Aibu to assume topping up prepay meters is available 24/7?

[nibblingandbiting]

Browsing twitter and I came across a string of posts to utility company, paypoint and even ofgem about prepayment meters.

The poster had run out of energy after 11pm and was left in a position of having the money but no way of topping up as no where was open.

The op was asking if they should work together with stores to ensure topups could be done 24/7.

As a result the op had the cash, but nowhere to top up for the night and even mentioned vulnerability within the posts. I have spoken to the person through Dm who screenshotted the live chat and again vulnerablities was mentioned.

Cs has been shocking and keeps telling the op to basically get financial advice. Even though the op points out this is a mute point.

So aibu to think that we should be able to top up energy 24/7? I am actually surprised that you cannot and have come very close myself over the years of running out over night.
Or is the company correct in its stance of tough, get financial advice and topup during normal hours. There’s no excuse to run out.

I don’t know when the emergency was triggered. Could have been done During the night or ex occupant. Money when emergency was triggered might not have been available either.

The circumstances for this to happen are so specific that I really can't imagine it's a problem big enough to need a solution. OP went into his or her emergency credit, used it all up without topping up at the first available opportunity and now desperately needs electricity between - what - 10pm and 8am, maybe, and can't wait for the shop to open? It's not even winter.

British Gas and Eon both don't do online tip ups for PAYG meters. Have just switched suppliers as I was fed up about not having to do this.

They completely used up their emergency power, they should have topped up ages ago.

Yes emergency credit might’ve been triggered at night but the point is, having triggered it, it’s the persons responsibility to top up at the first available opportunity!

There does come a point where you need to stop blaming the company/other people and take a bit of personal responsibility for your own choices and actions

They chose not to top up despite knowing you’d triggered emergency credit. They are to blame here not the electricity company.

Topping up should never become bottom of your list of priorities. Especially if you've already activated emergency credit. Surely then it becomes top priority to get a top up, no matter what personal things are going on? We've recently moved into a private rent with prepay metres. I check them every morning, trying to gage how much we'll be using monthly. If ever I checked it and thought that won't last me until tomorrow, then I'd be straight to the shop asap. It's your responsibility to make sure you stay topped up unfortunately. The vast majority of people manage without needing to top up in the middle of the night.

I actually thought you could top-up pre-meters in 24 hour newsagents/petrol stations?

I've done it way back when I was an irresponsible teenager to whom getting pissed was more important than topping up the key meter. I have fond memories of dragging my pissed mates to the local garage at 4am in the morning, clutching a bottle of vodka and a handful of £ coins between us because I'd run out of power. I'm actually surprised we didn't get arrested for drinking in public, we did it so often and made no attempts to hide our vodka. My key meter had a habit of switching off in the wee hours of Sunday morning.

My friend met her ex-husband when we were out to get power one night. He was a taxi driver and offered us a free lift home.

Do they not do that anymore or did the OP not have any 24 hour pay points near him?

I'd understand their point of view if there wasn't already the safety net of emergency credit. Even if the person had only just moved in they should have contacted the electricity company immediately they got their moving in date to make sure the electricity company could get the meter reset to clear any emergency credit and/or debt run up by the previous occupant. If the person themselves doesn't make their own electricity supply a priority to sort out then why should anyone else?

I'm with British Gas, and have been for ages, as they were one of the first to offer payment via pc.
I changed over to their smart meters, where you can top up by pc, app, or shop. Both meters have emergency also if you totally run out after a certain time on a night or weekend it doesn't cut off until a time when the shops would be open.

It's all part of adulting I'm afraid. This situation is like driving you car and running out of petrol then blaming the petrol stations for it.

If you don't like the payment options your supplier offers, switch suppliers to one that meets your requirements.

If you don't want to run out of electricity or gas then top them up especially if you are using your emergency credit!!!

My meter doesn't have emergency credit. As soon as it hits £0.00 it shuts off. I try and remember to top it up but occasionally I go out and forget to top up on the way home - then use dryer (in winter for example) and washer and use the oven and that's that £1 gone.

I have a pre-paid meter for gas and electric, both have £5 emergency credit on them , but mine would only last about 12 hours if i used it ( emergency gas / lecy is a higher tariff than standard ) it has been a very long time since I have had to use it due to one night when I did need it I found out that all of my local shops that are open till 11pm/12 am turn the machines off at about 8pm .
Since then I have always made sure I have at least £5 on each .
It is the home owners responsibility to make sure they have credit not the providers.
Can you imagine the response you would get from BP / Esso etc if you phoned them to say your car had run out of fuel and can they pay for some until you can get to a open petrol station.

cross post with drDougie

I work for an energy company and have done for 15 years. I now work in prepayment.

The situation you describe is not one I have ever cone across.

£5 electricity emergency would last a couple of days unless they are running huge amounts of electric (talking things like heat lamps for growing cannabis).

I would suggest that you haven't been given all the information.

Which energy company is this?

If the poster lives where they say (on Twitter) then there are two 24 hour Paypoint stores in the area.

Also their supplier offers £6 emergency credit.

There's more to this story than the OP is telling us/ knows.

Never ran out of electric over night even when used emergency it doesn't.

When I lived in a place with prepayment meters it often went off during the night. The nearest place to top-up was a bus ride away, not within walking distance. The energy provider kept changing when they took the standing charge. Being on a low income means that sometimes emergencies arise when you have to change priorities. It goes with the territory. If a shop with a machine for topping-up is open, the machine should be switched on. What is so hard about that?
I think a few people are being very self-righteous and judgemental about this - congratulating yourself on being so perfect in every way whilst blaming others for their poor management and planning is really easy. What you are doing is passing judgement on people whose circumstances you do not actually know - which is lazy and thoughtless.

For me the wow isn’t about the ops circumstances. It’s about not knowing that this is t something available 24/7. We can get a bar of chocolate or a bottle of vodka at 2am but energy not a chance even though stores are open.
As well as reading the response form Cs I’ve also checked on their website and there is nothing to say oi mate don’t be a fuck up, sort ya shit out and top up before 11 or whatever. Instead the convenience of local store top up is mentioned.

But there are two shops in the area that do offer the 24 hour service, as well as the emergency credit. Maybe she should try living outside a city where we don't have access to 24 hour shops at all.

Absolutely does cut out overnight.

Switch to a smart meter for free then you can top up from your phone, sorted.

this use to happen with me with npower. they didnt have friendly credit dont know if thats changed. it was around 5 years ago. so now i have a smart metre so i can top up online or by phone. but npower definitely didnt do friendly credit at the time..

@Bombardier25966 is there really?
I’ve seen the screen shots and
They were took in a way that shows the entire conversation with on line chat. The supplier couldn’t find anything open. The person even asked about neighbouring boroughs.

Those saying it’s impossible that the supply
Would run out. If it didn’t don’t you think the supplier wouldn’t say so? The supplier hasn’t denied anything the person is saying. .

Pay point do stop accepting payments at certain hours. Its for updating and taking the days reports.

Again which energy company is this because they should have just told the customer that.

Edf and no this wasn’t mentioned. From the live chat the cs person claimed to look for places even extending this. However from what bombardier is saying there was stores open that cs didn’t mention

At no point during the tweets have edf not paypoint said well actually the points would have been closed. Instead edf have repeatedly told the op to budget better in several different ways.