British Gas: Does anyone think this is complicated?

Mr_Man_Full_of_Love

British Gas do.

What I have is an Economy 7 Meter, old style about 25 years old which records Low and Normal readings for night and day rate.

However, I don't have an Economy 7 tariff. This isn't a problem as the two readings can be taken, added together and charged at a standard single rate tariff.

Where the storage heaters used to be I replaced them with normal electric radiators. Of course I want to be able to use them 24 hours a day so to make the electrical points active the Economy 7 meter needs to be set to permanently on instead of to switch on at night.

What this means is that all the electricity I use at any time of day or night registers on the Low/Night reading and the Normal/Day reading never changes. This doesn't make any difference at all to the number of units I use or get charged for.

Now a genius at BG has decided that because the Normal/Day rate reading doesn't move the meter must be faulty and I'm not being charged for usage during the day.

I could of course make a home video of the numbers revolving on the dial or invite them to spend a day watching it.:)

Please tell me this is not complicated (or if you think it is you can apply for a job at British Gas).:)

penrhyn

How exactly did you make the timeswitch/radio teleswitch permanently 'on'.
I would of thought tampering with it would be illegal.

Mr_Man_Full_of_Love

penrhyn wrote: »

How exactly did you make the timeswitch/radio teleswitch permanently 'on'.
I would of thought tampering with it would be illegal.

It has a switch with three settings, On, Timer, and Off. If you have an Economy 7 tariff it would be set to Timer and have a distributors seal on it and breaking the seal would be illegal. Without an Economy 7 tariff there's no seal and it makes no difference to usage and cost whatever it's set to.

Premier_2

Mr_Man_Full_of_Love wrote: »

It has a switch with three settings, On, Timer, and Off. If you have an Economy 7 tariff it would be set to Timer and have a distributors seal on it and breaking the seal would be illegal. Without an Economy 7 tariff there's no seal and it makes no difference to usage and cost whatever it's set to.

How did the seal get broken in the first place? No official visits when you change from E7 to single rate tariffs.

Your meter is indeed faulty ... it seems due to someone having tinkered with it. :eek: That is why the supplier is looking to have the fault remedied.
To them, they don't care you have a dual rate meter, they will be happy to record both register and bill you for it all at the single rate Not all suppliers will agree to this so you option of switching later is restricted - the other suppliers would insist in you going back onto E7 (hence the question over the seal on the meter having been tampered with). The other option is to get a single rate meter.

The issue you have with some circuits only becoming live during the low period is nothing to do with your supplier of the meter. You need to get an electrician in to ensure those circuits remain live 24/7 if that is what you now want. That's done by getting them connected to the correct part of the meter (on your side, so an electrician can do that) not for fiddling the meter to only allow consumption on the low rate registry

Mr_Man_Full_of_Love

Premier wrote: »

How did the seal get broken in the first place? No official visits when you change from E7 to single rate tariffs.

Your meter is indeed faulty ... it seems due to someone having tinkered with it. :eek: That is why the supplier is looking to have the fault remedied.
To them, they don't care you have a dual rate meter, they will be happy to record both register and bill you for it all at the single rate Not all suppliers will agree to this so you option of switching later is restricted - the other suppliers would insist in you going back onto E7 (hence the question over the seal on the meter having been tampered with). The other option is to get a single rate meter.

The issue you have with some circuits only becoming live during the low period is nothing to do with your supplier of the meter. You need to get an electrician in to ensure those circuits remain live 24/7 if that is what you now want. That's done by getting them connected to the correct part of the meter (on your side, so an electrician can do that) not for fiddling the meter to only allow consumption on the low rate registry

Name one supplier that will insist on you having an Economy 7 tariff just because you have the meter? If there is one they're probably very short of customers.

The work WAS carried out by a NICEIC registered electrician who replaced the old fuse box with a modern comsumer unit. The easiest way to make the circuits live was to change the setting on the meter. There's no "fiddling" involved as it makes no difference to usage or the cost.

Goldensock

I have only one word...ILLEGAL, the equipment that has been touched does not belong to yourself or the electrician. The equipment was sealed for a reason. If you have an economy 7 meter, you should be on an e7 tariff. If you have an e7 meter and BGAS have put you on a totaliser tariff then this is fine but both readings should still be advancing & the fact that they aren't says to BGAS that tampering has occured.

Golden

Mr_Man_Full_of_Love

I know the purpose of this forum is for people to help others but I would rather receive no replies at all than incorrect mumbo jumbo that someone has just Googled and then copied and pasted as though it's their own knowledge. It renders 90 per cent of what's written on this forum totally pointless.

Mr_Man_Full_of_Love

You've got to love British Gas. Due to points raised in the replies I contacted them once again reiterating the situation with the meter and requesting to know if what the electrician did in changing the setting to On from Timer is illegal despite it not having any effect on what I use or pay.

I got a response saying "I can confirm that you have an Economy 7 meter on your property and that you are being charged at a single rate."

:T

The funny thing is I only joined them in May and they made such a balls up of the switch that they gave me £50 credit to agree to a six month trial.:A

I almost yearn for the days before privitisation. You might have still had to deal with nutters but at least you couldn't go from the "frying pan into the fire".:)

grahamc2003

Mr_Man_Full_of_Love wrote: »

You've got to love British Gas. Due to points raised in the replies I contacted them once again reiterating the situation with the meter and requesting to know if what the electrician did in changing the setting to On from Timer is illegal despite it not having any effect on what I use or pay.

I got a response saying "I can confirm that you have an Economy 7 meter on your property and that you are being charged at a single rate."

You've received some good advice on the legality of what was done. I doubt any bg callcenter staff would answer the question you posed - and in fact if you can understand his reply, he didn't answer!

So they told you you have an e7 meter - something you already know.

They told you you are being charged a single rate - something you already know.

They didn't tell you whether you breaking the seal to THEIR electricity meter was illegal or not (it is). It is certainly a civil offence, and I suspect a criminal offence, but don't know that for a fact.

I doubt they'll do more than inspect the meter and reset it correctly, but they may take it away to inspect for further
tampering, and I suppose they could leave you with a prepay meter if they were minded.

Meanwhile, soe advice from Citizens Advice

Tampering with a meter

The electricity supplier may disconnect your electricity supply by removing the meter if it has sufficient evidence that you have tampered with your meter.To prevent disconnection, you must convince the electricity supplier you did not tamper with the meter, and took proper care of the meter.
If you are suspected of tampering with a meter you should seek the help of an experienced adviser, for example, a Citizens Advice Bureau.To search for details of your nearest CAB, including those that can give advice by email, click on nearest CAB.

Mr_Man_Full_of_Love

Well, the British Gas stance is that the meter is faulty and not recording my day time usage correctly. Neither of which is true.
If they want to send the heavy mob around and arrest me as Britain's Most Wanted that would be a step forward as it would mean they actually grasp what I'm telling them.:)

Joyful

Why not ask them to exchange the meter to a single rate one. That then gets rid of all the problems.