House Meter over-reading

[Steth]

We appear to burn enormous amounts of electricity - 30 to 35 units per day (Three adults- CH, hot water and cooking all with oil.

I've bought a power and energy monitor from Maplins, pulled all fuses bar that to the tumble dryer, run it for 2 hours and it suggests the house meter is over-reading by 15%. The meter is 19 years old by the date on it.

I've spoken to British Gas who supply our electricity and they want £60 to take the meter away and check it. They assure me that if it is found to be faulty, I'll get the £60 back.

Does anybody know what my rights are here? I'd quite like a refund on the unused electricity if it all suddenly drops after they give me a new meter - can I insist on this?

They were very hurt when I suggested that I have no way of checking when they report back that the meter was fine.

Thoughts please?

 

[industryspark]

this is a awkward situation to be honest mate.

you can just see them in the workshop now '' yeah lads, this meters ****** but we'l not tell mr steth that cos then we'l have to give him a refund''

your relying on the integrity of them here and in my opinion......... well you know where im going.

not suggesting for one minute that british gas are untrustworthy but ive certainly had experiences in the past with other company's which make me very suspicous.

one thing that got me mad the other day was rang the RS technical help (probably premium rate) and was put on hold......... after about 10 minutes i cursed down the phone, at which point the advisor picked up the phone '' hi there sir, yes ive got the info for you''

more like '' lets get some coin off this sucker and keep him waiting for a while, oh sh*t better answer cos he's getting p*ssed off''

try it yourself with other call centres, works i swear.

sorry this doesnt help much..... must be one of those days!

right, back to my padded cell!

 

[didthathurt]

Or go to
www.saynoto0870.com
and see if there's a geographic number listed for them as well - beat their system!!!




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Note to Crafty:

Sorry I accidentally deleted your post.

Mod Rupert

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[simon_d]

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Note to Crafty:

Sorry I accidentally deleted your post.

Mod Rupert

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just too addicted to that delete button

 

[baldelectrician]

you could buy new meter (less than £30) and have it installed after the REC meter- then both meters should give same consumption results, if all is OK, otherwise you will know if you are being overcharged.

 

[Steth]

That's an option I hadn't considered. After about an hour in total hanging on for British Gas, Energy Watch and Trading Standards, a man is coming to test the meter next week. If it's OK, I pay them £60, if it isn't they'll pay me what they owe me. We shall see...

 

[Steve]

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Note to Crafty:

Sorry I accidentally deleted your post.

Mod Rupert

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Oh well it was a bit off topic anyway!

 

[RF Lighting]

Steth, please let us know the results of the test, and if you can tell us how the meter was tested.

 

[Steth]

We're £20 up so far

The man from Siemans didn't turn up to test the meter at the appointed time and date. When BG phoned to see how it went and were told that he didn't show, they were very cross and said they'd send us a cheque for £20. Next appointment November 3rd...

 

[securespark]

I've bought a power and energy monitor from Maplins, pulled all fuses bar that to the tumble dryer, run it for 2 hours and it suggests the house meter is over-reading by 15%.

By some incredible fluke, it could be your tumble dryer that is the culprit.

 

[Steth]

I'm not quite sure what you mean here.

I plugged the tumble dryer in via the energy monitor and compared the reading it gave after two hours with the change in readings of the house meter.

Surely any problem with the tumble dryer would have affected both readings equally?

 

[dormermike]

Why dont people provide udates!!!

 

[JohnD]

Why do people post on five-year-old threads!

 

[Alarm]

Why did you?

 

[JohnD]

same reason you did