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Original poster

I DONOT F*****G BELIVE THIS

63 replies

NuttyMuffins · 20/04/2007 17:30

As many of you know, I pay for my gas and electric on pre payment meters. I have a card fopr each machine, and I put £5 or £10 credit on them a week.

I was sick of not being able to get credit due to machines not working and so I rang Npower and asked if I culd have it changed, they agreed and someone was due out tody.

So about 1pm a bloke knocks the door and says he can't do my meter as there is a technical fault. Wasn't best pleased, but he said someone might be out later or tommorow so I said fine and he left.

Fast forward to 4 o clock, and another van apperas and out gets a rather more officla looking bloke and work mate. He knocks the door, I answer, and he asks me how long I have lived here, neraly 3 years replies me, why ?? Because the meter has been tampered with and guess who is prime suspect number 1 ?? ME.

I obviously tells the bloke I had no clue it had been tampered with, and that I put credit on it regularly etc and he has said that yeah thats great but on Monday I have to ring my energy supplier and try and convince them I knew nothing about it. They will have record of all of my payments but because i sometimes only put small amounts on apparently I could have just been doing that to make it look like i didn't know.

I asked him why I would call someone out to change my meter if I knew it had been tampered with. Basically all it is is a red wire that comes out of one hole in the bottom of the meter and goes into another hole (yep that easy). Yes i knew the wire was there, but how the hell was I to know it shouldn't be there. If i had done it, then i'd have removed it wouldn't I, not left it in for electric bloke to see.

He said the fact that it has been 3 years isn't good and he also questioned wether the meter had been read, which is obviously has as I get statements. He said the meter reader should of noticed it but they didn't. So in 3 years not one meter reader has spotted this. If they don't know what a tampered machine looks like how the hell would I ?

I have to ring Npower on monday and they will then decide wether I have comitted the offence. If they decide I have then I have to pay for the visit from the bloke today, damage to the old machine and any electric they think I have had but not paid for.
Oh and they now won't change my meter to a normal one until this is all sorted out. I had to have another pre payment meter installed or have my electric cut off.

So yet again, here I am with a battle on my hand to prove I am not guilty of something.

I am so fucking sick of all this shit.

OP posts:
SparklyGothKat · 20/04/2007 17:32

but surely if you had tampered with it, you would never pay a penny, I take it that the credit goes down?

collision · 20/04/2007 17:33

Oh Nutty

Tell them you are not an electrician and you would never tamper with something like this for fear of electrocuting yourself!!

They just want someone to blame.

I would be cross too.

Dont let it spoil the weekend.

Hilllary · 20/04/2007 17:33

did you keep your receipts when you got your gas/electric? do you have a card you put it on? that would be proof

phlickmabean · 20/04/2007 17:35

not so, if you have a bit of nouse about yersel' you stick £5 in instead of £20

keeps them off your back.

how much are you paying weekly with the meters?

SparklyGothKat · 20/04/2007 17:36

have both meters been tampered with?

Original poster
NuttyMuffins · 20/04/2007 17:36

I don't have the reciepts no. I normally only keep them until i put the card in the machine and the credit goes on.

Yep the credit goes down, but apparently had it run out, and out of emergency credit the electric would have still stayed on. It did do this a couple of times but it was at night and the machines are set to stay on between 8pm and 8am incase you cannot get credit at night so it staying on was normal as far as i was concerned and i would then get up next morning, go and put more credit on and it would take back whatever you had used through the night.

OP posts:
Original poster
NuttyMuffins · 20/04/2007 17:37

The gas meter was changed a while back and nothing was mentioned so i assume that ws ok.

OP posts:
Original poster
NuttyMuffins · 20/04/2007 17:37

I normally put £5 on twice a week on the days i get paid.

OP posts:
charliecat · 20/04/2007 17:37

OFGS Nutty Youve been getting statements and everything? What a fecking nightmare. Im going to check my meters actually, the woman who lived here before me didnt pay for water..

Original poster
NuttyMuffins · 20/04/2007 17:38

The bloke was nice enough to me but he said obviously everyone says they didn't do it.

OP posts:
SparklyGothKat · 20/04/2007 17:38

but surely they can prove that you only used the elctric that you paid for.

charliecat · 20/04/2007 17:39

And youve been shivering your nuts off all winter. Fecks sake.

SherlockLGJ · 20/04/2007 17:40

Nutty

Is there any chance your XP meddled and didn't tell you ?

Original poster
NuttyMuffins · 20/04/2007 17:40

Well I dunno Sparkly, i dunno how it works.

The bloke said that what would happen is that some of the electric i used would have been paid for, but then some would have gone through this wire and not been paid for.

OP posts:
SherlockLGJ · 20/04/2007 17:40

Becuase if it wasn't your XP it sure as hell was not you.

SparklyGothKat · 20/04/2007 17:41

LGJ What would be the point of her ex doing it and not telling her seeing that Nutty was paying for the electric every week???

Original poster
NuttyMuffins · 20/04/2007 17:41

LGJ nope, the wire has always been there, like i said i knew it was there, but it's a red piece of wiore hanging out of an electrical machine, why would i think that odd ??

OP posts:
hunkermunker · 20/04/2007 17:42

I know people who did this when they were students. Big feck off bit of wire across the meter. Bloody dangerous, I was told. Hope you get it sorted, Nutty. Buggeration it's on a Friday - can't you contact anyone tomorrow morning about it rather than wait till Monday?

SherlockLGJ · 20/04/2007 17:44

SGK

It is possible that when they were together and things were better that he may have been more hands on.

Original poster
NuttyMuffins · 20/04/2007 17:44

Can't ring until monday as the file won't have got to them, infact it may not have got to them by monday either. They took pics and everything, made a note of all the electrical equiptment i have and who lived here etc.

I am going to ring the HA on monday and ask them if they will explaion what the previous tennants were like should it be taken any further.

OP posts:
SparklyGothKat · 20/04/2007 17:45

true, very odd though. I can't believe anyone would tamper with a meter, I would be scared I woud blow myself up

Original poster
NuttyMuffins · 20/04/2007 17:45

I always put the credit on the machines, everytime right from day one. I kept the cards in my purse and put the credit on and then onto the machine.

OP posts:
phlickmabean · 20/04/2007 17:45

£10 per week per utility is by far enough

tell them to suck your cock

SparklyGothKat · 20/04/2007 17:46

thank you nutty! I know when I was on meter I was always the one to get the electric and put it in the meter.

beckybrastraps · 20/04/2007 17:46

If they have a record of all your payments, then they know how much you should have used. And the meter will tell them how much you have used.

Should be OK.