Dropsafe

by Alec Muffett

I have begun to report every gas/electric meter reader who turns up on the doorstep as a potential fraudster

It makes no sense; I submit a meter reading online and every time, within two weeks, someone is ringing the doorbell to check the figures.

What is the point?

On the assumption that there could be any number of fake meter readers out there touting for business I am reporting each incident to my supplier’s customer services as a potential fake, just to check; after all, the ID cards are scant proof and easily fakeable.

The net effect however might be that moving to online meter-reading submission may drive up costs for the provider.

How tragic.

⊞

Comments

7 responses to “I have begun to report every gas/electric meter reader who turns up on the doorstep as a potential fraudster”

  1. Robin Wilton

    Or increased pressure to install a smart meter will result in your being obliged to host yet another third-party data snitch in your home…

    Reply
    1. alecm

      …or they could trust the user, modulo an annual checkup.

      Reply
  2. Jerry Nicholls

    I believe that the providers have a legal obligation to read the meter at least once each year. This is to prevent over/under billing thro’ misread meters. I may of course be wrong there.

    Reply
    1. alecm

      How about quarterly+ which seems to be my experience? The billing has to be sane, yes, but if they are going to do it anyway then why ask me to submit readings?

      Reply
  3. Elfie

    If you’re a low user as well, they send people round to replace the meter regularly too – in case its broken and not telling them what you’re really using.

    Reply
  4. Dave Walker

    In the light of various studies on the economics of smart meter deployment (several of which are referenced in http://www.cl.cam.ac.uk/~rja14/Papers/SmartMetering-Feb82012.pdf ), this posting is dripping in delicious irony.

    I wonder how smart meter overheads compare, against whichever overhead is lesser of running a self-reporting website and sending minions round, given that one of the latter two is redundant?

    Reply
  5. Max Allan

    So, if they always come round 2 weeks later to make a reading, I wonder what happens if you start submitting online readings at less than 2 weekly intervals. Or do they trigger the reading?
    (I think my lot let me upload readings whenever I want.)
    I did go through a phase a while back where the reader was coming round every few weeks, for electric/gas/both, then they seem to have sorted it out but maybe I should do some online submissions to screw it all up again for a laugh.

    Reply

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