advise please

[Tillysocute]

i have a prepayment gas meter with ebico and 3 wks ago i had £19.60 credit on my meter..i still have that amount showing???? I have used my gas,i have water and heating on all the time,and i can see the dail going round but the amont of credit has not moved...

 

I know ebico is cheaper but not free lol........... Who do i contact about this i dont want to be hit with a huge bill................

[silverfox1961]

well colour me happy, my meter is doing the same thing and I'm with ebico too. I think it's to do with the recent price rise. I tried to ring them yesterday and was kept on hold for ages so I emailed Southern Electric instead as they look after the meters. I've been topping up my meter since the summer and it's now at £56.08 and not moving???

I really don't want to get into arrears but as I can't tell how much gas I'm using, is the amount I put on every fortnight being used up and then going into my reserve fund.

 

fox

[silverfox1961]

By the way, the number Ebico gave me is 0845 7444 555

 

fox

[flyingdoc]

I would immediately phone ebico on 0800 096 6344 (customer services) and tell them the problem.

 

I would also get a biscuit tin and start putting the money that you would be spending on gas (you must have an idea what your usual useage is) in to it and make sure it stays there.

 

THe meter is obviously faulty but that will not stop them presenting you with the bill when its due.

 

Do it sooner rather than later.

[silverfox1961]

HI,

got a letter from Ebico today explaining the problem. Our meters have been accidentally changed to credit meters.

All we need to do is top up our gas card and insert it into the meter. this should reset the meter back to prepayment.

If this doesn't work they have given a freephone number to call

it's 0800 980 0427.

cheers

 

fox

[Karen W]

Hi, I also have an ebico gas meter and have only just changed over from Npower, who had messed up the credit/debt on the meter that much that Ebico had to send a big credit onto the card to sort it, so I thought it was all to do with that.

 

I have spoken to a lady at Southern Electric today who says that any debt built up on the meter due to it not working correctly is not payable by the customer as it is Ebico's mistake and as long as you top up by the 1st December by at least £1.00 the mistake will be rectified and you will start prepaying again, I replied with does that mean that if I hammer my gas useage up to the 1 December I will not get charged for it, she laughed and said basically yes - My advice is to take a meter reading on the 1st December to make sure that if a bill does arrive you can point out where the mistake was.

 

I then asked if I decided to have a credit meter instead how do I go about it and she said that I should ring them on the 1st December with a meter reading and that I would start being on a credit meter from the 1st December with either a bill or a monthly direct debit plan.

 

One thing I found incredible was that when I was with Npower, they told me that it would cost me £100 to change my meter over from a prepayment to a credit meter but astonishingly it looks like it can be done just like that!!!!

[silverfox1961]

Interesting letter Karen. I'll be topping my meter up this week as I prefer the prepayment option but it just goes to show how easy it really is to swap from prepayment to credit. I just hope that when I top up my meter the credit I've built up over the summer won't be wiped out. If it does the poo will hit the fan:D I'll be following your advice too. When I top up my meter, I'll take a reading, just in case.

 

fox

[Karen W]

I know what you mean, in some ways I do actually prefer a prepayment meter as I like the fact that I don't get a bill and can budget better.

 

However, I remember last year the problems my local shop had with their top up machine and the times I had to go to bed freezing with no gas. It made me start thinking a credit meter on direct debit maybe a better option, I just have to make sure that the DD covers the payments.

 

Plus if it is so easy to change from prepay to credit and vice versa then I can always go back again - they have shown that it can be done just like that!!

[Bigmac versus]

Its not that easy to swap a pre-pay to a credit meter as the supplier has costs to consider. Regarding missing the local shop or havng a faulty machine: why dont you keep £20 on a spare card at all times, you can obtain one from your supplier if you report losing yours.