Horror gas bills

[Terencino]

For the last 15 years our monthly gas bills was about $100. A new meter was installed in June and the bill was $820 for the month. When the cost hit my account I thought it was the quarterly electricity bill! From what I can tell from the bill, most of the cost was due to the "actual" final reading of the old meter. The old meter is gone now, so the reading can't be verified. 

What's more, the July charge from the new meter was $250. Something is wrong. Appreciate any advice or assistance

Thank you!

[NeilC]

Terincino,

This is a Forum of users and as such this is my opinion.

You have stated that for 15 years that your monthly bill was around $100.

In 15 years you then paid 180 bills.

June monthly bill was $820.

Lets take your $100 from the $820 leaving $720.

So for 180 bills your meter error is (720/180) $4.00 dollars a month. (So your monthly bill was really $104). AGL have rightfully charged the amount owing.

Now the only other question is:

 "Is your meter accessible to the Meter Reader?"

If it is not assessable then your bill should indicate that it is an ESTIMATED READING.

If so, then you should be able to add your own meter (correct) readings to your account.

The instructions for doing so are located here (Add a meter Reading) .

So you now have a meter that starts from zero.

You have the date that the new meter was installed, you can go out and read the meter.

Then you can message AGL here and hopefully resolve your issue.

To calculate your usage you use the formulae

Volume x Correction factor x Heating value = Usage in (MJ)

In your case the volume would be the meter reading you have just read (with no decimal points) as the meter started from zero.

The other information should be on your bill to calculate your usage. Don't forget to add the daily supply charge to the calculation.

Hope this helps.

Cheers

Neil

[Terencino]

NeilC, I understand you may have been trying to be helpful. However, you have ignored my reasonable concerns without bothering to read even half my post, and your opinion as to why the charge was so high has no logical or legal basis. For the record:

1. AGL has no right whatsoever to make ad hoc retrospective adjustments (massively in AGL's favour) to user charges without consultation or proof for any period (let alone the last 15 years). Anyone thinking such an action is reasonable would think otherwise if it happened to them.

2. AGL may be infallible in your opinion, but the evidence presented by other posters in this very forum indicates otherwise

3. My original post noted that the offending reading was actual not estimated, therefore the meter is accessible. 

Therefore your response came across as dismissive and arrogant, rather than helpful.

Hope that helps

Cheers

Terencino

[David_AGL]

Hi @Terencino . If you log into your account, you'll be able to access your previous bills on the "Billing" tab. If those were estimated rather than actual, and your latest bill contains an actual reading, it could be that an adjustment to match your actual usage was the reason for the higher than expected total this time around. 

If you still think there's an discrepancy with your billing, just click "Send us a message" on your My Account page, and the team will happily look into it for you.

[NeilC]

Terencino,

Sorry that you took offence at my reply.

I am not an AGL employee but a member of this forum as I have previously stated

If you read my reply I basically said,

"Go read your meter and take the facts to AGL".

You asked.

"What's more, the July charge from the new meter was $250. Something is wrong. Appreciate any advice or assistance"

In regard to the meter readings you stated, "From what I can tell from the bill, most of the cost was due to the "actual" final reading of the old meter".

Which is why I asked the question about your meter readings. No mention was made of the LAST 15 years of meter readings.

I supplied the formula for calculating gas usage to assist you in validating (or invalidating) your July Bill. Armed with information you could check your current reading and see your actual consumption for yourself.

I take the time to try and assist you and other members of the Community Pages in getting answers to your questions.

I also added tags # formula, #formulae, #gas, #gas usage, #read error to this post to assist other members in searching this subject.

Hope you resolve your issue, you still not have stated if your reads are Estimated and whether the meter reader has access to your property.

In SA some readers will not enter the property if there is a dog in the yard or the possibility that there is a dog.

By the way, it is my understanding that you entered into a contract with AGL to pay all costs in relation to the Supply of Gas to your property (or similar words). When your final read was taken on the meter they adjusted the payment to reflect the actual cost of your gas.

You would do the same yourself, say you were a plumber and spent 8 hours digging up a leaking pipe and replacing it. Would you charge them for half a day or charge them the full time?

I have no allegiance to AGL and have been known to criticize them in posts when statements are made that I do not agree with.

Again, as I stated in my reply, get your facts together and approach AGL.

Cheers

Neil