NIGHTMARE gas situation!

Dannybo_2

Hi there, and thanks for taking time to read my first post.

Long story short, I have just moved house, have a prepay gas meter via a card which we have been taking to shops to get topped up as we haven't had time or inclination to get them change to standard meters yet as we have a million more important things to get on with.
That was until Friday (4days ago) when we topped up card, popped it in and it said 'CALL HELP'.
Phoned number on back of card and got through to utility's warehouse (we had no idea who supplier was) they were closed, so went through the garb on the automated call only to be told to call xxxxxxxx if you have a fault. This was national grid who were unbelievably rude. The guy on the phone said "to be honest mate,I don't care. Not my problem!" I was dumbfounded. I ended up getting caught in this loop getting nowhere. Got through Saturday to U.W (freezing cold by this point and 2 kids under 3) and I have to say very helpful, fixed in an hour by guy and topped up with £10 emergency credit as I have to wait for a replacement card to be sent. I live in a moderate 4 bed house so by the end of Saturday night we've burnt £5. Yesterday we had no heating on and minimal hot water to preserve gas, again another cold night!
When I got home from work tonight I called to say there's £2 left on meter and was told that they couldn't do anything as I'm not cut off, so use the heating and when the gas runs out call this number,they'll sort it out. Did that and guess what they are closed and the number is national grid!!!!! So gonna be cold tonight.
What I would like to know is, is there any compensation I can apply for from U.W for the major inconvenience?
Secondly, I said to the guy to come and change meters at the earliest convenience to standard monthlys, and basically they took £100 EACH (gas and electricity) Deposit which I can have back after a year, AND £72 to fit electric meter and £65 for gas meter! Can that be right or reasonable? (I have paid the deposits)
And the joke is I'm still sitting in the freezing cold!
You just cannot get hold of anyone out of hours!

Southend1

Why can't you add more credit to the meter? Is there a fault with the meter, did you have a dodgy card or is the problem something else? It's not clear to me from your post what the actual issue is with the top up.

Dannybo_2

It's unknown exactly what caused the problem. When the guy rebooted the meter he said I'd need a new card due to him rebooting the machine.
He said the machines can go wrong without any real reason.

Southend1

So you could top up the meter now then and put the heating on?

PETIE

As he has reset the meter, you can check some of your local stores, as some carry blank Gas top up cards, though you will need to get the card, take it home, insert it and wait till it completes then take it back to top it up, then home again.

[Deleted User]

Just as an aside, if your meter says "call help " and also "off " and gas is still flowing through the meter, its been tampered and internally damaged allowing gas to flow regardless of any credit on the meter.. In other words...free gas..This is not an uncommon tamper on the small white e6 prepay.

C_Mababejive

The customer route for faulty meter is to call your supplier who then passes a job to the meter owner who then attends to sort it out.

It is pretty poor but many suppliers dont run 24/7 lines. I have no idea what they expect their customers to do. According to their website, the number is 0844 375 1375 but they close at 17.30 hours. Having said that, there is no contract in place to attend to a faulty card meter after 8pm anyway so if you ring before 17.30 you may get same day service or have to wait until next day.

The vast majority of metering stock are owned and operated by National Grid Metering.

This is not to be confused with National grid gas emergency service.

If the meter has any kind of National Grid markings on it then its likely to be an NG meter.

Other flavours and owners of meters are available !

If you ring national grid gas emergency with a metering issue, they wont be able to help you.

Because the bod has reset the meter, your existing card wont work.

When you run out of gas, you are stuffed.

I would ring and complain to your supplier on two counts;

a)They apparently dont have a 24/7 helpline
b)They have not supplied you with a gascard in a timely manner

Check if they have breached any of the standard ofgem standards of service. Ask them on the phone and seek the standard compensations available.

If your meter has flagged call help, then it may well do it again.

Nada666

And this is why prepayment meters used to have higher tariffs - whether through more temperamental hardware or through demanding customers the running costs are higher than with credit meters. But the lobbyists cried foul and demanded changes.

Yes it is fair to ask for a deposit and yes it is fair to pay to have the meters changed. You are being given meters that will grant you not just a hundred pounds of credit but, very easily, more than a thousand - and any debt a customer runs up can only be claimed back interest free with no real threat of being cut off. And any debt may well be only repaid at a rate of less than £200 per year.

The cost of replacing the meters will be easily clawed back the first winter from the savings from cheaper Direct Debit tariffs. (For the heating fuel, at least.)

Dannybo_2

Hi and thanks for all your replies,
I'd like to clear a few things up which may have been left a bit unclear from the original post.

1, My original card DOES NOT WORK despite having £20 credit on it.
The meter was RE BOOTED and this apparently is the reason why it doesn't work. I have no means of adding credit.
2. a coment has been made stating that it is only right that I should be charged for new meters, as I am going to be given hundreds, if not thousands of pounds of credit. I own my house so if I was to get into rediculous debt, the gas supplier would just put a charge on my house and add interest, so they definitely would get there money back, and £100 per meter is not going to make a jot of difference. Also when you apply for 'credit meters' they also run 'credit checks' on that person.
3. My main point of my original post was
Can I claim compensation as I keep having 5hrs at a Time just to allow the engineer in to add another £5 (this is the max they can put on after the initial £10, and will last 1 day) this cost me £100 ish to take day off and they are very quick to tell you they will fine you £60 if your not there or any info you have given them in incorrect.
Also is it fair to pay the £200 for deposit on meters and £65 installation for gas and £75 for electric. I spoke to Edf today and they said they would do it for free.

MeterMan

Call help on the meter suggests there was an issue. resetting this usually works and thus would allow you to continue topping up with your old card as normal.

Being told that you need a new card suggests that a decommission and recommission has occured which would remove any data linking the card to the meter. Your old card will not work and you do have to wait for a new one.

If/when you run out, ring them back and tell them that you have not received a card, inform them that you have under 3 year olds living in the property, this would have you registered as a vunerable customer. Ask them for the out of hours number.

National grids job is to protect the supplies, not to ensure you have gas.

C_Mababejive

The original card will not work for the reasons stated,

Some suppliers request security deposits/charges for changing meters. As you have found, the answer is to ring around and find one who wont charge you.

There is a week or twos lead time from requesting meter work and it being done.

In the interim, your existing supplier must supply you with a new card so that you can fund the meter.

If they do not do this in a timely manner you must raise a complaint with them.

Remember,if you dont use the word "complaint" then it isnt a complaint.