EDF bill rip-off

zagfles

Just had my gas bill off EDF. They made a big deal about not raising their prices till after the winter unlike most others - prices went up on 2 March.

My bill covers the period early Feb till late May (nearly 4 months, for some reason). It has an actual reading at the start and at the end, and an estimated reading on 2 March, the date of the price change.

I worked out the units per day they "estimated" I used in both periods, before and after the price rise. They estimated that I used LESS gas per day in February than I did in March/April/May! As the vast majority of gas I use is for heating, this is clearly rubbish especially considering how warm it was in April.

Just tried phoning them as they're supposed to be open till 8pm, but "they are upgrading their systems" so they're closing their lines at 6pm.

Anyone else had similar? Did you get anywhere challenging the "estimate"?

mitch161

also remember it was snowing aswell in the early months so take that into account that april/may would actually be less then february/march

unless they have undercover video survelance on you, they cant justify which months would be high or lower. (they wont, but just saying how else can they work out you cook more or wash more from one month to another)

in actual fact they can only base any changes on weather conditions causing heating useage to rise..

so use the weather as a great counter objection to their estimation.

basically say that feb/march was a 66% usage due to weather.. april may was a 33% usage.

the only time i can think of that they could suggest you used more in april / may was if you were prior.. a single person. and then in april may had 3 people staying with you.. all cooking, washing etc using your supply. and you had mentioned that to them... if circumstances never changed they should base rates on a equal daily average.

so stick to the 66/33 split that febmarch were higher but u would accept a 50-50 flat rate for whole period.. (an average)

dont let them falsify actual usage. or next year they will try using this years false figures to base next years higher price. get it right now so it never repeats again

give that a try. hope it helps

moonrakerz

Why is this a "rip-off" ?

If you don't like their estimate - query it !

Flem

The amount of people that defend the energy companies on here astonishes me.

McKneff

Flem wrote: »

The amount of people that defend the energy companies on here astonishes me.

Why?.....................................

The amount of people who come on the threads moaning about being ripped off astonishes me. And they are mostly not being ripped off at all, they just dont understand the billing system. (Not saying that about you) but you must see what I mean.

Flem

IMO they get off with murder. If people are giving their energy companies regular meter readings, surely the least we can expect is for them to calculate our bills correctly and fairly.


People live busy lifestyles these days; I would imagine that most people have much better things to be doing than scrutinising their energy bills. The energy companies should be obliged to get this correct when they are provided with accurate meter readings.

moonrakerz

Flem wrote: »

IMO they get off with murder.

Now it's "murder" !

Flem wrote: »

If people are giving their energy companies regular meter readings, surely the least we can expect is for them to calculate our bills correctly and fairly.

As the OP says it was an estimate he couldn't have given them a reading.....could he ?

Flem

I would not have thought it was fair to have assumed that a greater amount of gas was used in FEB. Just my opinion though.

McKneff

Busy lives or not, how long does it take to take a meter reading, telephone a company, (im with EDF, never had a problem, doesnt cost me a penny for the phonecall) - a couple of minutes. It's called taking responsibility for yourself.

One question - WHY IS IT ALWASY SOMEBODY ELSES FAULT.

Flem

It does not take long to enter a meter reading. Its not always someone elses fault. In a lot of cases it is.

The OP states that his bill contains two actual meter readings within a 4 month period. The energy company appears to have estimated that he used more energy in the warmer months than in the colder months.

zagfles

McKneff wrote: »

Busy lives or not, how long does it take to take a meter reading, telephone a company, (im with EDF, never had a problem, doesnt cost me a penny for the phonecall) - a couple of minutes. It's called taking responsibility for yourself.

One question - WHY IS IT ALWASY SOMEBODY ELSES FAULT.

Unfortunately my time machine is broken so I can't give them a reading from 2 March.

But I'd have thought an energy company would have the common sense to realise people tend to use more gas in the winter than the spring. EDF, it seems, think people use less in the winter. I wonder why?