vole Posted June 13, 2007 Report Share Posted June 13, 2007 I live in a modern 2 up 2 down.me and Mrs working so out alot.Got 8yr old girl. Central heating on 7 hrs a day in winter.Got modern combi boiler.6 radiators and 2 of them turned off as it gets too hot.I am really bad with checking bills and thought I was paying �110 per quarter but **** myself to find that was my MONTHLY payment.Have been paying that for over a year.Have done meter readings and talked to retired neighbours who pay �30 for gas.The company concerned say they owe me nothing .have gone to a new supplier who are taking �30 now.Anybody else feel mugged by the utility companies? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
verminer Posted June 13, 2007 Report Share Posted June 13, 2007 I live in a modern 2 up 2 down.me and Mrs working so out alot.Got 8yr old girl. Central heating on 7 hrs a day in winter.Got modern combi boiler.6 radiators and 2 of them turned off as it gets too hot.I am really bad with checking bills and thought I was paying ?110 per quarter but **** myself to find that was my MONTHLY payment.Have been paying that for over a year.Have done meter readings and talked to retired neighbours who pay ?30 for gas.The company concerned say they owe me nothing .have gone to a new supplier who are taking ?30 now.Anybody else feel mugged by the utility companies? same thing happened to me, i was payin £30 a month and then they put it up to £85 and like you i did not check the bills so i paid it for 5 mths, then one day british gas came knocking for business and it was then that they explained that i should only be paying approx £25/£30 a mnth. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JDFrain Posted June 13, 2007 Report Share Posted June 13, 2007 Gas prices are allways going up and down and we are all getting fleeced for it, my advice is to shop about there are some good companys that do dual fuel pricing that can work out a little cheaper. being a corgi gas man myself i somtimes wonder if people have the smallest of leaks that they do not know about but consequently are paying for come accross this very often, so if you open a cupoard door for example and get a waft of gas get it checked out, also burner pressures on boilers a gas man should make sure these are set correctly or you could be burning to much. all worth thinking about if the bills dont start to drop. Insulate those pipes update old radiators for modern convectors (retain heat longer so boiler switched of earlier) cavity wall insulation etc etc Drink more whisky and wear another wooley jumper......... thats what i do no wonder the wife left john Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LEFTY478 Posted June 13, 2007 Report Share Posted June 13, 2007 Try a utillies price comparison website, like Uswitch.com the difference between best and worst is often eye watering. The site's very easy to use and lets you compare all the suppliers available in your area. You can arrange a switch of supplier on-line (usually takes about 5-6 weeks to complete) and all you'll need do is read your gas & elecy meters' just before the switch day. However, loyality is not rewarded, so don't do it once and then forget about it - recheck their site every few months to see if you're still getting the best price and if not, chop & change again - after all, it costs you nothing and apart from taking a meter reading, you don't even have to get off your ar$e. Perfect for Armchair bargin hunters! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr W Posted June 13, 2007 Report Share Posted June 13, 2007 I was quite happily paying £37 a month for both and had been for a while, then suddenly I'm landed with a £186 bill for a shortfall and they wanted to put it up to £70 a month??? Haven't done anythign about it yet as I'm lazy. There's only 2 of us in a flat and both out during the day so should be dirt cheap. I'm going to one of those switching web sites right now to get a better deal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JDFrain Posted June 13, 2007 Report Share Posted June 13, 2007 Dr W bloody hell mate is your flat a ten bedroom your being well fleeced there john Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Evil Elvis Posted June 13, 2007 Report Share Posted June 13, 2007 I recently got told by british gas that i owed them 5k!!!! For the last 5 years they were reading my day readings as night and night as day!!!!! Unlike Vole 21, I have 200 reptiles in a huge custom built shed that does use electric, but it has £1000 worth of insulation!!! I have been to energy watch and negotiated with them, its now down to £1600 and its going to the energy onbundsman soon!!!! They saw even though its thier cock up, we used the electric. So basically, for 5 years they have had people reading it, a different one evey time and not one of the ba*t*rds could get it right! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tuck1 Posted June 13, 2007 Report Share Posted June 13, 2007 www.moneysavingexpert.co.uk Spend some time here, it can save a fortune on all sorts. (Sorry don't know how to post a link) No affiliation by the way, just a great site that has saved me lots of cash! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr W Posted June 13, 2007 Report Share Posted June 13, 2007 What's more depressing is that after being on two websites I've been told I'm on the best package??? So my annual gas and electric for a two bedroom flat is £574 or £48 per month, time to start turning off the TV and other items on standby, wearing wooly jumpers, turning off spare radiators etc, well at least it's summer now so bills should drop. Time to get myself a solar panel, wind turbine and a wood burning stove I think. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pav Posted June 13, 2007 Report Share Posted June 13, 2007 It’s disgusting how they get away with it. Several of my bills started creeping up so I called them all up including BT and Powergen and got them all down by £15 - £30 a month, saved myself about £90 a month just spending an hour or so b*tching to them all. I remember the man at BT saying ‘I will take it down to £25 is that ok for you? Is that ok??? £0 would be ok but I am clearly going to have to pay something so just put it at what your lowest rate is – You would think your dealing with dodgy Dave at a car boot not a global company. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chunk Posted June 13, 2007 Report Share Posted June 13, 2007 I`ve had problems with water in the past. I`m a skinflint, so i keep a watch on water usage. We have water meters and were paying 40 quid for six months which i thought was good value However, i had a bill come through asking for an additional 60 quid and a few pence. Estimated, as they had replaced the meter and it was reading wrong. I rang the water company suggesting that as it was their fault, and they really had no idea how much i owed, they should "take it on the chin" and put it down to experience. I also said how can an estimated bill contain "pence" as its an estimate. The slightly hysterical woman said i had to pay the bill"everyone has to pay for water". Clearly. But how was the estimated bill worked out. Unable to talk sense to someone on the phone i wrote to head office outlining the fact that although it turned out the meter was under reading they had no idea of the amount payable using a formula mentioned as it was an average, and my circumstances were possibly different. I offered to pay 20 quid as a goodwill gesture to resolve the matter. Which was accepted. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wookie Posted June 13, 2007 Report Share Posted June 13, 2007 Meters are the way forward with water. my GF gets hammered by Anglian because she doesn't have one. As for gas and leccy, I spend about 30 a month ont he two combined, but then I'm not really in much and only really sleep in the house. Ah, the joy of living on your own and working in IT. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mungler Posted June 13, 2007 Report Share Posted June 13, 2007 Okay, I am becoming a bit of an expert on this - I have a client that has been presented with a £50k + bill from an electricty supplier who had accidentally been undercharging them for the last 4 years. Read this: http://www.energywatch.org.uk/help_and_adv...ics/index.asp#2 My invoice is in the post Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
al4x Posted June 13, 2007 Report Share Posted June 13, 2007 I live in a modern 2 up 2 down.me and Mrs working so out alot.Got 8yr old girl. Central heating on 7 hrs a day in winter.Got modern combi boiler.6 radiators and 2 of them turned off as it gets too hot.I am really bad with checking bills and thought I was paying �110 per quarter but **** myself to find that was my MONTHLY payment.Have been paying that for over a year.Have done meter readings and talked to retired neighbours who pay �30 for gas.The company concerned say they owe me nothing .have gone to a new supplier who are taking �30 now.Anybody else feel mugged by the utility companies? gas has gone up a lot so what you need to do is to get your old bills and get the meter reading to find out whats going on. If your meter reading tallies with the bills you then need to check your boiler as there is a chance its faulty and stomping through gas but gas has at least doubled in price and if you were with British gas there is a chance your £110 per quarter has jumped up to nearly that per month, but it seems very very strange, but you need actual figures so you know what gas you actually have used Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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