ESB Cock Up

rebeve

Was away in Dublin for a few days .My daughter rings me this evening to say
the ESB were out to disconnect my supply for non payment .The account number they were trying to disconnect was not mine .The idiot was at the wrong house.I now have to hang around to sort this out .So who pays for my petrol up and down from Dublin .

Tow

rebeve wrote: »

the ESB were out to disconnect my supply for non payment .The account number they were trying to disconnect was not mine .The idiot was at the wrong house.

The same thing happen to an elderly grand uncle of time a few years ago. If you kick up enough fuss at a high level within the company you should get an apology and your costs reimbursed.

Zab

Let your daughter sort it out?

rebeve

Zab wrote: »

Let your daughter sort it out?

Why ?

Zab

rebeve wrote: »

Why ?

I'm just trying to save you the trip back from Dublin

Guy:Incognito

Was there not a bill in the house she could have shown him so he knew he was at the wrong place? Surely that and a quick call to his office/customer service would have had it sorted?

rebeve

Guy:Incognito wrote: »

Was there not a bill in the house she could have shown him so he knew he was at the wrong place? Surely that and a quick call to his office/customer service would have had it sorted?

Online Billing .I am assuming you do not have daughters .

rebeve

Zab wrote: »

I'm just trying to save you the trip back from Dublin

I am already back .

rebeve

Guy:Incognito wrote: »

Was there not a bill in the house she could have shown him so he knew he was at the wrong place? Surely that and a quick call to his office/customer service would have had it sorted?

Maybe if your man knew where he was ,it would not have happened .Not good
enough imho .

You really need to make a huge stink about this. Companies must have safeguards in place to ensure they don't cut off essential services to the wrong customers.
Its bad enough they cut off people who are in poverty and can't pay without cutting off those who are paying.
Threaten to take them to the small claims court to recover your costs if they don't compensate you, apologise and explain what they will be doing to prevent this from happening again.

Guy:Incognito

rebeve wrote: »

Maybe if your man knew where he was ,it would not have happened .Not good
enough imho .

A mistake was made, they happen. Thats why you try to sort it out there and then, its easier.I doubt he goes around pickign random houses to cut off for fun.


As for not having daughters, no , I have sons, why does it matter? Are you implying girls are helpless? Presumably shes old enough to engage the guy in conversation if she was home by herself? Online billing should make it nice and easy to produce a copy of the bill on short notice no?

Did you speak to the guy on the phone while he was there?

rebeve

Guy:Incognito wrote: »

A mistake was made, they happen. Thats why you try to sort it out there and then, its easier.I doubt he goes around pickign random houses to cut off for fun.


As for not having daughters, no , I have sons, why does it matter? Are you implying girls are helpless? Presumably shes old enough to engage the guy in conversation if she was home by herself? Online billing should make it nice and easy to produce a copy of the bill on short notice no?

Did you speak to the guy on the phone while he was there?

Do you not think it would be easier for the esb to go to the right house .If my meter was on the outside ,he would have cut the power .So she`s home alone and you want her to engage some random punter ,and advertise the fact .Then you would want to know why she opened the door .
Ya there was a number on the disconnection notice .No answer from that in two days .

Guy:Incognito

rebeve wrote: »

Do you not think it would be easier for the esb to go to the right house

Of course it would be easier for them to go to the right house A mistake was made, otherwise he would have been at the right house. Do you think he wanted to go to the wrong house?

rebeve wrote: »

.If my meter was on the outside ,he would have cut the power .

Was the power not cut so? Whats the issue then?

rebeve wrote: »

So she`s home alone and you want her to engage some random punter ,and advertise the fact ..

I'm assuming we're not talking about a small child here? If shes home alone what does she do, lock the house up and pretend theres no one in?
We're talking about a daughter old enough to be left alone in the house for a number of days here, not a 6 year old.


From the information given she must have engaged them enough to find out it was the ESB and they came to cut the power, no?

EDIT: Appears it was just a notice shoved in the door?

rebeve wrote: »

Then you would want to know why she opened the door.

Would I? It normally works like this: doorbell rings/knock at the door. Person answers door.

Is there something else?

rebeve wrote: »

Ya there was a number on the disconnection notice .No answer from that in two days .

So nothing was done by the ESB? No power cut? Why is it you had to cut your trip short and stay home for days? If they have to get in to cut your power , whats the issue?

sandin

So the power wasn't cut?

And even if the guy got in to disconnect he would have had to check the meter number - as this would not have tallyed, a disconnection probably would not have taken place. Same prodecure if it was outside.

IF, he calls again, (doubt it) you just show him the meter and tell him to check it against his sheet.

You are responsible for your petrol costs as the esb didn't tell you to go away from the house so that they could secretly disconnect you.

rebeve

sandin wrote: »

So the power wasn't cut?

And even if the guy got in to disconnect he would have had to check the meter number - as this would not have tallyed, a disconnection probably would not have taken place. Same prodecure if it was outside.

IF, he calls again, (doubt it) you just show him the meter and tell him to check it against his sheet.

You are responsible for your petrol costs as the esb didn't tell you to go away from the house so that they could secretly disconnect you.

ESB networks do not have access to a database of meter numbers ,only mprn
numbers .So if I pay my bill and the esb cut me off ,its my fault .Are you by any chance a member of fianna fail .

RoundyMooney

rebeve wrote: »

ESB networks do not have access to a database of meter numbers ,only mprn
numbers .So if I pay my bill and the esb cut me off ,its my fault .Are you by any chance a member of fianna fail .

You're talking absolute crap here-and to be honest, the increasingly shrill and semi hysterical nature of your discourse is not going to entice too many people here to help you.

Diddler1977

rebeve wrote: »

ESB networks do not have access to a database of meter numbers ,only mprn
numbers .So if I pay my bill and the esb cut me off ,its my fault .Are you by any chance a member of fianna fail .

Why are you talking If's here???

All you had to do was call them and explain their mistake - or better yet get your daughter to do this.

Why did YOU decide to travel up from Cork to sort this out? There was no need to do this. Sounds like a mistake from ESB turned in to a "Cock up" by you and your daughter.

dudara

rebeve wrote: »

Are you by any chance a member of fianna fail .

This comment has no relevance to the discussion here.

ESB should have procedures in place for checking for disconnecting a supply. I'd imagine that this would involve checking the meter number / MPRN number before actually making the snip. This procedure should be in place to prevent erroneous disconnections taking place.

Write a registered letter of complaint to the Networks section of ESB - but keep it simple and factual. Ultimately though, you weren't disconnected, so I'm not sure there is anything that they will do for you.

sandin

rebeve wrote: »

.Are you by any chance a member of fianna fail .

eh?

sorry, am I missing something here?

ESB = electricity supply company
Fianna Fail = political party.

I fail to see any connection.

If anyone can enlighten me on the connection, i'd like to know.

btw - ESB networks do the disconnections on behalf of all suppliers. they have both the MPRN number and the Meter number and certainly have more intelligence than you seem to have judging by your above comment!

I still contend that as the meter number would not have matched the details on the ESB employees sheet, the disconnection would not have gone ahead.

btw - I vote for the person, not the party!

dudara

@sandin Please see my previous post on the political comment. There is no need to continue off on that tangent.

dudara

RoundyMooney

dudara wrote: »

ESB should have procedures in place for checking for disconnecting a supply. I'd imagine that this would involve checking the meter number / MPRN number before actually making the snip. This procedure should be in place to prevent erroneous disconnections taking place.

This is correct. Even when the meter is inaccessible, there are a number of ways to ensure that the correct premises is involved. Mistakes happen, of course.

In this case, we don't know if it was a boilerplate letter, or a card drop by a member of ESBN, in the case of the former, it would be an admittedly rare error by An Post, for example.

Dudess

derekeire wrote: »

Companies must have safeguards in place to ensure they don't cut off essential services to the wrong customers.

They do.

Its bad enough they cut off people who are in poverty and can't pay

It takes a huge amount of time and reminders before there is a disconnection. If someone is struggling and they let the company know, the company will try to accommodate them as best they can. It's a joke here the way companies are depicted as evil monsters who enjoy making life difficult for poor folks. Disconnections tend to happen to people who don't appear to be making any effort whatsoever to pay - like, not even a tenner for months and months.

lala88

Dudess wrote: »

They do.

It takes a huge amount of time and reminders before there is a disconnection. If someone is struggling and they let the company know, the company will try to accommodate them as best they can. It's a joke here the way companies are depicted as evil monsters who enjoy making life difficult for poor folks. Disconnections tend to happen to people who don't appear to be making any effort whatsoever to pay - like, not even a tenner for months and months.

Ah but they are, sure its not like there in business to make money or anything is it? Sure there always in the wrong its never the customers falt after all...

lala88

Deleted User wrote: »

You really need to make a huge stink about this. Companies must have safeguards in place to ensure they don't cut off essential services to the wrong customers.
Its bad enough they cut off people who are in poverty and can't pay without cutting off those who are paying.
Threaten to take them to the small claims court to recover your costs if they don't compensate you, apologise and explain what they will be doing to prevent this from happening again.

What are they ment to do? Just let them use there service for free is it?

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

rebeve wrote: »

ESB networks do not have access to a database of meter numbers ,only mprn
numbers .So if I pay my bill and the esb cut me off ,its my fault .Are you by any chance a member of fianna fail .

They do certainly have meter number data. It's a basic cross-check at any meter work (incl disconnection).Indeed ESb Networks own the meters.Where did you get the opposite impression? :rolleyes:

amdublin

I've read this thread a couple of times. I'm completely confused!

Op please clarify
1. Was your electricity cut off at all?

2. You have been up and down to Dublin to Dublin for a reason completely unconnected to the ESB??

3. What actually is your consumer issue here please?

rebeve

Christopher Sweet Permit wrote: »

They do certainly have meter number data. It's a basic cross-check at any meter work (incl disconnection).Indeed ESb Networks own the meters.Where did you get the opposite impression? :rolleyes:

From esb networks .

rebeve

RoundyMooney wrote: »

This is correct. Even when the meter is inaccessible, there are a number of ways to ensure that the correct premises is involved. Mistakes happen, of course.

In this case, we don't know if it was a boilerplate letter, or a card drop by a member of ESBN, in the case of the former, it would be an admittedly rare error by An Post, for example.

It was a letter from a member of staff from esbn .They were unable to disconnect the supply,because they could not get access to the property .

cast_iron

rebeve wrote: »

It was a letter from a member of staff from esbn .They were unable to disconnect the supply,because they could not get access to the property .

Right, so because a letter arrived through the door, you could not travel to Dublin/wherever you live? I think I see where your daughter gets it from.

amdublin

Okay still confused!

Your electricity was not disconnected - that's good.

What's your petrol for your trip to Dubs got to do with any of this?

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

rebeve wrote: »

From esb networks .

Would you PM me with the name of the person in ESB Networks who told you this? It is completely false. Thanks.

Tow

sandin wrote: »

And even if the guy got in to disconnect he would have had to check the meter number - as this would not have tallyed, a disconnection probably would not have taken place. Same prodecure if it was outside.

That is an assumption!. In my uncles case the mistake was made back in the ESB's head office. He was lucky that he was able to dig up bills showing he had always paid while the ESB's computer system showed otherwise. It is not the sort of mistake the EBS should be doing with people in the 80s.

the_syco

rebeve wrote: »

So who pays for my petrol up and down from Dublin .

No-one. It wasn't disconnected, so there's no reason why you should go anywhere. Just ring them.

lala88

rebeve wrote: »

Was away in Dublin for a few days .My daughter rings me this evening to say
the ESB were out to disconnect my supply for non payment .The account number they were trying to disconnect was not mine .The idiot was at the wrong house.I now have to hang around to sort this out .So who pays for my petrol up and down from Dublin .

You do who ealse is going to?

Cabaal

So, ESB Networks called to the door and said that power would be disconnected (apparently), you were called by your daughter about this and your response was to drive from Cork to Dublin.

This makes no sense and I honestly can't believe anybody could be foolish enough to do this, especially when a phone call would sort or confirm a situation in around 5min.

Should we expect another thread from you in a few weeks if your eircom bill is wrong and you take it upon yourself to drive to Eircom HQ to sort it out.

Its your job to pay for petrol if you don't have the cop on to act rationally.

token101

You drove all the way to Dublin because the power might be cut off? Even though there was an adult there to deal with this already? Why couldn't you phone them?

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

Tow wrote: »

That is an assumption!. In my uncles case the mistake was made back in the ESB's head office. He was lucky that he was able to dig up bills showing he had always paid while the ESB's computer system showed otherwise. It is not the sort of mistake the EBS should be doing with people in the 80s.

That is a completely different scenario; monies paid were obviously not recorded correctly. The OPs case is a wrong address.

rebeve

the_syco wrote: »

No-one. It wasn't disconnected, so there's no reason why you should go anywhere. Just ring them.

I have tried to contact them on the number supplied for 3 days no answer ,and no call back .

rebeve

Cabaal wrote: »

So, ESB Networks called to the door and said that power would be disconnected (apparently), you were called by your daughter about this and your response was to drive from Cork to Dublin.

This makes no sense and I honestly can't believe anybody could be foolish enough to do this, especially when a phone call would sort or confirm a situation in around 5min.

Should we expect another thread from you in a few weeks if your eircom bill is wrong and you take it upon yourself to drive to Eircom HQ to sort it out.

Its your job to pay for petrol if you don't have the cop on to act rationally.

Well maybe if they returned my calls I could have .

Paparazzo

If you're ringing up and leaving messages demanding petrol money, it's no wonder you're not getting a call back!

"Online billing" is a strange reason not to show the ESB guy your bill. If there was only a way to display information stored in computer to the human eye!

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

rebeve wrote: »

I have tried to contact them on the number supplied for 3 days no answer ,and no call back .

1850 372 757 is their contact centre and they answer within a minute usually. :rolleyes:

Your history here suggests you are based in Cork rather than Dublin. What age is this daughter stranded in Dublin??

phill106

If you have access to online billing, could you not have looked up your account number online, impart this information to said daughter and be done with it?

amdublin

Christopher Sweet Permit wrote: »

rebeve wrote: »

I have tried to contact them on the number supplied for 3 days no answer ,and no call back .

1850 372 757 is their contact centre and they answer within a minute usually. :rolleyes:

Your history here suggests you are based in Cork rather than Dublin. What age is this daughter stranded in Dublin??

No i think he or she is based in cork but was in Dublin???

Did the daughter see a note from esb and rather than ringing the esb the op came back from dublin??
Why would the esb pay for that petrol?
- op's choice to drive back
- presumably theydve been coming back at some point anyway??

And also! The leccie was never even disconnected!!!!!!!

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

Thanks, I got confused there. Senior moment!

Diddler1977

rebeve wrote: »

Was away in Dublin for a few days .My daughter rings me this evening to say
the ESB were out to disconnect my supply for non payment .The account number they were trying to disconnect was not mine .The idiot was at the wrong house.I now have to hang around to sort this out .So who pays for my petrol up and down from Dublin .

I think your daughter should be liable to pay for your petrol.

dudara

Posters - that's enough really. Keep it sensible.

dudara

Tow

Christopher Sweet Permit wrote: »

That is a completely different scenario; monies paid were obviously not recorded correctly. The OPs case is a wrong address.

previous money paid was correctly recorded on his bills etc. The problem seemed to be the billing system lost the records.

rebeve

Thanks for all the help ,sorted now .