gas etm meter messages - who to call

lemontart

For all those with etm - token or pre paid meters if you have no smell of gas then if you have the following messages displayed on your meter you should call your supplier who will arrange for the engineer to call and always check that the emergency control handle which attached to the pipe that goes into the meter is up right and in line with the pipe as well.

battery
battery failed
pounds for credit and off
blank screen
failed

If you call the gas emergency number with one of the above messages you will be advised to contact your gas supplier as it is their resposiblity to arrange an engineer

here is the 24 hr number for customers of bg with a etm 0845 6000 055 - be warned it may say closed at times but if you stay on the line you will get options to choose from after that message

You should find the name and number of your supplier on the back of the gas cards

SwanJon

BG have recently brought out a freephone number - 0800 048 0303 - takes you to the same place as above. Option 1 for no gas.

Pssst

Also bear in mind that BG have started a charging policy for customers who abuse the system. I.e they have no credit but ring in a faulty ETM in the hope of getting some freebie gas etc etc..

lemontart

I had heard that engineers no longer put any credit on these meters when called out as it was been used to get free credit fraudulently is this correct Psst?

Pssst

Its unfortunate that some people abuse the system. National Grids prime responsibility is the management of the Gas Transmission and distribution network and emergency response. The NG call centre will not therefore handle calls directly from members of the public regarding faulty meters/ETMs/whatever. It isnt there job to do so. All calls relating to faulty meters should be made direct to the customers supplier who wil then decide whom they choose to undertake the meterwork. They may choose to filter that work to National Grid but they may well filter it to another company also.

Now then, all this argy bargy about who does what and contracts and competition has nothing to do with Joe public. They just want the problem sorted. This generates further issues like;

(1) Customer with faulty meter reports they have a gas emergency/escape. Response. NG engineer attends,checks for escape,advises customer meter is faulty,takes no further action,advises customer to report fault to supplier.

(2) Fe ckless customer who knows they have no credit reports faulty meter in hope of blagging some free gas. Result, engineer visits,claers fault,leaves meter still with no credit,advises customer to buy credit. Some customers are now being charged for false callouts such as this.

(3) Busy day,customer has faulty meter,standard of service to fix is up to 4 hours. Customer thinks he/she is more important than anyone else so reports an emergency instead. NG engineer visits,finds no emergency,advises customer to report meter fault to supplier.

Customers cannot be allowed to block up the emergnecy response with false metering calls no matter what the reason. It causes undue strain on an already overstretched system and could endanger the lives of others.

By the way,there is no free credit. Anything added to an ETM gets registered somewhere and paid for in the end.