I've had dozens the past year and my theory is they're all absolutely on the arse so are trying it on as much as possible to improve cash flow. Incorrect billing, extra charges, late payment fees for invoices never sent, being billed for properties that aren't yours, delay, dispute, do anything possible to get that extra money in their account and keep it for as long as possible. Water. Elec. They're all **** scum. Wouldn't surprise me With the water thing yesterday I was so frustrated I ALMOST just paid it and got on with my life. Which meant if I'm right about this erroneous charge they'd have got an extra 400 quid off me. But I literally have a bill saying "April 19th Amount Outstanding £60" And then another saying "April 20th, Amount brought forward £450" And they "can't explain where that charge came from" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Davkaus Posted September 10 Share Posted September 10 (edited) 6 minutes ago, rodders0223 said: As someone who deals with utility companies as a part of my job and their billing. I've had dozens the past year and my theory is they're all absolutely on the arse so are trying it on as much as possible to improve cash flow. Incorrect billing, extra charges, late payment fees for invoices never sent, being billed for properties that aren't yours, delay, dispute, do anything possible to get that extra money in their account and keep it for as long as possible. Water. Elec. They're all **** scum. My view from working for a platform provider within utilities is that the entire industry is an absolute joke, being built by bunch of people who barely understand the work that they're doing. We've got statement generation calculations being worked on by low-cost offshored development teams who ask questions like 'oh, you can have gas and electric on the same bill?'. It's an industry that really shouldn't exist, we've got the public sector issuing vague demands and requirements that they're now so separate from that they don't really understand the detail, then a few dozen companies pissing around individually reinventing the wheel trying to build the same thing, pretending there's any kind of 'innovation' occurring when they're all mostly mandated to do the same thing. It'd make my job redundant, but **** it, make a national provider and see how well this lot 'compete'. Edited September 10 by Davkaus Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stevo985 Posted September 10 VT Supporter Share Posted September 10 It's all so complicated as well. Trying to work out what you're **** bill means. People pay for stuff month by month. So give me the bill month by month. Don't tell me what I used between April and July and then again between August and February. And then make me translate that into money myself Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Genie Posted September 10 Share Posted September 10 (edited) Where I live there’s people who have lived in the (new) houses 2 or 3 years and never paid a penny for water. We’re talking about hundreds of houses. The supplier (South Staffs) just tells them that they’ll only be billed once their accounts are set up. The news says water companies are going bust yet there’s people actively calling them asking them to set them up and they’re told not to worry and to enjoy all the free water. It was about a year and a bit for us before we started being charged. Edited September 10 by Genie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobzy Posted September 10 Share Posted September 10 54 minutes ago, rodders0223 said: As someone who deals with utility companies as a part of my job and their billing. I've had dozens the past year and my theory is they're all absolutely on the arse so are trying it on as much as possible to improve cash flow. Incorrect billing, extra charges, late payment fees for invoices never sent, being billed for properties that aren't yours, delay, dispute, do anything possible to get that extra money in their account and keep it for as long as possible. Water. Elec. They're all **** scum. Been with Octopus for ages - never had a problem with them at all. All the horror stories I've heard have been from bigger companies (BG in particular) and, from personal experience, Scottish Power (or whatever they were/are called) - although, in fairness to them, they were the provider to our property when we moved in. There was some issue with a final reading having not taken place and "the house" owing £800 or so - after about 2 months, they did cancel it. So not too bad. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stuart_75 Posted September 10 Share Posted September 10 4 hours ago, choffer said: Don't get me started. I've lost count of the number of times I've nearly lost it with them. The OH is with them for gas and electric. Her gas bills are fine but her electric is £1500 a month. She has a nice flat but it's not much bigger than mine but she's spent the last 18 months in a battle with them. All she's trying to do it to establish why her usage is through the roof. They've made so many appointments and failed to turn up to almost all of them. The ones that have turned up have invariably told her that they're not the right person to review. We know the meter is working but can't work out why the consumption is so high. Everyone at BG agrees that she is using in a month, what most houses use in a year but she is still no further forward. I suspect either someone is leeching off her supply or her ancient boiler is not working right as we've done so many tests ourselves. BG are simply not interested. They take the money every month so that's all they care about. (It's a rental, old refurbed factory. Her options to have a smart-meter or replace the boiler are therefore limited). Get the smart meter installed ASAP. Once thats in you should be able to isulate the appliances one by one to find out whats drawing all that power. I'd hazzard a guess its heating or hot water tank related. ( I had the same issue in my B2L flat. A 5 day 24/7 timer fitted fixed it) 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bickster Posted September 10 Moderator Share Posted September 10 Had a random conversation with the bloke that lives upstairs from me the other week, that involved the building we live in having a septic tank and not being attached to the sewer. Thought absolutely nothing of it at the time... Today I realise to check the water bill to see if I'm being charged for wastewater removal and I am... great. 18 months of wastewater removal refund please The thing that is pissing me off is they must know there's a septic tank at this property because I'm not the first person to live here by a long stretch and I refuse to believe no-one else has ever raised the issue. They've just bunged that on the bill in the hope I don't notice (which to be fair I didn't even know we had a septic tank until two weeks ago) 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Davkaus Posted September 10 Popular Post Share Posted September 10 (edited) 4 hours ago, choffer said: Don't get me started. I've lost count of the number of times I've nearly lost it with them. The OH is with them for gas and electric. Her gas bills are fine but her electric is £1500 a month. She has a nice flat but it's not much bigger than mine but she's spent the last 18 months in a battle with them. All she's trying to do it to establish why her usage is through the roof. They've made so many appointments and failed to turn up to almost all of them. The ones that have turned up have invariably told her that they're not the right person to review. We know the meter is working but can't work out why the consumption is so high. Everyone at BG agrees that she is using in a month, what most houses use in a year but she is still no further forward. I suspect either someone is leeching off her supply or her ancient boiler is not working right as we've done so many tests ourselves. BG are simply not interested. They take the money every month so that's all they care about. (It's a rental, old refurbed factory. Her options to have a smart-meter or replace the boiler are therefore limited). First step is to do as @stuart_75 suggests - though you don't need a smart meter, so don't wait for that, it could take weeks. If the bill is that high, you will almost certainly be seeing the numbers spinning in real time on the meter. You can make some progress on this within 20-30 minutes. One of you watch the meter, the over one should go in, and start turning off every circuit at the fuse box. As you start to see it slowing down, note which circuit it is, then start going around and unplugging things one by one. There are 2 options here really, you either find the device burning electric, and can plan where to go next to resolve that, or it still spins even when *everything* is off, in which case, you've probably either got a dodgy meter, or someone's leeching the supply (or it's an admin error and you're being billed for the wrong meter, it happens) If it isn't a dodgy device, the next step is to compile all of that data, and get a formal complaint over to them. Stop **** around on the phone with their customer service grunts, document the entire hassle, email it over as an official complaint about their failings, and then it might be time to tag in the Energy Ombudsman if they don't play ball (which they will once you start going down the official complaint route, they *hate* the ombudsman being tagged in) But there's no point starting that until you prove where the issue lies. In my experience, it's usually a bloody immersion water heater running 24/7, in which case she's just going to need to suck it up As an aside, how bloody minted is she to be paying 1500 quid a month and to let it rumble on this long? Edited September 10 by Davkaus 5 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
choffer Posted September 10 VT Supporter Share Posted September 10 1 minute ago, Davkaus said: First step is to do as @stuart_75 suggests - though you don't need a smart meter, do don't wait for that. If the bill is that high, you will almost certainly be seeing the numbers spinning in real time. You can make some progress on this within 20-30 minutes. One of you watch the meter, the over one should go in, and start turning off every circuit at the fuse box. As you start to see it slowing down, note which circuit it is, then start going around and unplugging things one by one. There are 2 options here really, you either find the device burning electric, and can plan where to go next to resolve that, or it still spins even when *everything* is off, in which case, you've either got a dodgy meter, or someone's leeching the supply If it isn't a dodgy device, the next step is to compile all of that data, and get a formal complaint over to them. Stop **** around on the phone with their customer service grunts, document the entire hassle, email it over as an official complaint about their failings, and then it might be time to tag in the Energy Ombudsman if they don't play ball (which they will once you start going down the official complaint route, they *hate* the ombudsman being tagged in) But there's no point starting that until you prove where the issue lies. In my experience, it's usually a bloody immersion water heater running 24/7, in which case she's just going to need to suck it up As an aside, how bloody minted is she to be paying 1500 quid a month and to let it rumble on this long? Yep. Since I’ve got involved, we started that process. We’ve pretty much ruled-out someone leeching off the supply (unless they didn’t squeal the weekend we went away and turned off the main circuit board). The difficulty is it’s not our (her) apartment so can’t fit a smart meter without landlord approval and he’s refused. Also, the meter is in the basement which we don’t have access to. We have to ask the concierge (and there’s your clue to your final question) to go and take a pic of the meter for us as we aren’t allowed in. That means we can’t do a real-time test. All very frustrating but her lease is up in the new year so will be moving in with me. Seems a bit of a drastic move to get out of paying the leccy bill! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bickster Posted September 10 Moderator Share Posted September 10 24 minutes ago, choffer said: The difficulty is it’s not our (her) apartment so can’t fit a smart meter without landlord approval and he’s refused Is that legal? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Davkaus Posted September 10 Share Posted September 10 (edited) 10 minutes ago, bickster said: Is that legal? Some landlords still put it in the tenancy agreement which is allowed AFAIK, otherwise it's the tenant's decision as long as they're the bill payer. Whether it's worth kicking up a fuss with a landlord is another matter, and I suspect with the planned moving date, Choffer's OH won't want to deal with the aggro, but generally, yeah the tenant can have the meter replaced unless specifically prohibited. I'd be more pissed off about the meter being literally inaccessible. Edited September 10 by Davkaus Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Genie Posted September 10 Share Posted September 10 the fact it’s an apartment makes me even more suspicious of the fact maybe the electricity usage is going somewhere else. Has it been like this ever since she moved in, or did it happen at a point in time @choffer? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Davkaus Posted September 10 Share Posted September 10 Just now, Genie said: the fact it’s an apartment makes me even more suspicious of the fact maybe the electricity usage is going somewhere else. Also I would have thought it opens up the landlord/freeholder to liability for the large bills if it can be shown it's definitely not her own devices causing the issue. But it sounds like she might just be flush enough it's easier to pay for a few months than to start worrying about it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BOF Posted September 10 Moderator Share Posted September 10 1 minute ago, Genie said: the fact it’s an apartment makes me even more suspicious of the fact maybe the electricity usage is going somewhere else. Has it been like this ever since she moved in, or did it happen at a point in time @choffer? Yep, I wonder does the landlord live 'close by' 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Davkaus Posted September 10 Share Posted September 10 Aside from electric bills, I'm now worried that on top of muttering 'word removed' under my breath, I now have to be careful not to start using the phrase sock cooker away from VT Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Genie Posted September 10 Share Posted September 10 Just now, BOF said: Yep, I wonder does the landlord live 'close by' Probably has a hot tub in his living room. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
_AA_786 Posted September 10 Share Posted September 10 51 minutes ago, choffer said: Yep. Since I’ve got involved, we started that process. We’ve pretty much ruled-out someone leeching off the supply (unless they didn’t squeal the weekend we went away and turned off the main circuit board). The difficulty is it’s not our (her) apartment so can’t fit a smart meter without landlord approval and he’s refused. Also, the meter is in the basement which we don’t have access to. We have to ask the concierge (and there’s your clue to your final question) to go and take a pic of the meter for us as we aren’t allowed in. That means we can’t do a real-time test. All very frustrating but her lease is up in the new year so will be moving in with me. Seems a bit of a drastic move to get out of paying the leccy bill! May be a silly question but is there no concierge or security person you could slip £50 to in order for them to hop on a phone and do the check for you? They may be too much of a jobs body to let you go down to do it but surely it might be worth a small outlay for 15mins of their time to run the checks as Davkaus mentioned. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Genie Posted September 10 Share Posted September 10 I lived in a small flat when I was 19 and the meter was in the flat. I’m surprised it is not accessible. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xela Posted September 10 Share Posted September 10 4 hours ago, bobzy said: Been with Octopus for ages - never had a problem with them at all. All the horror stories I've heard have been from bigger companies (BG in particular) and, from personal experience, Scottish Power (or whatever they were/are called) - although, in fairness to them, they were the provider to our property when we moved in. There was some issue with a final reading having not taken place and "the house" owing £800 or so - after about 2 months, they did cancel it. So not too bad. I've been with Scottish Power the 11 years I have been in my flat. It was a new build and all the flats were put on Scottish Power gas and electric as standard. Luckily, I haven't had any issues. I give them my meter readings via the website every couple of months or so, and job done. They do try and call me every week about getting smart meters but have ignored their calls for 5 years on it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xela Posted September 10 Share Posted September 10 1 hour ago, choffer said: Yep. Since I’ve got involved, we started that process. We’ve pretty much ruled-out someone leeching off the supply (unless they didn’t squeal the weekend we went away and turned off the main circuit board). The difficulty is it’s not our (her) apartment so can’t fit a smart meter without landlord approval and he’s refused. Also, the meter is in the basement which we don’t have access to. We have to ask the concierge (and there’s your clue to your final question) to go and take a pic of the meter for us as we aren’t allowed in. That means we can’t do a real-time test. All very frustrating but her lease is up in the new year so will be moving in with me. Seems a bit of a drastic move to get out of paying the leccy bill! Its the concierge He's mining bitcoin and running a cannabis farm in the basement. Case closed 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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