Anyone gotten a bigger than usual esb bill?

Joe Public

Selah Howling Eraser wrote: »

Just on a point of order. It is a product you are consuming not a service!:rolleyes:

ESB do supply a range of services.

Joe Public

Selah Howling Eraser wrote: »

You quote "a large %" very easily. A large % of washing machines are not over 10 years old and I had cold water only feed back in 1985. The argument that you are using spare hot water doesn't (forgive the pun) hold water. You do not have spare hot water as any used will be replaced by burning fuel. If you have spare hot water then you have wasted enery heating it. Oh dear look at all the hot water going to waste lets do a wash???

The topic is about ESB bills not and not your total energy costs, you could be using solar panels to help heat the water or mice on a threadmill. Large % covers a multitude and may even start at around 10%.

hamsterboy

Hi All
I too have noticed that , yes I am getting screwed by the ESB.
Over Christmas, myself and my GF went home so we weren't in the house for 2 weeks.
STILL
Our bill for that period was huge, the total bill being €202.......
Now we don't have a tumble dryer or dishwasher and theres oil heating not electric storage or anything.
Theres nobody in the house during the day and in the evening the kettle might get a few boils and the TV, twice a week maybe the washing machine.
I can't understand how our bill is more than, say, my GF's mothers place........seven bedroom house with a tv in every bedroom used constantly and a tumble dryer that is always on, summer and winter.
What can I do
I rang the ESB, got a very unpleasant woman (suprise) whose answer to all of my questions was "well the electricity is being used".................ITS SIMPLY NOT!!!!
I never pay estimates, when I get a bill I immediately go and call in the reading over the phone.
I understand ESB prices went up but even taking that into account, unless the new house next door is running a tanning salon off my power I can't work out whats going on or more importantly.....what I can do about it.
I've fitter CFL bulbs everywhere but the next bill was larger again.
I asked the "nice" woman on the phone could it be a meter problem......she laughed at me and said no.....
Wits end her folks......thanks for reading

HB

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

Meter problems are very rare and usually it's old meters which have slowed down causing less units to be recorded. Why don't you take a reading last thing at night and again first thing in the morining ansd see if you have used more than 3 or 4 units.
The lady in ESB is right - you have used the units but the question is how have you used them. Take daily readings and see if your usage is consistant from day to day. Is there a wiring error between your neighbour and yourself that shows up by increased usage when you are out for the day? (If so that's your problem btw not ESBs)
Do an inventory on what you use. Heaters, tumble dryers, plasma screen, chargers, etc. Something may come up as a culprit. The meter rarely lies so do some detective work yourself. Even if you switch to Bord Gais or Airtricty you'll pay for the units recorded on that same meter so best check it out.

hamsterboy

Will do, thanks for the advice
Though your comment "Do an inventory on what you use. Heaters, tumble dryers, plasma screen, chargers, etc" is a bit pointless, I have a CRT tv and none of the rest. All our charging is done in work :P

HB

Davy

Do you use the boiler to heat the water, or do you use the immersion too?

pampers1

I can't find where to go on the esb site to submit a meter reading online. Can someone post a link. I have registered etc. already but can't find it.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

I'm not registered with them so can't access the full site but this seems to be what you need.

https://www.esb.ie/esbcustomersupply/residential/home/index.jsp

I just went to the Home page and under "Your Home Account" selected "More Home Services". It seems pretty straight forward.

Davy

pampers1 wrote: »

I can't find where to go on the esb site to submit a meter reading online. Can someone post a link. I have registered etc. already but can't find it.

[Link]

When you log in, you should see three tabs at the tob of the page. The third tab says "enter meter readings"

hajjid

I moved into house 3 months ago start of january to be exact. For the first month my bill was 85euros. Now they sent me a bill to day from the 9th february till 9th april 840euros!!!!
I mean like wtf.

There was the mean who reads meters here 2 days ago I checked the numbers and they seem to be in tact more or less(the present meter readings) but the previous meter readings a mark ''E'' which I believe means estimated.

I mean in all fairness that's wicked amount of money I can never pay it can't be right.

I am absolutely desprate, I think I'll just go and hang myself.

What would you do lads?



No grahamo, The first thing we done was opening a new account and starting from scratch

grahamo

did you read the meter when you moved in? You are obviously being billed for the previous occupants ESB usage. No way would a bill be that big!

jor el

Well, if the number was right when you moved in, and the number is right now, then that's how much electricity you've used, and you should pay the bill. You have no other choice.

The previous E does indeed mean estimated, so you're now paying for 4 months, rather than 2, and those months being cold, dark, winter months means they were probably quite high. You could have read the actual reading at the last bill, and got them to correct it, but at this point, you have to pay what's due.

hajjid

i am paying bill for 2 months, january was 85e, so i am paying for feb,march, and 9 days of april,which makes about 400e a month, i would have to have a carneval on my back yard to use so much el. in all fairness.

i am working about 46 hours a week and have 2 children I cant afford to pay suich ridiculous bill.

I think esb are scammers

Our man in Havana

Someone must be stealing your electricity in that case or the meter is very very wrong.

MarkR

If you started from scratch, they would have had to read your meter to know from what point to start charging you.

A month later an estimated bill was sent out, saying you'd spend x amount of units. I assume you didn't check at that stage, and just paid it.

Next bill comes in with readings done. Shows you used x amount of unit up to the read date.

Unless you can show that someone else is using your electricity (try turning off everything in the house and then check to see if your meter is still spinning) you'll have to pay the bill at some stage.

I'm sure you can come to some form of payment agreement with the ESB.

I would be very surprised though that your bill would be so high over a period of three months. Do you have any high drawing electrical items? Immersion heating, electric heating etc.

hajjid

I have night storage heaters here and an immersion as well. I have friends that have pretty much similar equipment and they pay about 150 a month! I mean like expanses like that you would have in a B&B.

Also esb are commonly known to over charge at least 25 % of people I know, at least in here in Dungarvan where I live

Davy

hajjid wrote: »

Also esb are commonly known to over charge at least 25 % of people I know, at least in here in Dungarvan where I live

Fact or some anti esb mob?

Its very simple to work out how much ou have used. Take the meter reading now and subtract the reading from when you moved in.

Because it was €85 for the first month that doesn't mean anything since it was an estimate. Maybe it should have been a lot higher making this bill lower.

I cant understand how people cant enter there own meter readings and then the bill will never be estimated. Its not hard!!!

Call the ESB Networks automated phone service on 1850 337 777
Or Submit Online

Or even better register your account online: your_account_online.jsp

Shows your usage history from bill to bill. Its even quicker than posting a thread on boards

Cabaal

hajjid wrote: »

Also esb are commonly known to over charge at least 25 % of people I know, at least in here in Dungarvan where I live

Hang on now, is this pure speculation based on idiots who leave all their bills be estimated instead of submitting meter readings themselfs? (use ESB networks do take readings but not very often and they don't HAVE to do it each month)

or

Do you have actual evidence, because if you have none I'd suggest you leave such stupid conspiracy theory statements in the bin where they belong

dudara

Threads merged. ESB bills have been a common topic of late.

Davy

dudara wrote: »

Threads merged. ESB bills have been a common topic of late.

Yes,, a sticky how to submit a reading is needed

havana

I too have noticed an increase in my ESB bills since I moved late last year. I have pretty much the same appliances (expect I now have no dishwasher which I ran quite often in the last place) and have the same water and heating system.

Because of a couple of estimated bills I am looking at my bills as an average since I moved in (last bill was a reading) and it averages at €132pm - twice what it was in my last accommodation. The thermostat on the water has been lowered so I'm hoping that will reduce the cost (thermostat was very high it seems) but I'm not sure if that would account for double electricity cost!!

I pay on the monthly equaliser so thankfully no large one off payment to be made, but still was a shock to see a bill for electricity charges of €356 coming through the door.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

hajjid wrote: »

I have night storage heaters here and an immersion as well. I have friends that have pretty much similar equipment and they pay about 150 a month! I mean like expanses like that you would have in a B&B.

Also esb are commonly known to over charge at least 25 % of people I know, at least in here in Dungarvan where I live

Firstly if you have Storage Heaters and an Immersion I'm not surprised at your charges for Jan Feb and Mar of this year. Storage heating is expensive at the best of times and we had a particularly cold snap this year.

As for the slur on ESB I think you should edit or retract that nonsense. At the very least explain or justify your statement.

hajjid

Ok so listen kid. A few of my friends got a bill paid for it. And a week after got another saying over due, then rang 'em and of course esb was claiming the money and after the arguement they admited that it was a mistake and the bill had been cleared already!(and again yes they are dirty robbers)this just one out of another 10 people in this town. Today we rang esb about the bill and they said the the bill has been estimated according to previous tenanats and previous year of residence in this house, I was shocked!
I don't know about you srameen but I ain't going paying a bill that they say it's due only because they say it's been calculated and true, their way of proving the bill was just PATHETIC.

that's all I gotta say

Fnergg

hajjid wrote: »

Ok so listen kid. A few of my friends got a bill paid for it. And a week after got another saying over due, then rang 'em and of course esb was claiming the money and after the arguement they admited that it was a mistake and the bill had been cleared already!(and again yes they are dirty robbers)this just one out of another 10 people in this town. Today we rang esb about the bill and they said the the bill has been estimated according to previous tenanats and previous year of residence in this house, I was shocked!
I don't know about you srameen but I ain't going paying a bill that they say it's due only because they say it's been calculated and true, their way of proving the bill was just PATHETIC.

that's all I gotta say

When you moved into the premsies did you take a meter reading? If you did and you have been billed as from that reading to another actual reading then you have been billed for the electricity you consumed.

Electricity meters have a world-wide reputation for accuracy - there is nothing sinister going on: the meter records what you actually use. If you have used a lot of electricity - and evidently you have - then you have to foot the bill. That applies to any electricity utility anywhere.

On that basis how is ESB robbing you? If I am careless about how I use electricity - or gas, or phone, etc - I have only myself to blame.

As regards your friends' bills that the ESB were allegedly claiming were not paid: that looks like payments that crossed with the issue of the new bills. In such cases the new bills will show the previous bills as arrears because payment was received too late to be reflected on the new bills. In very rare cases payments can be credited in error to other accounts (again, something that happens in all utilities and other service providers) but I doubt if that happened here - the chances of it happening to 10 customers at the one time are so remote as to be impossible.

Regards,

Fnergg

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

Just got our Feb/Mar bill and it's only €139. Not bad for a 4 bedroom house with 2 adults and 2 grown up children. Tumble Dryer, electric cooker, immersion heater (rarely used),etc. Installed more CFL bulbs last month.
Can't complain at €17 per week!

hajjid wrote: »

Ok so listen kid. A few of my friends got a bill paid for it. And a week after got another saying over due, then rang 'em and of course esb was claiming the money and after the arguement they admited that it was a mistake and the bill had been cleared already!(and again yes they are dirty robbers)this just one out of another 10 people in this town. Today we rang esb about the bill and they said the the bill has been estimated according to previous tenanats and previous year of residence in this house, I was shocked!
I don't know about you srameen but I ain't going paying a bill that they say it's due only because they say it's been calculated and true, their way of proving the bill was just PATHETIC.

that's all I gotta say

Hajjid: Your friend's payment obviously crossed with the reminder (which means it was late in the first place). If it was paid at a third party outlet (local shop etc) it takes time for the payment to be passed to ESB. Hardly a scam by ESB!
If you are unhappy with estimated readings based on previous usage at the premises (how else could they do it?) then phone in a reading yourself. It's hardly rocket science to do so!
Also, I'd appreciate if you didn't call me "kid" and referring to a company with the reputation of ESB as "dirty robbers" is priceless coming from someone who has had at least 3 threads locked for discussing how to cheat at online poker using illegal and unethical means.:mad:

newtoboards

Got our first bill today in our new house and curious to understand how an average 2 monthly bill in our old house has gone from €70 to €458!!! I expected a jump but nothing near this. Our usage habits have not changed however here we're on urban nightsaver tarriff in the new house as there are storage heaters but we used a whopping 3717 watts between the beginning of March and now with 3005watts of the consumption being at night! We couldn't even stay in the house for the first couple of weeks as it took a while to iron out all the issues that come with moving into a new house and being the first rental tennants so I don't know where the overall useage. Is this a normal bill for houses with storage heating - is this what we have ahead of us?

dudara

Threads merged.

dudara

Fnergg

newtoboards wrote: »

Got our first bill today in our new house and curious to understand how an average 2 monthly bill in our old house has gone from €70 to €458!!! I expected a jump but nothing near this. Our usage habits have not changed however here we're on urban nightsaver tarriff in the new house as there are storage heaters but we used a whopping 3717 watts between the beginning of March and now with 3005watts of the consumption being at night! We couldn't even stay in the house for the first couple of weeks as it took a while to iron out all the issues that come with moving into a new house and being the first rental tennants so I don't know where the overall useage. Is this a normal bill for houses with storage heating - is this what we have ahead of us?

Was this two-monthly bill based on previous and present actual readings? I suspect that the previous readings were estimated and that what has happened is you have been billed for a usage covering more than the normal two months.

In any event, storage heating needs to be closely controlled like all other electrical equipment. Judicious use of the on/off switches in heaters will reduce your usage.

Read your meter every night for a week or so. Establish your daily usage by subtracting one set of readings from the other. By cutting back on your heating you will see a corresponding reduction in your daily usage.

How to read your meter: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cmPTlXqhzYc&feature=channel_page

Regards,

Fnergg

newtoboards

Thanks for your response. I'm going to do a meter reading every morning on the night meter because that could be the answer to all my problems!!! However the day reading is already proven to be wrong! It was given to us by landlord when we moved in as being 1772 but it is now 740 so there's a wild mismatch there!

hamsterboy

Hi All
Our favorite electricity supplier is once again ripping me off!!!

Got my bill today. Seemed pretty high.
Examined it and noticed that it states that the previous reading was an estimate.....which it wasn't. If I miss the reader guy I ring in the reading that evening.
So I rang them and was finally put through to a totally uninterested girl called Mary. I told her what had happened and she said "Oh the reading probably got lost in the system....it happens all the time!!!!
Ok now stop me if it seems irrational but they have a service that allows you to ring in your reading and then they just ignore it and pluck a figure out of the air?????
Morons
I would switch to Bord Gais but I'm a tenant and even with Direct Debit it'll cost me 100 quid......which is probably less than what I'd save as I'm planning to move house soon.
Sorry for the rant but I've had problems with them before and now I guess I'm stuck with em........

Cheers HB