Faulty meter but Npower still want 2 1/2k

da1es

im beginning to really despair now, please bear with me

in brief

i was billed approx £2500 by npower for gas from dec 12 - jun 13, i had apparently used 80,000 kwh of gas, i disputed this and my meter was sent away to be tested by an independant tester who found the meter so defective that it could not be tested for conformity, there was excessive play in the figure drum making any readings unreliable.

a new meter was installed at the end of august and readings were given each month for 3 months, here is their response after 3 months,

"I can confirm that this shows from 13 December 2012 to 12 June 2013 you cosumed around 14.04 units per day. I can then see this has reduced from 12 June 2013 to 22 August 2013 to roughly 0.30 units per day. The usage on your new meter has increased and from 23 August 2013 to 22 November 2013 your usage has increased from 1.39 units a day, 2.37 units a day and 3.93 units per day. As you usage is now increased this would indicate the previous meter was not faulty. As an energy supplier I am unable to advise how the energy has been used."

my old meter was measured in cubic ft and my new one is cubic metres

in my eyes this does not make any comparison at all, they are talking in units which i understand but the 14 units a day on my old meter is about 40 units a day on my new one which we are no where near using.
basically dec-jun we used 80,000 kwh july and august we used very little due to it being summer after the new meter was installed usage is rising as you would expect due to it getting colder
as an example we used 17,000 kwh in january on the old meter in comparison to 1700kwh for november 2013

i have followed all complaint channels and await a response from stage 3 but its not promising , the ombudsman has been advised.

its just really getting to me now and wondered what people think

to show how incompetent they are they are now saying that when i joined in mAY 2012 that my starting reading was estimated so they have no record of exact usage from May 2012 to Dec 2012

and on my last bill my direct debit was split so that £6 went to electric and £82 went on gas, when i queried this npower is adament my direct debit is split 50/50 even though i have it in black and white

im at my wits end now

any help or legal advice is more than welcome

Bluebirdman_of_Alcathays

da1es wrote: »

im beginning to really despair now, please bear with me

in brief

i was billed approx £2500 by npower for gas from dec 12 - jun 13, i had apparently used 80,000 kwh of gas, i disputed this and my meter was sent away to be tested by an independant tester who found the meter so defective that it could not be tested for conformity, there was excessive play in the figure drum making any readings unreliable.

a new meter was installed at the end of august and readings were given each month for 3 months, here is their response after 3 months,

"I can confirm that this shows from 13 December 2012 to 12 June 2013 you cosumed around 14.04 units per day. I can then see this has reduced from 12 June 2013 to 22 August 2013 to roughly 0.30 units per day. The usage on your new meter has increased and from 23 August 2013 to 22 November 2013 your usage has increased from 1.39 units a day, 2.37 units a day and 3.93 units per day. As you usage is now increased this would indicate the previous meter was not faulty. As an energy supplier I am unable to advise how the energy has been used."

my old meter was measured in cubic ft and my new one is cubic metres

in my eyes this does not make any comparison at all, they are talking in units which i understand but the 14 units a day on my old meter is about 40 units a day on my new one which we are no where near using.
basically dec-jun we used 80,000 kwh july and august we used very little due to it being summer after the new meter was installed usage is rising as you would expect due to it getting colder
as an example we used 17,000 kwh in january on the old meter in comparison to 1700kwh for november 2013

i have followed all complaint channels and await a response from stage 3 but its not promising , the ombudsman has been advised.

its just really getting to me now and wondered what people think

to show how incompetent they are they are now saying that when i joined in mAY 2012 that my starting reading was estimated so they have no record of exact usage from May 2012 to Dec 2012

and on my last bill my direct debit was split so that £6 went to electric and £82 went on gas, when i queried this npower is adament my direct debit is split 50/50 even though i have it in black and white

im at my wits end now

any help or legal advice is more than welcome

The ombudsman should laugh away the suggestion that you used 80,000KWh in 6 months.

I'd hold tight until they've had their say - if they go along with npower then it'll be time to panic :eek:

dogshome

OK - You seem to be up to speed on the Recording, Useage and Chargeing differentials between Metric & Imperial meters, but what is worrying that it appears that n'power do not.

Wether or not this letter was written by some clerk who does not fully understand what he is sayng is immaterial, what counts is how you are billed.
If you haven't already done do, on a recent bill divide the Kwh charged by the meter units used - For your metric meter the answer should be close to 11.2 - If it's around 31.5 n'power are still billing you for an Imperial meter.

So far as escalating the failure to deal correctly with yoiur faulty Meter problem, you must WRITE to n'power, heading the letter Complaint pointing out that the fact that you new meter records the Units used nearly 3 times more quickly than the old meter, and each unit produces only appx. 1/3rd of the chargeable Kwh delivered by an Imperial meter

Writing a 'Complaint' letter sets you on the path of Ofgems complaint procedure and that opens the road to the Ombudsman if they fail to settle the matter

da1es

thanks for the replies its good to know that im not the only one who can see this being wrong

dogshome
believe it or not its the executive complaints team that has replied to me as im now at stage 3 of the complaints procedure, i even complained to the CEO about the team dealing with my complaint which was forwarded to the same person who i have the problem with.
she has now told me to correspond no further and await a final decision in 7 - 10 days so i emailed her again just to spite her, asking for written notice that they are not willing to negotiate (after advice from ombudsman who said they cant get involved till this is done)

i have also just got off the phone from my previous provider who are going to provide historical bills

but as was said earlier, im hoping the ombudsman can make sense of this otherwise i will be panicking

i havent yet received a new bill since the last one so that should be interesting when that comes

cheers all

Strebor

It really is unbelievable that npower can't run anything, not even get units right. This is criminal. I have got so fed up I have started a petition. Please sign if you can.

Good luck in sorting it.
Cheers, steve

http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/56280

da1es

petition signed

thanks

dogshome

Damned Lunacy - You are part way thro' n'powers Complaints procedure and a member of the team has asked you not send any further correspondance !

Seems likely the letter to the CEO has dented someones Ego, glad you ignored the instruction and Emailed, but a letter is always better - I presume that your letter to the CEO set out in Chapter and Verse the teams Metric/Imperial meter error, but if not it's important you do this in writing so do another letter headed Complaint with a copy to the CEO

C_Mababejive

Just as a general note, i would suggest that most mechanical gas meters that are faulty would be likely to under read rather than over read.