Southern Electric.

Somniac

I recently changed my supplier from Southern to Brit Gas. BG told me they would pass on the meter reading to Southern and I would get a final bill from them.
When I did get the bill, the meter reading for the day use (up to Nov 14th)was more than the current reading today! The bill was for £22.
I rang them and told them the reading for Nov 14th, the changeover day and they adjusted the bill and now owe me £30 and will forward a cheque.
I asked where they would have got the meter reading from. They said it was "estimated", but there was no indication of it being an estimated reading on the bill. They just asked me to pay within 10 days. If I had not been on the ball, I would have been out 50 quid.

hells_2

Do any of their 'meter readings' say (E) next to them?
Even though Southern say their bills are 'based on 'actual meter readings', I found out they're not. £470 odd quid not.
Drafting a lovely big letter of complaint still.

Premier_2

Somniac wrote: »

... If I had not been on the ball, ...

If you had been on the ball, you would have given the meter reading on the day of changeover to both new and old suppliers and avoided any confusion or hoping on one supplier having informed the other.

Still, we live and learn...

dixie_dean_2

I'm with southern and considering changing over. Whenever I do a comparison though the difference seems so small that I don't think it's worth it as the CS is generally good with SE. Do BG offer a green plan? Sorry to hijack the thread a bit.

Mercenary

Having eventually got away from BG and their idea of CS (after going through various ridiculous hoops :mad:) to the responsive heaven of Atlantic's actual Customer Service , I would think very carefully if I were you. (Atlantic are part of Southern Electric).

Capistan

Mercenary wrote: »

Having eventually got away from BG and their idea of CS (after going through various ridiculous hoops :mad:) to the responsive heaven of Atlantic's actual Customer Service , I would think very carefully if I were you. (Atlantic are part of Southern Electric).

Yes shame they don't tell their customers that, I has a salesman come to the door to ask why I was leaving, and I asked him who I was with as I was suspicious, he said Adlantic who I tought was a different company, so I told him to F-off. :rotfl:
I had another one call to day saying they were from Adlantic, of course I knew they were SE by now so I didn't telll them to f-off imediately.
They asked why I was leaving, their answer to why they had only cut their prices 10% when wholesale prices halved, was not convincing so I told her to f-off too :rotfl:

DrScotsman

Somniac wrote: »

I asked where they would have got the meter reading from. They said it was "estimated", but there was no indication of it being an estimated reading on the bill.

I find your wording strange. If your Southern Electric bills are the same style as mine and I was in your situation, I wouldn't have said "There was no indication of it being an estimated reading on the bill", I would have said "The bill explicitly states that it's based on an accurate reading". Because it does, on the front (and sometimes the back) there's a thumbs up/down with text near it saying whether or not it's an accurate reading. Sure you've checked them properly?

But on the other hand I suppose you would notice an "(E)" next to a meter reading on the bill.

Premier_2

So true, DrScotsman.

Although the one on the back that takes up almost 1/4 of the page may now be missing if the OP used the BGC slip at the bottom of the page to pay the bill.

But the one on the front page would still be there...


Edit: actually, I've just had a bill with a BGC at the bottom and the large thumb up/down isn't on the reverse as it has ways to pay in that area ... but it is still on the front!
(The large thumbs up/down on the reverse was on a bill without a bgc at the bottom since no money was owed on that occassion)

Somniac

The bill plainly stated it was the final bill and yes Southerns bills do have an E next to an estimated reading. I'm not an idiot.
I tried to ring Southern several times to give them the accurate reading at the time of the changeover but as I have a life and don't like hits from the 80's I gave up.
To be fair, when I complained about their customer service, having received several silent calls from them, they gave me a £10 goodwill credit.

DrScotsman

I'm sorry for picking apart this tiny point again but you STILL haven't confirmed the orientation of the thumbs up/down, why are you keeping quiet about this? I have a final bill and this also has it.

Estimated final bills are not unheard of on these forums, so I don't understand the relevance of it plainly stating it was the final bill.

Premier_2

Somniac wrote: »

...I tried to ring Southern several times to give them the accurate reading at the time of the changeover but as I have a life and don't like hits from the 80's I gave up...

They have an automated meterline available on 0800 220 995 available 24/7.
(the number is on the front of the bill just below the thumbs up/down symbol, so perhaps why you missed that too)

I've never had any hits from the 80's on that ... in fact got through straight away every time I've tried when giving meter readings.

(only if you call during their limited CS opening times and ask to speak to a CS member are you normally diverted out of the automated service)