MaumeeMom
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jan 29, 2009
I need to vent. We got our electric bill a few days ago. It seemed a little high to us. We noticed it was an "estimated" bill, so dh decided to call the electric company and make sure they hadn't made a mistake. The customer service rep had dh go outside to the meter and read the numbers to him. Then he recalculated the bill (keep in mind a few days have gone by since we received the bill and at least a few more days since they estimated the amount and mailed the bill). Our new amount to pay is $70 LESS than the estimated amount!!!!!! Dh must have gotten a csr who is fed up with his job because this guy told my dh to always call when you get an estimated bill. He seemed genuinely angry that people keep getting ripped off this way! So, while I'm really happy that we saved ourselves $70, I'm really angry about all the other estimated bills we've received and never realized they were estimated. How many other months did we over pay!!!??? What a scam!!!!
Check with the utility company, many have gone to reading meters only every other month to save money. Yes, the estimation may have been high but you did not overpay in the long run, the overage would be caught with the actual reading the next month and your bill will be smaller.
Say at your Sept actual reading the meter read 100, they estimate your use at 20 for Oct so you pay for 20 but you only used 15 so if you read your meter it would say 115 in Oct but they "guessed" 120. In Nov you use 15 again so your meter will read 130. If in Nov the company does an actual reading and sees it at 130 you will only be charged for actual usage, the 10 units for which you have not paid.
This is quite common around here - it all works out in the end.