TPD
the poor dad
Most smart meters are being installed in the middle of the billing cycle. On one of my accounts last month, I noticed my kWh usage was more than double what it has been in the last 12 months or probably ever. After careful examination of the bill, I see that no where are we given the beginning and ending meter readings from the old meter, just the total kWh used from the old meter. In 7 days on the old meter I used more than 2000 kWh (never used that much in a total month previous) but just a bit over 1000 in the remaining 25 days. I knew this was a mistake. A call to SMECO and I was informed that they would go look at the old meter and get back to me with any corrections. Less than 4 hours later, I received a return call from SMECO stating my bill would be lowered by more than $200.
The customer service at SMECO was great in handling this matter, but my point is that now I want to question every account I have with SMECO that has had a new meter installed. This mistake was obvious, but now I wonder how many smaller mistakes are being made with this switch - 100 kWh here, 200 kWh there - small numbers that maybe will go unnoticed by the average customer. In the past when a meter was read wrong, the mistake was caught and adjustment made on the next reading/billing cycle. When an old meter is taken out and we are just billed a number with no readings given to us, it is our word against SMECO's contractors who are installing the meters, which in reality who was around to read their own meter before it was taken out? I'm sure they did not have my old meter 2 months later that they could go back and check, but more like a digital picture. Just glad this problem was solved in a timely manner.
Anyhow, just a warning to double check your bill! I have been against the installation of these smart meters all along, and this incident is one more reason I am against them. I am tempted to call and have them double check all of my accounts that have been switched to the new meters....
The customer service at SMECO was great in handling this matter, but my point is that now I want to question every account I have with SMECO that has had a new meter installed. This mistake was obvious, but now I wonder how many smaller mistakes are being made with this switch - 100 kWh here, 200 kWh there - small numbers that maybe will go unnoticed by the average customer. In the past when a meter was read wrong, the mistake was caught and adjustment made on the next reading/billing cycle. When an old meter is taken out and we are just billed a number with no readings given to us, it is our word against SMECO's contractors who are installing the meters, which in reality who was around to read their own meter before it was taken out? I'm sure they did not have my old meter 2 months later that they could go back and check, but more like a digital picture. Just glad this problem was solved in a timely manner.
Anyhow, just a warning to double check your bill! I have been against the installation of these smart meters all along, and this incident is one more reason I am against them. I am tempted to call and have them double check all of my accounts that have been switched to the new meters....