Please help! Can't agree with landlord or EDF on this meter reading!

owen-b

Calling all Money Savers!

When we moved out of our flat last month we had to read the meter and there's been MUCH confusion over the reading as it's one of those dial ones. Eventually the landlord sent it to EDF and one of their customer service people made a decision based on the photo and sent out a bill to the landlord, which she's paid and taken from our deposit as agreed. However, my personal opinion is that the EDF customer service person was 1000 units out, and that's a heck of a lot of money to be out by.

Have a look and make your own mind up, then see what other people have thought below! First of all, this EDF page says how to read a dial meter.

Here's the photo, at Photobucket.

My reading of it is 39329.
EDF's Customer Service person says she thinks it is 40339.

I don't think the Customer Service rep is qualified to make the decision and it's costing us around £160 if she's out by 1000 units. Plus our ex-landlord, a 65 year old lady, is pretty fed up of me arguing this one and understandably just wants rid of me and has already paid the deposit minus bills (as calculated by the EDF person) into my account and as the account is in her name and not mine I have to go through her to get it chased up.

So, as many experienced as opinions and also advice as to how to get this chased up properly, appreciated!

Thanks!

aks-sells

Hello,

I was browsing your thread and felt compelled to register just to answer your question! I actually work for EDF and having looked at the picture I also read the meter 40339.

With a dial meter, if the dial is in between two numbers you always go anti-clockwise to the last number the dial passed.

I hope this makes sense?

Plushchris

How could that first number be anything other than a 4?

owen-b

Hi ask sells - I disagree - you don't ALWAYS go anti-clockwise - the dials alternate in direction. Yes, the first number appears to be 4, but it's sitting RIGHT on the 4. The next number has PASSED 9 and is approaching zero. Therefore it is 9, not 0.

As the dials are like a clock, if the second digit is 9, the first needle needs to be sitting on a 5 in order to be 4, do you see what I mean?

If you have a look at the dial meter section of the EDF page I linked to you can see an example of this. The second digit appears to be 5 but the 3rd digit is just past 9. Therefore the second digit is actually 4, not 5.

I know it's confusing but I can only go by the EDF guidelines and they completely contradict the 40xxx reading!

Rikki

After looking at the picture I also read the meter 40339.



I apologise, I have been corrected.

espresso

Plushchris wrote: »

How could that first number be anything other than a 4?

Because the second dial is between 9 and 0. If the first dial was 4, then the second dial would have moved anti-clockwise past the 0.

I disagree with both of the EDF reps and read this as 39329.

sloppychops

I make it 39329 i think as i am now all confused.

owen-b

Okay, I convinced myself enough to get in touch with the landlord and explain the situation and got the account details for EDF, gave them a ring, explained again and they agreed with me that the reading is categorically 39329, so we got a new bill roughly £130 lower!

Result!

filmnoir

When reading a dial meter, remember that dials next to each other go round in opposite directions. Look at the dials on the diagram but ignore the dial at the bottom. It is there for testing.

Read the top 5 dials from left to right and note the following points:
Always write down the number the pointer has just passed - this is not always the nearest number to the pointer.
For example:
If the pointer is anywhere between, 4 and 5, write down 4. If the pointer is directly over the number 5, write down that figure and underline it.
The meter reading example shown will be 4 5 9 2 8.
This reading now needs adjusting to remove small variations in the pointer positions. Look at the figure underlined. If one of these numbers in the sequence is followed by a 9, reduce the underlined figure by 1. So the correct meter reading of the dials shown is 4 4 9 2 8 units.
Note: Before you read your dial meter, check the direction of the dials. They may not be exactly like those shown in the picture.
When you have worked out the new reading, take away the previous reading shown on your bill or on your records from the new number, to find the number of units of electricity you have used.

Taken from EDF. Also Im a qualified trained meter reader and I would call 49339. Mind you the meter is 1965 has it be recerted?

Zazen999

39329. It hasn't actually reached the 40000 yet, as the next dial hasn't got to the 0 so it is still on 9 making the next dial 3.

owen-b

Rikki wrote: »

After looking at the picture I also read the meter 40339.

The first dial is definitely 4
second dial is 0
third dial is 3
fourth dial 3
fifth dial 9

This is the major problem with these dial meters, though - I can see why you think that but it's definitely wrong. Here's what the EDF page says about a situation like this:

If the pointer on a dial falls between 9 and 0, reduce the reading already taken for the dial on the left by one – for example, if your original recorded 5, reduce this to 4.