Meter Reader Misread Meter?

ChrisA2

Hi,

I generally don't pay much attention to my meter readings and electricity bill as my payments have been much the same for the past three years.

Recently I received a letter from e-on asking me to provide a meter reading as their meter reader was unable to gain access to the building. Now I'm on a strange 'heatwise' tariff which has five rates/meters - normal, evening, weekend, low and boost (which activates my storage heaters etc outside of the hours they normally operate). I very, very rarely use the boost as the rate on this is a lot higher than the other rates.

I checked my meter readings and found that everything was close to their estimates, barring the boost reading. My reading: 43, their estimate: 399.

Upon further investigation into past readings, it seems the meter reader in December last year has probably added an extra digit to the boost reading when entering the readings. The previous reading of this meter in September was 39.

So, not only have I paid for ~360 units in my last bill that I haven't actually used, I'm also concerned at this point as if their systems are automated as I expect, it will look like I've went from 00043 units to 00039 and rolled the meter round, presumably looking like I've used 100000 units!

Has anyone else had an experience of the energy companies misreading the meters? How easy was it to get them to realise their mistake?

cybergibbons

Yes, I have had this happen on several times, and on the whole they have been good at sorting it out.

I worried at first about rolling the meter over, but even if I used as much power as I could, 24/7, I couldn't get it to do that. E.g if your domestic supply is 60A, and you draw that, you can only consume over 90 days (60*240/1000)*24*90 units (about 31,000).

moonrakerz

My final reading with Eon was misread by 1000 units.

I phoned Eon when I realised this, who were very good at accepting this error and refunding me £100.

I had slight bother with Scottish Power, who kept telling me to read my meter twice so they could "estimate a new start reading" - even though I kept sending them the actual start reading !

I sent a PM to Colin, the Scottish Power rep on this site and he sorted it almost instantly - well done Colin !

ChrisA2

Kudos to Eon, got this sorted with a minimal of fuss and will have a new bill issued in the next 24 hours. No need to argue about it with them or anything.

Former_E.ON_Company_Representative:_Malc

Hi chris

Really pleased you have sorted the problem with the incorrect boost reading on your Heatwise meter.

Mistakes can happen and an incorrect reading like this can be quickly put right once the customer confirms the actual reading on the meter.

Just thought I would add a bit of info on the Heatwise meter which you may not be aware of. Just ignore if you already know.

Heatwise meters are designed for all electric properties with storage heaters. They give 10 hours of storage and water heating per day at a cheaper rate.


This is split into three blocks at approx the following times.

• 3 hours in the afternoon between 1pm and 4.30pm
• 2 hours in the evening between 5.30pm and 10pm
• 5 hours at night between 12am and 7am

Heatwise is a comfort tariff rather than an economical one. It is designed so the storage heaters do not cool down and the property and water should stay warm throughout the day.

Units used for water and heating during the above times are charged at a lower rate. This is shown on your bill as afternoon and night/evening.

You can have Heatwise with either a single rate or Economy 7 tariff.

The Heatwise part sits alongside the standard tariff. Electricity used for water and heating outside of the above times is charged at standard prices. These prices are the same as our standard tariff.

Most Heatwise systems are fitted with a boost button. This will give you one hour of electricity outside of the above times and can be used whenever you want a top up.

Units used on boost will be charged at standard rates unless it runs into the Heatwise period. If this happens the cheaper rate will apply.

Hope this is useful, chris; as I said above, just ignore if you already know.


Malc