# ESB bill query



## beany1 (29 Jan 2009)

Hi
Got an ESB bill yesterday and nearly had a heart attack!

Meter man rang doorbell other day & read meter. This is first time in 19 months that meter has been read! 

If he was around the other times and couldn't get in as gates locked why didn't he leave a notice slip to say he d been around?

I would always read meter and phone it in myself but when no slip was coming in door I didnt read own meter.

Have been paying our bills every 2 months but in today's bill, as man read it other day they are back tracking *19 *months and have landed me with a whopping €1000 bill!

Surely this isn't right as 19 months is a long time to leave before this came to their notice.

Have I any rights regarding this situation?
I woulnt mind 5-6 months but surely 19 months is a slip up on their behalf?


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## angela59 (29 Jan 2009)

Hi,

I thought mine was bad E640 - this has never happend before but on saying that I know with christmas lights etc even though I have the led lights but we had work done in house before christmas and the angle grinder was running for two weeks and what not but the price per unit has gone up since 1 Jan to 0.1640 whereas it was 0.1590 before that.  Anyways I'm changing to Airtricity they are supposed to be 9% cheaper so hopefully so.  

No affiliation to Airtricity.

Angela59-


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## Guest110 (30 Jan 2009)

There is nothing you can do about this. At the end of the day you used the electricity so you have to pay up. I dont think you have a leg to stand on ! 

They might alievate the pressure by allowing you to pay a bit at a time, but they wont reduce the bill.


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## allthedoyles (30 Jan 2009)

If  you look carefully at your bill , ( orange portion) you will see it explains that if an 'E' appears after your present readings , then you should read meter yourself and send reading to ESB.

This is what ESB.ie say on their website :
You receive six bills a year- one every two months.ESB Networks plan to read your meter four times a year so four of your bills are based on actual readings while the remaining two are based on meter read estimates.


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## cleverclogs7 (30 Jan 2009)

wow.......thats pretty sickning 1000k.
disregarding yourself,i cant understand how elect bills are so high in peoples homes.the most i have ever paid is 119e for 2 months.3ppl in the house.use oven every day,hobs,have video,dvd player,usual house hold electrics.
i leave nothing on stand by,keeps lights off when not in rooms.


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## edevlin (30 Jan 2009)

ours was 189euro for 2 months and we had outside lights and xmas tree lights on.

1000K is a bit much


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## Marathon Man (30 Jan 2009)

...........and you're paying ALL the bill at the current rate, even though a very high proportion relates to periods prior to last autumn's big increase.

And on that note...has anyone else noticed that bills immediately prior to an increase very often seem to be estimates.   I've got the cards through the letterbox saying that they couldn't read the meter.  They've done this even though somebody has been in the house and no attempt was made to get in ...like ringing the doorbell.


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## Smashbox (30 Jan 2009)

I always ring in my meter, I don't wait for them to come out and read it. You let it go a long time to be just paying the estimates. You have to pay, however call them and ask them for a longer time period.
BTW, my cousin built a new house. Put in underfloor heating. ESB bill = 2k. Ya have to laugh, she didn't think it would 'cost that much to run'.


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## allthedoyles (31 Jan 2009)

Smashbox said:


> I always ring in my meter, .


 

I always send in the reading online , when it has not been read ..
This is the link:

[broken link removed]


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## xxx (31 Jan 2009)

Ring Energia they are cheaper than ESB or Airtricity, it is only a matter of filling up a form


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## sandrat (31 Jan 2009)

xxx said:


> Ring Energia they are cheaper than ESB or Airtricity, it is only a matter of filling up a form


 
they don't do residential electricity


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## Black Sheep (3 Feb 2009)

I got a whopper also but it was a double bill. I actually never received the first one (I'm sure many people trot out that excuse but I can guarantee this is genuine). With Christmas and a new arrival the idea of chasing it up slipped my mind.

However the whopper arrived in early January and I contacted Customer Service for a break down and a copy of the "missed" bill. Got a very curt reply and was told she would put me in touch with Debt Management. When I asked why, she told me that it was because I was in arrears and she asked how I proposed to pay it. 

I have never had a double bill before in my very many of ESB paying.

I just think this level of Customer Service is a tad too sharp


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## Bubbles34 (11 Feb 2009)

sandrat said:


> they don't do residential electricity


 

I just changed my Business account to Energia and was told that from April 09 on domestic is also possible. Look forward to that


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