License to steal ?

[Observer II]

I've always thought the Direct Debit system was "iffy",  but as long as it deals with fixed amounts it's tolerable. However, with the Energy Companies now in a state of financial flux over costs,  it seems we may have a license to steal on their part ?     

[Evil Sid]

Don't use direct debit for energy. get bill pay bill. that way i know how much i need to pay and am not over paying because i have used less than they have guestimated i would.

mother was on direct debit for gas and when she passed away they owed the estate nearly £400.00 that had been over paid due to a wrong estimation of how much she was using. her electric was on a prepaid meter.

only things i have on direct debit is the house insurance ,the council tax and car insurance. everything else is "pay as you go" so to speak.

 

[Bill]

A while back. I entered all my energy bills into a spreadsheet type program so I could check what I was paying over the last ten years. The resultant graphs were all over the place with estimates and refunds, so much so they were meaningless, that was until we had the smart meter installed about six years ago. Since then, I’ve not had a single estimated bill and now don’t need to worry about it going wrong.

 

Bill 😊

[Evil Sid]

i will await my next bill with interest. had smart meters fitted in jan just after the boiler was installed. average electric per day is about £2.50 and average gas per day is around £1,50. (gas depends on the weather if it is cold then more gas used for heating. yesterday it was less than £1.00 used)

friend of mine has had smart meters for a year or so and is always getting an estimated bill as the meter cannot connect for some reason. she has complained about it but they just told her to read the meter herself and send the readings in. rather defeats the object of the meters really. i advised her to get them to come and check the meters and replace them if required.

Have also heard tales (true or not i cannot say) that they put the tariff up after nine pm and drop it back down to what it should be the next morning.

[Bill]

That last bit’s a load of old bunkum Sid. The only time the rate can change over time is if you’re on a special night-time tariff and even then, I’d have thought the rate would drop down rather than go up.

Like most people, I’m on a variable tariff but that doesn’t mean the price varies during the day or anything, it just means I have no long-term contract. The energy companies can change the rate if the price cap changes like it did in April, but it’s all controlled by Ofgen, and they must give you plenty of notice of any change. They can’t just charge you more whenever they feel like it, that’s just an old wife’s internet tale.

 

Bill 😊

[Evil Sid]

well i did say that i was unsure of it's authenticity.

Unlike a lot of people i do not take any faceache post at face value. (even my own)

just another conspiracy theory tale. you know the ones like vaccination give the gov a chance to put trackers in you, as if those people matter to the gov who could track the phones they use to post those theories if they were that interested.

bucket full of salt needed to belive most of them......🤦‍♀️

[ninearches]

Apparently, my smart meter connects with my supplier but doesn't give me a reading. Still, is saves me having to get on my hands & knees to read the meter.

[Evil Sid]

don't know about mine never read the manual but like you say better than crawling around trying to see the numbers. varifocals side on just don't make for easy reading. add to that by the time i have got up from the floor I've forgotten what the numbers were and have to get down again.

still it wastes half an hour.👨‍🦯

[Bill]

Some of the display units they provide are far too complicated. We gave up trying to use ours and it ended up becoming just another kitchen ornament. Most people only want to know how much their electric or gas is costing them and aren’t really interested in kilowatt hour comparisons or equivalent Co2. I did work things out eventually, but it wasn’t easy and certainly not very user friendly.

Watching Tipping Point last week where the question was something like what units are used to express power. The three choices were Amps Volts and Watts.

The lady said she knew this as Amps were in mains plugs, Watts were in light bulbs so that only left Volts. 😆😅🤣😂

 

Bill 😊

[Evil Sid]

i can imagine the logic behind that but surprised that she did not say it can't be volts as they are in banks...🤦‍♀️