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how do i take a reading from a 'dial' meter?

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  • piratefairy
    piratefairy Posts: 4,342 Forumite
    Well yesterdaY i went home to the flat, and there was a cheque from npower for £30 with a note to say "as discussed". I'm not sure what this was for. But still nothing from them about a new appt time which means I don't know when I will have to try and take time off work.
  • piratefairy
    piratefairy Posts: 4,342 Forumite
    this absolute farce continues.
    i get a message last week to tell me someone must have come to the flat on the apptr date, as they had a meter reading added to the account. nobody came between 8-1, but npower refuse to believe this.

    thjen i get a call yesterday to make another appt, which they made. a 2hr slot this time, but still one i will have to take leave for (unpaid) but at least they gave me over a week's notice.

    then i get my exec complaint contact calling me today, to tell me to disregard the appt which was made yday and to wait for a phone call from the 'tag and trace' dept, which should be calling me to make an appt.
    i was under the impression the appt made yday was doing this, so when i asked why i was cancelling one, to wait for a different one, the advisor was then quite rude and denied having told me one was cancelled. surely the word 'disregard' means it is being cancelled?

    i am now one step back from where i was yday, have no idea what is going on, and when / if someone will be coming out. i asked to speak to a manager, got cut off. i then got a voicemail message from a manager asking me to call back, which i did 5mins later and was told that he was not available.

    i am less sure what is going on now than before, and am still being told different things depending who i speak to.

    the only thing i can think i can do is wait until enough time passes that i can contact the ombudsman.
  • piratefairy
    piratefairy Posts: 4,342 Forumite
    Yesterday evening, about 8pm i get a call from someone from npower who is apparently coming to the property to exchange my meter today. I wont' be in, and it's too short notice to do anything about getting time off. The appt I am waiting for is not to do a meter exchange, but to trace the existing meter. !!!!!!!
  • t0rt0ise
    t0rt0ise Posts: 4,481 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper
    Keep giving us the updates won't you? It's fascinating to see how many !!!! ups one company can get through.
  • piratefairy
    piratefairy Posts: 4,342 Forumite
    lol @t0rtoise. I am well and truly at the end of my tether with them now. I would never recommend them to anyone.

    Sorry if it's boring that i keep updating, I have been trying to record, as well as having written down, what has happened and when, in order that my report to the ombudsman will be as accurate as possible.

    I called Npower this morning to check why someone had left me a message about a meter being fitted today, they had no idea, but told me my exec advisor would call me when she got in at 9. She didn't.
    But I called the guy who had left the voicemail message, turns out he doesn't work for Npower, but a company called SECUS, who it looks like are an independant company who resolve metering issues. I explained I wasn't waiting for a new meter, but a meter trace, and he told me he had been to my property and meter room yesterday anyway as he was dealing with a different issue in one fo the other flats in the building, and knowing about this problem, he checked the room for the meter supplying mine, and there isn't a main meter. (which is what I have been trying to tell npower for six months or so).
    He has prepared a report, which will be with Npower in the morning, and having then spoken to my exec advisor, she tells me that now that they know this, as soon as they receive the report they can schedule another visit for someone from npower to come to the property.
  • davidgmmafan
    davidgmmafan Posts: 1,459 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    I think I see what's happened here, at least in relation to some of the foul ups. The appointments have probably been missed because a regular meter reading was booked, whereas there is a specific enquiry for crossed meters and the like.

    I am staggered the complaints team did not know this. The other issue is, depending on the area, sometimes appointments are incredibily limited but the system still allows them to be booked.

    IMO the can't go to Ombudsmen until after eight weeks is rubbish. Its the same issue so I would argue the clock starts ticking from when you first highlighted it to them.

    I'd definately push for some sort of goodwill gesture if only for the missed appointments this stage. There was one you said even if it had gone ahead it would've just been a meter reading. From the customers point of view the wrong job being booked is the same as nobody turning up.

    Go to the Ombudsmen now or speak to Consumer Direct (if they still exist). Any contact from such agencies will give them a boot up the behind (even if it were groundless).
    Mixed Martial Arts is the greatest sport known to mankind and anyone who says it is 'a bar room brawl' has never trained in it and has no idea what they are talking about.
  • piratefairy
    piratefairy Posts: 4,342 Forumite
    The 8 wks was taken from the Ombudsman website, so I took that to be accurate- however, it probably is getting on 8wks since the second official complaint was made (albeit the same complaint as the one in the first place).
    Yes, I've been told on some of the missed appts that the wrong type of appt had been booked, so a regular "read" appt would have gone ahead. They refuse to compensate me for the missed appts in these circs, because "on the system they have information which means the job must have gone ahead". As though I would take a day off work to do nothing, and then lie that they hadn't turned up?!

    Tbh now that the SECUS company have tolde Npower that they can confirm that what I have told them is true, they do actually seem to speak to me with a little more respect, as though I am not totally making it up. Which is what I have felt in the past.
  • davidgmmafan
    davidgmmafan Posts: 1,459 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    edited 8 December 2010 at 6:24PM
    8 weeks is the right timescale, but if its the same issue I'd go by the date it was first raised. Imagine if someone had transposed meter readings (wrong way round) on a two rate meter. If this were resolved, but then happened again, its repeat contact about the same thing so I doubt the 8 weeks would start again.

    PS you are doing the right thing in keeping detailed records, that is what the guy did who took NPower to court for 3k.
    Mixed Martial Arts is the greatest sport known to mankind and anyone who says it is 'a bar room brawl' has never trained in it and has no idea what they are talking about.
  • piratefairy
    piratefairy Posts: 4,342 Forumite
    I'm kinda just hoping it will be sorted out by Npower as I asked in the first place, wasn't exactly planning on taking them to court for it haha! Just thought this was a good a place as any to try and keep my details in date / time order.

    Apparently Exec Complaints will call today with information on what will happen next, once they have received the report from SeCUS, so I will await a call.

    I have told Npower that this is an extension of the same complaint from earlier in the yr, but am told (despite the fact it is the same issue) that they are separate matters as the first one was resolved, according to their system. Which is why i have been holding off the Ombudsman 'til 8wks past this one was opened.
  • davidgmmafan
    davidgmmafan Posts: 1,459 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    Personally I'd still go to the Ombudsmen, worst case scenario they say wait, but then you are just in the same situation as before. If they take it on it should force some movement.
    Mixed Martial Arts is the greatest sport known to mankind and anyone who says it is 'a bar room brawl' has never trained in it and has no idea what they are talking about.
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