Gas meter issues advice needed

[webby999]

I have been having problems with gas meter readings since changing to Npower in Dec 2011

 

I provided a reading over the phone when service started which was aprox 07800

 

Have a monthly DD and didn't check it that closely until the DD was suddenly increased to £400 a month, when I queried this it blamed on massive gas usage and turned out the initial reading had been set as aprox 77500

 

I disputed the readings and opened a complaint (or so I thought at the time) after 8 weeks of waiting they sent an engineer who agreed with my reading.

 

I was then advised that due to a new billing system it would take some time to resolve, but my billing would be frozen in the meantime.

 

After waiting another month and no resolution I opened a complaint with the ombudsman, then I discovered my complaint wasn't logged as a formal complaint so I had to start again.

 

I logged a complaint but also started to move supplier (to coop)

 

During the transfer the coop contacted me to say they couldn't find the meter allocated to my address and could I supply the serial number, this I did.

 

Last month February 1st, my service moved to the new supplier and I provided a gas reading, also in feb I had letters from Npower saying they were still investigating and the delay was due to the new billing system.

 

Today I get an email from npower to say a new bill has been produced, I log onto the website to check and find the wrong readings re-instated and even the reading taken by the engineer has been overwritten and a final bill (covering 3 months) with £2000 of gas usage (its only used for central heating).

 

This evening I have checked my account with the coop and the initial reading has also been overwritten with an incorrect value!

 

 

Can someone tell me if its possible there are 2 meters with the same serial number? Is there a database anywhere that this can be looked up?

 

 

Any other advice appreciated.

[Jonsey1986]

Hi

 

Yes there is a database. It's called ECOES and all suppliers have access, you could also contact your distribution board for the area. Just google electric distribution board ........ Your county.

 

Hope this basic info helps

 

Regards

[nottslad]

Jonsey - ECOES is for electricity supplied. The gas equivalent is XOserve / Rainbow. Customers cannot access this, however suppliers can.

 

Webby - it may be an idea to send a letter of complaint to NPower with a photo of the meter, showing the serial number and reading.

 

Are the serial numbers on your invoices correct? If not, the meter may have been changed in the past and the systems not updated, hence the Coop inheriting wrong data.

 

It would be an idea to contact the COOP straight away and tell them the read is wrong, and give them an up to date read. It maybe that because NPower have passed on incorrect info to the organisation which looks after the meter reads (Meter Read Agency) the opening read you gave would have been rejected as it is so different.

 

Coop then need to raise a Supplier Agreed Read to NPOWER. This will then amend your opening read with coop and the closing read with npower.

 

Hope this helps...