Help please about a pre-payment dual fuel meter...

Brightness

Hi all,

Please can anyone help on this as I am totally in the dark (no pun intended) as we've always paid by DD. My son, together with 3 friends has moved into a student slum (yep, it really is and I've got Environmental Health going round tomorrow).

I am not happy with the house as it is damp and goodness knows what else. But, the little angels went off on their own and decided that they were going to rent the place without letting any of us parents look it over first :mad:. Anyway, the electricity and gas are on a meter which is pre-pay. First day they moved in they put £20 on the card, put it in the meter and it said £6 credit! He phones me in a panic so I call letting agents. They say it's normal blah blah you have to top up by a £1 two or three times blah blah, let us get on with our jobs blah blah. Never come across anyone as rude or obstructive as the staff in there!

The kids are being pretty frugal with the fuel but the other night it was so cold and they've all had chest infections so they left the heating on very low overnight - it used £10 of fuel. Can this be right? I know these meters are more expensive (which really angers me) but I didn't think they were THAT expensive!

I've always been told by Gas engineers that it is cheaper to leave your heating on very low 24/7 to keep an even temperature than blasting the house every few hours. Apparently, the rads were barely tepid. It's worrying me that they are sitting with duvets wrapped round them now - what's it going to be like in the Winter?

I'm not an over protective Mum btw, I am worried as my son is severely asthmatic but keeps it under control with hgis meds and he's doing a sports degree. I don't want this to wreck his chances before the kid finishes uni!

Thanks for any advice offered....

Kilty_2

First of all it sounds like the previous tenant left the meter in debt and your son has paid it off - should've called the supplier not only to take over the account but to zero the debt / have a cheque sent for the amount he had to pay back.

Secondly, having the heating on all night assuming it's gas does cost a fair bit HOWEVER it sounds like the heating system is faulty because I'd expect the radiators to be very hot.....

Brightness

Thanks Kilty, I said that to him but the letting agent insisted it was normal! The heating was turned right down to just enough to take the chill off the air. I think the heating is faulty - everything else in the house is It is a 3 bed terrace in the Welsh Valley's and his room is dining room - they are charging over £800 between four kids for just the basic house and broken furniture. I am hoping Environmental Health rips the place apart tomorrow. Apparently, there were things that they were supposed to have done to the house last year and presented certificates for EH is still waiting for them. They are going armed with testing equipment for everything

I will call SWALEC tomorrow and see if I can sort the meter probs out for them. Thanks for your help

t0rt0ise

Why don't you let them sort it out for themselves and do the phone calling? They will never learn otherwise.

spiro

t0rt0ise wrote: »

Why don't you let them sort it out for themselves and do the phone calling? They will never learn otherwise.

I have to agree.

Brightness

Because they have tried and been fobbed off! Thanks for your lack of help, they are living away from home or out of halls for the first time in their lives! I actually phoned Swalec today and after explaining the situation I was informed that the Prepay meter had been put in because the last tenants were in debt and the letting agents in their uselessness just gave the kids the card that the old tenants had been using - complete with debt! Swalec brought up some shots of the meter and immediately found the problem. Then phoned my son to get it sorted.

They've reset the meter to start off afresh but with all the money put in so far and are also sending out a new card credited with £20 as an apology. The guy on the phone even called me back & gave me his direct dial number in case they had any more problems. He was furious at the way they had been treated too.

Amazing what happens when a parent cares enough to get involved. Thank goodness the majority of other posters on here are more helpful than either of you two!