Being undercharged for electricity bill - consumer rights?

PeterBr

Our daytime meter has not been moving for around 5 months now. I noticed it when I was submitting a meter reading and the digits were the same as the previous reading. I immediately reported it to ESB and they said that they would send a technician out to fix it within 2 weeks.

Over 6 weeks later, no technician arrived so I contacted them again and they said that the technician had been cancelled (however, this was not by us! But they had not bothered to inform us). They said that they would send another one out and would be in contact soon. I since emailed them on 2 further occasions but the issue has not been resolved.

So basically, I'm wondering about our consumer rights now. Obviously, our last few bills have been cheaper as we are not being charged for our daytime usage. However, I have reported the problem several times (which is on the record ie the emails) and ESB have not fixed it.

I'm worried that down the line we could be landed with a huge bill (and possibly overcharged as we have been away a good bit) for the months we haven't been charged for daytime usage.

Any advice on our rights would be appreciated.

wait4me

Perhaps somebody else has a view on this but here's my two cents:

How does the provider know how much electricity you use? The meter readings gives them that information; so no meter readings - no information. How do they remedy this? They fix the meter. They could of course estimate your usage for the time that the meter has not been working - but who knows how long this is? All the provider knows is the timing of your first call reporting the broken meter. I don't know what you use the the night meter for but your usage of this meter will probably indicate that you have been in residence - so they may also use this to estimate your day meter usage. But whatever they estimate (if they do) must be subject to negotiation as there are too many variables that they cannot prove.

PeterBr

wait4me wrote: »

Perhaps somebody else has a view on this but here's my two cents:

How does the provider know how much electricity you use? The meter readings gives them that information; so no meter readings - no information. How do they remedy this? They fix the meter. They could of course estimate your usage for the time that the meter has not been working - but who knows how long this is? All the provider knows is the timing of your first call reporting the broken meter. I don't know what you use the the night meter for but your usage of this meter will probably indicate that you have been in residence - so they may also use this to estimate your day meter usage. But whatever they estimate (if they do) must be subject to negotiation as there are too many variables that they cannot prove.

Thanks for your reply. I just wish that they would fix the meter as that way there can be no more ambiguity. To be honest, I'm stunned that they have not fixed it when it has been reported several times.

danjo-xx

Did you report it to ESB Networks, thats who's problem it is, not your supplier, all though you would think they would pass on the information.

dharn

People have spent years trying to stop meters;)

scudo2

Officaly you haven't used ESB.
You have done your bit.

danjo-xx

scudo2 wrote: »

Officaly you haven't used ESB.
You have done your bit.

Similiar situation discussed over on Talk to Electric Ireland, very interesting and worth a read through.


http://www.boards.ie/ttfthread/2057259716

Apparently we all have unwritten contracts with the 'Networks'

bit stupid but there you go, best little country in which to do business:rolleyes:

Cerco

This is a billing issue so , in my opinion, it is the responsibility of Electric Ireland.It is not up to the consumer to determine if the meter is faulty or not.

PeterBr

Cerco wrote: »

This is a billing issue so , in my opinion, it is the responsibility of Electric Ireland.It is not up to the consumer to determine if the meter is faulty or not.

Thanks for the replies. I'm just perplexed as we have tried to rectify the problem but ESB have done nothing.

We did the right thing by reporting the problem on several occasions. I'm not really sure what else we can do at this stage.

danjo-xx

You need to escalate this to a complaint, you could also raise it on their twitter page.
https://twitter.com/search?q=esbnetworks&src=typd

If you have a Complaint
It is always our intention to deliver a high standard of service to our customers. If , however, you feel that we have not performed to your satisfaction, we are happy to investigate the matter with the aim of quickly finding a resolution. We value customer feedback as an important contributor to our objective of continuously improving customer service. To assist in this we have a well established procedure for handling feedback and complaints from customers. Our target is to clear 92% of customer complaints within five working days.

In order to make a complaint you can:
phone 1850 372 757 to discuss your complaint with a customer service agent who will make every effort to resolve the matter. If it cannot be resolved there and then, your complaint will be referred on to your local ESB Networks office and they will arrange for you to be contacted.
Email: esbnetworks.complaints@esb.ie
OR write to Customer Relations, ESB Networks, Sarsfield Road, Wilton, Cork.

http://www.esb.ie/esbnetworks/en/home/contact_us.jsp

EI: Aoife

Hi PeterBr,

If you are an Electric Ireland customer, we would be happy to help on the Talk to Electric Ireland forum. However, if you are with another supplier, you shoud contact them directly as we would be unable to assist.

Send us a private message with your name, telephone number and account number if you wish for us to look into your query for you. We can only deal with the account holder and we need these details verified before we can proceed.

Please let us know if we can be of assistance.

Kind regards,
Aoife M