Help needed with bill

Mephisto_Helix

Mephisto_Helix

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Sheesh, I hope someone can point me in the right direction here. I get the mail today and lo and behold there is a letter from the municipality asking/telling me I have to pay an extra R1100 on top of my R1900 (yeah, you aren't seeing things) deposit. So that will make it R3000 !!! If I refuse to pay this the ****ers are gonna cut me off. The worst of it is that all my neighbours are paying half my bill :mad:

Below is my list of things that are on ....

pool pump = 2 hours every 3rd day
geyser = 1 hour a day
3 outside lights (all energy saving bulbs) and 3 inside lights (2 energy saving) every night
PC = 10 hours a day
stove = 1 hour a day
2 fridges
2 floor fans and obviously the TV, vcr, decoder.

Monthly bill = nothing lower than R1200 every month and now the deposit increase. Who can I take my case to? Any info appreciated as always.
 
Mephisto_Helix said:
Sheesh, I hope someone can point me in the right direction here. I get the mail today and lo and behold there is a letter from the municipality asking/telling me I have to pay an extra R1100 on top of my R1900 (yeah, you aren't seeing things) deposit. So that will make it R3000 !!! If I refuse to pay this the ****ers are gonna cut me off. The worst of it is that all my neighbours are paying half my bill :mad:

Below is my list of things that are on ....

pool pump = 2 hours every 3rd day
geyser = 1 hour a day
3 outside lights (all energy saving bulbs) and 3 inside lights (2 energy saving) every night
PC = 10 hours a day
stove = 1 hour a day
2 fridges
2 floor fans and obviously the TV, vcr, decoder.

Monthly bill = nothing lower than R1200 every month and now the deposit increase. Who can I take my case to? Any info appreciated as always.
Click to expand...

They have you over a barrel.
Only option is to get pre-paid.
Meter will cost R600, installation about R250.

They are also overcharging you at the moment.
There is no way in hell that you can pay R1200 a month for that few appliances and lights.
Have your meter tested.
 
Prepaid only works if you're munic supports it. Alot of people think they can just get a prepaid meter and there bills go away. If you're on a conventional billing system the only thing a prepaid meter is going to do is give you a indoor indication of how many kwh you're consuming.
 
Fudzy said:
If you're on a conventional billing system the only thing a prepaid meter is going to do is give you a indoor indication of how many kwh you're consuming.
Click to expand...

You'd be surprised. You have a higher tendency to save power if you have a prepaid meter in the house and need to keep on giving it cash to keep the power running. Loading small amounts the whole time also helps.

@Mephisto_Helix - We have about the same minus 2 floor fans and decoder. Our bill is waaay below R500 per month!
 
ld13 said:
You'd be surprised. You have a higher tendency to save power if you have a prepaid meter in the house and need to keep on giving it cash to keep the power running. Loading small amounts the whole time also helps.
Click to expand...

Well the visual indication is usually a way to curb spending. Kinda like it's easier to swipe your credit card than part with paper notes :D
 
Hmm, so I was correct in assuming that the bill is very suspect. The k@k thing is that I'm now gonna have to pay them to get the meter tested and then they might still turn round and say that's not the problem. What course of action am I left with then? *%$#& lose lose situation all round isn't it.
 
Have you checked your meter? Monitor that for a day, multiply it by 30 (or whatever billing cycle is used) and it should give you a true indication of your consumption.
 
Fudzy said:
Prepaid only works if you're munic supports it. Alot of people think they can just get a prepaid meter and there bills go away. If you're on a conventional billing system the only thing a prepaid meter is going to do is give you a indoor indication of how many kwh you're consuming.
Click to expand...

You can also control you usage better.
 
multiply it by 30 (or whatever billing cycle is used) and it should give you a true indication of your consumption.
Click to expand...
... will give that a bash. I remember the last time I spoke to 'them' (municipality) about it, the woman was of the opinion that I use between 55 and 85 units (can't remember the term) per day. Sounds high no?
 
Ok, just did a 24 hour meter check and it's reading that I used 50 kw. Firstly, does that sound about right? Secondly, how much is each kw? At least then I can tell if it's the meter or the municipality sharks.
 
Mephisto_Helix said:
how much is each kw?
Click to expand...

1 unit of electricity is 1kw. In PTA 1 unit costs 43c (check the cost per unit on your bill). Multiply by 50 and then by the amount of days in the billing cycle and you should get what your monthly bill should be. 50kw * 0.43c * 30 days = R 645.00

Something smells like Alec Irwin! As Piepalook says, they have your head over barrel.
 
Check your bill to see when last you had an actual meter reading taken, perhaps they are working your bill out on estimated readings. Also check if the last actual reading taken looks something similar to whats on the meter. Sometimes meter readers make a thumb suck reading for a million reasons. Also check that your geyser isn't overflowing and that all the hot/warm water isn't running out. Had a customer complaining about excessive usage and we found his geyser was loosing all the hot water, his bill dropped by half when the geyser was repaired he also had meters tested. Don't have your meters tested you are throwing money away. In all the time i worked for Eskom we never had a faulty meter. Check also that no one else is connected to you. Know of a story where robots were running off a guys house meter. Its all a matter of elimination. PM me if you need some help and i'll try. Good luck!
 
Eskom seems to be averaging everything and then adding another 5% per month.:( I wish they'd actually check the meters.
 
What usage are you guys getting in a 24 hour cycle? I'm gonna do a process of elimination on everything that is considered a power guzzler and see if maybe one of them is on the fritz.
 
Wow, just thought I'd let you know what I discovered. 24 Hours without a geyser = 1-2 less kwh .... 24 hours with one fridge off = 17 less kwh ! So ja, guess I found the problem then. :D Still doesn't excuse the R3000 'deposit' the greedy f***ers want though.
 
Glad you found the cause now its just a matter of managing them. Good luck. Why not ask them for a reason for such a high deposit?
 
Mephisto_Helix said:
Wow, just thought I'd let you know what I discovered. 24 Hours without a geyser = 1-2 less kwh .... 24 hours with one fridge off = 17 less kwh ! So ja, guess I found the problem then. :D Still doesn't excuse the R3000 'deposit' the greedy f***ers want though.
Click to expand...

17 KWH in 24 hours for a fridge?
Are you running a cold storage company?

How big is this fridge?

Something seriously wrong there!
 
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