Pensioners' gas bill just went from £160 to £2,584 a quarter

alancleaver

Thanks dogshome for that - I will do that.

nick74

Talldave said:

Surely this is one of those occasions when the industry's meter reading mangling organisation could come into its own in order to show that the sudden jump in consumption is clearly ludicrous?  If they can show bills going back several years with similar consumption and the new smart meter shows that the same consumption level has continued since the meter change, then a formal complaint stating the facts & figures should be submitted asap.  It sounds as if the alleged consumption is so ridiculous that it woudn't have been possible to use even if their boiler had been running 24/7.

And the lesson to be learnt for everyone is always always read & photograph a meter prior to a meter change.

Almost certainly unless they live in a huge, badly insulated mansion. By way of comparison I've just looked at our gas bill at work and coincidentally for the winter quarter it was also around £2600. However that was to heat a 40000 sq ft warehouse!

alancleaver

Thanks nick74. A good point. They're in a modest semi-detached and only put the heating on for a couple of hours morning and evening (their cooker and shower are electric). Mind you, I'm not sure what they're growing in the garage!!

mac.d

How long have they been with Green Star Energy, and do they have previous bills that show their actual usage throughout the winter period (in kWh not £)? If they do have previous bills showing actual meter readings and not estimates for the same period last year, you should be able to work out what their average monthly use is, even in the winter period, and show that there has been an unexplained jump between their last meter reading, and a new meter being installed.

In fact, if they have had a smart meter installed since January, you should be able to either look at the wee display unit that comes with it (IHD - In House Display) or log into their account online, and it will show you what the gas usage has been on a daily/weekly/monthly basis since it has been installed. GSE will have this data too, and as long as it shows normal usage, then that should be all the proof they need to show that there is something gone wrong.

I'd be sending copies of all this date along with the complaint letter, to prove that there has been a mistake made. As has already been posted, a formal complaint stating the facts & figures should be submitted asap. They've then got 8 weeks to sort it out, and if they don't come up a more realistic figure, you would then take it to the ombudsman. It's ridiculous that they'd even send a bill for nearly £2500 when most people don't even use half of that in a year.

alancleaver

Thanks mac.d - I'm happy to answer 'yes' to all that. The previous two-year bills and the smart meter readings since the meter was installed (on 22 Jan) all show normal domestic usage of just over a pound a day. It's only with that rogue final reading it jumps to £9 a day.  I've tried explaining this to the help desk people but they just look at the bill and say it must be correct because that's what the computer says! I will write a formal letter.

alancleaver

My thanks to  you all for your support and help. I've just been to see the mother-in-law today and she is very low in spirits over the stress of this £2,500 bill ("I just want it to go away"). I fear she will scrape together or borrow the money just to pay it and 'make it go away'. I think I have at least convinced her it's safer and better to use the gas heating rather than the two-bar electric fire (We all know that's logical but to her switching the gas on means a potential bill of hundreds or thousands of pounds; using electric means it will only be £100 or so). I will respond again when this nightmare is resolved one way or the other. And I hope it also makes Green Star Energy (and all companies) change their procedures when it comes to their vulnerable customers 

Hasbeen

So as per previous poster did you see any sticker on new meter with readings?

silverwhistle

I hope you told her that you've had lots of good advice and will get it sorted.

Remember that the people on the end of the phone have very little leeway or authority to do anything, which is where the complaint comes in. As a generic comment, help desks rarely are!

alancleaver

Hasbeen - yes, and it unfortunately shows the impossibly high figure.

Hasbeen

alancleaver said:

Hasbeen - yes, and it unfortunately shows the impossibly high figure.

Then it's a Formal Complaint proceedure with all evidence sent by post marked as such.