Electricity bills sent at random dates for random amounts

FarmGirl78

You come across as being very angry and rigid in your thinking, so I'm not sure we're actually able to offer you answers you will be happy to accept. I echo all the posters who have suggested you use Octopus. It's very "customer is in control". From my experience it will give you all the functions you're  looking for. I await your reply which will no doubt either continue to rant about inconsistent billing periods or complain about proselytism.

Morys

dcs34 said:

Morys said:

If your billing period is say one month - from the 16th to the 15th next month - that's what you have to pay. If you phone them on the 23rd to give them the reading on the 15th - the billing system should generate a bill from the 16th  the 15th next month, not a bill for a period ending on the 23rd.Or even worse decides to generate bills according the phases of the Moon or the tides of the Thames, completely ignoring the information supplied!

So you go on the website on every 15th and give them the reading you took on the 15th, and you'll get a bill for the 16th-15th.

If you go on the website on every 23rd and give them the reading you took on the 15th, you'll get a bill for the 16th-15th.

The bills are based on the dates you took the meter readings, not the dates you gave it to them, nor the phases of the Moon or the tides of the Thames. But please continue to wallow in your own hyperbola rather than the experiences of actual customers - you seem very keen to carry on giving the energy companies more money than you need to, so no one will stop you!

I'm not quite sure why you then went into a tirade about breaches of contract law when 1) you don't have a contract with them so its a hypothetical, and 2) that's not how the billing system work in any case.

To put it in plain English: are you by any chance shilling for some energy company?

When you buy electricity from an energy company you DO HAVE a contract with your supplier, even if they keep dragging their feet to end when you ask them to send you a printed copy. Take a look at contract law if you don't believe me.

I know perfectly well how a billing system SHOULD work, and I also have a continuing experience of how my current electricity supplier ACTUALLY operates.

I tried contacting Octopus - impossible to speak to a live person, so I sent a message that started with "I'm considering moving to your company ...". Automated reply I got? "We can't find your customer number". Very encouraging to switch to them.

Thanks for your very helpful help.

GingerTim

eskbanker said:

Morys said:

I'm NOT interested in listening to proselytism in favor of direct debits..

It's perhaps not particularly surprising that those participating on threads on the banking board will focus on payment methods, but if you're keen to steer clear of that line of discussion, for reasons that you consider rational, then it would probably have made sense to post on the energy board instead....

I don't think the advice on the energy board would be much different!

Ah, and an appearance of ye old favourite: you say something I disagree with, ergo you must be a shill for Big Energy.

artyboy

GingerTim said:

eskbanker said:

Morys said:

I'm NOT interested in listening to proselytism in favor of direct debits..

It's perhaps not particularly surprising that those participating on threads on the banking board will focus on payment methods, but if you're keen to steer clear of that line of discussion, for reasons that you consider rational, then it would probably have made sense to post on the energy board instead....

I don't think the advice on the energy board would be much different!

Ah, and an appearance of ye old favourite: you say something I disagree with, ergo you must be a shill for Big Energy.

Yep, might as well close the thread now as there's zero chance of anything constructive coming out of it. 

Or at least move it to the Crafting board for useful tips on tinfoil hat making...

Zopa_Trooper

I pay via direct debit, full amount owed every month. I like it, no more seeing hundreds of pounds in credit and the company always suggesting I pay more.

Shakin_Steve

Morys said:

dcs34 said:

Morys said:

If your billing period is say one month - from the 16th to the 15th next month - that's what you have to pay. If you phone them on the 23rd to give them the reading on the 15th - the billing system should generate a bill from the 16th  the 15th next month, not a bill for a period ending on the 23rd.Or even worse decides to generate bills according the phases of the Moon or the tides of the Thames, completely ignoring the information supplied!

So you go on the website on every 15th and give them the reading you took on the 15th, and you'll get a bill for the 16th-15th.

If you go on the website on every 23rd and give them the reading you took on the 15th, you'll get a bill for the 16th-15th.

The bills are based on the dates you took the meter readings, not the dates you gave it to them, nor the phases of the Moon or the tides of the Thames. But please continue to wallow in your own hyperbola rather than the experiences of actual customers - you seem very keen to carry on giving the energy companies more money than you need to, so no one will stop you!

I'm not quite sure why you then went into a tirade about breaches of contract law when 1) you don't have a contract with them so its a hypothetical, and 2) that's not how the billing system work in any case.

To put it in plain English: are you by any chance shilling for some energy company?

When you buy electricity from an energy company you DO HAVE a contract with your supplier, even if they keep dragging their feet to end when you ask them to send you a printed copy. Take a look at contract law if you don't believe me.

I know perfectly well how a billing system SHOULD work, and I also have a continuing experience of how my current electricity supplier ACTUALLY operates.

I tried contacting Octopus - impossible to speak to a live person, so I sent a message that started with "I'm considering moving to your company ...". Automated reply I got? "We can't find your customer number". Very encouraging to switch to them.

Thanks for your very helpful help.

You, presumably, came on to the forum to ask for advice. You received that advice,  it's up to you whether you choose to accept it or not. Accusing people of 'shilling' for an energy company,  because they disagree with your rather strange position on energy bill payments, is not an attitude that's appreciated on here. If you do find an energy company that's willing to jump through your particular hoops, let us know. Meanwhile, the millions of us that find Octopus to be perfectly accommodating, will just pay our bill, by direct debit, and get on with our lives.

Grumpy_chap

Morys said:

I get bombarded with bills issued at random dates (for periods between 6 days and 4 and half months!).

The short intervals between bills might be to do with automated bills and your meter readings crossing.
Say the automated bill is generated 31st January and sent, well, automatically.
You do a meter reading on 31st January and submit.  But your reading is registered by the energy company later in the day than the automatic bill was sent out.
The energy company then send a "corrected" bill to match the meter reading a few days later.
That might be the reasoning behind one of the "apparently random" periods of time.

MikeJXE said:

I don't know why you choose to pay on receipt of bill as the rates are approximately 8% higher than direct debit.

That is something I have always understood to be the case, and there are good reasons why that would be attractive to the supplier so rewarded by the slightly cheaper rates.
It is not always the case, though.  My latest bill has the following at the bottom:

"Our cheapest overall electricity - tariff - Over the next year, you could save £9.12 if you choose to pay by Pay As You Go (PAYG).
Our cheapest overall gas - tariff - Over the next year, you could save £29.88 if you choose to pay by Pay As You Go (PAYG)."

As I understand it, PAYG would mean payment on receipt of a bill rather than the current DD scheme that I am on.

GingerTim

Grumpy_chap said:

Morys said:

I get bombarded with bills issued at random dates (for periods between 6 days and 4 and half months!).

The short intervals between bills might be to do with automated bills and your meter readings crossing.
Say the automated bill is generated 31st January and sent, well, automatically.
You do a meter reading on 31st January and submit.  But your reading is registered by the energy company later in the day than the automatic bill was sent out.
The energy company then send a "corrected" bill to match the meter reading a few days later.
That might be the reasoning behind one of the "apparently random" periods of time.

MikeJXE said:

I don't know why you choose to pay on receipt of bill as the rates are approximately 8% higher than direct debit.

That is something I have always understood to be the case, and there are good reasons why that would be attractive to the supplier so rewarded by the slightly cheaper rates.
It is not always the case, though.  My latest bill has the following at the bottom:

"Our cheapest overall electricity - tariff - Over the next year, you could save £9.12 if you choose to pay by Pay As You Go (PAYG).
Our cheapest overall gas - tariff - Over the next year, you could save £29.88 if you choose to pay by Pay As You Go (PAYG)."

As I understand it, PAYG would mean payment on receipt of a bill rather than the current DD scheme that I am on.

I think by PAYG they mean using a prepayment meter, rather than paying upon receipt of a bill.

sheramber

If you send them readings reghularly when you take them, not a week after you take them, you will get regular bills.

Send earinds at random times and you'll get bills at random times.

Your post would be better on the Praise, Vents and Warnings forum.

booneruk

I don't quite understand the "NO DIRECT DEBIT! I'LL PAY MY OWN BILLS" crowd.

What's the theory? Get a bill, believe it's too high so refuse to pay it (if you didn't want this prerogative, then why no DD in the first place?), and then get a foul mark on your credit record.

Hip, hip hooray!