ARISE... for bitching!
I have a quick rant as a prelude to a much more interesting update. To whit: British Gas are utterly useless turds.
Imagine my surprise in April when I received an electricity bill for £571.57. "Golly," thinks me, "I really must remember to only fill the kettle halfway in future. No, hang on," I continue, head-scratching furiously, "this bill says we've used almost two years' worth of electric in three months. Ho hum."
So British Gas had been sending us bills for the wrong meter and I'd only highlighted the problem by giving an actual meter reading. Phoned them up, chap was very helpful, agreed to send out a new bill for the correct meter with a backdated estimated start reading. Lovely.
August. Imagine my surprise after moving out when I receive a final bill for £221.00. Not as eye-spinningly bad as the April bill but I still thought using 1/3 the average annual amount in a month was pushing it. Especially when - what's this? - the estimated reading for July was lower than the actual reading I gave them in April, significantly boosting my final debt. A puzzler, to be sure.
Cue another phone call with a far less-helpful chap who claimed that as the account was now closed there was "nothing he could do". I strongly suggested he rather could do something as I wasn't about to pay for their obvious mistake, and he eventually agreed to estimate the initial November reading using the two data points I provided. When this estimated November reading proved to still be higher than the estimated July reading I'd been fed he agreed to send out another revised bill and I agreed to post this on the internet because I know how much people want to hear about utility companies farting about.
I do have a better update coming along. Tales of Adventure™ and so forth.
Imagine my surprise in April when I received an electricity bill for £571.57. "Golly," thinks me, "I really must remember to only fill the kettle halfway in future. No, hang on," I continue, head-scratching furiously, "this bill says we've used almost two years' worth of electric in three months. Ho hum."
So British Gas had been sending us bills for the wrong meter and I'd only highlighted the problem by giving an actual meter reading. Phoned them up, chap was very helpful, agreed to send out a new bill for the correct meter with a backdated estimated start reading. Lovely.
August. Imagine my surprise after moving out when I receive a final bill for £221.00. Not as eye-spinningly bad as the April bill but I still thought using 1/3 the average annual amount in a month was pushing it. Especially when - what's this? - the estimated reading for July was lower than the actual reading I gave them in April, significantly boosting my final debt. A puzzler, to be sure.
Cue another phone call with a far less-helpful chap who claimed that as the account was now closed there was "nothing he could do". I strongly suggested he rather could do something as I wasn't about to pay for their obvious mistake, and he eventually agreed to estimate the initial November reading using the two data points I provided. When this estimated November reading proved to still be higher than the estimated July reading I'd been fed he agreed to send out another revised bill and I agreed to post this on the internet because I know how much people want to hear about utility companies farting about.
I do have a better update coming along. Tales of Adventure™ and so forth.