MSE News: Up to 1.5 million prepaid gas customers overcharged

Former_MSE_Joanne · 26 November 2014 at 7:45PM

More than one million households with prepaid gas meters have been overcharged because of a fault with their meters...

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Moneyer · 27 November 2014 at 8:35AM

And what are they going to do to track down people who have moved since overpaying? I fear that in some cases, tenants will have been overcharged, and their landlords will end up pocketing the refund….

rockchick113 · 27 November 2014 at 9:01AM

What happens if they cannot contact the the bill payer.
My daughter is on a meter,but never answers phone to withheld numbers and any number she does not know ( someone always chasing her for money ) .And you can bet they will be withheld numbers.

Kevmos · 27 November 2014 at 12:46PM

They will make contact by any alternative means, text/email/letter. I know this has been raised as a possible issue so it's on suppliers to make 'all reasonable endeavors'.

keefyboy_2 · 27 November 2014 at 3:00PM

Why do they not release the make and model of the meters affected, as if there is an error with prePaid meters, can there not be a problem with Credit meters as well...?. we all know how good the energy companies are are telling about things that are wrong.

Kevmos · 27 November 2014 at 3:21PM

Well they already released the manufactor, it was Landys and Gyrs.

As for he models, I don't really think it was necessary to go into that level of detail but the meter models I am aware of that MAY be affected are GWI QM6/7/8, GWI Quantum, Libra 200/200a/210, Q-Smart and Quantum/Quantum GM2. There could be more as only seen a small example base.

To answer the credit meter question, the CV is provided to Suppliers so it has nothing to do with the meter, hence why there is no concern to the billing type customer.

C_Mababejive · 27 November 2014 at 3:24PM

:lipsrseal Alas..if it were only this simple....:lipsrseal

Gosportcatwoman · 5 December 2014 at 5:41AM

In May my prepayment gas meter taken out and went back with approx. £40 credit on it. ALL DEBT had been paid four months previously. NPower managed to work out that I still owed £20 due to gas usage calculations. Never did get an explanation how you can owe money on a prepayment meter but they 'wrote off' the £20.

chella · 7 December 2014 at 12:28AM

I received a letter today from British Gas, from a house I lived in 5 years ago. I have moved 3 times since then.

The letter states I may have overpaid on my meters for the time I lived there and to call or email and they would refund me.

Am going to call Monday.

EnergySecurity · 14 December 2014 at 10:17PM

It is the case that the world over the conservation of energy principle, i.e. that it can not be "lost" is accepted by all scientists and engineers.

I wonder if many of the MSE regulars have also had this experience?

Take out a gas appliance, expecting usage and bills to go down.

No, both usage and bills go up, in fact they have gone up quarter on quarter, every quarter ever since and it all came to light because of the change in format of bills.

They've now stopped sending me any bills at all, in my view this is because they don't want to commit themselves to any statement in writing to claim the calorific value, and I believe that's because they already know there's an issue. This is on credit billing, not prepaid, so it affects a lot more people.

So whoever said it can't happen on credit billing is wrong, it is happening, as demonstrated by the conservation of energy principle. Naturally, I've had the meter changed and the systems checked to rule out those potential influences.

Post a reply if you've had a similar experience?

Cardew · 15 December 2014 at 9:22AM

EnergySecurity wrote: »

It is the case that the world over the conservation of energy principle, i.e. that it can not be "lost" is accepted by all scientists and engineers.

I wonder if many of the MSE regulars have also had this experience?

Take out a gas appliance, expecting usage and bills to go down.

No, both usage and bills go up, in fact they have gone up quarter on quarter, every quarter ever since and it all came to light because of the change in format of bills.

They've now stopped sending me any bills at all, in my view this is because they don't want to commit themselves to any statement in writing to claim the calorific value, and I believe that's because they already know there's an issue. This is on credit billing, not prepaid, so it affects a lot more people.

So whoever said it can't happen on credit billing is wrong, it is happening, as demonstrated by the conservation of energy principle. Naturally, I've had the meter changed and the systems checked to rule out those potential influences.

Post a reply if you've had a similar experience?

Welcome to the forum.

I am afraid I don't understand your post.

If it is something to do with the calorific value(CV) of gas, then that is not set by the distribution companies(BGas/Eon etc). In any case the variation in CV has quite a small effect on the conversion of gas units to kWh.

Can you please explain the point you are making/claiming with examples; and who has stopped sending bills.

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MSE News: Up to 1.5 million prepaid gas customers overcharged

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