Out of pocket thanks to GE's not-so-smart meter
WITH reference to the leaflet produced by Guernsey Electricity. It states objectives 'to continually strive for more efficient and effective ways of working to give our customers a better service'. Well, Guernsey Electricity, your objective is not being reached. The smart meter which you installed has never been read by yourselves as apparently you cannot get a signal.
What a waste of time and money installing it then. Instead you send out estimated bills which are always over-estimated and then you have to send a revised account when the actual meter reading is phoned through to you. Double the work for the accounts department, double the paper used, double the postage.
What a waste of time and money.
A phone call to the customer for the meter reading would be cheaper and no duplication of work necessary. Of course if the customer does not supply the meter reading and their account is in credit they will not get a refund on an estimated account.
I discovered that there was a problem on my meter in that when it should have been on low rate (Economy 12 tariff) it was actually on the higher rate. Having phoned Guernsey Electricity I was asked if the clock was showing the right time. I asked how to check the clock and was told 'never mind, we will come and fit a new meter'.
Despite several phone calls to them since, I have been unable to learn how long this has been on the wrong tariff as I normally do all my washing, drying and dishwashing on the Economy 12. I have been told that they will not do an adjustment to my account as according to their reckoning I always use more units on the higher rate. They have not supplied details of their calculations so I have to just accept that they will not refund anything for the malfunction of their meter charging the higher rate.
I know of someone in another parish who had the same problem so I would advise all of you who are on Economy 12 to check your meter clock to make sure that you are on the correct rate.
Name and address withheld.
Editor's footnote: Guernsey Electricity replies: Thank you for the opportunity to respond.
While we cannot comment on individual cases, we completely agree with your reader's advice that islanders should regularly check their meter clocks to ensure they are showing the correct time.
While the majority of meters do return readings automatically, there are a number that are unable to do so due to communication issues on the network. To address this, the next generation meters, that we are currently installing, have improved communication rates.
Where an automatic reading is not possible, we ask the customer to provide a reading or alternatively we estimate usage. A customer will know from the wording at the top of their statement whether it is based on an actual or estimated reading.
As soon as we have an accurate reading we can then send the customer a revised statement showing the actual usage.
Whenever we are made aware of a problem or a concern, such as a meter not sending information automatically or showing the wrong time, we will investigate and, where appropriate, make an account adjustment to ensure a customer is not over- or under-charged.
To check the time on a meter, customers can press the button, which will be either green or orange, and scroll through the display options until they see the date and time. We urge people not to attempt to fix or reset the clock themselves as it does require a trained member of our metering team. There is also advice about reading your meter in the customer information section on our website at www.electricity.gg
If any customer is concerned about their bill or believes their meter clock is incorrect then they can contact us on 200700.
