Gas Man come to read the meter... refusing access?

Cardew

As I said in my first post, one of the tasks of the meter reader is to ensure that the meter is not being tampered with.

There are many cases of the meter being bypassed(sometimes by people growing canabis plants - which use huge amounts of electricity).

It defeats the object if someone can insist on a prior appointment for the meter reader; the naughty person might even remove the meter bypass before the appointment!!

SwanJon

tincat wrote: »

I've only been in this house for 3 months, so have plenty of time to arrange a meter reading if it's 2 years requirement.

Don't count on it. The 2 years goes from when the meter was last read by a representative of the company, not from when you moved in.
As the energy companies need to read the metes every two years, they usually start pushing harder after 15-18 months, and they will get a warrant and go in even if you're not there. They'll give you an oppurtunity to make an appointment first.

It also looks a bit suspicious if you don't let them in for no good reason.

As mentioned, the date they come round is not fixed - they get given an area to do over a set time. I have a funny feeling that some work longer hours in the week so that they can finish early on a Friday, and thinkgs will always happen to slow them down.

chatty123

My meters are in a cupboard where the opening is so small one has to crawl on hands and knees and breath in deeply to gain access to read the meter. As you can guess the meter men are always larger than life guys and would have no chance. Thankfully they stand at the door whilst i shout out the numbers to them. LOL

Gorgeous_George

The OP was quite within their rights to refuse entry.

Meter reading should be by appointment. This could be made by email or text. It would be reasonable for an additional charge to be made when a meter reader needs to make a second visit, possibly on a Saturday.

When I asked for my meter to be moved onto an outside the wall the quote was huge. This would have ensured that the meter reader had access. I thought they had to sight your meter once per year and, if the meter reader cannot gain access the supplier will make an appointment.



GG

Canucklehead

Hi

Tincat if they want to read your meter let them make the effort to come and read it at your convenience ,don't feel bad about not letting them in.
At one house I lived in the gas Co wrote a letter requesting access or face visit from bailiff.Made appointment, meter reader shot in and out , next bill was estimated and I had no more contact.As I said let them make the effort.

Corgi Guy.

vixx

Well it just goes to show that you can't please all of the people all of the time.
I think that it's pretty damn obvious that you have to be careful but your paranoia is laughable!

Do you have any idea how much money and resources would be wasted to individually write to each household in the country telling them their meters will be read on a certain day?

You must be one of those poeple who find fault in everything. I know your type well, working in customer services, I meet people like you every day. There is always something to moan about isn't there, even when a company is just doing what you pay them for!
Just chill out, it would be worse if the company never bothered to read your meter at all. I'm sure if you had a problem with your meter and no one noticed you'd be the first person on the phone to have a paddy about it.

milkydrink

tincat wrote: »

Well I don't think you can be too careful either. It's not only because I prefer not to let strangers in, but also because I used to make id cards in a previous job, and it's really easy to make up professional ones.

Also, the man didn't offer to give me his i.d. to phone for verification, but actually said that it might not be on record as they get given a whole lot of addresses to cover each week. That also seems really unsafe.

Again I ask, what do they do in the case of people who just aren't home?

The person also didn't offer me one of those cards I got from another provider saying 'someone called and you weren't home - phone here etcetc'.

Why would he?? You WERE home!!!

Hapless_2

I suggest you phone them up and make an appointment for the reader to come back.

Debt_Free_Chick

There is no way one could devise a system of timed appointments, as one cannot know how long to allow for each visit and then how long to allow to get the next property (they might not always be next door to eachother).

You would either allow too much time, meaning that at some point, the reader would turn up early (presumably re-igniting your paranoia and giving an excuse to refuse entry) or the reader would need to "loiter" outside the property with a watch, ready to knock on the door at precisely the right moment. Again, I have no doubt that this "suspicious" behaviour would give you grounds to refuse entry. :rolleyes:

Alternatively, too little time would be allowed, so that the reader starts to run late - I guess you find that suspicious too :rolleyes:

Your supplier should have a Code of Practice or Charter, including information about visits to your home and how your verify the caller's ID. Some also now have a password scheme - so that the reader has to use the password known to you. Suggest you have a look on their website for more details.

Your local Trading Standards office will also have advice about dealing with potential bogus callers and how to verify those who are genuine.

BexTech

You could always just wait until they have a warrant and break into your home to check the meter. Yes, I've known this done a few times.

You'll soon know as you'll have police tape on the door and a letter through the door stating not to worry it was because they needed to check your meters that your door has been forced and you had failed to let them have access.