I have a problem. My natural gas bill for the last couple of months has been next to nothing. So I go out and check my meter and it has locked up tight and hasn't moved for 6 weeks.
My concern is what the gas company will do.
PJ
They will replace the meter, and perhaps forget the bill for the gas you received but not charged for, or they may give you an estimated bill on previous years usage. Greg
This is Turtle.
It just sounds like What Greg O said !
TURTLE
They will come out, read it, change it and estimate your bill, probably fairly acurately. They will inpect it to see if you tamperd with it. If you didnt all is fine. Meters break.
Let me paraphrase your question:
"Hey, if I don't mention this to anyone, when the gas company eventually discovers it, will I get billed retroactively?"
The answer is: No one here can say.
What's the matter, you feeling guilty or something? Why on earth would you come here to ask that question.... you know what the right thing to do is: Call the gas company. Now. You cheap ass SOB.
I would like to thank you, and others like you, for making the price I pay for my gas higher. It's so nice of you. I bet you like to shoplift too, don't you?
While people here may answer your supposed question differently - none of them can supply you with a sense of right vs. wrong. You were supposed to learn that lesson years ago; evidently your parents are bigger scumbags then you.
Your lesson is complete now, scumbag junior. Run along.
This is what I would do and why. I would call immediately. Nothing to do with getting free gas, or getting soaked on an estimated usage bill a year down the road.
You are talking about something that can kill you. Or take out your house and the ones next to you. You have a BROKEN meter. It might start leaking next. Get on the phone. NOW!
Steve
In a perfect world, assholes like this guy would be blown up long before they had time to post ethics questions on usenet.
One way or another they will be out to fix it. They will notice the low bills. If you call them now, you are more likely they will ignore the missed bills or maybe calculate it in a manner that will be beneficial to you. If you wait until they discover it and come out, they will still fix it and will surely give you an estimated bill that will be fair or maybe even a little high. In addition you will be hit with a sudden bill.
Happened to me with the water meter. I called them. Took them 3 months to fix it and I got free water meanwhile.
I do so wish your parents would have known that.
Ten little words say it all...
There is no right way to do the wrong thing.
Jeff
Once when I was a young, poor teenager, I stopped at a gas station to get $10 worth of fuel. When done, I shut the pump off and squeezed the nozzle lever to empty the hose into my tank. The pump kept pumping but the $ meter wasn't running. I admit I stole about $5 worth of gasoline, I'll probably go to hell because of it. I guess that's all well and good since all my friends will be there too...
DJ
I admit to maybe being ignorant of the mechanics of it, but a "broken" gas meter just doesn't sound like a good thing to me.
Steve
It's a bit of an ethics question. Do you want to pay what you probably owe or not? The responsibility for the meter is the gas company to make sure that it metering correctly and it tends to be your responsibility to make sure that it is not measuring more than what is correct.
That aside, ethically you should tell the company it isn't working and then go from there, probably pay the low estimate of what you used. Or you can just say, its the companies problem and refuse to pay. Course they might just disconnect you.
One of my apartments has a similar situation. The gas company hasn't scheduled a repair yet. Its been busted for over two years now.
The local gas shop (note: used to work for the local utility) is unionized and is being "reduced" by the company. They are not exactly being proactive in fixing stuff like broken meters.
I'd call but not for the reasons you mentioned. The fact that the little dial does not move has nothing to do with the meter leaking. Take a look at how they are built, then relax a bit.
Broken meter means the speedometer is not working. Just like you can still drive your car even if the needle does not move. If it was broken open and leaking, that is extremely rare and is cause for s*****ng it down.
Dude.
We all know that you busted it on purpose. Fess up now or go to jail.
Your Gas Company
And in this part of the world, the gas company puts a little 'stinkum' in the gas so you know when you have a leak.
Actually, it was a really stupid answer by a really stupid person.
Thanks.
Fred
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