£10,000 domestic electricity bill!

[ColinJ]

A friend rang me in a panic the other day, having received an electricity bill for over £10,000! I told her that there was clearly a mistake and not to worry, it would be sorted out.

She said that she was worried that something might be wrong with her wiring causing massive electricity consumption, but I reassured her that even if she had every socket in the building powering electric heaters flat out 24/7, it would be impossible to use that amount of electricity. Was her flat unbearably hot? No - good! The meter reading must be incorrect - due to either a faulty meter or to a faulty reading of an accurate meter.

It seems that the problem was caused by somebody somehow misreading the first digit to be an 8, instead of a 9, something like that. As a result, npower's software blindly assumed that the reading had 'wrapped round' and happily calculated that ridiculous bill.

It's a damn good job that it wasn't a vulnerable old person who received that bill!

What I want to know is this ... How is it in 2012, that somebody specifies a system so poor that it doesn't flag up a problem like that, and what self-respecting programmer would blindly implement it without insisting that some sensible range-checking be included?

 

[dan_bo]

Are you sure she's not wired up to a skunk farm the size of rawtenstall?

 

[ColinJ]

Are you sure she's not wired up to a skunk farm the size of rawtenstall?

Well, there must be a few in this area - I almost got high walking back from the shops this morning, there was such a smell of skunk hanging in the air, and I'm not talking about the smelly black and white animal!

 

[asterix]

Are you sure she's not wired up to a skunk farm the size of rawtenstall?

You are too wise to the ways of the world! It worries me..

 

[subaqua]

A friend rang me in a panic the other day, having received an electricity bill for over £10,000! I told her that there was clearly a mistake and not to worry, it would be sorted out.

She said that she was worried that something might be wrong with her wiring causing massive electricity consumption, but I reassured her that even if she had every socket in the building powering electric heaters flat out 24/7, it would be impossible to use that amount of electricity. Was her flat unbearably hot? No - good! The meter reading must be incorrect - due to either a faulty meter or to a faulty reading of an accurate meter.

It seems that the problem was caused by somebody somehow misreading the first digit to be an 8, instead of a 9, something like that. As a result, npower's software blindly assumed that the reading had 'wrapped round' and happily calculated that ridiculous bill.

It's a damn good job that it wasn't a vulnerable old person who received that bill!

What I want to know is this ... How is it in 2012, that somebody specifies a system so poor that it doesn't flag up a problem like that, and what self-respecting programmer would blindly implement it without insisting that some sensible range-checking be included?

we have a 2 tariff meter and the meter reader came round 2 weeks ago and read it . he got tariff 1 and 2 mixed up and we ended up with the £80 credit that has already built up this year being wiped out and a huge debt built up .

normally its around 900 units per tariff but the bill showed 1800 ish on the more expensive and only 64 on the cheaper rate. I did question what software doesn't have a self check if it doesn't follow a normal bill pattern and asked what would have happened at next bill when the correct readings were applied. would i have ended up with a £20K bill ? i was dismayed to hear from EDF that yes it would have had a bill created for that amount.

 

[Arch]

we have a 2 tariff meter and the meter reader came round 2 weeks ago and read it . he got tariff 1 and 2 mixed up and we ended up with the £80 credit that has already built up this year being wiped out and a huge debt built up .

normally its around 900 units per tariff but the bill showed 1800 ish on the more expensive and only 64 on the cheaper rate. I did question what software doesn't have a self check if it doesn't follow a normal bill pattern and asked what would have happened at next bill when the correct readings were applied. would i have ended up with a £20K bill ? i was dismayed to hear from EDF that yes it would have had a bill created for that amount.

I have to do my own readings for npower, and I'm always afraid I'll mix the two up, and double or triple check them at every stage!

Sadly, the more we (as a society) use computers, the more we assume they must be right. 'Computer says no..." sort of thing.

 

[Night Train]

Are you sure she's not wired up to a skunk farm the size of rawtenstall?

I have to do my own readings for npower, and I'm always afraid I'll mix the two up, and double or triple check them at every stage!

Have you checked your meter readings recently?

 

[dan_bo]

You are too wise to the ways of the world! It worries me..

Couple of summers ago there was a bust in the unit next to where I work- four cop cars and a couple of vans etc... apparently a guy (the caretaker, I suppose) jumped through the front window to escape. Once the cops had finished thier investigation they let us have a look around- quite impressive, I suppose. loads of ducting, plastic sheeting, and timber. The caretaker had a little room to one side with a bed, a telly, a fridge and a cooker. Desperate way to live.

Anyroad up, I got loads and loads of decent high quality compost for the allotment.

 

[rualexander]

I worked as a meter reader for a few months ten years ago for Scottish Power and at that time the data loggers we used wouldn't just accept a reading that was improbable, it would beep and you had to enter the reading again.

 

[Arch]

Have you checked your meter readings recently?

No, I think I'm ok, I think my neighbour was merely dealing, not growing

Mind you, if the cops come sniffing round my windowboxes....



...they'll smell Basil.

 

[dan_bo]

Mind you, if the cops come sniffing round my windowboxes....



...they'll smell Basil.

Ah Basil- classic cover up herb.....

 

[ColinJ]

I worked as a meter reader for a few months ten years ago for Scottish Power and at that time the data loggers we used wouldn't just accept a reading that was improbable, it would beep and you had to enter the reading again.

This problem was caused by an incorrect reading by a customer, but it is so obvious that these things happen that I assumed that the supplier's software would flag such anomalies to be checked by a manager.

Mind you, if the cops come sniffing round my windowboxes....

...they'll smell Basil.

A Fawlty reading, rather than a faulty reading?

 

[carolonabike]

We had our meter changed about 5 years ago from imperial to metric and changed suppliers shortly afterwards. Due to a mixup the meter was still on record as being imperial so we were paying three times as much as we should have been. Mr Carolonabike was constantly complaining about the size of our bill, we already had cavity insulation and double glazing but we added lots of extra insulation in the loft, under floor heating, pipe lagging etc. It became a bit of an obsession for him especially when prices started to rise! It was only due to a sharp eyed meter reader earlier this year that the mistake was noticed. All credit to Scottish Power, once they confirmed the mistake we got a cheque the same week for £5,000. Now I can have the house as warm as I like

 

[Paulus]

My dad had a similar mix up and recieved a huge bill. The problem was that a month or so before, the electric company had installed a new meter, set at zero. The meter reader read the new meter and entered the correct reading, but the electric company had not informed the then Eastern Electicity of the old reading on the old meter. He got a bill of £2050. This was for the old reading 3 months back and the reading of the new meter. It took a while to sort out but we got there in the end, a bill for £30.

 

[Oxo]

We get both gas and electricity from e-on. The meters are side by side and when the gas meter was last read the reader refused to read the electricity meter. We then got a gas bill and an estinated bill for the electric.