Yesterday we received two utility bills... gas and electric. We get both from the same supplier. I nearly had a heart attack when I saw them. The electric bill was for £561, and they were going to up our direct debit to £160 a month. This was an estimated bill, based on a previous estimate when we first became customers. They had some real readings (someone came to the house and actually read the meter) but they were so much lower than their estimate they decided to disregard the actual readings and send another estimate. Apparently the reading was lower than their first estimate which they based on our usage with our previous suppliers and so they thought the actual reading was an error. No, we don’t live in Buckingham Palace, it’s just a 2 bedroom terrace.
The gas bill was even worse. The bill was for £1021 and they wanted to put our direct debit up to £290 a month! Yes, it was another estimate, presumably based on the supposition that we heated the whole town. As it turns out, the actual bill was for £83. Just a slight discrepancy.
The ridiculous thing is, when the sales rep originally called and convinced us to switch to them, he “personally guaranteed” that our utility bills would be cheaper (yes I know they all say that), then we receive bills totalling over £1500 for a quarter. Not quite the bargain prices I was expecting. At least after contacting them (and being on hold for 20mins) the situation seems to be resolved, but not without a great deal of stress.
It just infuriates me that they employ people to read meters, then ignore the readings, preferring instead to scare people to death with their outrageous estimates. So much for privatised utility companies providing a better service for customers (I intend to blog about this in the future).
4 comments:
I have had a few like that, and I ring them up and ask them what the hell they are playing at! now i wont let them do estimates i arrange a time they can come and read my metor and i check it at the same time, after i got sent a electricty bill for £700 for a quarter, I almost had a heart attack, once i had pulled my self up of the floor, they got a irate phonecall, I do hate these companys with a passion. *rant over*
Hi slurry,
Thanks for the comment. Now they're all privatised these companies are a law unto themselves. *rant beginning*
My mum once got an electricity bill £7580, you can understand someone thinking over £700 might have been spent, but over £7000?! I.Dont.Think.So. Complete muppets, luckily it was sorted without hassle but its a pain to have to chase them up for a job they havent done properly in the first place!
Hi girlnextdoor... over £7000 is crazy. What on earth do these companies think they're up to? You're quite right, chasing these place up is a pain and we shouldn't have to do it. Thanks for the comment.
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