Huge Gas Bill

Maximus152

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173
Hi all. I have just recieved my Bi-monthly gas Bill, in winter it would usaully be at the 200 Euro mark. The one previosly was 235 Euro. This current bill was for 451 Euro, I know we had a cold snap, and I checked meter and called Gas Board, they can find no issue. Still I am gobsmacked by this, did I miss something or is this the norm for a 4 bed home? If this is the norm throughout winter I getting Oil asap! 450 Euro per Bi monthly is completely unsustainable.... I must be emtying the off shore reserves,if so appoligies as I had not intended.


Maximus152
 
When you say BG found no issue. What did they do?

Have you serviced boiler recently?
Has you gas installation pipework been tested for leaks?
 
There was an item on Joe Duffy (i know!! im sad) but it went on for a couple of days and your not alone. hundreds if not more people phoned and emailed in with similar and worse complaints similar to yours. Dont know how it finished though.
 
Good questions Davy, I did geta service last year! as I have the free Hotel coupon I got as a bonus. Gas Board did nothing, the lady asked me to check my meter, she said well "its what your using and costs of units", so I what could I say. No leak test have been done since I was home owner.., in the house 4 years. Mind you always hear the gas coming in, sounds like water flowing at the meter, Im sure thats the norm.
 
Wife, I tend to agree, the reason why I was wondering is because a few days before a neigbhour said to me his bill this month was like 500 Euro and I was like...my Gawd you must have had it on 24/7... but he was in the same mind set..denial maybe ...but there seems to be something else we have missed. I can only say its a 1st! Never have I had any bill even close to this...of any Utility.
 
A crude way to test (and it is pretty crude) before you go to bed take down number of meter..esp red last digit. Ensure all gas using appliances are off over night. Check meter in morning.

Best to get it serviced to ensure that it is burning the right amount of gas. As part of the service you will get a leak test done. So I will assume it was tested last year atleast.

Also it is a good idea to pull out all bills and compare useage to price.
 
Davy, well that sounds like good sensible advice even if crude I can mange to do that test I am sure. In the red box there is 3 digits (far right), the last one is currently between 9 and I think a 0... is this the one you mean. What I mean is the meter looks like this.. 08532 390 do I use the 1st block of numbers or the last block, I assume you mean last block (333), Im sorry but me and the Gas meter are new aquiantances.
 
maximus152 when i moved out of a house a few years ago i rang the gas and gave them my final reading, when i received my final bill i nearly dropped dead with a heart attack......wait for it ........€1900.

When we moved in it was the summer really didn't need to use that much and we had 1 actual reading, over the period of the next 2 years all we had was estimates so they were under charging us every 2 months. Because the bills were always around the same amount i never bother to actually check the estimated reading with what my meter actual said.

Maybe this has happened to you, the last reading was an estimate and this reading was the actual reading.

I was lucky because the gas company did "kind of admit" that we should of had more that 1 actual reading at some stage in the 2 years that we lived there, and allowed us to pay them back at what we were able to afford. It took us 7 months to pay it off in full.

Everytime a bill comes now the first thing i do is check it against the meter reading.
 
Our gas bill was over 500 quid this month too which seems excessive. We were getting bills in the wrong name for 6 months. Our first bill was sky high, even though they're only billing us for a six week period. I got a phone call last week acknowledging my complaint but i didn't make a complaint (I should!!!) I think BG are a complete joke
 
SamanthaJane, yes I see where you are coming from. I did nt know you could split the payment. Thats is definetly what I will do, I will ring and tell them to spread it over a longer term, they can not say no ..I hope.


Maximus152
Learn something new every day!
 
Max....apart from checking for leaks/errors etc, it is definately possible to spread you payments (SJ's issue was different as she was allowed to pay the back amount due over a period of time.....BG are generally OK about this as they want to get paid).

When you finish that you can arrange to have "averaged" payments (don't know what the correct name is). basically they will charge you the same amount each month based on previous bills/usage....so rather than having a bill of €100 in summer & €200 in winter, they will take €150 each time. It's a help with budgeting....but still worth checking your bills. I think you might have to be on DD for this.
 
wel they might say no lol i think it was only so easy for me because 1) they admitted that i should never have gone 2 years without a proper reading ( i was undercharged for a whole 2 years ) and 2 because the amount was so high.

At first i thought it was a mistake i couldn't believe it came to €1900, also helps if you cry very hard and sob on the phone and plead poverty lol

If you cant afford to pay it all at once i'm sure they will accommodate you, i bet your not the first person that has had a shock after opening this months bill. Try and pay as much as you can and then split the remaining over the next 2/3 months. Just remember you will also have your normal bi-monthly bill to pay as well ( roll on the summer......if we get one this year ) They cant demand that you pay if full if you dont have the money, but what ever you do let them know you wont be paying the full amount of your bill or your'll start getting letters off them. Even when were had arranged to pay back the €1900 over a period of time we stil got weekly letters telling us to please pay the bill. It's not like i was going to forget a €1900 bill!!!! and i wasn't impressed with the letters after we had come to an agreement, and i voiced that on a number of occassions......i just got the same answer it's all computer generated blah blah blah, just on my letters alone i think i used up half a rainforest!!
 
it does indeed sam h lol

Also bring the kids into it as " but i'm a single parent of 2 children, ( sob sob ) i'm struggling enough as is it (sob sob)...."

There are so many that i have used over the years. But it gets the results!!!!! Oh thinking back on all the lies/storys i told, i've gotten away with so much.
 
Sam H, now that is a good idea divide cost over the year, makes perfect sense. SamanthaJane, I agree with you about the sobing but I would be painful to listen,my grovelling is bad enough to my other half if I want something badly (behave) and never works, actaully defeats purpose lol. "Afford to pay" this is the crux of my original post really, well I can afford as I work, but have better much better things to spend my money on especially in one foul swoop, and its amazing they never once mentioned what you 2 ladies have told me about spreading costs and so on. I think this is yet another example of customer relations gone wrong, 1st chance of competition Im signing up double quick.

Maximus152
 
My last bill was 12 times more than I usually pay! It was an estimated reading and I only found out after the direct debit went through because the postman delivered the bill to a neighbours house who only dropped it into me 2 weeks later. Flo gas are refusing to refund me because I didn't call to give the meter reading before the DD went through and my account is active. So they will credit my account, a lot of money! :mad:
 
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