Archive for SSE Swalec

What a difference a fortnight makes…

Posted in Biographical, Cardiff with tags , , on September 30, 2022 by telescoper

Regular readers of this blog (Sid and Doris Bonkers) will recall that a couple of weeks ago I complained about a ridiculous gas bill. Well, a fortnight (and a lot of hassle) later, SSE have at last decided to use the real meter reading instead of the absurd estimate, with the result that my bill has changed slightly:

How it started
How it went

That’s a difference of £86,444.90. I’d call that a result.

The story doesn’t end there, however, as I have yet to persuade SSE to actually give me the (almost) thousand pounds they owe me. They seem to think they should just keep it as an interest free loan to offset future payments.

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Why you shouldn’t pay by Direct Debit

Posted in Biographical, Cardiff with tags , on September 17, 2022 by telescoper

When I visited Cardiff recently one of the things I did was read the electricity and gas meters (and take photographs of both as proof of the accuracy of the readings. It was only when logged onto the SSE website to enter the numbers that I realised a bill had already been issued (on 1st September) for the amount above.

I know gas has got more expensive, but really…

The bill above is based on an ESTIMATED reading for three months in the summer for an empty house. The energy company know that the house is unoccupied but nevertheless chose to produce an estimate of the amount of gas used that is orders of magnitude higher than any amount I have ever used there, even when the house was occupied in the depths of winter. The reading I took shows that the amount of gas used since the last reading was minimal. I uploaded the reading as soon as I could but am yet to receive a corrected bill.

Why they have come up with such a ridiculous figure is beyond me, but it did make me glad that I don’t pay this bill by direct debit. If I did so I would have been charged automatically which would have emptied my bank account (and more) and caused all kinds of problem with payments for other services.

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