Meter reader/nPower say mandatory "Gas Safety Check" needed every 2 years

chanz4

UW are a law to them self, but you pay for what you get. Inregard to safety inspections, they are not just for obtaining a read but also the over all meter condition. Not only this but people do get caught stealing.

What would you do if your property blew up due to a meter

NeverEnough

chris1973 wrote: »

I live alone and work all over the Country, living in rented or serviced accomodation as a I move from different regions. I also have my own property, which is left empty for several chunks of the year which also serves the required legality for giving a fixed address for the DVLA, Passports etc and the security of a roof over my head for me if I ever lost my current employment.

I had one of these inspections at my main property, fortunately I also have somebody who checks the mail / property periodically who spotted it amongst the rest of the junk, or it probably would have gone to court and the first thing i'd have known about it would be a return home to find a new front door......

I realise that it must be a shock for the utility companies to find a customer who actually works for a living, I even apologised to the company concerned because I realise that we are in a minority.

Either way, I couldn't expect the goodwill of the person who checks my property to take time off from his employment, so I had to make a round trip of 500 miles so their glorified meter reader could spend less than 5 minutes glancing over the pipes and taking a reading. The same reading as they had several months before because the gas was turned off at the mains.

Either way, Howee me old mate, a lot of peoples' lives don't mirror yours!, and working away or even in another country, is not that uncommon these days, and in fact its getting increasingly more common for employees at some point, to have to travel or spend time away from home, sometimes for periods of weeks or even months at a time who may not have living relatives around their property, so it isn't always convenient to "just let them in !!!!!!" and its also fair to say that Saturday or Evening appointments aren't of much help in these circumstances either.

So, yes these safety checks may indeed be the law, but it doesn't detract away from the fact that for some customers it is a genuinely major and expensive inconvenience.

Use a bit of common sense........

Chris1973, I am in a very similar position and am severely inconvenienced, just as you are when these two yearly Forced Meter Readings (they are nothing else other than that) take place. I also had to take unpaid leave (as in if I do not work I am not paid) and sit around wasting a day for one of these Meter Readers (they are not qualified in any way - certainly not Electricians or Gas Safe engineers) some 400 miles round trip from the contract I was busy with, to have one of these disinterested nits peer at the meter and scrtibble down the meter reading, as that is absolutely all he did.
For that matter, some random passer by would be equally "qualified" to announce that your installation is "safe" according to this ridiculous legislation which is just used as a tick box exercise by the utility companies and a reason to force a meter reading so they can check if you have been lying to them, and for their meter reader to have a snoop around your home.

I detest the nasty little jobswerths at the Utility companies, they are just like Parking Wardens / employees of PPCs with their smug, sanctimonious attitudes and controlling, dictator-like behaviour. They have absolutely norespect for their customers and I likewise have nil respect for them. I do not see why some random nitwit should be entitled to tramp around my house demanding that I kowtow to their every demand, it is not as if they are actually qualified to state whether or not an installation is actually SAFE or not. If the law required that a qualified person do a proper safety check, I would not mind, but meter readers are far from qualified to do that. When the threats start arriving and I have to arrange to lose money by taking unpaid leave for a whole day and drive hundreds of miles because of their nastiness, I make it as awkward as possible for them. :eek:

[Deleted User]

Wow ! thats a nasty bit of vitriol there NeverEnough, I m still trying to work out if you re dishing out a bit of troll work.
just in case you are not, heres a bit of advice to try and save you some money. When the 2 year date crops up again, just stick the reading in the window for our "nits " to take. We dont want to face people like you at any time I can assure you of that

NeverEnough

Sacsquacco, maybe you would feel the same if these Forced Meter Readings cost you around £500 in lost revenue and transport costs. As for being a troll, no I am not, but I resent being dictated to and lied to and forced to lose money as a result of ill-drawn up legislation which allows the utility companies to have such a negative impact on someones life without there being an ounce of value in it for the customer.
I wish I could leave the reading in a window, but the layout of the property is such that there are no windows accessible to a meter reader, and my readings are always up to date, I take them regularly. I did ask right in the beginning if I could do it that way and was told not, due to the safety inspection which needs to be done ( by a meter reader not qualified to comment on the safety of my gas or electric installation in the first place).

sheffield_lad

sacsquacco wrote: »

We dont want to face people like you at any time I can assure you of that

Well said, some posts on here are classic clever blokes who have jobs away from home......eek!

Yet not bright enough it seems to organise a key locally or a card as you point out and believe the meter man is also going to check out the knicker drawers on route lol

You might have thought there was a "plan" for next time lol

So many threads on here are a waste of everyone's time this is one of them.

NeverEnough

howee wrote: »

Well said, some posts on here are classic clever blokes who have jobs away from home......eek!

Yet not bright enough it seems to organise a key locally or a card as you point out and believe the meter man is also going to check out the knicker drawers on route lol

You might have thought there was a "plan" for next time lol

So many threads on here are a waste of everyone's time this is one of them.

Oooo, but you are oh so clever aren't you Howee? "organising a key locally" would render my insurance invalid - I do not have relatives local to the property and no-one I would leave in charge of the contents of my house or its infrastructure, unlike those like you who have no problem leaving keys with Dave down the pub or someone of similar ilk, or perhaps you have a relative locally. Not everyone has, and those of us who do not, should not be disadvantaged by tick box procedures which do not take reasonable personal circumstances into account.

For instance, if an appointment could be arranged at a mutually acceptable time, I would have no problem with this. Its just that the Bully Boy Meter Readers don't make appointments, just give a day where you have to be in all day waiting for them to turn up when they please, if they actually bother to turn up at all. And its always, in my experience, a day when I cannot be there unless I take unpaid leave.

And the "card as you point out" firstly is not possible in my case as there is no window accessible to the meter reader, due to the layout of the property, and secondly is not acceptable by the meter reading company as the so-called "safety inspection" requires an on site visual sighting of the meter by the meter reader, not a reading of the meter left on a card. My meter readings are kept up to date anyhow, this is not the apparent purpose of the so called safety inspection, anyway.

Obviously, in your haste to post demeaning comments, you failed to actually read the post in which this was made clear. Do try harder next time to actually read the post first in your scramble to grab your keyboard.

And yes, some people do have to work away from home for long periods, or indeed do return weekly but not at times when the Jokers actually "work" , however astonishing this fact might be to you, not everyone is on benefits lying around at home waiting for meter readers to roll in when they feel like it, nor does everyone have a job local to their home.

chanz4

NeverEnough wrote: »

Chris1973, I am in a very similar position and am severely inconvenienced, just as you are when these two yearly Forced Meter Readings (they are nothing else other than that) take place. I also had to take unpaid leave (as in if I do not work I am not paid) and sit around wasting a day for one of these Meter Readers (they are not qualified in any way - certainly not Electricians or Gas Safe engineers) some 400 miles round trip from the contract I was busy with, to have one of these disinterested nits peer at the meter and scrtibble down the meter reading, as that is absolutely all he did.
For that matter, some random passer by would be equally "qualified" to announce that your installation is "safe" according to this ridiculous legislation which is just used as a tick box exercise by the utility companies and a reason to force a meter reading so they can check if you have been lying to them, and for their meter reader to have a snoop around your home.

I detest the nasty little jobswerths at the Utility companies, they are just like Parking Wardens / employees of PPCs with their smug, sanctimonious attitudes and controlling, dictator-like behaviour. They have absolutely norespect for their customers and I likewise have nil respect for them. I do not see why some random nitwit should be entitled to tramp around my house demanding that I kowtow to their every demand, it is not as if they are actually qualified to state whether or not an installation is actually SAFE or not. If the law required that a qualified person do a proper safety check, I would not mind, but meter readers are far from qualified to do that. When the threats start arriving and I have to arrange to lose money by taking unpaid leave for a whole day and drive hundreds of miles because of their nastiness, I make it as awkward as possible for them. :eek:

I 100% disagree, most energy companys do actually use gas trained engineers for gsi's. Its for your own safety, or do you prefer them to just break in?

chanz4

NeverEnough wrote: »

Oooo, but you are oh so clever aren't you Howee? "organising a key locally" would render my insurance invalid - I do not have relatives local to the property and no-one I would leave in charge of the contents of my house or its infrastructure, unlike those like you who have no problem leaving keys with Dave down the pub or someone of similar ilk, or perhaps you have a relative locally. Not everyone has, and those of us who do not, should not be disadvantaged by tick box procedures which do not take reasonable personal circumstances into account.

For instance, if an appointment could be arranged at a mutually acceptable time, I would have no problem with this. Its just that the Bully Boy Meter Readers don't make appointments, just give a day where you have to be in all day waiting for them to turn up when they please, if they actually bother to turn up at all. And its always, in my experience, a day when I cannot be there unless I take unpaid leave.

And the "card as you point out" firstly is not possible in my case as there is no window accessible to the meter reader, due to the layout of the property, and secondly is not acceptable by the meter reading company as the so-called "safety inspection" requires an on site visual sighting of the meter by the meter reader, not a reading of the meter left on a card. My meter readings are kept up to date anyhow, this is not the apparent purpose of the so called safety inspection, anyway.

Obviously, in your haste to post demeaning comments, you failed to actually read the post in which this was made clear. Do try harder next time to actually read the post first in your scramble to grab your keyboard.

And yes, some people do have to work away from home for long periods, or indeed do return weekly but not at times when the Jokers actually "work" , however astonishing this fact might be to you, not everyone is on benefits lying around at home waiting for meter readers to roll in when they feel like it, nor does everyone have a job local to their home.

Happens to us that work in the industry just the same, but I prefer my house standing and not in a pile of bricks. Unlike the others I like to get contact with abussive customers, because normaly they have something to hide. A nice wind down at the road normaly calms things down along with a trip to the police station

sheffield_lad

NEVERENOUGH: This is not rocket science, why give Dave down the pub your key when you can give it a letting agent who for a small fee can get access for the meter guy?

I work from home but I am often out on jobs my gate for the side where the meter is located is locked. So it's easy for me if they need to inspect it. (although I could create a new thread with the hysterical headline): "HELP my house is going to be burgled thanks to BG" lol

Pick up the phone speak to the girls in the call centre explain your situation and mention a date when you will be home (all with a smile), instead of (like I suspect), ranting at them calling them jobsworths and generally being rude !!!!!.

chanz4

also gsi's can be done on a saturday