meter tampering

C_Mababejive

To be fair, i dont think it is right and correct to name individuals on an open public forum

chanz4

I know john well, he does a lot of rp work. Inregards to his findings with the cogs it is a likely cause of a meter at sometime been in reverse. However in my professional opinion, their should be other signs of interference. However their are cases at the moment where the plastic cogs have been sanded down to prevent the correct advances.

I would contest that the meter was not fitted for you, but they can re-estimate your usage

ptwparkinson

Yes you are right about it being a little unfair to use peoples names --- however --- I am being dragged through the dirt by these people --- they are doing a job which is being paid for out of profits ---- if this character were just doing his job I would be fine with that -- but he made it personal in my first phone call --- he came across as an intimidating bully full of his own personal power and self importance --- I do know his sort as I have come across them before in this life ---- however --- it`s not just him --- it`s BG on the whole --- I feel like giving in some of the time --- we have done nothing wrong --- so I won`t give in --- I have never been taken prisoner and I don`t intend to change that

lstar337

Out of curiosity, what happens if the previous owner tampered with a meter?

If I move to a new property, should I be thinking about asking for the meters to be checked for tampering? Would they even entertain such an idea?

Can they tell when (approximately) a meter was initially tampered with?

Seems worrying as it looks like the utilities have all the power in this area. How would you even prove you didn't tamper with it?

[Deleted User]

Thanks for publishing Johns surname. I know him well also , your description of him is not the John I know.He is extremely experienced and wont make daft mistakes. The latest scam uses new genuine seals and wont be very obvious. Its the internal cogs which will be the evidence. there s three cogs at top of index and another one underneath, that is for the imperial meters.
Saying the meter is in view of the public means nothing, I ve found plenty of gas meters bypassed in outside boxes. You could just shut the blinds or something. Its not a good defence. The Police would nt be bothered anyway, they think its a civil arrangement between supplier and customer. British Gas wont want any court hearings
istar337, under the terms and coditions anyone moving in and finds the meter dangerous or tampered is obliged to report the meter, doing nothing and sitting back with free energy is illegal. I suppose the reading on the tampered meter ( if there is a reading ) it can idicate the length of time. Electric prepay is easy to work out how long bypassed as the standing charges build up. divide the total owing on standing charge and divide by £1.20 a week to get how many weeks bypassed

ptwparkinson

My comments in bold .

Thanks for publishing Johns surname. I know him well also , your description of him is not the John I know.He is extremely experienced and wont make daft mistakes.

Yes -- it is unfortunate that I revealed his name --- but maybe I`ll see him in different light now -- he has a job to do

If you were to read all of my e mails I think that you would judge for yourself correctly that we have not anything wrong and that we are totally innocent -- so BG on the whole are making a " daft mistake " .

The latest scam uses new genuine seals and wont be very obvious. Its the internal cogs which will be the evidence. there s three cogs at top of index and another one underneath, that is for the imperial meters.

Do you mean that the seal is replaced with another seal -- there would surely be tell tale signs that this had been done .

Saying the meter is in view of the public means nothing, I ve found plenty of gas meters bypassed in outside boxes. You could just shut the blinds or something. Its not a good defence.

There are no blinds --- big windows . How do you bypass a meter --- I need to know so that I know what to look for in our rental properties and the same goes for the new seal method --- how is that done ? My tenants have smashed the internal workings according to the RPU man and he said this means that they don`t have to top up the cards or keys . There was one person I was told about who was using bi-cycle inner tubes to bypass the meter

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how crazy is that --- he could have blown himself and some of the street into never never land and arrived at the mad hatters tea party !!!!


The Police would nt be bothered anyway, they think its a civil arrangement between supplier and customer.

I didn`t know this until today --- there are some tenants of mine who have been visited by BG RPU and their meters have been found to have been tampered and yes -- you are right -- the Police are saying that it`s a civil issue and not interested .

British Gas wont want any court hearings

We want our day in court and it will probably take a whole day to read out all of my e mails and to have all of the figures examined --- I am personally determined to prove our innocence in this matter no matter how long it takes . We were supposed to be in court this morning to defend a hearing for a warrant application for permission to enter our shop and disconnect the supply --- they rang me at 5.45 last night to say they had cancelled this and they are preparing a case for civil court .

There is a lot more of this going on now where people are on benefits ---- they have had their benefits cut --- they can`t afford to pay for their utility consumption so they tamper instead --- the Utility companies can prosecute when they are caught and they will probably agree to pay back at 50 p per week !!!! Then they will go and do it again . There should be an advertising campaign showing people how to keep warm by putting on more clothing etc wrapping a duvet around yourself to watch TV which is what I do and to keep the radiators turned down . Our house is probably more chilly than most of our rental properties --- work that one out -- they have their radiators on full 24/7 !!!!

ptwparkinson

My comments in bold .

Out of curiosity, what happens if the previous owner tampered with a meter?

Common sense tells us that the previous owner should burden the responsibility ---- however --- one of my tenants came to us recently --- his landlord had been overpaid so the council deducted the overpayment from the rent which should have been paid to myself and said I should recover the money from my tenant and the should recover it from his previous landlord !!!!!!!!***** so big companies like the council will get their money from whoever they can find

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probably can`t prove who tampered the meter but because you own the property they might hold you responsible --- in our case if the meter had been tampered by someone else and not ourselves -- we would still be responsible for paying even though we wouldn`t have known anything about the tamper -- in our case no-one had a motive

If I move to a new property, should I be thinking about asking for the meters to be checked for tampering? Would they even entertain such an idea?

They would probably charge you for testing which is about
£ 300 . Why not just ask for the meter to be replaced with a new one . That is exactly what I will do from now on because I don`t want to ever go through all of this again !!!

Can they tell when (approximately) a meter was initially tampered with?

Therein lies the problem ---- no they can`t tell when it was tampered ---- so yes a meter can be tampered before you move in and because they know where to find you they will try to blame you and hold you liable .

Seems worrying as it looks like the utilities have all the power in this area. How would you even prove you didn't tamper with it?

It is extremely hard to prove that you haven't tampered and can be just as difficult for RPU to prove that you have .

chanz4

ptwparkinson wrote: »

My comments in bold .

Out of curiosity, what happens if the previous owner tampered with a meter?

Common sense tells us that the previous owner should burden the responsibility ---- however --- one of my tenants came to us recently --- his landlord had been overpaid so the council deducted the overpayment from the rent which should have been paid to myself and said I should recover the money from my tenant and the should recover it from his previous landlord !!!!!!!!***** so big companies like the council will get their money from whoever they can find

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probably can`t prove who tampered the meter but because you own the property they might hold you responsible --- in our case if the meter had been tampered by someone else and not ourselves -- we would still be responsible for paying even though we wouldn`t have known anything about the tamper -- in our case no-one had a motive

If I move to a new property, should I be thinking about asking for the meters to be checked for tampering? Would they even entertain such an idea?

They would probably charge you for testing which is about
£ 300 . Why not just ask for the meter to be replaced with a new one . That is exactly what I will do from now on because I don`t want to ever go through all of this again !!!

Can they tell when (approximately) a meter was initially tampered with?

Therein lies the problem ---- no they can`t tell when it was tampered ---- so yes a meter can be tampered before you move in and because they know where to find you they will try to blame you and hold you liable .

Seems worrying as it looks like the utilities have all the power in this area. How would you even prove you didn't tamper with it?

It is extremely hard to prove that you haven't tampered and can be just as difficult for RPU to prove that you have .

Tamper periods can be worked out, due to data from the networks of previous Aq's.

I will be blunt with this one, as they have not caught you in the act not saying you or someone who has access to the meter has had it in reverse. BG would be on thin ice and the reason they wont take you to court is they cant prove when the cogs have been done and by whom. the gas act states action of disconnection can only be taken against the person so offending.

They can as said before bill you for the correct usage, as the meter would of been recording slower.

RP guys have to deal with some very aggressive and violent people, and if you get backs up this kinda says to us you know about it so stay calm.

I personally would offer them half of what they are asking. They have zero chance of a court agreeing with it, also your key is the meter was not fitted for you.

ptwparkinson

the meter was fitted for us --- it was fitted when we opened the takeaway

wr1ght

case closed then