Meter Reader Job

theanimallover

Hi,
I would like to apply for a meter reading job.
I'm used to working outdoors and walking so know what the job involves - but wondered if anyone could recommend the best company to work for. They all seem to offer quite a low minimum wage, but an 'achievable' bonus. What could I expect to earn?

Any experience/feedback welcome.

Thanks

spiro

Accuread based in Newcastle are a large meter reading organisation that read meters for various energy suppliers including British Gas. No idea what they are like toi work for.

torbrex

The route to a job with Accuread is through an agency, here in Scotland they use Search Consultancy, I dont know about the rest of the country.
It is a low hourly rate as the agency takes their cut but the bonus is there to be made and for a while I was earning over £100/wk in bonus alone. There is also an allowance (tax-free) of 35 pence/mile for using your own car.
Holidays are gained at a rate of approx 1.5 days/week worked and are not paid in advance.

Anything else PM me.

leighwaterfield

no no no no no ! can i stop you right there........

I am a non domestic reader for accuread they call us "specials" lol
If you succeed in your application you will get virtually no training and then your dumped onto the district with 1500 cyclic addresses to locate in your own car each reading is worth about a point you need 160 of these a day to break even before you start making bonus..........

If your taken on by the company you will get a tiny useless citroen c1 of which you cannot use unless your actually working

If it breaks down you get a hire car but have to pay for fuel out of your own pocket until its claimed back usually 3 months later

If you work your way to non domestic you can expect a whole crock load of work at 2-6 points a whack but theres always a signing in book wherever you go and other companies health and safety rules to observe eating away at your day, Ive been there 6 years and never made a penny in bonus on non domestic work. plus your on call for free till 730 every night as u only get the job points, plus theres always the dreaded monthlies that appear at the end of the month ,you get a week to plan in an extra 200 jobs.......
my advice would be to hold out for something better............. losing the will to live on 921 quid a month and desperately seeking a career....

kr15snw

My brother did this for about 10 years, was made into area supervisor after 5 years, but ended going back to meter reading as he just missed the fresh air!

He loved it and worked for acuread, and then metering services after they bought out the contract he worked on.

He was given a list of houses that he had to complete in that week. If he worked his !!! of he could finish early and had pretty much every friday afternoon off because of this. Somtimes he was lucky and had a block of flats (hundereds in one hit!) or outside meters.

Obviously he had the down sides of getting wet, getting cold and getting abuse from people who think hes a nasty man???

But he also had lots and lots of old dears making him cups of tea and even insisting he had a hot breakfast / dinner with them when the weather was pants.

His only reccomendations were:

Buy comfy shoes
But waterproofs
Dont be scared of dogs!

mediastar

It's actually quite a minefield in the world of meter reading and is a very cut throat business with contracts from huge suppliers being lost to other competition regularly which in turn affects work forces. To be a success in meter reading you really have to be a hard worker who is prepared to knock on the first door at around 0745am and be equally happy to work until 6pm and Saturdays. If you show these attributes it then does not matter which company you work for as you will earn in excess of 20 k. The finer points are whether you run your own vehicle and/or are self employed (Meter-U) and have to pay additional taxes, accountant fees etc. I have been an employed meter reader working for an engineering company since Jan 2005 and have yet to earn less than 30 k gross since I began. I had to take a pay cut of 6% this year but since the recession the big suppliers have pulled the number of reads they used to send down. There are different types of meter readers but 'cyclical' work is the most rewarding and the high fliers tend to get this. Unmotivated folk will end up with non domestic or tariff reset work and all you will here is moaning and complaining...these guys will work a 30 hour week if they can get away with it. An average meter reader with Accuread, Siemens (all through agencies) can earn around 18 K whereas the sky is the limit if you get through your work like a dose of salts with a good access rate. In a kill or be killed industry a large company would rather get rid of two salaries with company cars and pay bonus to one person who could do the work better; it makes sense. Good luck to anyone who enters the field but always remember the core basics of starting before the school run, work in the worst possible weather (folk tend to be at home then) and be flexible with Saturday work...always get your time back during the week though and do not work over 40 hrs per week for health reasons.:cool:

exploited

I am considering applying to work for G4S as a meter reader, does anyone have any views salary, bonus potential, working conditions, pension, working hours etc?

eternallyoptimisic

At least G4S seem to pay an hourly basic with a chance to top-up income by hitting targets.

I've worked for Meter-U, and they pay entirely based on number of reads with rates standardised across the country. This means that if you live in a predominantly rural area you haven't a chance of earning anything more than minimum wage. They don't pay mileage either (except to their franchisees), so you are almost paying the company to work for them. Plus you wreck you car down country dirt tracks.

Meter-U also pay monthly in arrears, so don't expect to clear any debts in a hurry! You're waiting two months for your first money.

Very important if you are applying to G4S to ensure you receive some mileage and receive your basic pay at the end of the month, otherwise it is not worth it.