Treated like a criminal

ZOLTAN28

Your policy of ringing customers to demand payment is disgusting and makes csutomers feel like criminals.

I am an ESB customer for 15 years who has never had issues with payment - I get behind by a couple of weeks and get called telling me I need to pay up and if I don't come up with a payment plan I willl continue to receive these calls.

The 'funny' thing is that I got into arrears (a massive 140 quid!) because you sent me two bills the month before - the normal bill and an extra 200 quid as my meter had not been read for a year. When you 'discovered' this you asked me to email you a meter reading which I did promptly only to be hit with the second bill.

Now maybe I should have noticed the meter had not been read but then again maybe 'you' should have reminded me before a year had passed.

This policy of ringing long term customers who are a couple of weeks behind
is absolutely wrong and as soon as I get my finances together I will be clearing what I owe you and saying goodbye to the ESB forever - hopefully many other ESB customers will do the same.

At least now we have viable competition (I have already discussed their policies on arrears and not surprisingly they are light years ahead of your 1970s strongarm policy).

I would also advise you to actually train your staff in how to speak to customers who may be experiencing financial difficulties - tone was abysmal and confrontational on the last call.

Chris Hansen

You tell em!


You should have used a magnet on the meter that would have showed them!

ukoda

ZOLTAN28 wrote: »

Your policy of ringing customers to demand payment is disgusting and makes csutomers feel like criminals.

I am an ESB customer for 15 years who has never had issues with payment - I get behind by a couple of weeks and get called telling me I need to pay up and if I don't come up with a payment plan I willl continue to receive these calls.

The 'funny' thing is that I got into arrears (a massive 140 quid!) because you sent me two bills the month before - the normal bill and an extra 200 quid as my meter had not been read for a year. When you 'discovered' this you asked me to email you a meter reading which I did promptly only to be hit with the second bill.

Now maybe I should have noticed the meter had not been read but then again maybe 'you' should have reminded me before a year had passed.

This policy of ringing long term customers who are a couple of weeks behind
is absolutely wrong and as soon as I get my finances together I will be clearing what I owe you and saying goodbye to the ESB forever - hopefully many other ESB customers will do the same.

At least now we have viable competition (I have already discussed their policies on arrears and not surprisingly they are light years ahead of your 1970s strongarm policy).

I would also advise you to actually train your staff in how to speak to customers who may be experiencing financial difficulties - tone was abysmal and confrontational on the last call.

You entered an agreement with ESB 15 years ago to buy electricity from them, they agreed to sell it to you and you agreed to pay for it within the credit terms outlined.

You didn't keep your end of the deal, did you ring them to apologize and ask for an extension of credit terms? or did you just ignore the bill and decide to pay it when you felt like it?

If you don't pay when your supposed to of course they are going to keep ringing you! thats what businesses do!

having had experience of Airtricity and Bord Gais, i can tell you that they are far more aggressive than ESB for people in arrears.

If you were spoken to in an "abysmal and confrontational" way - then please by all means make a complaint about that, but seriously, come down off the moral high ground, i'd be mortified if a company had to ring me because i didn't pay them when i suppose to.

krissovo

ukoda wrote: »

having had experience of Airtricity and Bord Gais, i can tell you that they are far more aggressive than ESB for people in arrears.

Airtricity sent goons in suits to demand cash at the door for a bill 3 weeks late.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

Maybe if you paid your bills like the rest of us they wouldn't have to chase you for it and we'd all save in the process.

You are obviously well beyond the payment terms, to warrant follow up, as I know a single arrears bill does not get that kind of dunning or follow up.

You honestly didn't notice more than 6 estimated bills in a row???? And you did not keep to payment terms???
You have little to complain about.

I see you are arguing with Eircom and threatening to leave them as well. I see a pattern.:rolleyes:

January

krissovo wrote: »

Airtricity sent goons in suits to demand cash at the door for a bill 3 weeks late.

Nice of them to afford you that luxery, I got the man in the yellow van out to cut my wires when my bill was three weeks late.

Chris Hansen

January wrote: »

Nice of them to afford you that luxery, I got the man in the yellow van out to cut my wires when my bill was three weeks late.

BOOO!Buggers, should have used a magnet!

dudara

Chris Hansen

Please note that Boards does not advocate the criminal destruction of property or other activities. Please read the forum charter before posting again.

dudara

ZOLTAN28

"as I know a single arrears bill does not get that kind of dunning or follow up."

Really? You know this do you?

My last bill was issued in June - have already paid some of it - I get this call three weeks later.

Not only is this a 'single arrears bill, as you put it but I have already part paid it.

So maybe you should actually check facts before making statements.

I am really glad you can all pay your bills on time every month but some people have been hit extremely hard by the recession and by family matters beyond their control.

I have never been in arrears before in my life and this bill like all others will be paid before I receive another. I object to the way I am being treated - I do not object to having to pay bills.

Electric Ireland: David

Hi ZOLTAN28,

If a customer is experiencing difficulties paying their bill in accordance with our credit terms (outlined here), we recommend they get in touch to arrange a payment schedule as soon as possible. We do what we can to agree a schedule in line with the customers' income and circumstances.

ZOLTAN28 wrote:

Now maybe I should have noticed the meter had not been read but then again maybe 'you' should have reminded me before a year had passed.

When your bill has been estimated, it will be clearly marked on the invoice itself. ESB Networks plan to read your meter 4 times a year, so in a 12-month period, customers can expect 2 estimations. Note that this number may increase if there are difficulties in gaining access to the meter (e.g. locked gate/meter is inside and there is nobody home).

In order to adjust your bill, you can ring 1850 372 372, email us, adjust your bill online here, or send one of us reps here on boards a private message. With the introduction of our Meter Reading Apps, you can now also submit readings via your Smartphone.

When a customer is hit with a high bill following consecutive estimates, it is customary to spread the payments out over a number of weeks, to reduce the impact on the customer. Note however that the customer would need to get in touch to request this, and an agreement would need to be reached in terms of payment amount and frequency.

ZOLTAN28 wrote:

tone was abysmal and confrontational on the last call.

I'm sorry to hear this. If you would like me to look into this and/or help you with anything else related to your account, please feel free to send me your details via PM.

Thanks,

David.

Electric Ireland: David

Hi Chris Hansen,

Chris Hansen wrote:

BOOO!Buggers, should have used a magnet!

We understand that you're probably saying this in jest (or we hope this is the case!), but please be aware that interfering with your meter in any way, besides being dangerous, is indeed a criminal offence.

Thanks,

David.

Chris Hansen

Electric Ireland: David wrote: »

Hi Chris Hansen,



We understand that you're probably saying this in jest (or we hope this is the case!), but please be aware that interfering with your meter in any way, besides being dangerous, is indeed a criminal offence.

Thanks,

David.

Oh I interfered with my meter alright




I switched to a cheaper supplier than ESB!

ZOLTAN28

Chris Hansen wrote: »

Oh I interfered with my meter alright




I switched to a cheaper supplier than ESB!

Classic!

Priori

Chris Hansen wrote: »

Oh I interfered with my meter alright




I switched to a cheaper supplier than ESB!

Erm, that doesn't interfere with your meter in any way at all actually - it's owned and maintained by ESB Networks in any case, and it makes no difference to them what supplier you're with. They deal with all suppliers equally.

Also, according to bonkers.ie, ESB are actually the cheapest provider for electricity at the moment, if you don't mind paying by direct debit.

charlemont

Chris Hansen wrote: »

Oh I interfered with my meter alright




I switched to a cheaper supplier than ESB!

Your dead right too, Chris..
I did myself and naughty, naughty, I didn't pay my bill, Sure lock me up and throw away the key..:P

Priori

charlemont wrote:

Your dead right too, Chris..
I did myself and naughty, naughty...

What, you interfered with yourself, or the meter?

naughtysmurf

Well, things must have really changed since I was an ESB customer,

Would usually have paid my bills in full on time except maybe during the winter months when they were very large so paid half and then paid the other half the following month and never heard so much as a peep out of them for over 15yrs

Switched to Bord Gais and then Airtricity in order to save a few bob about eight months ago, there billing dept / customer service is up in a heap!!!! I reckon they couldn't / can't cope with the numbers that switched.

If they ring again, explain that at the end of every month you put all the bills into a hat, pull out a few and pay those first and that if they keep ringing, their bill won't even go into the hat so no chance of payment

This estimated billing is a load of crap, the meter only has to be read 6 times a year, ESB get of your arse's and read the meters, it helps to keep everybody up to date, you and the customer.

cookie1977

Why not call in a reading?

naughtysmurf

cookie1977 wrote: »

Why not call in a reading?

I submit a reading online to Airtricity for both gas & electric, my readings then have to be verified by the original supplyer, Airtricity don't just take my word for it, so I can only assume my meter is being checked TWICE somehow

-Corkie-

I got the same call from the ESB and was slightly annoyed and switched to Airtricity. What a mistake that was, I am back with ESB again thank god at least they have decent customer service.

ukoda

naughtysmurf wrote: »

I submit a reading online to Airtricity for both gas & electric, my readings then have to be verified by the original supplyer, Airtricity don't just take my word for it, so I can only assume my meter is being checked TWICE somehow

There would be no other supplier involved in this situation. Any supplier can take an electricity reading from a customer and bill them to that reading without verifcation from anyone else.

However, with a gas reading, these all have to be verified by Bord Gais Networks as they work out the conversion factor based on (i think) quality of gas/pipes, average temperature etc. Only Bord Gais Networks can say yay or nay to a customer reading as far as I'm aware.

charlemont

Priori wrote: »

What, you interfered with yourself, or the meter?

Both.;)

dudara

Posters Stick to the topic please - enough of the vulgarity.

dudara

T1tsMgee

ZOLTAN28 wrote: »

Your policy of ringing customers to demand payment is disgusting and makes csutomers feel like criminals.

I am an ESB customer for 15 years who has never had issues with payment - I get behind by a couple of weeks and get called telling me I need to pay up and if I don't come up with a payment plan I willl continue to receive these calls.

The 'funny' thing is that I got into arrears (a massive 140 quid!) because you sent me two bills the month before - the normal bill and an extra 200 quid as my meter had not been read for a year. When you 'discovered' this you asked me to email you a meter reading which I did promptly only to be hit with the second bill.

Now maybe I should have noticed the meter had not been read but then again maybe 'you' should have reminded me before a year had passed.

This policy of ringing long term customers who are a couple of weeks behind
is absolutely wrong and as soon as I get my finances together I will be clearing what I owe you and saying goodbye to the ESB forever - hopefully many other ESB customers will do the same.

At least now we have viable competition (I have already discussed their policies on arrears and not surprisingly they are light years ahead of your 1970s strongarm policy).

I would also advise you to actually train your staff in how to speak to customers who may be experiencing financial difficulties - tone was abysmal and confrontational on the last call.

Well technically you're defaulting on a debt, so you're not too far off being a crim All joking aside, you owe money!!! Simple as!!! Your bills are YOUR responsibility!! If it said estimated, you read it yourself. Have a bit of personal responsibility and stop blaming others. Its not the ESBs fault you cant pay. Theyre a business and need the money like any other. You get a fortnight to pay, if you cant you call them and pay over 8 weeks, how hard is that to grasp? When was the last time your local supermarket gave you a few extra weeks to pay your grocery bill? If owe more than you can pay in 8 WEEKS, you should cut down.

Leaving ESB eh? Hope 'Operation out of the frying pan' works out well!!

Cookie_Monster

cookie1977 wrote: »

Why not call in a reading?

Because you're paying a large amount of money for the electricity and the service that is supposed to go with it. If they can't even manage simple tasks like reading meters for the price we pay, that's hardly good service is it...

It's not like ESB aren't making enormous profits either, €339m in 2010...

cookie1977

My meter is in my kitchen and we're not home to let someone in when they call since they do so during the day so I have to ring in readings. I dont mind as it stops estimates screwing up my bills and they've never had a problem accepting my customer readings. In fact they probably only ever get to read my meter once every 18 months and thats just pure luck.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

Cookie_Monster wrote: »

Because you're paying a large amount of money for the electricity and the service that is supposed to go with it. If they can't even manage simple tasks like reading meters for the price we pay, that's hardly good service is it...

It's not like ESB aren't making enormous profits either, €339m in 2010...

Firstly, they reported an €84Million loss for 2010. You need to distinguish between Operating Profits and Pre-tax Profits.

Secondly, the OP is not being chased for an arrears account simply because he had estimated bills. He also would have been fully aware of the estimates, he must have a meter they can't access, and before we all feel sorry for him it can't be a coincidence that he has an almost identical thread elsewhere about his problems with Eircom (these too involve the supplier looking for payment, treating him badly and he threatening to go to another company).

Chris Hansen

Douglas Wide Splint wrote: »

Firstly, they reported an €84Million loss for 2010. You need to distinguish between Operating Profits and Pre-tax Profits.

Secondly, the OP is not being chased for an arrears account simply because he had estimated bills. He also would have been fully aware of the estimates, he must have a meter they can't access, and before we all feel sorry for him it can't be a coincidence that he has an almost identical thread elsewhere about his problems with Eircom (these too involve the supplier looking for payment, treating him badly and he threatening to go to another company).

You sound like a seanie fitz supporter to me...

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

I don't know who Seanie Fitz is. Is your comment meant to be informative, funny, or a put down?

Edit: Just googled him and got items about a disgraced banker. If that's who you refer to, I don't see the relevance.