G4S AccuRead Ltd

blind_faith

yes, they were the ones who used to lose prisoneres. was the name change the best way to distance themselves from all that, or is the new name more 'cool and trendy' and easier to say, similar to KFC.

apparently, they employ the most ppl of any company in the footsie 100. fingers in too many pies, and not experts at any of them? - you decide!

meter readers are now being asked to do debt work, and to spy on pubs with sky italia (or any other european country other than the uk), and businesses without a performing rights licence, and to spy for the tv licensing, ie looking for signs of occupancy and aerials / sat dish.... the list goes on. how long, i wonder, before meter readers are asked to move prisoners? i left cos i just wanted to be a meter reader, lol.

missile

G2F would be a more appropriate accronym.:T

HappyWanderer_2

I am a current meter reader with G4S Utility Services. I do these [Must Inspect] safety inspections. They are visual inspections and we [should, well I do] check for at least the following;

Is the main tap handle attached. I have been to several houses that didn't have a tap handle. This means that you can't [easily] turn the gas off in an emergency. Nation Grid and Onstream take this quite seriously and will endeavor to turn up within 4 hours to fit one.

Are the pipes and connections badly corroded. I have reported one meter in this condition. The pipe was replaced within 4 hours.

Is the meter properly secured to the wall and/or bracket.

Is the meter and dial face damaged.

Is there a gas leak. I have found several. Some people don't seem to have a sense of smell.

And of course is there any, or suspected, evidence of theft, I have found one of these as well. The meter was in a restaurant kitchen (with open flames) and there could have been a risk of a leak.

This is, I believe, all covered under the 1957 gas act of which the latest revision appears to be 1995.

The reason we have to also take a reading is to prove we have been there. If we didn't need to put in a reading there would be nothing to stop us pretending we had visited and just entered to say we had.

The Meter Operators (MOPS) are obliged by law to perform these periodic inspections and we do them on their behalf. This is not just a fraudulent excuse of just getting the read.

There is absolutely no excuse for rudeness on the part of the Meter Rep (as we are called ). On the other hand why be rude to us or make our life awkward. We have a hard enough job as it is.

We get all sorts of s*** from some people. I have lost count the number of times I have jokingly been told, "we don't have electricity". Hmmm, are the lights working by magic then, sorry it is no longer funny. Or for the customer to point out and tell me, "That's the electric meter and thats the gas meter". I think I might know after reading several hundred thousand of them. Or if I have to go crawling in your under stair cupboard, I can't actually get there if you are standing in the way. No matter how agitated you get over your bill and the price of gas I can't help you, I'm not your supplier. Also I did not know your baby is upstairs asleep when I rang your doorbell. Oh and please could you trim back the thorn bush from in front of your meterbox. I don't like getting scratched to pieces.

I am sure I could think of many other instances but I think that gives a brief insight. Also I hope this helps to explain it a little. It isn't a perfect system but we do over 50 million meter reads a year.

Regards
Happy Wanderer.

missile

It is surprising how many GS4 clones seem to genuinely believe the company propaganda.
It is surprising one of your colleagues did not report these missing gas isolation valves. Perhaps they are not trained to your exacting standard?
It is surprising that you are not issued with a gas meter to carry out “safety inspections”.
It is surprising that meter readers think they have such a hard job.

biscit

missile wrote: »

I know the inspection is just a ruse to gain access to read the meters and I find that dishonest.

Why not a polite note saying - "We were unble to read your meter on ........ We would like to call again on ........ Please phone ......... if this is not convenient and you would like to arrange another date" :A

No, actually I had my meters inspected and I hadn't obstructed the meter reader. The meters are the property of the distribution company, they ARE entitled to inspect them.

missile

biscit wrote: »

No, actually I had my meters inspected and I hadn't obstructed the meter reader. The meters are the property of the distribution company, they ARE entitled to inspect them.

If and when the ditribution company calls, I will be pleased to let them when it is convenient to me

LittleMeerkat

It seems Scottish & Southern Energy have now taken on G4S as their meter readers when they used to do it themselves.

I received a G4S letter this morning saying "URGENT - Gas Meter Safety Inspection now required". The thing is the contractor from my landlord (local council) checks the gas appliances, etc and the gas pressure from the meter for any leaks. Would this not constitute a safety inspection?

Also something interesting about G4S, they are recruited by TV licensing to do "checks" for them.

missile

Also something interesting about G4S, they are recruited by TV licensing to do "checks" for them.

If they are not already doing so, I wonder how long before the meter reader is tasked with checking those homes without a TV license whilst reading the meter - all under the guise of this so called safety inspection?

blind_faith

hi little meerkat. g4s are not reading meters for S&S. BUT when the S&S meter readers cant get into a property to read the meters, they protect their own meter readers from all the arguments with customers and the 'hard to gain access' properties, and they franchise the work out to a company that's happy to take on this crap work, as must inspects, because as well as the 'safety inspection' they want the meter reading. and g4s take on all this type of work - another reason why i left the job.

@missile. for your info, the safety handles can be removed by customers, so your comment about previous meter inspectors not noticing the missing handle is irrelevant. god knows why, but my tennants took the handle when they moved out of one of my properties.

also, as i mentioned before, G4S are already doing exactly what you predicted...
tv licence evasion. look for evidence of aerial/dish.
performing rights licence evasion. look/listen for evidence of music.
pubs who have 'illegal' sky tv (sky italia, nova, etc), which involves a meter reader entering a pub during a live match in plain clothes, pretending to be a customer (anyone know if this is even legal?).

is it any wonder i left - i repeat, i just wanted to be a meter reader.

thanks to happy wanderer for the very usefull comments about safety inspections, but as well as reading a meter as proof of a visit, you forgot to mention that the suppliers want the meter reading to prevent fraud.

KnowYrRights

Your meter needs to be read once in 2 years for safety reasons. You can self read to stop getting estimates. However company's such as g4s get a huge amount of money for reading meters and like any firm they need to spend there budget to receive new funding for the following year. This is why a lot of us get numerous visits that are unnecessary.

Know your rights don't let em Harass you in your own home.

For people having this issue. It is harassment and can be dealt with as such. We don't need to have our space invaded so they can get a large budget next year. Notice that these calls happen more regular in jan feb and march leading closer to the end of the fiscal year.