G4S AccuRead Ltd

PZH

Piterjhon001 wrote: »

Thank you for sharing your experience with me.Please suggest some new idea which can be helpful for me.

Spamming the forum isn't a good idea for a newcomer :mad:

xangeleyes

Did you recieve a letter prior to this? To explain that someone would be out to inspect your metre?
Luckily mine are outside so I don't have to let anyone it (however if I'm not in, they wont do the metre check - even though they have a key for it and can gain access).
If this was unexpected and you couldn't do this appointment, then you can tell him to come back another day. However, his response to you refusing his entry is not nice and therefore you wouldn't want someone like that in your house. Ask them to sen someone else out.
And check ID

chickenboy

I have just had a visitation from the meter reader. Yes I do my meter readings online, but accept the gas companies probably want to check i'm not fiddling my readings -- which frankly i don't know how i'd manage it as you'd just get a whopping big bill on moving out or changing supplier...

anyway, was in the middle of some DIY so really not convenient to have him rooting through my cupboards. Frankly I'd probably also be taking a risk under health & safety law if he got injured falling over my tools - anyway, say that it really wasn't convenient right now and WOW - got a load of angry and aggressive protestations from him that they have the legal right to inspect my meter and all that. I said again "sorry, its really got convenient right now" and shut the door, he carried on shouting through the door! !!!!!!! I opened the door again and apologised again, but he was already stomping off down the driveway saying "well i'll put you down as having refused entry and we'll see what happens!" - as if thats some kind of threat! Probably the computer will sent him out again in 6 months time and i'll probably be at work.

I was too shaken at the time to ask for his name or company - but have complained to my electricity company - its really not on. I know he's chasing his commission, but there is a polite way to request entry to someone's home and a polite way to take a refusal and even try to negiotiate a sensible time...

rant over - bring on the smart meters that don't need people like this rattling my front door...:mad:

skiddlydiddly

These meter readers are only doing a job, it must be hard enough to catch people in and when they do and are refused entry its no wonder they get annoyed.No, they shouldn't get aggressive with you but then we all have bad days and you're probably not the only person they've heard it from that day and are the straw that broke the camels back.
Whenever we've had them turn up unannounced I let them read it as it literally takes seconds and in the grand scheme of things is no big deal, have some empathy.
Regarding removing shoes, I wouldn't take my shoes off either but if they are provided with overshoes(I presume those paper slipper things) then I'd make sure I had plenty of them as I wouldn't want to muddy anyones floor anymore than I'd want have a something drop on my feet that might be blocking a meter.

Padz_2

OK been there and done this one.

If you wish to d*ck them around you can do so by refusing them entry for about 2 years. At this point they will decide that you are fiddling the meter and will send a more senior guy to inspect it. I gave in at that point because I couldn't be rsed to keep saying no.

droschke7

Over the last 12 months accuread have been to my house 3 or 4 times and have read the Gas and Electricity meters. When I noticed on my last bill that it said "estimated" I phoned Brittish Gas to ask about this and they said that they hadn't had a meter readin in over a year, I explained to them that the Accuread guys had been 3 or 4 times, had been let in and had read the meters and was told that Brittish Gas had been having a lot of trouble with them. End result is that there is now an 800 unit difference from the bill to the actual reading unfortunately in Brittish Gas's favour. Why are Brittish Gas still using and paying for these guys?

blind_faith

i used to work for G4S and British Gas are lying about not recieving a meter reading from the G4S meter reader. they just cant be bothered to process the meter readings [prob cos it costs too much]. but i promise you the meter reader sent the readings to British Gas. if he didn't send them he would not be paid, and believe me, the pay is crap, so as a meter reader, you need all the readings you can get.

as for why they use G4S... the answer is simple. they pay G4S peanuts, and it would cost them more to read meters themselves. and before someone comments... i know, if you pay peanuts, you get chimps. but G4S only care about reaching their target for meter readings as set out by British Gas, or G4S are fined. AND, if G4S read too many meters they are also fined, so British Gas can't lose.

the only losers are the customers who never get their meter's read as they live in remote locations, cos the meter reader's 'cherry pick' the outside meters on new housing estates to ensure they hit target and are not reprimanded by their managers.

if you're not happy with the service i suggest you change to a supplier that read their own meters, not BG who franchise the jobs out to the lowest bidders.

blind_faith

sorry i forgot to mention that accuread no longer exists and is now called G4S

whitelabel

donna1963 wrote: »

I work for G4S reading meters it is a legal requirement to view the said meters, this is to ensure that the meter is safe to use. Also Im wuite sure that you would know that your supplier doesn't own the meter it is owned by transco who have the right to gain entry.

I agree meters should be read and checked, but only by qualified competent people, and this isnt necessary the same person who checks it who reads it.

are you acs gas qualified and gas safe registered ?, the only legally defined competent people who can safely check the condition of a gas appliance in the UK.

Are you able to do gas pressure and drop tests, or would you just switch it off. or would you not have a clue.

or do you just want the meter reading to get paid ?

If you had "checked" the meter for safety and there was subsequently found to be a leak that caused an explosion, injury or even death, are you insured and happy to take responsibility for that, ?

or do you just collect the numbers on the meter ?

blind_faith

G4S meter readers dont inspect gas appliances and are certainly not qualified to do so. they check gas meters, which are not appliances, ie boilers, etc. the main purpose of the checks are to get a meter reading to make sure the customer is not on the fiddle. i came across a customer who offered to call the meter readings out of the window to me, "as his dog was not friendly."

i did n't take the readings, and it turned out he was fiddling and owed £1800 but he did a runner to New Zealand before he was found out, and the new tennant got a bill for £1800 despite only being in the property for 3 weeks.

there are many other ways people can fiddle the utility companies and G4S are trained to spot them. people who tamper with their gas or electric meters are likely to render them unsafe, hence the term 'safety inspection'

another part of the inspection is pretty simple - just sniff for the presence of gas. i have smelt gas on a number of occasions over the 3 years i did the job, and have turned off the supply and called the emergency telephone number on each occasion, including a serious gas leak in an old peoples home.

hope this clarifies what a safety inspection by a meter reader entails.