ESB bill a tad steep this time!!!

johnnyboy4711

hi all!
over the last 4 months our bill for ESB has been a bit on the low side approx 70-80€ every two months,which is ok as summer and gas cooker etc not much used!
just a couple living together(normal bills were about 120 approx)
now today i get a whopper of a bill for the last 2 months for wait for it
"€252".
so i said to myself WTF!!!!!!!!
could it be the case that our beloved electrical service had guesstimated our previous 2 bill(80€) and found them to be too low and now decided to hit us for the difference in this latest bill??
If so what a crowd of F~cking barstewards!!!
how is it our problem that they cannot guesstimate properly?
anyone have any experience of this???
johnny

dahamsta

Check your last two bills to see if there's an E next to the reading. If there is, they were estimated. The answer to your second-last question is "because it's an estimate". You might want to look it up in a dictionary.

adam

sam34

oh yep, i have experience of this! moved from a 3 bed house with oil heating to a 2 bed apartment with electric storage heating in january. (i live alone).
in the house my bills used be about 70 or 80 every 2 months. the first bill i got in the new place was estimated at 65. the next bill was from a reading of the meter and was f0r 425!!!! the first one was obviously grossly underestimated. i know storage heating is dear but i didnt think it would be that dear. what you could consider doing is going onto "equaliser" bills. what they do is come up with an average amount to be paid monthly, and then they read your meter every 4 months (or maybe 3) and if you have over/underpaid they will adjust your payments for the next 4 months. it means you now have an esb bill monthly but at least no whoppers.

smcelhinney

I think in this day and age its a bit feckin archaic for semi-state bodies to be "estimating" how much electricity someone is using. Surely they have some sort of plan for real-time electricity rating?

johnnyboy4711

thanks for your sarcasm!
noted
j

Dampsquid

When you get an estimated bill in the door, you can go out and take a reading yourself and submit it online. they will send you out an updated bill.

Kintarō Hattori

dahamsta wrote:

Check your last two bills to see if there's an E next to the reading. If there is, they were estimated. The answer to your second-last question is "because it's an estimate". You might want to look it up in a dictionary.

adam

As smcelhinney says it's archaic for them to be estimating your bill. It's not fair for the customer to have to pay out whopping bills because they guessed wrong. It's simply not a good enough service.
Your sarcasm wasn't deserved. Leave the poor bloke alone.

dahamsta

Please read my post and point to where I commented on the ESB's procedures. You can't, because I didn't. What you're doing there is reading between the lines. Try stopping, it's really annoying.

If you'd like to know, I think they should be required to check the meters every billing period. It's how business is done.

My sarcasm related directly to the noted question. It was a stupid question.

adam

johnnyboy4711

thanks adam!
sorry didnt mean to annoy you!
i will take myself and my stupid questions away and will not bother you again!
DO YOURSELF A FAVOUR AND DONT BOTHER RESPONDING SO!!!
j

parsi

eo980 wrote:

As smcelhinney says it's archaic for them to be estimating your bill. It's not fair for the customer to have to pay out whopping bills because they guessed wrong. It's simply not a good enough service.
Your sarcasm wasn't deserved. Leave the poor bloke alone.

Well if the electricity was used then it has to be paid for....

Our bills are relatively stable even though every second one is estimated. We read the bill and note the part that tells you that you can always provide your own reading but don't bother (sometimes I check the meter and see whether it and the bill are wildly out of kilter).

However there could be a case made that some folk think a estimated bill is accurate and therefore every other bill should be similar.

There is an element of personal responsibility here - one should ask oneself "is this bill a bit on the small side considering that the immersion has been on for 20 hours every day ? "

Bord Gais have the equaliser bill which is handy for keeping the bill fairly stable .

johnnyboy4711

and no the immersion has not been on that much everyday,but get your point!
cheers
john
once bitten!!!

cgarvey

johnnyboy4711 wrote:

could it be the case that our beloved electrical service had guesstimated our previous 2 bill(80€) and found them to be too low and now decided to hit us for the difference in this latest bill??

It could, but only you and the ESB have the answer to that. damhasta has already suggested how you could find out.[/QUOTE]

johnnyboy4711 wrote:

If so what a crowd of F~cking barstewards!!!

What do you want them to do? Their estimates are based on a collection of calculations, including previous usage at that house (as against that customer), and seasonal adjustments, etc. Each estimate (if that's what they have done, you haven't said), comes with the opportunity to correct it before a bill is issued, or to have a previously-issued bill re-issued with the updated customer reading. What more can they do?

johnnyboy4711 wrote:

how is it our problem that they cannot guesstimate properly?

Usually, although certainly not always, it's "our" problem because we don't let them in the door when they come to read.

johnnyboy4711 wrote:

anyone have any experience of this???

Yes, but I rang them (turns out a lack of inspectors for the area meant 1 in every 2 readings were estimated, regardless of whether someone was at home or not).


As for the real-time meter reading, are you prepared to pay more for that? I'm not, and am happy with the current setup. I imagine the ESB are too.

Colonel Sanders

Do you not get a card through the door telling you the meter reader called and no one was home? We get these all the time as all but one of us in the house work 9-5 monday to Friday. You can then just ring in your reading and no estimates.

Btw for all the faults of the ESB they are nowhere near as bad as Bord Gais. i have lived in the same house for 4 years => we should have had 24 readings. Someone has called twice in that period and I've only ever got a slip through the letter box asking for a reading another once.

chuckles30

Currently the ESB issues 6 two month bills a year and they attempt to read the meters 3 times a year.....although I've heard a rumour that this is going down to 2. The others are estimated. This is seemingly the norm across Europe. I've found it's in your own best interest to quickly check the meter everytime you get an estimated bill. Sometimes they can be way off. It only takes two minutes to go out and check it and as somebody pointed out you can even submit the adjustment online now or else you can phone it in. It's a lot easier than getting a huge bill when they read it again.

Sir Oxman

chuckles30 wrote:

Currently the ESB issues 6 two month bills a year and they attempt to read the meters 3 times a year.....although I've heard a rumour that this is going down to 2. The others are estimated. This is seemingly the norm across Europe. I've found it's in your own best interest to quickly check the meter everytime you get an estimated bill. Sometimes they can be way off. It only takes two minutes to go out and check it and as somebody pointed out you can even submit the adjustment online now or else you can phone it in. It's a lot easier than getting a huge bill when they read it again.

It's impossible to check my meter in the apartment block where I live which kind of leaves (most?) apartment dwellers at the mercy of estimated readings throughout the year.

dahamsta

I'm pretty sure access to your meter is a requirement at some level, either with your own key or via escorted access. Did you ask your landlord or building manager?

adam

what2do

Hi - the meters should be accessible and if there are a number of them together the ESB can tell you which one is yours - they all have numbers on them...

podge018

you say they should be accessible. How though? Should all apartment owners have a key to the panel?

dahamsta

Can people not read any more?

I'm pretty sure access to your meter is a requirement at some level, either with your own key or via escorted access. Did you ask your landlord or building manager?

Sir Oxman

dahamsta wrote:

I'm pretty sure access to your meter is a requirement at some level, either with your own key or via escorted access. Did you ask your landlord or building manager?

adam

Was told all meters are in basement, there was a caretaker for the first few months but no more. No key for myself - actually I should get onto my landlord and find out exactly what the story is with access.
You are right - it should be a requirement that I can access my meter reading though I haven't had any mad bills and only a few estimates over the past three years.

I wonder do any apt dwellers on here have any access to their meters?

RoundyMooney

Some people on this thread know what they're talking about.

Others are floundering in the dark (no pun intended).

A few clarifications:

-The aim is to read consumption (which for at least the next three years means a man or woman with a torch and electronic device to record same, as opposed to "smart metering", which is, I presume what one poster is alluding to with "real time") every two bills/every four months/three times a year.

Where access is a problem, this may not happen (meters in hallways while the occupants are out at work, or half arsed management companies not providing keys to metering panels for the readers, in the case of apartments.)

-In my considerable experience, the estimating protocol works as well as it can. Consider an apartment/dwelling that lies idle for six months until you move in. A month later, an estimated reading issues for the preceding two months. This is obviously going to be half of what it "should" be. Simple mathematics. When a card drops on your mat, as it should, ring in the reading. It takes about 15 seconds and alleviates this problem immediately.

-To be quite honest, I don't know whether there is a requirement for householders to have access to their meters in a communal metering panel, as they remain ESB property. However, any management company worth its salt (easier said than done, I know) should be able to facilitate access so you can take the reading. All meters are required to be labelled with the number of the dwelling.

BostonB

Colonel Sanders wrote:

Do you not get a card through the door telling you the meter reader called and no one was home? We get these all the time as all but one of us in the house work 9-5 monday to Friday. You can then just ring in your reading and no estimates.

Btw for all the faults of the ESB they are nowhere near as bad as Bord Gais. i have lived in the same house for 4 years => we should have had 24 readings. Someone has called twice in that period and I've only ever got a slip through the letter box asking for a reading another once.

I don't think I've ever seen a card from either in all the years I've been in my house.

cgarvey

The card is only presented when the meter reader comes by but can't get access. The meter reader might not call around for every billing period.

Greenman

Dampsquid wrote:

When you get an estimated bill in the door, you can go out and take a reading yourself and submit it online. they will send you out an updated bill.

As per http://www.esb.ie/main/energy_home/form_meter_reading1.jsp#form

june92

I work for ESB and I have quite a few things on this. Sorry if they're not in order of replying to people but:

1) Every single person has access to their meter.Either ring ESB and ask for a key if you don't have one 9it will be posted and you'll receive it 4 days). Or buy one in your local hardware store (on average €2-€3).

2) If people live in an apartment block and if you don't know which meter is your you can get an Rm and SERIAL number from us. RM is 3digits and SERIAL is 4digits. You simply ring 1850372372 and ask for these numbers, they will correspond to your meter.

3) Bill are aimed to be read 4 times a year (not 3 or 2) and estimated twice. Bord Gais estimate 3 times a year. If a meter reader cannot gain access to the property they (obviously) cannot obtain your meter reading and so therefore have to estimate. Estimate are based on previous usage. Usually extremely accurate.

4)If you are unhappy with your estimate then it's NOT ESB supply you ring it's ESB NETWORKS 1850372757 and they will deal with your complaint and log it for you.

5)On every 2nd or 3rd bill we state the estimating policy and clearly state to you on the left hand reading an "E" next to the present reading and if you receive a bill like this then take your present meter reading and ring in and you bill will be corrected in about 2mis over the phone.


6) Equalisers are not available anymore as they are no longer an efficient way to pay a bill according to ESB.


7)If you receive a few consecutive estimates and we receive a correct reading and it is found the estimates were higher than the estimate you were given then the money is immediately credited back onto your account

(the above is a slight dig at recent articles about ESB stating that they are overcharging 100,000 customers. this is incorrect!!! OVERCHARGING is not the word, OVER ESTIMATION is the word. Obviously estimations may be high in the case where previous usage was high and you have since become more energy aware.In that case we fix the estimations and credit it back)

8) If any of you receive a high bill and decide to ring in before you do i know exactly what will be said.....

1)Have you bought any new products that may cause your usage to increase?
2)Do you any old electrical items eg: Washing machine or fridge?

3)You will be given a list of energy advice which can be found on www.esb.ie under energy efficiency.

4) If you feel extremely unhappy about a high bill and believe you are energy efficient then there is a meter test you can do.....instead of me going into detail about this.If anyone wants some advice on this i will be happy to answer.



***************************

I know what I'm talking about. I work in ESB I answer 200 calls a day 5 days a week on questions and queries eveyone here has had. I would be happy to help anyone who has a query on any bill or reading they have had

Sir Oxman

Thanks for the knowledge june92!
In my case, it was a lack of doing anything about getting access to an apt meter - I'll be onto ESB Networks soon for serials and key.

Thanks.

dahamsta

Nice post there june92, +1.

whiskeyman

june92 wrote: »

3) Bill are aimed to be read 4 times a year ....
4)If you are unhappy with your estimate then it's NOT ESB supply you ring it's ESB NETWORKS 1850372757 and they will deal with your complaint and log it for you.

This is something that not many people know.
ESB Networks are supposed to provide 4 actual reads a year to the Electricity Provider (ESB, Airtricity, Energia etc...).
As customers of these companies, you'll be doing yourself and the company a favour if you check and phone in / online enter your own read regularly, especially if your unsure of the bill consumption you're being charge.
The more actual reads they have, the better estimates they can calculate.


I think there's currenty a 'smart meter' trial going on in the country.

Mr. Presentable

whiskeyman wrote: »

I think there's currenty a 'smart meter' trial going on in the country.

Yes, there is. Soon they can monitor your usage remotely.

june92

you ring ESB SUPPLY for your meter key and serial and RM. 1850372372.

Always happy to help

Also Smart Metering is happening early next year and it will be chosen in a certain area only. People cannot ring up and request that they be involved. If you are chosen you will receive a letter beforehand explaining what will be happening.

gally74

hello,

im building a house this year,

whats the chance of getting a smart meter?