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And again I've been over charged by Electric Ireland

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  • 19-02-2012 4:56pm
    #1
    wazzoraybelle
    Registered Users Posts: 659 ✭✭✭


    Following the introduction of the new low usage standing charge and the overcharging and mis-billing on my 4 accounts over the past year, I decided I'd had enough of Electric Ireland and switched my 4 accounts to bord gais (saving myself approx 250 euro per annum).

    I received my final bills last week, which indeed include the new charge (you have to look for it, surely the decent thing to do is to bring it to your customers attention that they are being charged 60 euro per annum for not using enough electricity!)

    On two of these accounts there are 'corrections' which total 55 euro!! I have luckily kept all my bills going back years and after all the trouble I had last year where your staff had to look over my accounts I am sure there is no legacy charges to these accounts.

    Moreover these 'corrected' charges are totally unspecific and refer to an undetermined time in the last year. Is this the way you do business?

    On my final bills it states that the meters have been read by an esb meter reader. This is untrue. I submitted these readings to Bord Gais on switching over. My meters have not been read since April 2011 despite my repeated requests that someone does so ( up to April 2011 my meters were read with no issue 3 to 4 times per year, and there has been no physical change with regards access to my property).

    Over this last year I have been overcharged in the region of 600 euro and have had to spend hours on the phone as well as here to try and have them corrected. Of the 30 or so bills I have received for my accounts since last April at least 10 of them have been incorrect with unrelated charges. This would suggest an error rate of 30%!! In every one of these cases the errors were in EI's favour, Does this suggest policy rather than oversights?

    For any customers of EI who wish to remain with you, I would suggest that they look over their bills back to the rebranding of the company. As for me my intention is to cancel my direct debit immediately and pay these final bills by cheque when I am satisfied that they are correct.


Comments

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    #2
    Electric Ireland: David
    Closed Accounts Posts: 1,457 ✭✭✭Electric Ireland: David


    Hi wazzoraybelle,

    I can understand your frustration, and am sorry to hear you are switching.
    wazzoraybelle wrote:
    ...these 'corrected' charges are totally unspecific and refer to an undetermined time in the last year.

    Are you having this investigated? If you require further assistance in this matter, please feel free to PM me your account details.

    Regards,

    David.


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    #3
    Trishis
    Registered Users Posts: 91 ✭✭Trishis


    The are overcharging me too... I just switched to flo gas and flogas called me to let me know that the last bill from electric ireland for my gas was waaaay off....off by 260 units! trying to get it fixed now but its like talking to a wall. just checked my esb and they are overcharging me by over 400 units also. How can they get away with it

    It is disgraceful.

    I am going to a media platform with this, I'm so sick of them.


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    #4
    EI: Una
    Closed Accounts Posts: 1,585 ✭✭✭EI: Una


    Hi Trishis,

    We wish to reassure we would never just add unused units to a bill - bills are based on readings or estimates (and if it is an over-estimate, this can be corrected for the customer afterwards once an accurate reading is provided).

    When a customer changes suppliers, they must provide a reading as this is the only way the supplier will have of knowing what an accurate reflection of usage is.

    Drop me a private message with your Electric Ireland account details if you wish, and I will investigate further for you. Details I would require are: your account number, your name/address in full as they appear on your account, and either the contact telephone number on your account or your date of birth.

    Regards,
    Una


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    #5
    Priori
    Closed Accounts Posts: 421 ✭✭Priori


    Trishis wrote:
    The are overcharging me too... I just switched to flo gas and flogas called me to let me know that the last bill from electric ireland for my gas was waaaay off....off by 260 units! trying to get it fixed now but its like talking to a wall. just checked my esb and they are overcharging me by over 400 units also. How can they get away with it

    It is disgraceful.

    I am going to a media platform with this, I'm so sick of them.

    When you change from one supplier to another, it's entirely up to you to provide a reading. Do expect them to be inspired to know what the reading was when you switched? And if you did provide one, the fault actually lies with Flogas for not communicating this reading to Electric Ireland.

    As to being overcharged by 400 units... Just give in a meter reading and they'll correct it.


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    #6
    Trishis
    Registered Users Posts: 91 ✭✭Trishis


    Priori, thank you for your input. Now if you don't mind, leave it there, its not relevant to my situation.


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    #7
    Priori
    Closed Accounts Posts: 421 ✭✭Priori


    Sorry Trishis, but what I said is entirely relevant. And anyone else reading this thread who understands the basics of readings and estimates will see how it is relevant too.

    I'm not Electric Ireland's biggest fan as you might guess if you look at my contributions on the low user charge issue, but nobody is trying to "get away with" anything in this kind of scenario; neither FloGas nor Electric Ireland. You have to take responsibility and stop expressing yourself like a Joe Duffy caller if anyone is going to take you seriously.


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    #8
    Trishis
    Registered Users Posts: 91 ✭✭Trishis


    You have no idea how long this is going on or what is actually going on, so please mind you own business, I wrote this post here as a person from electric Ireland is on it, not for your two cents worth. the last thing I need is you going on like you have a clue about my situation, please again, I'm asking you nicely, mind your own business, you don't actually know about the situation.


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    #9
    ytpe2r5bxkn0c1
    Closed Accounts Posts: 32,688 ✭✭✭✭ytpe2r5bxkn0c1


    How were the readings wrong? Were meters read or estimated? They don't just make up readings. Perhaps if you explained the situation better.....


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    #10
    wazzoraybelle
    Registered Users Posts: 659 ✭✭✭wazzoraybelle


    Electric Ireland: Una wrote: »
    Hi Trishis,

    We wish to reassure we would never just add unused units to a bill - bills are based on readings or estimates (and if it is an over-estimate, this can be corrected for the customer afterwards once an accurate reading is provided).

    When a customer changes suppliers, they must provide a reading as this is the only way the supplier will have of knowing what an accurate reflection of usage is.

    Drop me a private message with your Electric Ireland account details if you wish, and I will investigate further for you. Details I would require are: your account number, your name/address in full as they appear on your account, and either the contact telephone number on your account or your date of birth.


    Regards,
    Una

    Actually in my case this was untrue, I was overcharged by hundreds of units every billing period even after repeatedly submitting the proper readings. On a meter that I used exclusively to run my well and which for years had a daily usage of 1 unit per day, EI were billing me for 10 units a day after a meter reading put in a wrong digit.

    This overcharging continued for several billing periods despite my complaints, despite submitting corrected readings and despite my requests that EI request that Networks have my meters reread. In fact my meters weren't read for 10 months, until I finally switched to Bord gais. In the 8 months since changing my meters have been read twice.


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    #11
    EI: Una
    Closed Accounts Posts: 1,585 ✭✭✭EI: Una


    Hi Wazzoraybelle,

    Just to advise: ESB Networks are always the electricity meter-readers, irrespective of which supplier a customer is with.

    Sorry to read you were unhappy with your customer experience. If you like, I can have a look at the history on your closed Electric Ireland account for you?

    I would require the account number, your name/address in full as they appeared on the account, and either the contact telephone number that was on your account or your date of birth.

    Regards and thanks,
    Una


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    #12
    Trishis
    Registered Users Posts: 91 ✭✭Trishis


    I don't need to explain anything to any of you, i am on here to get in touch with someone from Electric Ireland and all is being sorted out. It was read incorrectly.


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    #13
    wazzoraybelle
    Registered Users Posts: 659 ✭✭✭wazzoraybelle


    Electric Ireland: Una wrote: »
    Hi Wazzoraybelle,

    Just to advise: ESB Networks are always the electricity meter-readers, irrespective of which supplier a customer is with.

    Sorry to read you were unhappy with your customer experience. If you like, I can have a look at the history on your closed Electric Ireland account for you?

    I would require the account number, your name/address in full as they appeared on the account, and either the contact telephone number that was on your account or your date of birth.

    Regards and thanks,
    Una

    I know full well who reads the meters, My point was that where a reader makes an incorrect reading, all future estimates on that meter will be incorrect even where a customer submits a correct one until a meter reader again reads it. This is what happened to my account for more than 5 bills until I left.

    Electric Ireland didn't care in the slightest that this was happening. And while I was told by customer support that they would request a reading from networks it never happened.

    This as well as a myriad of overcharging and the low standing charge finally made me see the light and reluctantly leave to find a provider that respects it's customers.


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