Electric Swalec Advice

dwl2233

I received my latest bill from SSE SWALEC on the 24th May 2017. I noticed that it was an estimated reading and decided to check all other previous bills I had and could see that they were also estimated. I took an accurate meter reading and phoned SSE SWALEC to ask them for an explanation as to why I had been receiving estimated bills for so long. Customer services told me they would ring me in a couple of hours to ask for another meter reading,

When they phoned back I gave the reading and they told me they would need some time to investigate, They came back to me later on that day and told me that SSE SWALEC had fitted a second hand meter at our premises in October 2014, and that the meter had not been returned to zero. They said they should have given us the meter reading at the time but failed to do so. They also said that the engineer fitting the meter had failed to record the readings accurately and provided the office with the figures for the day reading instead of the night reading and vice versa.

I asked why my meter hadn't been read for so long and the adviser told me that 5 meter readers had taken our readings since Oct 2014 and fed them through to the office, but because of the initial error in recording accurate readings, SWALEC had continued to send us estimated bills as the readings did not fall into line with the numbers they had. ( It seems
they never thought to check).

According to SWALEC, their policy states that if it's an error on their part, they can only issue a catch-up bill for the previous twelve months. SWALEC have issued us with a bill for £1,005.37 but they have reduced it by £498.87 in line with their policy as they cannot go back further than a year. We have been loyal customers of SWALEC for over 37 years and have never moved suppliers. As i have continued to complain that they can show us no proof of the accurate reading when the second hand meter was installed and I have no way of knowing what the accurate reading was. They have offered us a £100 goodwill gesture for the appalling service and catalogue of errors which I find unacceptable. They have also admitted that SWALEC should have put a sticker on the meter logging the accurate reading
when it was fitted in Oct 2014.

Can anyone advise what you think an acceptable solution should be?

misterbarlow

So any usage for over 12months ago has been written off, they have taken £500 off the bill, and given you another £100.
What more do you want exactly???

molerat

An acceptable solution would be to take their offer and learn from your mistakes, they have been very generous.

You could always refuse and take it to the ombudsman who may conclude they do not have to offer you anything apart from a £20 gesture !

matelodave

You haven't made any effort to check your bills against meter readings so you also have some respnsibilty in this matter.

Don't be greedy, take their very generous offer and put some effort into keeping a better hold of your bills, payments and meter readings

welshmoneylover

dwl2233 wrote: »

I received my latest bill from SSE SWALEC on the 24th May 2017. I noticed that it was an estimated reading and decided to check all other previous bills I had and could see that they were also estimated. I took an accurate meter reading and phoned SSE SWALEC to ask them for an explanation as to why I had been receiving estimated bills for so long. Customer services told me they would ring me in a couple of hours to ask for another meter reading,

When they phoned back I gave the reading and they told me they would need some time to investigate, They came back to me later on that day and told me that SSE SWALEC had fitted a second hand meter at our premises in October 2014, and that the meter had not been returned to zero. They said they should have given us the meter reading at the time but failed to do so. They also said that the engineer fitting the meter had failed to record the readings accurately and provided the office with the figures for the day reading instead of the night reading and vice versa.

I asked why my meter hadn't been read for so long and the adviser told me that 5 meter readers had taken our readings since Oct 2014 and fed them through to the office, but because of the initial error in recording accurate readings, SWALEC had continued to send us estimated bills as the readings did not fall into line with the numbers they had. ( It seems
they never thought to check).

According to SWALEC, their policy states that if it's an error on their part, they can only issue a catch-up bill for the previous twelve months. SWALEC have issued us with a bill for £1,005.37 but they have reduced it by £498.87 in line with their policy as they cannot go back further than a year. We have been loyal customers of SWALEC for over 37 years and have never moved suppliers. As i have continued to complain that they can show us no proof of the accurate reading when the second hand meter was installed and I have no way of knowing what the accurate reading was. They have offered us a £100 goodwill gesture for the appalling service and catalogue of errors which I find unacceptable. They have also admitted that SWALEC should have put a sticker on the meter logging the accurate reading
when it was fitted in Oct 2014.

Can anyone advise what you think an acceptable solution should be?

The onus is on you to provide regular meter readings, why didnt you check the meter each time your bill arrived?

Hardly swalec's fault 100%, by all means go to the ombudsman but it won't get you very far.

MrJones1

First of all, you should pay bills that are based on accurate meter readings and not estimated readings. If
you have an estimated bill you are most probably being overcharged. Since you are not satisfied with SSE SWALEC's response, you should take your case further and contact the Energy Ombudsman. They might correct the problem.

MrJones1

Moreover, you should consider switching supplier. There are just 4 steps.

1. Compare tariffs
2. Choose the one that suits you best. You can either call the supplier or do the switch online.
3. Take a meter reading on the transfer day and notify the new supplier about it.
4. Pay a final bill to your old supplier or get a refund if you're in credit.