Hugh gas bill anticipated

[frankie48]

Hi, i hope this is the right place. My problem is that I had gas central heating installed about six weeks ago. The thermostat was set by my plumber six times a day but I had to lower the temperatures sometimes as the weather was quite mild.
I only received a key for my meter cabinet five days ago and was shocked to read the number of units on the meter ( 02977) which is something like 32,747 kwh . As the cost of a kwh is 7p you can imagine my horror!

I phoned phoenix and they said the reading on the meter at installation was 00804 which suggests I have used 2173 units, in six weeks, which is 23,903 kwh at a cost of roughly £1666 !
My plumber said that couldn`t possibly be right, and the guy at phoenix thinks I`ve read the meter wrong and is sending someone to check the reading.

The reading is correct ( though I have still to hear from phoenix what they are to do about it) I unfortunately did not see the original reading and it is not recorded inside the meter box even though it is supposed to be .

I am taking daily reading now and using from 2-7 units a day

how should I proceed if Phoenix insist I pay this bill ? thanks for any advise in advance

[Sapphire]

Re: Hugh gas bill anticipated

Keep talking to them, make sure you note all the readings and when or if you get a large bill through write to them with all the details and ask for time to pay, explain it was not your fault as you wasn't given a key to the cabinet etc and ask them again to double check the start reading.
Whatever though do not ignore them, do everything in writing and keep copies and if you do a phone call make sure its followed up in writing.

[enaid]

Re: Hugh gas bill anticipated

How to read your gas meter


There are different kinds of meters and if you knock off the last digit of your readings then they would be ok, so have give you the link above to make double sure you are reading it right.

[frankie48]

Re: Hugh gas bill anticipated

Thanks for your advice.
Someone from phoenix came out and read the meter yesterday.
I phoned them this morning and they tell me my reading was correct. The initial reading they had recorded was 804 and someone just added two 00 before it . they recon the initial reading was 02804 which fits well with my daily recordings of use recently. So thankfully it was their fault and I won`t be getting a hugh bill in January.

[enaid]

Re: Hugh gas bill anticipated

Pleased you are sorted and thanks for letting us know.
Enaid x