Gas meter reading gone up by 400k

Smallchap

Hi all,

Thanks again for all your help, thought I would post an update. We were away for the best part of a week so not much progress was made.

The supplier is dragging their heels a bit regarding an engineer visit and making sure we agree to pay a fee if no fault is found. We are making it clear we are happy to pay a fee if it is our mistake (ie we are looking at the wrong meter or something - somehow) but not prepared to pay if an engineer comes, looks at the meter incrementing and reports back its all fine. We have tested extensively and the meter is not "running fast" ie it's still incrementing normal amounts per day however it is jumping (or at least the first digit is). Our worry understandably is someone is going to come out, watch it for half an hour and say its all good without listening to us because usually the times the customer has no clue must massively outweigh the times they are correct. Then our supplier is going to bill us for the visit, which is a joke, but I'm 99% sure this is what will happen. Unless by some fluke the meter jumps while he is staring at it.

In the meantime, our meter now reads 8710, so add another £1k to our bill I guess haha. In my last email to our supplier I stated if they were not happy to conduct the test without billing us or listening to us, then we are happy to let the meter wrap around each time they ask for a reading so the first digit is always a 3. With the rate its jumping that seems easy enough for us to do and hopefully at least gives them some insentive to want to check. Maybe. We shall see.

They also reported they expected our meter to be a dual cost meter, which it isn't, it just seems like a mess.

As to taking pictures each time, I mean, it would only help if we were wrong and had misread the meter. In actual fact my gf does have a picture each time, it only proves we can read the meter, not that we haven't used all that gas.

Fingers crossed our supplier sees sense soon and we don't receive a now £5k bill + engineer visit for our "non faulty" meter.

Carrot007

Smallchap wrote: »

Hi all,

Thanks again for all your help, thought I would post an update. We were away for the best part of a week so not much progress was made.

The supplier is dragging their heels a bit regarding an engineer visit and making sure we agree to pay a fee if no fault is found. We are making it clear we are happy to pay a fee if it is our mistake (ie we are looking at the wrong meter or something - somehow) but not prepared to pay if an engineer comes, looks at the meter incrementing and reports back its all fine. We have tested extensively and the meter is not "running fast" ie it's still incrementing normal amounts per day however it is jumping (or at least the first digit is). Our worry understandably is someone is going to come out, watch it for half an hour and say its all good without listening to us because usually the times the customer has no clue must massively outweigh the times they are correct. Then our supplier is going to bill us for the visit, which is a joke, but I'm 99% sure this is what will happen. Unless by some fluke the meter jumps while he is staring at it.

In the meantime, our meter now reads 8710, so add another £1k to our bill I guess haha. In my last email to our supplier I stated if they were not happy to conduct the test without billing us or listening to us, then we are happy to let the meter wrap around each time they ask for a reading so the first digit is always a 3. With the rate its jumping that seems easy enough for us to do and hopefully at least gives them some insentive to want to check. Maybe. We shall see.

They also reported they expected our meter to be a dual cost meter, which it isn't, it just seems like a mess.

As to taking pictures each time, I mean, it would only help if we were wrong and had misread the meter. In actual fact my gf does have a picture each time, it only proves we can read the meter, not that we haven't used all that gas.

Fingers crossed our supplier sees sense soon and we don't receive a now £5k bill + engineer visit for our "non faulty" meter.

I hope you have started taking a photo everyday. Preferably with visible date/timestamp if you can. At least then you have something to show to them. Also do point out that such usage is impossible for a domestic supply, while all of the people you call may have a brain some fail to engage it.



And random additional thought. Are you with a big supplier. I suspect not given the resistance to sending someone out. Always fine when it goes as expect the smaller suppliers.

Smallchap

Looking at it again, I suspect the first digit jumps when the second digit increments. That would sort of make sense with usual usage to get where we are. If so, we need to be paying close attention in a month or so.

Good shout on the pictures. We took some before we went away but all incremented as expected. We can now show a jump to 8710.

Yep your correct, not with a big supplier.

[Deleted User]

I think you should demand that the meter is examined internally for a faulty index. Something drastic is happening if now your meter is reading 8710.
I have seen an example of a lady who was billed over £1000 extra on an electric dial meter mis read by a meter reader.Trouble was they whisked the meter away when they exchanged it and it disappeared for ever..That is what they will do with your meter. They will come along with a new smart meter and thats the last time you will see the meter.The evidence of a faulty meter will disappear for good along with 5k of your money.Don`t let them take the meter away is my advice if a meter fitter turns up on your doorstep to swap the meter
These gas meters do suffer from occupiers occasionally entering into the innards after digging out the blue or grey government seal at the top of the index in order to tamper with the mechanism. To prove that they have been tampered they are sent to the expert on the south coast who examines and photographs it..
So there are people who can prove there is a fault.
Ideally it would be better if you could try and find which digit, or number , is jumping and video it in action as evidence..Also look carefully at the seal above the index to see if it is damaged from a previous occupier messing with the meter attempting to fiddle..
Fake replacement seals come up on Ebay for sale now and again for £10 each so there is a demand for them

HampshireH

Definately keep a daily diary with photos as above. Needs to be dsily though so you can prove the leaps. Should be enough evidence to present to them when they inspect it and for you to be heard

Smallchap

Well hi again, another update for everyone that was helping out previously.

Guess the outcome of this is I should have stood firmer with my convictions and what you all had said, now we might be completely screwed.

After talking to our supplier for literally hours over the course of a week, about this issue and why we wanted it examined but were not prepared to cover the cost if there was no fault found, or for it to be taken away (so that we could gather more evidence). I was eventually talked round by our supplier who assured us it would be carried out fairly and all faults would be found and that this was the only resolution they would accept.

So the guy came, changed the meter and took it away to be sent off for testing. I'm sure you can guess where this is heading. We just got the certificate in the post saying the meter is accurate. Great...

So what next? I'm guessing our supplier will contact us soon as well. By my reckoning we are now liable for about £5.5k worth of gas usage as well as the fee for the meter being changed and sent off. Do we have any recourse for asking for a retest but specifically outlining the problem to look out for? The test says they push air through it and measure the accuracy, which there is no problem with and we could have told them. Can we ask them to push air through it until the hundreds digit ticks over and watch as the thousand digit does also? Are we now just completely screwed? A bill for 6k is simply not something we are going to pay.

Penny for your thoughts...

brianposter

Everything henceforth by snail mail or email on the assumption that you are going to court.
If the nature of the meter test is quite clear, write back pointing out that the test that has been performed is not relevant to your problem. Do not specify what they should test - simply point out that you have not complained about the accuracy of the meter.
You need to decide whether this response should be marked as a formal complaint.



In the meantime find someone with appropriate qualifications who would be prepared to testify in court that testing a meter does not prove whether or not a meter is faulty - it simply shows whether or not the test or tester can find a fault.

brianposter

I assume that you can go to court when appropriate by working out how much you believe you owe, paying a round figure about 500 pounds above this amount, and then reclaiming the excess in the small claims court. Perhaps someone else could advise whether this is the most effective procedure.

ajbell

Is it even possible to have used the amount they claim even if you had every gas appliance on?

glennevis

I doubt it is possible to use that amount of gas so quickly. To put the OP's readings into some sort of context, when I sold my fairly average house (GCH and cooking) last year the imperial meter reading was just over 4000. The meter was installed in 1998.