weird electricity bill

[Pandora]

Last night we got our quarterly electricity bill. I was scared but interested to open it, as its the first real one since we moved in to the house in mid November.

Anyway, when I opened it and saw a grand total of about $48 I knew something was wrong.

They seem to have only charged us for the service fees, not usage..there was no before/after readings on there, all those values were just zeroes.

We have had an actual bill before, from when the builders were using the electricity, and obviously the power itself is working.

Should I call them? I really dont want to be hit with 6months worth of bill just as I go on maternity leave..

[catherinemoses]

Yeah I would call them.
Like you say, you don't want to be hit with a massive bill in another 3 mths time.
Be nice if they said it could just be $48!!
GL

[DoubleK]

yeah i would be checking theres no error on there part!
fingers crossed for you that its not, and you have a nice cheap bill lol!!

[feeb]

yeah call them

my brother and his gf didnt get an elect bill for 9 months (they rang numerous times about it) when they did get one it was huge and were told to pay immediatly!! his GF father rang and abused elect company and said they would pay it in instalments as it was companys fault.

[Visitor7]

I'd be calling them, as there must be an error. Otherwise next time they do a reading you'll get a very nasty bill.

[Pandora]

I rang the electricity company
Their records show that the meters have been read but are reading zero. They are sending someone to investigate, and he said to expect a large bill - as it would be all usage since it was connected (incl the builders usage) in August. We moved in, in mid Nov.

He said that in these circumstances they will automatically put it on a payment plan.

I have no idea how they can measure how much we have used if the readings are zero though? It sounds to me like the meter is not measuring how much we have used, so how would they know? They wouldnt want to guess based on other peoples usage, given we're not even home between 7am-6pm most days.

[The[cookie]Doctor]

Far out Rayray, I hope they don't. I would be fuming if mine was measured on average use.
I hope it gets sorted out and you and the company can come to some agreement

[Astrolady]

This happened with our water bill over the time we were getting married. We had 5 people staying with us for our wedding (7 inc us) and we were expecting a huge water bill, with 49 showers in a week and not counting all the times the loo was flushed. Anyway the bill came in and our actual cost of water usage only read $4!!

I rang them and they came out to check and the water meter had packed in, and probably happened not long after our meter was last checked. They never gave us an estimate cause it was no fault of ours, and so we only had to pay the usual other fees and our $4 of water .

[AliBaby]

I would say to them that they should let you use electricity for another 3 months and see what that bill is and that is the estimate that they can use.

[kelebek]

I would also suggest maybe paying something off it so if they do hit you with a big bill it isn't going to hurt as much IYKWIM? and if they don't hit you with a big bill then you might come out even or ahead which would be handy if you are going on maternity leave

[Pandora]

..

I rang them and they came out to check and the water meter had packed in, and probably happened not long after our meter was last checked. They never gave us an estimate cause it was no fault of ours, and so we only had to pay the usual other fees and our $4 of water .

This is more what I was expecting would happen..its not our fault if they've done something thats resulted in our power not being metered.

And yep whoever suggested they should wait another 3 months to get our actual use - if they want to bill us that is what I will be suggesting.

[nic]

This happened with our water bill over the time we were getting married. We had 5 people staying with us for our wedding (7 inc us) and we were expecting a huge water bill, with 49 showers in a week and not counting all the times the loo was flushed. Anyway the bill came in and our actual cost of water usage only read $4!!

I rang them and they came out to check and the water meter had packed in, and probably happened not long after our meter was last checked. They never gave us an estimate cause it was no fault of ours, and so we only had to pay the usual other fees and our $4 of water .

This happened to the IL's as well, and the council came round said the meter was stuffed and even though MIL had been calling them to tell them that their last bill was way off in usage (As in hardly any at all) they told her that they would be doing an estimate and she would be getting a bill....
Hope they don't try to pull one over ya rayray

[Pandora]

Thing is, we dont have a previous bill - we just built the house and moved in so there is nothing to base it on. I wont let them base it ont he old house we lived at, because it had electricla faults and old appliances, air con etc, we should be using less power in this place.

[Visitor8]

I am pretty sure it's well within your rights to refuse an estimate going on old power bills. If they try then ring the ombudsman