National grid rip off!!!!!!!!

chanz4

lemontart he may take offence as you work for the grid,

Former_E.ON_Company_Representative:_Malc

ultraman90 wrote: »

We have been living in our house for close to 10 years now and we have always used electricity and not gas.Originally the cul de sac we live at only had a electricity supply and then later on the national grid put their main gas supply pipe into the close.
About two years ago we were deciding whether or not to put central heating in to replace the electric storage heating system, so we had a gas point or meter connected to the main supply pipe near our close but in the end we didn't fit the central heating system and left things as they were without connecting to the supply pipe.
Today we got a GAS BILL off our electricity supplier ( E-ON )for £3.98??
WE DON'T USE GAS BUT A GAS BILL??
Phoned the suppliers up and after getting sent through to different departments (billing then disconnections etc etc...) they say it's E-ON'S standing charge for having a meter even though we don't use gas?? and it's going to cost me £81.?? to have the meter removed:eek::mad:.
The phone operator was as baffled as i was to why i have to pay this charge, but she says from April 2012 there is a standing charge that E-ON charges for their meters or equipment even without the connection.
What is the solution to not paying the charges or without paying £81.?? to have the meter removed???
Talk about rip of britain this is another lets screw the public exercise just like petrol/diesel prices at the pumps.
So a lesson for the people out there DON'T FIT A METER UNTIL IT'S NECESSARY.

Hi ultraman

Just to confirm what others have said, we introduced a daily Standing Charge on 18 January 2013.

This is to cover things like maintenance, meter reading and connection to the network. Previously, you'll have been charged under a two tier structure where the higher primary unit price covered these costs.

On the old two tier charges, you'll only have had to pay a bill if you used gas.

If you don't intend to use gas in the future and want the gas meter removing, then there is a charge. This is to cover the costs of doing the work safely as well as updating all the industry bodies involved.

Whilst there's a gas meter in place, though, a Standing Charge tariff will lead to charges.

If your certain you'll never need to use the gas and don't want to pay the disconnection charges, then I'd agree with others and suggest having a look at the comparison sites. These will show you the tariffs available without Standing Charges.

Hope this points you in the right direction.

Malc

securityguy

spursdebs wrote: »

"You have been severely misinformed or you have misunderstood what you have been told. National Grid do not charge consumers any sort of standing charge, ever. You should remove your slanderous accusations"

The written word is libel the spoken word is slander.

Wrong. See, for example, S.166(1) of the Broadcasting Act 1990.

vuvuzela

securityguy wrote: »

Wrong. See, for example, S.166(1) of the Broadcasting Act 1990.

That says "(1)For the purposes of the law of libel and slander (including the law of criminal libel so far as it relates to the publication of defamatory matter) the publication of words in the course of any programme included in a programme service shall be treated as publication in permanent form."

Which has no relevance to the comment of

spursdebs wrote: »

The written word is libel the spoken word is slander.

So, what exactly are you trying to say ? Are you trying to say that suprsdebs is incorrect ? As they are pretty much correct in that statement. http://www.contactlaw.co.uk/libel-and-slander.html

ValHaller

Nada666 wrote: »

Unfortunately there are lots of foolish (or heartless far right) people campaigning to forcibly reintroduce standing charges. There are plenty of idiotic consumer groups also on their side. £4 is cheap - some tariffs charge £18 per month for just gas. You should direct your ire towards Richard Lloyd of Which?, Ed Davey, Ofgem et al rather than National Grid.

I am in favour of standing charges. It makes price comparisons far easier and does away with nonsense like nPower's sculpted charges.

And if you think I am heartless and far right, then you would be far wrong.

Nada666

ValHaller wrote: »

I am in favour of standing charges. It makes price comparisons far easier and does away with nonsense like nPower's sculpted charges.

And if you think I am heartless and far right, then you would be far wrong.

If you are innumerate enough to think a daily standing charge makes a price comparison easier then you really should not be passing comment (or are you under the illusion that every private company will be governmentally mandated to charge the exact same sum to all households?)

Up to trebling and at least doubling the costs of utilities to the poorest households with the tightest (and getting ever tighter) budgets strikes me as relatively 'heartless' and 'far right'. I concede there are arguments that it is fairer - but you can not claim it is not a very brutal and vicious right wing policy.

ValHaller

Nada666 wrote: »

If you are innumerate enough to think a daily standing charge makes a price comparison easier then you really should not be passing comment (or are you under the illusion that every private company will be governmentally mandated to charge the exact same sum to all households?)

Up to trebling and at least doubling the costs of utilities to the poorest households with the tightest (and getting ever tighter) budgets strikes me as relatively 'heartless' and 'far right'. I concede there are arguments that it is fairer - but you can not claim it is not a very brutal and vicious right wing policy.

"Doubling and tripling costs to poorest households" - it is you who is innumerate.

And calling standing charges a 'brutal and vicious right wing policy' is theatre of the absurd which rather demeaningly insults genuine victims of right wing regimes.

I do my own comparisons, pencil and paper. I'm quite comfortable with passing comment, thank you very much - you don't have the credibility to make me doubt myself.

Nada666

ValHaller wrote: »

"Doubling and tripling costs to poorest households" - it is you who is innumerate.

And calling standing charges a 'brutal and vicious right wing policy' is theatre of the absurd which rather demeaningly insults genuine victims of right wing regimes.

It is only your ridiculous mention of 'regimes' that is demeaning - it is quite clear from context that no such allusion was being made by me. The policy is non-progressive and clearly right-wing in the sense that every household is expected to pay a much higher contribution in standing charges than presently. I have already stated that that is not necessarily less fair - but it is right-of-centre.

I regularly check the prices of current tariffs that include standing charges - they are double to triple the cost of the current cheaper tariffs to those too poor to use heating.

C_Mababejive

As others have stated. This has nothing to do with National Grid. If you live in a National Grid area,they only own the incoming supply up to the isolation valve. The meter and other apparatus belong to someone else.