they want my soul...

[flaviomatani]

At the school now, waiting for first pupil and brewing coffee; these days I'm bringing a travel kettle and some one-cup coffee filters to keep myself going after four hours' sleep. There is a small kitchen place downstairs but I have been made to feel that it is not for us, staff of the Grammar school (the premises are shared between the Grammar school and the local school of music).

Will have to phone First Utility; the mess with the gas/electricity bill continues. They installed a 'smart' meter perhaps two months ago; this is supposed to send them my usage details through 3G. I've just received another 'esitmate' bill, albeit a lower one than the previous, unfeasible ones. This is after I had a nasty letter from their 'account management' company saying that I had never paid for my gas, I owed them so many hundreds of pounds and would be 'de-energised' (where do these people find those euphemisms? Do they pay somebody to come up with these words?). I phoned them two weeks ago when I received the letter; they would look into the matter. Then I check my bill online and find that under my account the electricity bit is listed as 'Flat 10' (which is correct) and the gas is listed as 'Flat 17' (which isn't). Grr... this is going to be a bit of a mess to sort out. And it is their mess, all of their doing but it will have to be me having to waste time, energy and bits of my life sorting it out.

On the plus side, it is a sunny morning. I think it is a plus side, anyway. Good morning....

Comments

[fenbane.livejournal.com]

I used to work for an electricity metering company and we used 'de-energised' for a property where the main fuse has been removed. It doesn't make sense for gas though. Good luck with sorting out the confusion with the flat numbers. I ended up with a job which included sorting out accounts which had been mixed up for years. You'll have to make sure the meter serial numbers are matched up to the correct MPAN number (you'll have one each for gas and one for electricity)

[flavius-m.livejournal.com]

I would say that it is a silly euphemism in either case. The thing with the flat numbers has been simmering from the beginning, since I moved in -I very soon realised there was something wrong and started trying to get them to do something about it, they make some noises and then nothing happens, bills still arrive as 'estimates' even though they put in a smart meter (but, as I said, I think they are not reading, or not reading, whatever, _my_ meters but somebody else's..)

A minor Kafka situation, except dragging on for months. You try to get them to do something about it, nothing happens, you get threatening letters from their 'management company' saying you've never paid for your gas, etc etc