Legal question? ? ?

[Roger Shoaf]

I think what I would do is to take my own meter readings and calculate the bill yourself. Now when you are under billed, pay the demanded amount and then deposit the difference into an interest bearing account.

At least once a year, ask the gas company to check your meter for accuracy. When they reply stating that they have checked it and found it to be OK, file the letter.

Find out what the statute of limitations is for the gas company seeking arrears billing is, and when that time period has been reached you can then withdraw the amount in the overage account and either refund or credit the homeowners with that amount including any interest.

By doing this it seems to me that you will have protected the interests of the homeowners, and afforded the gas company multiple opportunities to correct their error, so your conscious can be clear.

[chaniarts]

as opposed to people paid to answer posts on alt.home.repair?

oh, wait, i haven't received my payments for a couple months. does anyone know who i contact for that?

[gfretwell]

My advice on any of these types of issues is to "escrow" that money in the bank so when/if they do come after you the money is sitting there waiting for them and you get to pocket the interest. In any case you will be able to negotiate this down and there is a good chance you will just have all the money saved for yourself. It is a win-win since it is really money you think you should have spent anyway. There is generally a limited time that they can come back and reclaim lost billing if it was their fault. I would just be satisfied that I tried to fix the problem, escrow the found money and get on with my life.

[Doug Miller]

I was beginning to wonder if you were reading the meter correctly, until I read this sentence:

Now, I wonder if the meter reader is reading it correctly.

We had that problem at our previous house, when the power company put a new guy on the route without proper training. After the fourth consecutive month of wildly incorrect meter readings -- and the power company's adamant refusal to believe that their employee could possibly be reading the meter wrong -- I finally printed out a diagram similar to the ones shown here

and taped it to the meter, prominently labeled "HOW TO READ A UTILITY METER" in large, bold, red type. End of problem.

[Ray]

The gas company sends a truck out, parks in our driveway, and reads all meters in the building electronically.

I read our building meter on the same date.

[Ray]

We have six units, but the meter in question is the single building-wide meter which measures gas supplied to water heater and furnace.

I've taken the bill to the meter, and the meter number is absolutely the same as the one on the bill.

What differs is the meter readings -- their readings are altogether different, and wildly erratic, from the reading on the meter itself.

[Ray]

They read our meter electronically, sitting in a truck in our building driveway.

To use the most recent example: Their reading for February, dated Feb. 16, stated that we had used 560 units during the previous month.

Our meter, also read on Feb. 16, showed that we had in fact used 1730 units in the same period.

[Ray]

Their reading as reported on the bill is consistently lower than the reading on our meter. It's been this way ever since they installed the new meter a year ago.

[Ray]

That's pretty much exactly what we do.

[ransley]

Well the gas co estimated our building for 6 years then sent about a US$ 50,000.00 bill because they finally read it, they settled for

35,000.00 or the gas would have been shut off, Lawyers you pay extra , and for what.

Read your own meter, pay now what you know you owe. How far off is the reading now.

A new gas furnace can be 1/2 as much to run as a junker oil unit , or maybe more. And now gas is super cheap for us compared to a year ago and years ago, so, how far off is your reading from the meter, the bill amount isnt the issue its your accurate reading now to what is on the bill. Does reading say ACT for actual, or EST for estimate, its common for estimates every other month.

Simply call in your correct reading every month, I do it online. Set up an online account, I have many and am notified whan a reading is due and its all done online in a few minutes.

If you dont pay whats owed on the bill you will pay interest, and they will want a big big security deposit. If bill is to low pay what you know you owe or they will stick you with interest.

[norminn]

Have you asked the utility specifically to take a visual at the meter at the same time they read it electronically? Seems that would be a reasonable request. I would also make the specific request in writing, send certified mail and keep copies. It's a tad frightening to contemplate a huge bill coming along some day and one would reasonably expect that if there is a large sum billed someday that your notice to them would limit your liability.

[Ray]

How could they possibly "stick us for interest" when we pay the amount they bill us, and, further, when we have repeatedly told them that they are under-billing us? I don't think there's a court in the land that would uphold interest charges for incorrect billings by the gas company.

We are, however, putting money into escrow if they do try to hit us for a delayed billing, as they did with you.

[trader4]

That's almost exactly a factor of 3 off. And you said earlier that the bill for the entire year was about 1/3 of what you thought it should be. Are you sure you are reading the meter correctly and both you and the utility are using the same units of measure, eg cubic feet?, etc?

I don''t understand why this can't be solved with a phone call. A simple month or two discrepancy I can understand. By now your bill says the meter reading is X and you say the meter reading is 3X and it;s been that way for a year. You get customer service from the gas company on the phone, state the above facts and if they can't either explain it or offer to send someone out to solve it, then ask for a supervisor. Or go over there in person.

[Jay-T]

Your example doesn't quite make sense.

The 560 units and 1730 units that you are comparing are not meter readings -- they are differences between two meter readings. Simply stating that they calculated that you used 560 units when you calculated that you used 1730 units doesn't say anything about what they say the meter reading was on on Feb 16 or what you say the meter reading was on Feb 16. You need to look at and compare what they said the actual meter reading was on Feb 16 and what the actual meter reading was on Feb 16 when you read it. Then, do the same thing for the January 16 (approx., +/- one or two days) -- meaning state what they said the actual meter reading was on January 16 and what the actual meter reading was on January 16 when you read it.

Or, to state it another way, a meter reading is not how many units you used during the previous month. A meter reading is what the numbers on the meter say on any particular date.

And, regarding the overall lower bills for heat and hot water -- meaning a lot less than you expected to pay ----> most likely when you converted from oil to gas, you removed a very old and very inefficient oil-fired heater unit and installed a brand new much more energy efficient gas-fired heater unit. Maybe your old oil heater was functioning at an efficiency rating around 55%-65% and maybe your new gas heater is functioning at 85% or 90%.

[Joe]

I think the smartest thing to do would be to read the meter yourself and mail the readings in. At least you can remove *that* variable.

Be sure you read the right meter.

[Oren]

We got a new meter for the gas more than a year ago. A wireless transmitting unit. The truck just drives by.

What I understand is these newer units are more accurate and they are more precise, regarding actual cubic feet of gas used. IOW, my reading may be as accurate?

[ransley]

They can and will if its under read, Read it yourself and get them the reading, quit relying on the new meter system that doesnt work, its your bill, you use it.

[Red Green]

"chaniarts" wrote in news:hlmjgu$2r8$ [e-mail]:

Whad do ya means. Weez all gets a chek.

[Ed Pawlowski]

Smart to do. Technically, you are liable for payment of what you use. I have seen some cases though, where the utility gave people some time to pay up or forgave a portion of the payment due since it was their error. This is just based on a few things I've read from our newspaper and your utility may not work the same way. In any case, try to negotiate if they come back with a big bill. Your utility regulators may be of some help if needed.

[Oren]

Lucky you. I just got a *bill* for alt.home.repair advice, not a check!

I did find out that 10% of lawyers graduate at the bottom of the class. Same with doctors and pet psychologist.