Gas company meter N/W

[jinjuku]

Ok this has me a bit upset:

I get door tagged that my gas meter hasn't been working. At least since we moved in Dec 09.

I get a gas/electric bill and I pay it electronically (debited from my checking account). They are saying well we put a notice in your bill about the meter not registering. Do you realize how much freaking mail is delivered to the average consumer on a daily basis? Why do you think I went for electronic auto-pay?

I just pay the thing. Now they want to 'Estimate' the usage. Really? How?

When was the last time the meter was operational? What happens if the prior owner kept the furnace on at 85? what happens if they didn't use it at all?

What is your maintenance schedule on gas and electric meters?

You as the gas/electric co have 50+ years of historical data on the house. You KNOW that it has used gas in the past.

I am not arguing that we haven't ran the furnace or water heater. I am just a bit pissed off at the "We have people that have formulas and figure that out". So now I get to deal with someone that couldn't tell you the Pythagorean theorem is now going to run a usage model?

This will be interesting. I should have just told them I have a gas stove and water heater.

Any one with experience on this if I have a problem with the bill?

 

[MDS]

The estimated usage or 'level billing' programs, at least here, are based on 12 months prior usage data. They average your charges so you get the same bill each month. I never use any such programs; I'm ok with $15 bills in the summer and $60 bills in the winter.

I pay electronically too but they still send me a paper bill and you can log into your account to see the current charges. If you've been paying electronically, there should be a way for you to see a billing history. If they say the gas meter hasn't been working but you were paying something, it could be that you've only been paying the 'delivery charge'. You'd be able to see if that were the case with the billing history because your bills would all be the same and would be very low.

I don't see how they can force you to use an average method if they truly don't have prior usage history for you. They can't just make up an arbitrary number. You could offer to pay monthly for some period and have them use that average to bill you for the last year where you supposedly weren't paying for gas. And of course if they agree to that, conserve gas as much as possible to keep the bill down.

Good luck.

 

[jinjuku]

There are a few ways that I can play this:

1. See what they send me as an estimate. If I think it is low I will pay it.

2. If I think it is high I will try to make them take this year to date of next and then calculate.

My issue is they have had 12 bites at the apple with me here and more when I didn't own the house. They could have tagged the door at any time. They didn't.

 

[Warpdrv]

Their failing meter is their problem, your not obligated to maintain it.....

 

[jinjuku]

Their failing meter is their problem, your not obligated to maintain it.....

That was my thought. This should get interesting.

 

[Warpdrv]

That was my thought. This should get interesting.

Just as long as he doesn't get railroaded....
it should not be ruled against his favor, he should get off lightly and they should eat it....


They will have a last reading event.....

 

[jinjuku]

Just as long as he doesn't get railroaded....
it should not be ruled against his favor, he should get off lightly and they should eat it....


They will have a last reading event.....

I have a few problems. The rep told me they read the meters once a month.
The meter has been NW longer than I have been here. They have had every opportunity (like today's ) to tag the door and have me call them.

They have no preventative maintenance that they run (that I could tell). It's their equipment.

The house sat empty for a while due to foreclosure so I am not sure what statistical data they want to use (power and gas were NEVER turned off even while the bank had possession). The rep couldn't tell me the LAST time the meter worked.

 

[highfigh]

Ok this has me a bit upset:

I get door tagged that my gas meter hasn't been working. At least since we moved in Dec 09.

I get a gas/electric bill and I pay it electronically (debited from my checking account). They are saying well we put a notice in your bill about the meter not registering. Do you realize how much freaking mail is delivered to the average consumer on a daily basis? Why do you think I went for electronic auto-pay?

I just pay the thing. Now they want to 'Estimate' the usage. Really? How?

When was the last time the meter was operational? What happens if the prior owner kept the furnace on at 85? what happens if they didn't use it at all?

What is your maintenance schedule on gas and electric meters?

You as the gas/electric co have 50+ years of historical data on the house. You KNOW that it has used gas in the past.

I am not arguing that we haven't ran the furnace or water heater. I am just a bit pissed off at the "We have people that have formulas and figure that out". So now I get to deal with someone that couldn't tell you the Pythagorean theorem is now going to run a usage model?

This will be interesting. I should have just told them I have a gas stove and water heater.

Any one with experience on this if I have a problem with the bill?

It's their meter- if they can't prove how much gas you used, they shouldn't be able to guess just to be able to recover money. Our gas company will send a notice when they will change the meter and we have no real choice because it's not inside of the building. OTOH, they don't guess when they think the meter is messed up.

 

[Warpdrv]

Time to stand up - you knew that I was moving in, when the name changed into the system.... You should have checked and taken a reading at that point right there, if you neglected to do that - that is not my problem and take them to small claims...


I would start with - I'm not payin a dam thing !!!!! I'm pretty sure that its against the law to turn off your gas in the winter...

Shut down your automatic payment or stop paying the bill for now...