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

NeverEnough

chanz4 wrote: »

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?

Well I 100% disagree with you, so what ? You are also 100% incorrect- never on any ForcedMeterReading ( its certainly not a safety inspection as the meter reader is not gas safe certified) has the meter reader been a Gas Safe engineer ever, over more than 10 years of owning the property and using different utility companies in that time. I have made a point of asking each and every one of them at the time of this safety sham inspections.

And its not for my safety. Its a forced meter reading , nothing to do with safety. And, as its an unqualified goon doing it, my safety re the gas installation certainly does not improve with their looking at my meter.

chanz4

NeverEnough wrote: »

Well I 100% disagree with you, so what ? You are also 100% incorrect- never on any ForcedMeterReading ( its certainly not a safety inspection as the meter reader is not gas safe certified) has the meter reader been a Gas Safe engineer ever, over more than 10 years of owning the property and using different utility companies in that time. I have made a point of asking each and every one of them at the time of this safety sham inspections.

And its not for my safety. Its a forced meter reading , nothing to do with safety. And, as its an unqualified goon doing it, my safety re the gas installation certainly does not improve with their looking at my meter.

Think you need to look your info :

BG =Own gsi are engineers
Npower = meter plus which are gas engineers also now on 70%
Scottish southern and others all use G4S, hes a job listing for them http://careers.g4s.com/jobs/Gas-Meter-Installers_1151/


You could always refuse, and Im sure the costs involved can be passed on. Like it or not they are going to see your meter

[Deleted User]

NeverEnough, I happen to agree with you. The term" gas safety inspection" is the term the suppliers have invented in order to give the public a valid reason why we come in every 2 years for a quick looksie at your gas/electric meter, I dont like the term, it gives people the wrong idea. I am not trained at all in modern gas safety regulations,I am there to check the meter for bypasses, meter read mess-ups, and customer verification primarily. I can usually spot someone whos been tampering with the meter to get free energy., I can also spot small gas leaks by smell. That is the limit of my knowledge and that will be the safety element of the inspection. Anyone tampering with the meter can end up blowing the house up, along with the next door neighbours. Also dont you think the suppliers and National Grid would like to verify your readings every 2 years or so, especially since you ve had a couple of grands worth of energy, there are lots of con men and fraudsters out there. Try walking out of Tescos and telling them you have spent £100 quid on food so heres £100. They want to check every item in your trolly.
When the next "nit " bothers you, put the reading on the front gate then if we can t access your house. I personally would accept that, if its in a good area,some won t. Nearly all of my tampering and bypasses are found in the inner towns and citys and poor areas, very rarely amongst the better middle class areas although my revenue protection contacts tell me the fiddlers are everywhere. Maybe they are just cleverer at it, because I dont find too many

chanz4

sacsquacco wrote: »

NeverEnough, I happen to agree with you. The term" gas safety inspection" is the term the suppliers have invented in order to give the public a valid reason why we come in every 2 years for a quick looksie at your gas/electric meter, I dont like the term, it gives people the wrong idea. I am not trained at all in modern gas safety regulations,I am there to check the meter for bypasses, meter read mess-ups, and customer verification primarily. I can usually spot someone whos been tampering with the meter to get free energy., I can also spot small gas leaks by smell. That is the limit of my knowledge and that will be the safety element of the inspection. Anyone tampering with the meter can end up blowing the house up, along with the next door neighbours. Also dont you think the suppliers and National Grid would like to verify your readings every 2 years or so, especially since you ve had a couple of grands worth of energy, there are lots of con men and fraudsters out there. Try walking out of Tescos and telling them you have spent £100 quid on food so heres £100. They want to check every item in your trolly.
When the next "nit " bothers you, put the reading on the front gate then if we can t access your house. I personally would accept that, if its in a good area,some won t. Nearly all of my tampering and bypasses are found in the inner towns and citys and poor areas, very rarely amongst the better middle class areas although my revenue protection contacts tell me the fiddlers are everywhere. Maybe they are just cleverer at it, because I dont find too many

They are everywhere these days, people aint got the money and turn to stealing a lot more including swimming pools direct to mains or main pipe been split ilegally.

NeverEnough

chanz4 wrote: »

Think you need to look your info :

BG =Own gsi are engineers
Npower = meter plus which are gas engineers also now on 70%
Scottish southern and others all use G4S, hes a job listing for them http://careers.g4s.com/jobs/Gas-Meter-Installers_1151/


You could always refuse, and Im sure the costs involved can be passed on. Like it or not they are going to see your meter

Oh the Bully Boys always win, don't they? This is the country where bullies and nasties really enjoy making life as miserable as possible for everyone who they can possibly damage in any way and Utility companies and their nasty, officious, unqualified staff are somewhere near the top of that list. I don't need some little creep smashing up my property to look at its horrid little meter and "prove" I am not somehow stealing its gas / electricity, which is why I end up having to lose hundreds of pounds to take unpaid leave and face a drive of hundreds of miles in order to provide access to these little messers - nothing reasonable like make an appointment in a two hour slot say, on a convenient day / time to suit the customer - no, Utility companies couldn't possibly do that, it will always have to be at the most inconvenient time plus of course you get to wait the whole day for the little squelch to arrive to read the meter, and if it doesn't bother to arrive then all manner of excuses are spewed out but no responsibility taken by the Utility company and no compensation paid either..........in my opinion they are a disgraceful lot, comparable to the Private Parking Comapny ticketers.

And not a single one of them has been qualified as a Gase Safe engineer in all the years I have lived here - I have made a point of checking on every occasion. Perhaps due to the 1000s of complaints companies are now looking for sutably qualified people, but in my case, we have not had a single qualified person do this "inspection" ever. So you are 100% wrong as far as we are concerned.

oh, by the way - the people sent around to do the "safety" inspections are NOT meter installers, they are just meter readers.

NeverEnough

sacsquacco wrote: »

NeverEnough, I happen to agree with you. The term" gas safety inspection" is the term the suppliers have invented in order to give the public a valid reason why we come in every 2 years for a quick looksie at your gas/electric meter, I dont like the term, it gives people the wrong idea. I am not trained at all in modern gas safety regulations,I am there to check the meter for bypasses, meter read mess-ups, and customer verification primarily. I can usually spot someone whos been tampering with the meter to get free energy., I can also spot small gas leaks by smell. That is the limit of my knowledge and that will be the safety element of the inspection. Anyone tampering with the meter can end up blowing the house up, along with the next door neighbours. Also dont you think the suppliers and National Grid would like to verify your readings every 2 years or so, especially since you ve had a couple of grands worth of energy, there are lots of con men and fraudsters out there. Try walking out of Tescos and telling them you have spent £100 quid on food so heres £100. They want to check every item in your trolly.
When the next "nit " bothers you, put the reading on the front gate then if we can t access your house. I personally would accept that, if its in a good area,some won t. Nearly all of my tampering and bypasses are found in the inner towns and citys and poor areas, very rarely amongst the better middle class areas although my revenue protection contacts tell me the fiddlers are everywhere. Maybe they are just cleverer at it, because I dont find too many

At least you have the grace to admit the deception of this so-called "safety" inspection, thanks for being honest. Seems honesty is definitely unusual these days, and all the Utility Companies seem to have invented their own quasi-official "laws" allowing them to libel you and brand you a thief until you prove otherwise. We had a similar problem with a faulty water meter (not our problem - the water companies issue) and were quite clearly branded criminals in a number of contacts with the company. Still going through the complaints process with this and will not allow the vile creatures to get away with it.

I don't mind the whole concept of a Forced Meter Reading every few years, but then it should be called that, and appointments should be made to suit the consumer, not the utility company. No-one in any competetive business gets to announce you have to wait for them the entire day and they may or may not choose to arrive, and if they don't, well sod you, you have to lose another day!! I enter my meter readings online, so its not necessary for anyone to visit inbetween the Forced Meter Readings but they continue to harass us anyway.

chanz4

NeverEnough wrote: »

Oh the Bully Boys always win, don't they? This is the country where bullies and nasties really enjoy making life as miserable as possible for everyone who they can possibly damage in any way and Utility companies and their nasty, officious, unqualified staff are somewhere near the top of that list. I don't need some little creep smashing up my property to look at its horrid little meter and "prove" I am not somehow stealing its gas / electricity, which is why I end up having to lose hundreds of pounds to take unpaid leave and face a drive of hundreds of miles in order to provide access to these little messers - nothing reasonable like make an appointment in a two hour slot say, on a convenient day / time to suit the customer - no, Utility companies couldn't possibly do that, it will always have to be at the most inconvenient time plus of course you get to wait the whole day for the little squelch to arrive to read the meter, and if it doesn't bother to arrive then all manner of excuses are spewed out but no responsibility taken by the Utility company and no compensation paid either..........in my opinion they are a disgraceful lot, comparable to the Private Parking Comapny ticketers.

And not a single one of them has been qualified as a Gase Safe engineer in all the years I have lived here - I have made a point of checking on every occasion. Perhaps due to the 1000s of complaints companies are now looking for sutably qualified people, but in my case, we have not had a single qualified person do this "inspection" ever. So you are 100% wrong as far as we are concerned.

oh, by the way - the people sent around to do the "safety" inspections are NOT meter installers, they are just meter readers.

Well they didnt use to, but with smart metering etc they have trained companys. Meter readers are meter readers, I know someone who works at meter plus and they are all getting gas safe certified so that they can also remove meters on warrants.

spiro

NeverEnough wrote: »

I don't mind the whole concept of a Forced Meter Reading every few years, but then it should be called that, and appointments should be made to suit the consumer, not the utility company. No-one in any competetive business gets to announce you have to wait for them the entire day and they may or may not choose to arrive, and if they don't, well sod you, you have to lose another day!! I enter my meter readings online, so its not necessary for anyone to visit inbetween the Forced Meter Readings but they continue to harass us anyway.

You dont have to wait in you can ask for a half day or even 2hr time slot. If they fail to keep the appointment they have to automatically pay you £20.

NeverEnough

spiro wrote: »

You dont have to wait in you can ask for a half day or even 2hr time slot. If they fail to keep the appointment they have to automatically pay you £20.

Trouble is, they never have. National Grid once paid £50 for an appointment they missed, but not the shower of a bunch at Npower for all their messing about and ducking and diving. When I have asked for timed appointments (2 hours would be fine even though most normal people manage to keep correctly timed appointments with doctors, accountants etc, obviously meter readers are "different" to people who can keep proper, timed appointments without having to waste someone's entire day), I have always been told it is not possible. I think they do it just because they can, and they enjoy the power they have over consumers. Hateful bunch, the lot of them.

As for £20 - well, that is a derisory amount given that my lost income and travel costs for that day could amount to 20x that, which I can prove - they should have to cough up whatever the actual loss is to the consumer. I have never had a penny from them though, despite umpteen missed appointments (their fault not mine).

And have always been told I cannot have a timed appointment and will have to wait in the whole day and they "might not come" if they are "too busy". So looks like one "rule" for some and another for others.

[Deleted User]

NeverEnough, over the years I have accepted many a letter pinned to front gates when I ve turned up for a two year meter inspection, detailing why the owner cant be present,leaving the reading, and letting me know a precise time to return, if needed, to complete a visual inspection. The onus is then on me to return at that time. Unless I feel they are deliberately trying to keep me from having a look at the meters, that will be ok by me.Keeping the paying public happy is the first priority.You will be having the same problems when they want to update/change to smart meters with meter fitters only doing a 4 hour slot maximum.Smart meters would be ideal for you, switch to Brit Gas and ask for them, I got mine within 3 months. The suppliers are in the process of finalising 5 year minimum inspection periods. The companys I work for(EDF and BG ) havent been complying with 2 year inspections for years now and just let it run and run if we dont manage to get in. I ve got many ( people abroad,working away etc, ) who I ve missed in over 5 years. They dont like warrants and locksmiths as it hurts their bottom line.With BG warrants will only be taken out by Revenue Protection if i pass the address over to, to have a look at their payments, and readings records. They make the decision to start getting keen, but they are the experts, and wont mess with people like you who are absent from home i would ve thought
You seem to be targetting the humble meter reader in the same vein as the hateful money grabbing private parking meter wardens who just clobbered me for £30 for overstaying in an hour zone. The council guys used to let meter readers overstay in the past, but thats ended now. We are just doing what we have been directed to do by our managers, "little squelch, nits,hateful bunch " is a bit extreme for us surely.
If you could suggest another phrase to use other than " Gas meter safety inspection " or "visual safety inspection" I will pass it on. Its a stupid term and has baffled a lot of people as we enter, give the meter a 10 second glance and go. I would prefer something more truthful myself. The suppliers dont like the 2 year rule neither, as it costs them, its an obligation from the regulators licence to supply rules which force them to attempt to comply. Happy new year Neverenough and thanks for your amusing tirades