Meter Mix Up

sundaygirl_2

Sorry long story:

Hi, I purchased my first flat in April and took the meter readings on the day of entry. As the flat lay empty for almost 3 months and as I was only paying pennies for the electricity, I hadn't noticed when my electricity bills were coming in the meter reading were truncated to 4 digits even though I was giving 5 digit meter readings. I called Scottish Power to let them know but the bills still have 4 digits.

Then I decided to switch to Ebico. This was in August. I still hadn't heard by end of Sept so I called and they say everything is fine and they will be taking over on 22nd Sept. Sept comes and goes and still no word from Ebico or Scottish power whom I'm leaving but then I get a letter from Scottish Hydro saying "sorry I'm leaving..."

So I call them and they tell me I am being switched to British Gas.

So they tell me they will sort this and I will be billed by Ebico - not Scottish Hydro who they had me down for.

However today I get my first bill finally from Ebico...but it is for the wrong meter, wrong serial number completely wrong meter readings although on the plus side apparently I am in credit even though I have never paid them for anything.

To cut a long story short, I have been taking my meter reading weekly and jotting them down but I am worried what I am going to be billed for. Will they take my meter readings that I have weekly from 1st Sept? Also what will happen to the truncated meter reading. Scottish power say my reading is 9760 it is actually 97609 and eBICO say it is 5700 or something. Both companies claim they are "actual" readings.

Cardew

Are you sure you the last(5th) digit is not 10ths. i.e. 9760.9?

sundaygirl_2

Yeah its definitely not the tenths as there is a 6th digit in the red which they company told me they didn't need.

I am confused how they have it so wrong as I actually had two meter readers from one from Scottish Power and from Scottish Hydro to physically read the meter within a week of each other. The second reader told my boyfriend there may be a mix up as the reading didn't sound right (unfortunately I wasn't in at the time) and they might reset it but I still get the wrong bills in.

Rachie004

Is your flat a new build by any chance?

My last two places have been new builds and the meters have been completely f**ked up on both occassions! For example, my meter is in box number 5 (which corrolates to my flat number) and all the boxes are labelled correctly, however there's a big label on the actual meter with a 'meter point reference number' which is registered as flat 2s! However its quite obvious from where the pipes run as to which meter is which

I don't have a solution for you at the moment as I'm still doing battle myself, but its just a thought - your meters may have been registered incorrectly

sundaygirl_2

No its an old (100 yrs) flat. The meters are actually inside my flat which is handy to keep an eye on. I'm pretty sure the numbers relate to what I'm using but I'm not getting billed on the numbers I have been providing.

The serial number Ebico have for me is completely wrong and the one Scottish power have me down for is 1 digit out, which they knew of from the start but said it was ok.

But I'm worried I'll be billed from 9760 to 97609 at some point or worse from 5700 to 97609!!!

At least the gas seems to be fine...for now.

maggie21

Is your flat in Glasgow or Edinburgh by any chance? Flat positions in these two cities are the worst in the country, because there is no formal way of numbering them. eg flat 1 could be known as, 1 or A or 1/1 or 1F1 etc. You need to find out the correct flat position & your meter serial number (MSN). There is a central database which holds all the MSN's so your elec company will be able to locate your property through that.

Contact the supplier you want to supply your electric and they will arrange to take the correct account.

Hope this helps, good luck & happy Christmas

Rachie004

I wouldn't worry too much about the bill you received from Ebico, especially if all the information is wrong like you said, there has obv been some huge mistake!
One would hope that the utility companies would have some common sense in the amount of time you've been there and the actual usage.

I'm sorry I don't have any sound advice for you. If you have real problems with the utility companies you could contact Energy Watch who are like/are an ombudsman.

billycasper_2

Hi
it may be that the 1kw digit is not being used by scottish power so the 9760 is calculated as 97600 rather than 09760. (if that makes sense)
if it is we're talking pennies
keep a track of your meter readings and when a meter reader next calls, check the meter number with the one on his hand held device they carry.

Ring ofgem and that usually quickens the pace of the utility companies

sundaygirl_2

meigle21 wrote: »

Is your flat in Glasgow or Edinburgh by any chance? Flat positions in these two cities are the worst in the country, because there is no formal way of numbering them. eg flat 1 could be known as, 1 or A or 1/1 or 1F1 etc.

yes! I'm from just outside Glasgow.

I actually had my neighbour chap the door last night as he is getting threatening letters from the tv licensing saying he owes them money but he is paying them. They have him down as flat 4 but he calls it 1/1.

When I moved in I have been called 1/2, Flat 1 and also Flat 3. I decided on flat 3 as that is what it said on the all the solicitors stuff. Also there's 3 flats upstairs and 3 downstairs but only 2 on my level so if someone is using 3/3 they might get mixed with mine as well. I'm sure this this the cause of it all but even so I did provide the companies with serial numbers but I guess they just shoved them up their bum and did what they liked

sundaygirl_2

billycasper wrote: »

Hi
it may be that the 1kw digit is not being used by scottish power so the 9760 is calculated as 97600 rather than 09760. (if that makes sense)
if it is we're talking pennies

Hmm you might be right but before I moved in I had a bill for 1 "unit" or something daft then after I moved in and got a proper bill it was for 14 "units" but i'm pretty sure I used more than that over a month or so. (these are from actual readings).

Maybe I should stick with scottish power after all for cheap bills lol.

maggie21

Hee hee, ye I don't know why they can't just have the house no. then a-z - but that would make sense and be easy!!

That will be the problem and by the sounds of it you have 8 flats in your block. The TV license co. will have them numbered one way, the electric database will have it another way & the council tax will prob have it another way again!

I hope you get it sorted out.