Power company defrauding me on bills. What can I do?

That’s strange. Every bill I received had the reading spot on or very close.

ActewAGL actually has an online form where you can request a “check reading” for your electricity or water meters.

My smart meter actually takes a bit of knowledge to read correctly. The older clock style meters too.

I have a spreadsheet for my meter readings and power consumption, partly because the overall bill is not a good guide to your electricity use, as it is affected by the number of days you are being billed for, by price increases per kwh, but also by price increases in the network charge.

IP

Monomyth said :

I live in a one bedroom apartment by myself and my electrcity bill is $400-$600 every quarter… I have no idea how to read a meter though. I’ve been on the website but I have Dyscalculia (ike dyslexia, but with numbers) and I simply can’t figure it out. It’s actually pretty depressing.

Take a photo of it with your smartphone and upload it to RiotACT or a similar website. There are lots of different types of meter, so it’s not easy advice to,give without seeing a photo.

IP

I live in a one bedroom apartment by myself and my electrcity bill is $400-$600 every quarter… I have no idea how to read a meter though. I’ve been on the website but I have Dyscalculia (ike dyslexia, but with numbers) and I simply can’t figure it out. It’s actually pretty depressing.

OP your grief and anxiety is self inflected so you should get nothing what so ever for that.

The moment you realised your bill was wrong you should have checked the bloody meter, I reckon any fair minded person would do that. Simple.

Now if checking the figures that you saw on the meter were over and but close to, what was on the bill you call ACTEW and get it sorted out. And whilst I have no doubt people will have horror stories, in reality if the issue is a miss read, or an estimate It is all very simple to rectify, no fuss and no anxiety.

Where it becomes hard is where the reading matches the bill, but the owner still reckons it is too high, but in your case that doesn’t seem to be the case.

The meters measure a cumulative total, so the estimates don’t end up costing you anything – when they eventually do a real reading you’ll get a lower bill. In fact it’ll save you money if they overestimate – given that prices are rising, you’ve effectively prepaid for your future electricity use at the lower, older rate.

My water meter was misread last time, and I paid the small difference – so I assume I will have little to pay for actual usage next time. If I am charged for “estimated usage” this time, they’ll be hearing from me. If the problem is with the reading of a meter, rather than the operation of the meter (due to ant over or underlords etc.) resolution should surely be a quite straightforward matter.

You could probably shelve the use of the word “defruading” until you have evidence of this. It looks like your meter may be wrongly calibrated or they are reading it incorrectly.

Certainly your first step would be to contact ACTEW and ask for help in getting the problem fixed. They are almost always helpful (although you may cop an attitude if you open your exchange by accusing them of fraud) and will probably re-credit your account with the overcharged amount.

No real problem for you if you handle it right. Good luck!

dungfungus said :

Dork said :

You can ask them to check how accurate it is. I believe you have to pay for it though and then when they check it, if it’s off by a certain percentage they will refund you the cost of the audit and what ever incorrect payments have been put through. I believe you will have to do this before taking further action.

A lot of imported meters had infestations of tiny, exotic ants which created false readings and power failures to HWS. Mine was replaced and compensation negotiated. Electricity costs have increased about 25% in the last 18 months.

I, for one, welcome our new ant overlords.