E.on taking my m3 readings as ft3 - higher bills

Gerry1

If you have a metric meter (m³ shown next to the display) you've been overcharged if 2.83 is shown in the bill calculation.

Or to put it another way, each cubic metre delivers about 11.2kWh.  If it works out to around 32 kWh on the bill then you've been overcharged.

Hyperion07

Exactly the same thing has happened to me. I had a nightmare trying to get E.On customer services via email to take that seriously. They just kept repeating that their calculations were right, whilst simultaneously ignoring every mention I made that they were billing for imperial even though my meter was metric. It was crazy-making.

Happily, I have finally settled it on the phone today with a different colleague but the call still took 45 minutes with long holds and they denied it was their fault saying that essentially a previous supplier had changed the meter but not updated records to say that the new one was metric. 

My real complaint was with being dismissed and also with the systematic issue which should be raised to Ofgem.

They issued me £30 compensation (which seemed a paltry but I am glad to get something for the hours wasted chasing this) and a £100+ refund for the usage overcharge. But my big concern is that older, or more vulnerable or just busy people might struggle to spot this or spend the hours I spent fighting E.On to make the change.

PS. Here is the detail in case you’d like it:

The bills in question record my gas meter as measuring imperial units of ft3. But my meter is metric and measures m3. This means the calculation is wrong because the units measured are being multiplied by 2.83 unnecessarily. I've sent E.On multiple photos of the gas meter to prove that the meter records m3. I've also double checked my maths against their own published calculations to reassure myself that I'm getting this right.

For example, my last bill was for 49 units. 

I can see the calculation in the bill includes an unnecessary conversion from cubic feet to cubic meters:

49 (gas units) * 2.83 (converting ft3 into m3) * 39.0 (calorific value) * 1.02264 (volume correction) ÷ 3.6 (kWh conversion factor) = 1,536.26946 kWh

The actual calculation, given my meter is metric, should have been:

49 (gas units) * 39.0 (calorific value) * 1.02264 (volume correction) ÷ 3.6 (kWh conversion factor) = 542.8514 kWh

Hence my usage was 2.83 times lower (not accounting for standing charge). 

Come on E.On, this should not be this hard.

QrizB

Hyperion07 said:

Exactly the same thing has happened to me.

...

Come on E.On, this should not be this hard.

You might not be relieved to know that, while not exactly common, all the gas suppliers suffer from this problem from time to time.
They always see reason eventually.

RD_DS

QrizB said:

Hyperion07 said:

Exactly the same thing has happened to me.

...

Come on E.On, this should not be this hard.

You might not be relieved to know that, while not exactly common, all the gas suppliers suffer from this problem from time to time.
They always see reason eventually.

I suspect that "they always see reason" if they get a complaint. I have serious concerns that many of these cases aren't being noticed by customers. They could, and should, proactively do some data analysis to spot these. For example, if the resident is on a smart meter, surely the data it produces includes attributes about the meter? If not, it should be easy to spot residences whose bills have suddently increased by a factor of 2.8-ish.

Gerry1

RD_DS said:

QrizB said:

Hyperion07 said:

Exactly the same thing has happened to me.

...

Come on E.On, this should not be this hard.

You might not be relieved to know that, while not exactly common, all the gas suppliers suffer from this problem from time to time.
They always see reason eventually.

  it should be easy to spot residences whose bills have suddenly increased by a factor of 2.8-ish.

I'd be stricter than that.  Where there's a metric or smart gas meter it should be an offence to overcharge by billing it as though it was imperial.  The suppliers know the meter type, and this should be verified when a meter reader calls to look for tampering, so there's no reason why the billing computers can't be programmed to prevent this possibility.

Customers are rightly prosecuted if they attempt to fiddle or bypass their meters (sometimes exploding their properties and killing people), so all instances of imperial billing of metric meters should also be treated as fraud.

RD_DS

Gerry1 said:

RD_DS said:

QrizB said:

Hyperion07 said:

Exactly the same thing has happened to me.

...

Come on E.On, this should not be this hard.

You might not be relieved to know that, while not exactly common, all the gas suppliers suffer from this problem from time to time.
They always see reason eventually.

  it should be easy to spot residences whose bills have suddenly increased by a factor of 2.8-ish.

I'd be stricter than that.  Where there's a metric or smart gas meter it should be an offence to overcharge by billing it as though it was imperial.  The suppliers know the meter type, and this should be verified when a meter reader calls to look for tampering, so there's no reason why the billing computers can't be programmed to prevent this possibility.

Customers are rightly prosecuted if they attempt to fiddle or bypass their meters (sometimes exploding their properties and killing people), so all instances of imperial billing of metric meters should also be treated as fraud.

In 2016, Ofgem instructed the industry to actively look for such problems and resolve them:

"This letter serves to notify all suppliers of the issue and encourages all suppliers to coordinate with Energy UK (audrey.gallacher@energy-uk.org.uk) by 19 August 2016 to determine whether they are affected."

"Working with Energy UK, we are making sure suppliers take immediate and decisive action to identify affected customers. Our primary motivation is to ensure that consumers do not lose out and are quickly and fairly compensated for overpayments."

https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/sites/default/files/docs/2016/08/open_letter_to_gas_suppliers_on_metricimperial_indicator_charging_error.pdf

So, yes... if this is still happening after nine years, stronger action is required.

RD_DS

I did wonder whether the same problem happens in reverse. i.e. mistaking imperial meters for metric ones. In that case, the supplier would lose money, so I suspect that they have put some energy into identifying those.

MeteredOut

RD_DS said:

I did wonder whether the same problem happens in reverse. i.e. mistaking imperial meters for metric ones. In that case, the supplier would lose money, so I suspect that they have put some energy into identifying those.

Very unlikely as the issue typically happens when an imperial meter is replaced by a metric one, but the billing is not updated to reflect that. Very unlikely that a metric meter would be replaced by an imperial one.

If it was likely to happen, i suspect the checks and balances in place would be a lot more thorough...

Gerry1

RD_DS said:

Gerry1 said:

RD_DS said:

QrizB said:

Hyperion07 said:

Exactly the same thing has happened to me.

...

Come on E.On, this should not be this hard.

You might not be relieved to know that, while not exactly common, all the gas suppliers suffer from this problem from time to time.
They always see reason eventually.

  it should be easy to spot residences whose bills have suddenly increased by a factor of 2.8-ish.

I'd be stricter than that.  Where there's a metric or smart gas meter it should be an offence to overcharge by billing it as though it was imperial.  The suppliers know the meter type, and this should be verified when a meter reader calls to look for tampering, so there's no reason why the billing computers can't be programmed to prevent this possibility.

Customers are rightly prosecuted if they attempt to fiddle or bypass their meters (sometimes exploding their properties and killing people), so all instances of imperial billing of metric meters should also be treated as fraud.

In 2016, Ofgem instructed the industry to actively look for such problems and resolve them:
<snip>
So, yes... if this is still happening after nine years, stronger action is required.

Dozy Ofgem still dozes.  Why am I not surprised?

FreeBear

RD_DS said: "Working with Energy UK, we are making sure suppliers take immediate and decisive action to identify affected customers. Our primary motivation is to ensure that consumers do not lose out and are quickly and fairly compensated for overpayments."

Still waiting for Toto the Clowns (now EDF) to sort out the final bill for the gas I used whilst in their clutches. Admittedly, it wasn't a huge amount, but until they get rid of the *2.83 uplift, I'm not paying.