Who exactly are Lowri Beck & why are they so DESPERATE to change our meter?

Check_First

Lowri Beck have apparently been to my house this morning. They didn't knock on the door or ring the bell.
The sheet of printed paper they left had their logo along with that of Utility Warehouse who have not been my supplier for almost 2 months now. Their prices & customer service were so poor that I walked with my feet after more than 7 years.
The letter did not have my name but did have a hand written reference number (Was not my UWC account number). The letter seems to have been written as though coming from Utility Warehouse as it says "Our agents, Lowri Beck, have recently tried to inspect your meter", yet they have never sent an agent to do this before.
The bold font used in the bottom half of the letter however, along with the interesting way they visited my home is somewhat menacing though. I quote:
"However, please note that failure to contact us will result in out company having to obtain a court warrant to gain access to your premises to complete this vital and important safety inspection.
This will incur the following charges.
Step 1 Agent to visit property £30 + VAT
Step 2 Court attendance to obtain warrant £70 + VAT
Step 3 Execution of warrant £250 + VAT"
It concludes in the next line with "We look forward to hearing from you soon". It's signed by a Michael Richards who is apparently the Customer Services Manager & the company details at the bottom of the sheet are not UWC's but those of the Lowri Beck registered office at someone's home in Appleton, Cheshire.
Now regardless of whether Lowri Beck are legitimate (which a previous poster on this thread have said that they are as he's a former employee), this style of approach is (1) unannounced, (2) extremely irregular, (3) menacing in it's tone & (4) irrelevant since UWC have been removed as provider almost 2 months ago.

Andy_WSM

Check_First wrote: »

Lowri Beck have apparently been to my house this morning. They didn't knock on the door or ring the bell.
The sheet of printed paper they left had their logo along with that of Utility Warehouse who have not been my supplier for almost 2 months now. Their prices & customer service were so poor that I walked with my feet after more than 7 years.
The letter did not have my name but did have a hand written reference number (Was not my UWC account number). The letter seems to have been written as though coming from Utility Warehouse as it says "Our agents, Lowri Beck, have recently tried to inspect your meter", yet they have never sent an agent to do this before.
The bold font used in the bottom half of the letter however, along with the interesting way they visited my home is somewhat menacing though. I quote:
"However, please note that failure to contact us will result in out company having to obtain a court warrant to gain access to your premises to complete this vital and important safety inspection.
This will incur the following charges.
Step 1 Agent to visit property £30 + VAT
Step 2 Court attendance to obtain warrant £70 + VAT
Step 3 Execution of warrant £250 + VAT"
It concludes in the next line with "We look forward to hearing from you soon". It's signed by a Michael Richards who is apparently the Customer Services Manager & the company details at the bottom of the sheet are not UWC's but those of the Lowri Beck registered office at someone's home in Appleton, Cheshire.
Now regardless of whether Lowri Beck are legitimate (which a previous poster on this thread have said that they are as he's a former employee), this style of approach is (1) unannounced, (2) extremely irregular, (3) menacing in it's tone & (4) irrelevant since UWC have been removed as provider almost 2 months ago.

Furthermore, you have no contract with Lowri Beck, so have not agreed to any charges.

Check_First

Andy_WSM wrote: »

Furthermore, you have no contract with Lowri Beck, so have not agreed to any charges.

True enough. Okay, so here's how it panned out:

I spoke to UWC & they confirmed that Lowri Beck have been engaged by them to do meter inspections. The agent there (was very professional which is ironic as poor CS was one of the reasons I left UWC, so typical I should "get a good 'un" after leaving. She found it funny too) has a copy of the letter that had been hand delivered & agreed that this was highly irregular looking & as she's a Supervisor, would ensure that it gets to management too.

Furthermore, she confirmed that as an ex-customer that UWC have no further issue with my meters as they're someone else's responsibility now. Also to check with Lowri Beck to confirm with them that this account has changed & also to let the new service provider know as well. As I mentioned, a very professional Customer Service Agent indeed.

I called Lowri Beck's 0845 number & gave the agent there the hand-written reference number from the sheet. She confirmed that they act on behalf of UWC & that their information is often somewhat dated, as seems to have been the case here. She has added these points on the account of that reference number & there will be no further contact from them on that account.

She was also very aware of the fact that the letter issued this morning was provided by UWC for Lowri Beck people to push through the door on visiting, something that the UWC agent was unaware of. So it seems that there has been a very poor process in place from UWC in engaging Lowri Beck to perform the various services on their behalf. Poor processes on UWC's part is again something that comes as no surprise to me & is another reason I left them. (As the Lowri Beck agent knew about this instantly, it seems that this is a common call they receive)

Anyway, investigation done & I hope this helps others who have contact with either company. Check with your utility provider & then once verified, check with the others too. Stay safe folks.

wavelets

Sorry to bump this old thread, although I'm not the first.

Recently been plagued with calls, usually in the evening around 5pm from 0845 702 3461.
(Google suggests it belongs to Lowri Beck, and hence how I arrived here)
I never answered the calls and they never left a message ... until today.


They said they were calling on behalf of my electricity supplier, nPower, and want me to submit my reading on a website www.myreading.net

Only trouble is, I'm not supplied by nPower (nor UW, nor Ovo as was mentioned on another MSE thread on this topic)

Also I submit meter readings monthly direct to my supplier, anyway.

The website also suggests it's something to do with Lowri Beck.
So I look at the whois for the website. And yes that too has Lowri Beck as the alleged owner ... but why has the registrant used a mobile phone number as a contact? Wouldn't a respectable company like Lowri Beck have a landline number?

So whilst Lowri Beck may well be a genuine meter reading agency, I'm not convinced of the authenticity of either the call or the website they want me to use.

AndyPK

I thought the whole point was reading it themselves rather than trusting you.

joncombe

Lowri Beck were a thorough nuisance when I was with Npower. I had online billing and would get an email from Npower when they wanted a meter reading, which I would then supply via their website.

However a week or two later, even when I had given the reading to Npower I'd start getting phone calls, often several a day. They left a message but via an automated system which started talking as soon as the line picked up, but before the messaging service would be recording, so all I got was the last two digits of a phone number and then they hung up, so it took me a while to work out who it was.

If I didn't send a meter reading to them or via their website, I'd start getting cards from Lowri Beck through the door.

So I'd end up having to supplie two meter readings each time, one to Npower and one to Lowri Beck, because both would ask for them and seemingly don't communicate. But Lowri Beck were especially annoying with the way they start phoning several times a day and have a system that apparently can't cope with leaving a message on an answering machine.

footyguy

wavelets wrote: »

...Only trouble is, I'm not supplied by nPower (nor UW, nor Ovo as was mentioned on another MSE thread on this topic)...

How about iSupply?
They apparently use these guys too (at least in some areas)

scattymare_2

I have had an ongoing problem with npower for 2 years!! First my boiler now my electric meter!! They drive me to distraction!! My meter changed by LB in March 14 and I have had problems with npower and correct readings ever since!! I cant wait to leave them but in the mean time I am make complaints with my local MP's office, Watchdog & npower & LB. What is wrong with these companies? Why wont they sort themselves out??!!

Cafe_builder

I found this thread completely by mistake as I have friend who works for them and I was looking at getting a meter fitted on a new build site.

I spoke with my mate who has worked for them for a few years what he tells me is this
1, online submissions A meter reader will still visit as it is a legal requirement by ofgem for the meter to be inspected at least once every 24 months, why more than one visit in 24 months, this is because it's a minimum requirements and with more than one visit the utility provider can say they are more than fulfilling ofgems requirements, to check customers online submissions as some people will try and con some units but also some people do genuinely mix the numbers up or can not read them as they are dyslexic, it will also be to check the meter reader is visiting the property (some people get phone calls to ask about there meter reader) a visit will still be arranged even with a smart meter. At the end of the day people will still try to steal electric.

2, people not with utility provider stated by Lowri Beck, Lori Beck will only work on the information provided by them from a utility provider and it may be old information or a previous occupier was once with them.

3, who do Lowri Beck work for, now this is a quick list and he said there are other he can not remember, Npower, The Utility warehouse also known as telecoms plus and utility club of some sorts, ovo, opus, green energy, ecotricity or eco energy, co-op, pioneer, some work for Gazprom, good energy, Isupply and green star that he could remember others he could not remember include Hudson and tma?

4, their 0845 number try using saynoto0870 even though 0845 is a local rate charge and same as phoning your mate in the next street, 0870 is usually a national rate charge.

5, nasty looking letters, these are supplied to them by the utility company and are requested by the utility to post. in some cases they are given to customers switching over so the check can be performed in other cases it is because the meter reader has not read the meter in some time.

Hope this answers some of your queries

samizdat

Lowri Beck have been calling me about a gas meter change for almost a year after I moved out of the property they are calling about. When I was there, nPower were my gas supplier.

On several occasions I have explained this to them in detail, and received promises that they will update their records, but the calls just keep coming. I am getting pretty annoyed by this, but don't know what I can do to put a stop to it. Groundhog Day!