Sse electric bill for shop excessively high?

Mstty

I do think energy companies should be fined for sending out incorrect and worrying bills if this is the case here.

They cause no end of stress and worry to domestic and businesses customers because they cant get some simple things right.

/Rantmodeoff

As others have said get all your ducks in a row including your very first meter reading, all communication and work out the bill yourself and sadly you have to do all the donkey word because some companies are just inept

pochase

rowdy75 said:

Why are you talking about the hairdressers usage?

I think most of us don't believe the very low energy bill you are currently paying for it. So it would be just the next thread waiting to happen if this bill is catched up.

Great if you really use hardly any electricity, but a hairdresser should use quite a bit for hot water, heating, and electric devices.

rowdy75

Alnat1 said:

Your electrician is your tenant? Hmmmm.......

Meaning what exactly?
He is a friend of ours for 30 years. He also has a vested interest in the shop, so if you are implying he is tapping into the supply you are very wrong.

Jyana

rowdy75 said:

Jyana said:

rowdy75 said:

I do appreciate all your help guys, but there does seem to be an amount of skim reading and some of you are not reading what I write properly. Maybe that’s my fault as I am stressed and typing quickly, but the basic facts are it is the gift shop that has used 325 units since July (yes kWh) and sse have been trying to charge for 3000kwh over that period. Which seems to be the case with every bill they generate.

As I have said, we only really use the electric for LED lighting, and have been very careful with consumption since the first bill was wrongly estimated so 325kwh over that period is about right according to the electrician.

Every step of the way with them has resulted in hours spent on the phone trying to correct their mistakes. This has always ended up with an operative on the phone saying they have made a mistake, they will put a note on the system, blah blah but the next bill is always wrong, even though they can see the actual smart meter reading when they are spoken to on the phone.

With regard to the debt collectors, my wife recieved one text message from sse saying they would instruct debt collectors back in July. No other correspondence other than massively over inflated and incorrect bills that have been discussed on the phone, and they have my email but I have not received any emails from them.
My wife phoned them after she was sent the text. The reason they sent that is because they took two lots of the £350 monthly dd in two days. My wife phoned them and was told the only way they can stop that is by cancelling the direct debit agreement.

It's more that we're not getting the information we're asking for in order to understand the situation clearly. Without bill figures, meter reads, etc, we're kind of in the dark here.

Yes, skim reading. I’ve mentioned a couple of times we have a smart meter and you have asked if we provide them with meter readings.I’ve also said that we do, and the telephone operative can see our smart meter reading and they have clearly made a mistake, yet it is the same story every time.

You also ask why it’s dragged on a year, I have said they keep getting every bill wrong. I don’t know why it’s dragged on a year, because they are inept?

And a tariff was agreed but because they keep getting it wrong and claiming we owe thousands they just cancel it and put on out of contract rate.

You mentioned having a smart meter fitted after your first incorrect bill, but also said that that SSE said it wasn't registering reading properly and that an engineer was due to come out and check it. Therefore, I would assume that you are still doing manual checks to make sure the readings on your bill match the actual meter.

I am still in the dark re the huge bills as you don't want to share the details, but I can share one possible answer. That the previous shop used a lot more energy than you do, so they are still using their estimates, which would be shown on the bill if so. You say they are able to read your meter, but if they have long term overuse on record for that shop and a note of unreliable reads on your file as you previously mentioned, then this could be throwing up an issue for them. Impossible know for sure without knowing the details in your bills though.

rowdy75

pochase said:

rowdy75 said:

Why are you talking about the hairdressers usage?

I think most of us don't believe the very low energy bill you are currently paying for it. So it would be just the next thread waiting to happen if this bill is catched up.

Great if you really use hardly any electricity, but a hairdresser should use quite a bit for hot water, heating, and electric devices.

As I’ve said the salon is on a fixed rate tariff that was set up before the prices started to increase.

Yes, it may end up being low, but we are as energy aware and as efficient as we can be and have far less problems with British Gas than we’ve had with sse.

Also, it is not a huge salon. It is also only open 4 days a week, and not as busy as it once was as a lot of salons are not since covid, a lot of people now do their hair at home, or have home hairdressers as a lot were doing this throughout covid when they shouldn’t have been (p.s my wife wasn’t, she worked as a carer throughout covid)

Chrysalis

rowdy75 said:

I do appreciate all your help guys, but there does seem to be an amount of skim reading and some of you are not reading what I write properly. Maybe that’s my fault as I am stressed and typing quickly, but the basic facts are it is the gift shop that has used 325 units since July (yes kWh) and sse have been trying to charge for 3000kwh over that period. Which seems to be the case with every bill they generate.

As I have said, we only really use the electric for LED lighting, and have been very careful with consumption since the first bill was wrongly estimated so 325kwh over that period is about right according to the electrician.

Every step of the way with them has resulted in hours spent on the phone trying to correct their mistakes. This has always ended up with an operative on the phone saying they have made a mistake, they will put a note on the system, blah blah but the next bill is always wrong, even though they can see the actual smart meter reading when they are spoken to on the phone.

With regard to the debt collectors, my wife recieved one text message from sse saying they would instruct debt collectors back in July. No other correspondence other than massively over inflated and incorrect bills that have been discussed on the phone, and they have my email but I have not received any emails from them.
My wife phoned them after she was sent the text. The reason they sent that is because they took two lots of the £350 monthly dd in two days. My wife phoned them and was told the only way they can stop that is by cancelling the direct debit agreement.

Not skim reading, you didnt state if the usage was correct on the bill or if it was just an excessive fixed DD calculation.

What does the actual bill state?  The bill not the direct debit.

Preferably post a pic of the bill, masking private details, then we can also see if its based on estimated readings or not.

rowdy75

Jyana said:

rowdy75 said:

Jyana said:

rowdy75 said:

I do appreciate all your help guys, but there does seem to be an amount of skim reading and some of you are not reading what I write properly. Maybe that’s my fault as I am stressed and typing quickly, but the basic facts are it is the gift shop that has used 325 units since July (yes kWh) and sse have been trying to charge for 3000kwh over that period. Which seems to be the case with every bill they generate.

As I have said, we only really use the electric for LED lighting, and have been very careful with consumption since the first bill was wrongly estimated so 325kwh over that period is about right according to the electrician.

Every step of the way with them has resulted in hours spent on the phone trying to correct their mistakes. This has always ended up with an operative on the phone saying they have made a mistake, they will put a note on the system, blah blah but the next bill is always wrong, even though they can see the actual smart meter reading when they are spoken to on the phone.

With regard to the debt collectors, my wife recieved one text message from sse saying they would instruct debt collectors back in July. No other correspondence other than massively over inflated and incorrect bills that have been discussed on the phone, and they have my email but I have not received any emails from them.
My wife phoned them after she was sent the text. The reason they sent that is because they took two lots of the £350 monthly dd in two days. My wife phoned them and was told the only way they can stop that is by cancelling the direct debit agreement.

It's more that we're not getting the information we're asking for in order to understand the situation clearly. Without bill figures, meter reads, etc, we're kind of in the dark here.

Yes, skim reading. I’ve mentioned a couple of times we have a smart meter and you have asked if we provide them with meter readings.I’ve also said that we do, and the telephone operative can see our smart meter reading and they have clearly made a mistake, yet it is the same story every time.

You also ask why it’s dragged on a year, I have said they keep getting every bill wrong. I don’t know why it’s dragged on a year, because they are inept?

And a tariff was agreed but because they keep getting it wrong and claiming we owe thousands they just cancel it and put on out of contract rate.

You mentioned having a smart meter fitted after your first incorrect bill, but also said that that SSE said it wasn't registering reading properly and that an engineer was due to come out and check it. Therefore, I would assume that you are still doing manual checks to make sure the readings on your bill match the actual meter.

I am still in the dark re the huge bills as you don't want to share the details, but I can share one possible answer. That the previous shop used a lot more energy than you do, so they are still using their estimates, which would be shown on the bill if so. You say they are able to read your meter, but if they have long term overuse on record for that shop and a note of unreliable reads on your file as you previously mentioned, then this could be throwing up an issue for them. Impossible know for sure without knowing the details in your bills though.

I did not say the smart meter wasn’t registering properly. I said the phone operative can see the actual smart meter reading is not what they are trying to charge us for.

And again I am not at the shop until Saturday where the paperwork and meter is. It will only be then I can give you that info. 

The previous tenant I believe was not a good payer, but they were given the correct meter reading when we took the shop on. I believe the original meter was replaced earlier this year though.
Smart meter was installed in July I think.

Jyana

rowdy75 said:

Well, I really need to check the bill, but as far as I’m aware it is from July until now.
We opened last November, and received an estimated bill after 3 months for £9500. After contacting them and checking meter readings this was reduced to about £800. Still high at the time for the electric we were using, but whatever. Set up a direct debit for approx £350 a month.

It was agreed that something wasn’t right and an engineer came out and fitted a smart meter, so they should have the correct reading but I have my doubts as they have been nothing but useless along the way with regard to taking payments, for instance taking £350 for months dd then doing the same two days later sending account overdrawn, refusing to believe me or my wife when I have told them three times my wife has permission to speak to them on the phone, engineers not turning up for appointments and massive overcharging.

They are meant to have sent an engineer out again to check and to see why they think we are using the amount of electricity they claim we are but they haven’t. They kept asking why the old night time meter wasn’t registering any use despite being told on numerous occasions it is shut from 5pm until 10am so there is no electric being used at night.

So what is this about. They want to send an engineer out to check the amount the meter is saying is correct, or they don't? I can only go by what you have told us in this thread, whether I am skim reading or not...

[Deleted User]

Hi,

Hair:

Read today: ?

Year ago: ?

Tariff: ?

Stdg Ch: ?

Gift:

Read today: ?

Year ago: ?

Tariff: ?

Stdg Ch: ?

Please provide details as near to 12 months as possible.

rowdy75

Jyana said:

rowdy75 said:

Well, I really need to check the bill, but as far as I’m aware it is from July until now.
We opened last November, and received an estimated bill after 3 months for £9500. After contacting them and checking meter readings this was reduced to about £800. Still high at the time for the electric we were using, but whatever. Set up a direct debit for approx £350 a month.

It was agreed that something wasn’t right and an engineer came out and fitted a smart meter, so they should have the correct reading but I have my doubts as they have been nothing but useless along the way with regard to taking payments, for instance taking £350 for months dd then doing the same two days later sending account overdrawn, refusing to believe me or my wife when I have told them three times my wife has permission to speak to them on the phone, engineers not turning up for appointments and massive overcharging.

They are meant to have sent an engineer out again to check and to see why they think we are using the amount of electricity they claim we are but they haven’t. They kept asking why the old night time meter wasn’t registering any use despite being told on numerous occasions it is shut from 5pm until 10am so there is no electric being used at night.

So what is this about. They want to send an engineer out to check the amount the meter is saying is correct, or they don't? I can only go by what you have told us in this thread, whether I am skim reading or not...

Probably not given the whole convo from my wife, but I think she meant the old meter. She said an engineer was meant to come out to check what we were using tallied with what the meter was reading, but they did not do this.

From the phone conversation yesterday the meter reading given was the same as the reading that they could see was being registered by the smart meter.
Hence the bill going from £7500 to £800.

Ive no doubt they have the correct reading now, it’s just massively frustrating and stressful that they can’t get it right by looking at the reading properly.