ESB Meter Readers an endangered species?

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GeneralZod

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Has anyone else just got a letter from the ESB claiming a meter reader couldn't read the meter for over a year as they couldn't get access to read it.

I doubt this as they never previously had trouble getting access to it. My parents also got such a letter even though the meter is on an outside wall without any barriers to access.

I suspect they just want to cut their costs by getting customers to read the meter themselves. If this is what they're doing they should come clean about it. I wouldn't mind. I just don't believe them when they claim they tried to
get access. No calling card was left.

The ESB shops used to give out keys to open the meter cabinets but now that the shops have closed down how are they going to supply them.
 
GeneralZod said:
The ESB shops used to give out keys to open the meter cabinets but now that the shops have closed down how are they going to supply them.
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You can buy these keys in Atlantic or Woodies for about €2 or €3.
 
Re: ESB Meter Readers and endangered species?

Or a thin nose pliers will do the job and be more versatile too.
 
Re: ESB Meter Readers and endangered species?

The lever is triangular shaped and thus not really ideal for a thin nosed pliers. But the plastic cap off a cheap biro is usually the right size and flexible enough to grip the lever tightly and turn it. Another €2 saved:D
 
Rang ESB Customer Service and had them post one out.

A positive spin on self-reading is that in the event of a price increase (a common enough event), the reading can be bumped thus hedging against the rate rise.
 
Max Hopper said:
A positive spin on self-reading is that in the event of a price increase (a common enough event), the reading can be bumped thus hedging against the rate rise.
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Could you explain-does 'bump' mean delay the reading to suit a time, or does it mean to tamper or submit a false reading?
 
Max has a point - in the absence of any other form of auditing of meter readings (e.g. the current practice of manual meter readings by ESB staff or some future technical solution in which the meter transfers readings over a closed network or even a secure internet link) it doesn't really make sense for the ESB to stop reading meters every so often. Besides - the [broken link removed] is to read the meter 4 times a year as far as possible.
 
Consider what happens when the Customer-submitted reading is, say oh, 4x the actual consumed. Subsequent Customer-submitted readings would then be near nil thus hedging the rate increase.
 
Max Hopper said:
Consider what happens when the Customer-submitted reading is, say oh, 4x the actual consumed. Subsequent Customer-submitted readings would then be near nil thus hedging the rate increase.
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You will also receive a visit from the revenue protection dept to check your meter for tampering.
 
I think the idea is to overpay when rates are low, and then not have to pay at all when prices rise? This doesn't necessarily entail any meter tampering.
 
We didn't get the letter you mention above but we haven't seen a meter reader in about a year. Consequently, the recent estimates have exceeded the actual usage so we benefitted - unwittingly - to the hedging or bumping as you described.

However, recently we DID get a letter from the ESB saying our residence had been redesignated urban rather than rural which in future would mean a DECREASE in the annual standing charge.

Make of that what you will.
 
actually i have a serious grip with their price increases. Price increases always happen in the middle of a cycle for the vast majority of their customers. And the ESB take it upon themselves to estimate how many units of the old price you used/how many of the new. Should it not be standard to have to wait until the next reading comes through before then upping you to the new price...it drives me nuts.
 
3 years at current address, never had an official reading taken, phoned them all in myself.
 
legend99 said:
actually i have a serious grip with their price increases. Price increases always happen in the middle of a cycle for the vast majority of their customers. And the ESB take it upon themselves to estimate how many units of the old price you used/how many of the new. Should it not be standard to have to wait until the next reading comes through before then upping you to the new price...it drives me nuts.
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Same here legeng99, just got my bill yesterday, and even when it's lower than expected, I disagree with the estimation they made till the end of December, as I was out for 2 weeks, and everything was switched off..As I live in an aparment block, I don't even know where are the readers, I will have to ask my landlady, as she knows where they are and which one correspond to our apartment.
 
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