Our electric bill !

**cab54** · 07-23-2008, 12:09 PM

Gack!!

As some of you know, we are up here at our cabin/retirement place in the middle of the woods, now that DH finally retired and this is his dream. We have no electricity here (we are run on generator and the computers are dish.) Can we say GAS? ($$$$$$$$$$). But it's DH's dream.

SO. At home (our house) everything that can be unplugged is unplugged, and we are not there. Right? No A/C going, no lights on. Well, the Electric company (in it's infinite wisdom) saw that we weren't using any electricity, and sent someone out to check the meter. They (again--in their infinite wisdom)

decided that our meter MUST be broken, and sent us a bill for $343 !!! They 'guestimated'. WHAT? We aren't even THERE, you dolts, did ya bother to ask the neighbors?

So, anyway--DH is calling them today and 'discuss' it with them.

We'd better not have to pay tha much!

**mombottoo** · 07-23-2008, 12:17 PM

Aren't utility companies just amazing? I'm sure you'll get it worked out so long as you don't get an idiot on the telephone...sometimes they have a hard time understanding what's being said. Years ago we had a wood furnace w/an auxillary water unit...during the Winter our gas bills were way cheaper than they were during the Summer. So every month I would have to call the gas company and argue our bill...because, no matter how hard I tried I couldn't get any of them to understand our heat & water were taken care of by burning wood during the Winter.

**Russ** · 07-23-2008, 12:18 PM

HOLY crap! I would be sure to ask them if they tested that meter before removal.

**DonnainME** · 07-23-2008, 12:20 PM

I would have a cow. I do hope you get someone who will listen and understand that you aren't there and aren't using hardly ANY electricity.

**kimmy4433** · 07-23-2008, 12:46 PM

That is crap!! I hope you get this all worked out. I can't believe what the electric and gas companies will do to the consumer. It is crazy!!

**FrugalMomof3** · 07-23-2008, 12:53 PM

It's a shame what utility companies do to their consumers, I hope this situation gets rectified so please let us know how things turn out.

**tbs727** · 07-23-2008, 01:19 PM

Is it legal to send a bill for a guess? I suppose I could guess how much my electric bill was and just send them $40. I wonder how they would like that.

**Michelle68** · 07-23-2008, 01:31 PM

Originally Posted by tbs727

Is it legal to send a bill for a guess? I suppose I could guess how much my electric bill was and just send them $40. I wonder how they would like that.

LOL! I like that! I hope you get this cleared up soon. That's just pretty ridiculous and I also can't imagine that "Guesstimating" could be legal.

--Michelle

**heartofmine** · 07-23-2008, 01:35 PM

That absolutely stinks. I sure hope you get it worked out. I get so tired of them doing whatever they want. Ours has started charging each custumer a fee for gas for reading the meter. Ours is $10.00. The farther you live out of town the more they charge. The are also rounding up to the nearest dollar no matter what the cents. They use the extra money they get to give to charities and other organizations in the area. That is fine but if you are counting every dime like many here are that few cents makes a difference.

**angelbumpkin** · 07-23-2008, 01:51 PM

Thats just crazy. I hope you get everything worked out.

**cab54** · 07-23-2008, 02:34 PM

Well, once again it's not what I thought (I guess). DH reminded me that we got a bill 2 mos ago for $.09, and then last month was only $53. So, they were 'making up' for that. (??)

And yes, our company reads the meter one month, and then 'guesstamates' the next month, and so on. Always have. And they go by last year's bill----like what was last July? Sucks. But DH says we have to pay it. I guess when you consider that May was $.09, it's so bad, but it's all at once!

**shoiji** · 07-23-2008, 03:32 PM

Something like this happened to me this winter. Called about the electric and the person noticed I wasn't paying for gas. I hardly ever do. So they sent out a person to check and replace the meter. And the bill went up to $100 the month they replaced it. The rest of the months were the same as before. I am in a complex and get heat from everyone else. Didn't even bother calling to fight it since they would probably scr*& me some other way.

**treeluva** · 07-24-2008, 03:53 AM

It is legal for them to use a "guesstimate" based on your past usage. And, this is EVERY utility company. On your bill, it should have either an "A" (Actual) or "E" (Estimate) next to your usage, which tells you if someone came to read the meter or if it was just an Estimate. For someone who uses electricity on a normal basis, it all averages out throughout the year because when they do come out the next month and you haven't used that much electricty, your next bill will be lower. If you used more than the estimate, it will be higher.

But yes, it is perfectly legal for them to do this.

**cmdarlin** · 07-24-2008, 08:11 AM

We live out here in the boonies and we have to read our meters and if you don't they send someone out and you get charged. This winter we had huge heating bills but then we had a huge hole in our ceiling and couldn't afford wood for our woods stove. Winter was horrible here.

Debbie in Missouri

**Mom23boys** · 07-24-2008, 09:07 AM

I do not understand how they can just take a guess at how much electricity you used. How crazy!!!

Maybe next month they will make a guess that they owe you money if they go and read the meter and it has less kilowatt useage than they billed you for. LOL! Wishful thinking of course.