Originally posted by Kiwizinho Similar story here. The came to install a smart meter, took one look and said oh - it's an asbestos board.
Then they called again and said they had a safe procedure they could use, and came back for another try, only this time they found the thing wouldn't actually fit. You'd have thought they'd measure up the first time around.
I'm looking at changing power companies, so the one I'm considering, I actually asked them outright whether they're ok with meters that have to be manually read.
There's no reason why I can't just photograph the thing and send them an email once a month.
The joke is, those old boards are quite safe. The asbestos content is low. You'd have to grind up the whole thing and snort it for it to be a problem.
Our meter is inside, so they can't read it. So, every month they send an estimate account that is always wildly wrong (under) and every month I ring them with the correct readings and they issue a revised (higher) bill.
I don't mind doing it - that way i know it's right. About once a year, they ask for a photo of the readings to be e-mailed through.
Many years ago we were renting. The property had more than one power line coming in from the road and seperate meters. We rented the house and someone else rented a large shed some considerable distance away from the house. (It was a rural property).
So, we receive a power bill from Genesis. We're not with Genesis. So, I ring them up and politely explain that there must be some mistake, we don't buy our power off Genesis and they've sent us this bill. So, they question the address and I realise immediately that it's the shed bill they're trying to send to us. So, I explain the situation - that we're renting the house and that the owner of the property rents the shed to someone else - we don't actually know who - we've never met them as they access the shed from another driveway we don't cross paths. So, the Genesis employee says to me (in a very aggressive tone): "No, we don't accept that. You must pay this invoice or we'll hand you over to the debt collectors. Failure to pay may affect your credit score." (And carried on along that vein with more threats etc.)
I had a really good laugh at that and told her: "1. We don't have a contract with you. 2. We don't rent that building. 3. If you hand this to debt collectors I'll simply explain to them that the debt is in dispute. 4. If you carry on with this nonsense I'll see you in court." Never did hear from them again, until they rang about a year ago asking if we'd like to switch our power to Genesis. I declined the offer.