So heres the deal. Been living in my new apartment since September. Called my electricity provider to have my electricity switched over to my name. Paid a connection fee everything is set up. A couple months went buy with no bill, so I call. They say they haven't received a meter read and they will send a bill when they get one. FINALLY I get my bill in the mail this week and how much is it for??? $8.42. I was thinking it was going to be something outrageous and it was a little over 8 dollars for 3 months! When I looked at the bill a little closer apparently I used no kilowatts since I moved in. All i was paying for was the taxes to my electricity provider. Should I call and ask whats going on? I mean obviously either my meter is broke or it just isn't registering. A part of me wants to ride this out and see how long I can go without paying for electricity, but at the same time I don't want to be sent a bill for a butt load of money either. What would you guys do? Any advice?
in college my friends got charge $1k/mo for electricity. they discovered that their entire building was hooked into their meter... in the end i think it got sorted out.
Call the electricity provider and tell them the meter's hosed. Anything less is gonna result in a negative karma flow.
I know, I'm just talking about Reliant having no idea that you are actually a customer. This has happened to me more than once.
This happened to my Aunt for the 5 years she lived in her apartment. But in her case, they started sending her checks.
You should let them know, because eventually they'll fix the problem on their own and bill you for everything, and you do NOT want that bill for 8 or 9 months worth of electricity.
Definitely call them and report the mistake. Like others have said in this thread, better take care of it now than to have a bill come with their mistake added on in a few months. They will find out and you will have to pay. It's only a matter of time before the mistake is corrected.
Wrong. They can't bill you for anything that they do not have proof of. I had this happen to me at my old place with Gexa. I had two years of below $10 charges, only billing and meter reading charges, and when they did find out they only charged my for the two months "estimated" usage before. Around $70 a month. Ride the gravy train.
Set up a piggy bank for what you think the actual monthly electricity bill is. If they charge you later down the road use it on that. If not then your in the clear!
Im actually with Gexa right now and my thought is exactly that. The meter is not reading any usage. How are they going to come back and say you used this, this, and this, when I have bills from them for the month stating I used "0" KW. Im keeping all my bills for my records, just in case. Thats interesting you were with Gexa and the same thing happened to you. I just didn't know if that they keep records of my KW usage somewhere else and it will eventually come back and get me. Everyone switch to Gexa! Free Electricity!!
just pay whats on the bill. if they ever figure it out (probably not) all they can do is start billing you correctly. it's not your job to make sure the bill is correct. you can't get in any trouble, and legally they can't charge you for the difference. they billed you, you paid, leave it at that.
Former Reliant employee here.... They can only backbill 6 months unless there was meter tampering. So my advice would be to stay quiet but have a little reserve built up just in case.
That's funny. I work for Gexa. Send me your ESIID and I'll be sure you get billed. LonghornFan, how long ago did you profit from this screw-up? Our billing used to be a mess a couple of years ago, but it is a lot tighter now. I would think any error xcamm1 has will eventually be uncovered and he'd be billed for the difference. There no issue of not having proof. Centerpoint comes and reads the meter every couple of months. When they don't do a read, they submit and we bill on an estimate. When an actual read comes in, we true-up. If the meter is broken, Centerpoint isn't getting an accurate read and you're getting free electricity. In that case, don't say anything. If the meter is working, Gexa will eventually learn the disparity and bill you. So, go look at your meter.
They're providing you a service...pay for it. Just because there's a faulty meter doesn't mean it's your right to have their electricity for free. Sure, you might get away with it...but it's not the honest thing to do.
Does a meter show just what's used now, or is it cumulative? I don't know. But if it is cumulative, and they know what the meter read before... if the meter is working and they're just reading it wrong, or not reading it, then later they'd know the total, eh? I am kinda with the person that said put that money somewhere. Guess at your usage. Ride it out, but be ready for the margin call. If it doesn't come before your bills start looking right, then all good.
