Electric Ireland Cut My Supply!!!

brendan86

Hi all,

Today I came home from work with my electricity after being cut off.

To explain in brief here it goes

I am the owner of the house and when I moved out over 3 years ago I left with a bill of 500euro being owed to esb and let my house.

I moved back into my house 6 months ago, I have paid my 3 bills I recieved from electric ireland on time.. 4 months ago they realised I owed them 500 from previous that was fair enough they added that onto my bill.. they kept sending me letters which I then rang them to say I will pay 50 monthly on top of my new bill.. they said the lowest they can go is 50 per week, I said I cant afford that etc etv.. I was then told theres nothing could be done..

I think my proposal was fair as I was going to keep on top of any new bills and pay 50 a month extra..

I missed 3 calls from esb few days ago as was working and today I get home to no esb. I am furious.

I am up to date since I moved in, I just owe 599 exactly as arrears from 3 years ago.

I have since rang them and they wont entertain me unless I pay 540 up front!!

I didnt expect to get cut off oweing so little and trying pay 50 a month off arrears..

Advice anyone?

Fred Swanson

This post has been deleted.

brendan86

Would I still have to pay so much up front?

Id rather avoid that if possible but I guess I may have no choice..

brendan86

Also if I did agree to budget metre how soon would they have my esb back on? Would it not take longer going down that road to get reconnected?

Fred Swanson

This post has been deleted.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

Maybe I'm reading this wrong but you moved in knowing you had left a debt over 3 years ago. They send several letters and eventually you rang them. You had missed calls from them but didn't call them back. Did you even make the 50 per month payments for the past 4 months? It seems you did not engage properly with them.
Most suppliers will not reconnect for a part payment. You can try offerinng a decent upfront payment plus the reconnection fee but you have to accept reponsibilty for it getting to this stage.

brendan86

I only said I was going to pay 50 extra a month the past 3 weeks.. I was going to make the payment next week..

Yes I had letters wouldn't say several tho.. And yes I was naive not making better contact with them but I was busy and I'm bit shy on phone and find it impossible to talk to them on the phone to make arrangements.. My father was going to deal with it as he is better at putting point across..

I think the meter might be a good idea, I wonder how much up front they will be looking.. If 200 I can do that.. I can't see them accepting 200 tho..

Thanks for replies appreciate any feedback..

I thought it bad form disconnecting only 500 being owed.

Doop

brendan86 wrote: »

I thought it bad form disconnecting only 500 being owed.

If 500 is so little then how come you haven't paid it??

brendan86

Doop wrote: »

If 500 is so little then how come you haven't paid it??

Right that sounded bad me saying 500 wasnt much

basically years ago I was bad at paying bills, lately past 6 months from I moved back into my house ive been trying get back on track with all payments.. paying everything on time now.. 80% my wages now go on mortgage credit union loans and bills.. which I keep up to date.. 500 is a lot to pay for me now upfront because 80% my earnings go to my loans but ive been keeping my esb up to date since moved back in I just find it harsh as to why I have been cut off.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

brendan86 wrote: »

I thought it bad form disconnecting only 500 being owed.

You keep referring to it being so small an amount and yet you can't pay it nor did you attempt to pay it in over 3 years.
In this quote and twice in the OP you say how little it is. Not the attitude to take if you are contacting them about it. And please remember when dealing with them that this debt has been ignored by you for over 3 years and that you are working.

Gatling

Op no point your father ringing ,
They won't deal with anybody but you directly ,.
Sounds like they were justified to cut you off,

How much do you actually owe them

sham58107

Lets see, you own house, you moved out 3 years ago and left bill of 500euro what did you think was going to happen after 3 years they would forget.Also you say you let house so was bill in tenant's name for 3 years? and if you were getting rent why not pay off your outstanding bills. Would you have let tenant owe you 500euro for 3 yrs.

rubberdiddies

the OP has come here for advice on what to do going forward, not to be berated for something already done, by people who have never done anything wrong in their life! :rolleyes:

hindsight is wonderful, however going forward I would suggest.....

OP
1) if you're having general money concerns, contact MABS straight away. they may be able to come to an arrangement with ESB on your behalf.

2) can you borrow the money from a family member. I know its only passing on the debt, but you need Electricity

3) like a previous poster said, you may need to get a prepaid meter installed and also come to an arrangement with them for the outstanding debt (i dont know how this works)

4) i would suggest an up-front payment of at least €200 (borrowed if you have to) followed by monthly payments of €75. See if they will agree to that. It may mean cutting back on something for a few months.

I'm not sure what else to suggest!

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

rubberdiddies wrote: »

the OP has come here for advice on what to do going forward, not to be berated for something already done, by people who have never done anything wrong in their life! :rolleyes:

hindsight is wonderful, however going forward I would suggest.....

OP
1) if you're having general money concerns, contact MABS straight away. they may be able to come to an arrangement with ESB on your behalf.

2) can you borrow the money from a family member. I know its only passing on the debt, but you need Electricity

3) like a previous poster said, you may need to get a prepaid meter installed and also come to an arrangement with them for the outstanding debt (i dont know how this works)

4) i would suggest an up-front payment of at least €200 (borrowed if you have to) followed by monthly payments of €75. See if they will agree to that. It may mean cutting back on something for a few months.

I'm not sure what else to suggest!

And the OP did get advice. Talk to them... Drop the attitude that the disconnection was over a small amount of money...acknowledge the age of the debt and his failure to address it...respond to contacts from EI....make a reasonable offer of payment....request a budget meter. I do know know this works and all these points will assist reconnection.
I agree that his best course could be to borrow from a family member and pay them off at 50 per month but that is his call.
He did in fairness comment several times on how he did not expect to be cut off for such a "small" amout and that he thought the disconnection was harsh. Therefore posters legitimately responded explaining how naïve this was.

brendan86

Thanks for replies and advice..

I rang them again today offered 200 up front and to put in a meter (everytime I top up 25% my topup value would go to arrears) they were having none of it.. I now owe 599euro, they want 540 up front..

I cant see as to why they wont take the 200 then I owe them 400 and have budget meter installed which they get back every topup..

They are very rude down phone just 540 no deals etcetc

Fred Swanson

This post has been deleted.

slimjimmc

brendan86 wrote: »

Thanks for replies and advice..

I rang them again today offered 200 up front and to put in a meter (everytime I top up 25% my topup value would go to arrears) they were having none of it.. I now owe 599euro, they want 540 up front..

I cant see as to why they wont take the 200 then I owe them 400 and have budget meter installed which they get back every topup..

They are very rude down phone just 540 no deals etcetc

I'd view their response more like they're very much distrusting of you, which is understandable. After 3 years of non-payment they now have leverage against you and won't take the risk you'll run up further debts. It will take ages to pay back €400 with a budget meter so they obviously don't trust you to not skip off and leave them with the remainder unpaid.

As others have said, contact the support organisations. This is bread and butter stuff to them.

Menas

brendan86 wrote: »

I cant see as to why they wont take the 200 then I owe them 400 and have budget meter installed which they get back every topup..

They are very rude down phone just 540 no deals etcetc

It is all down to trust. You have a 3 1/2 year old debt to them and have demonstrated by past behaviour that you see no wrong in ignoring that debt. So they are forcing you not to ignore it.
They also now know that you have cash flow issues and will be determined that they not be debtor number 1. Essentially you are asking them for a credit service but they see you as too high a risk of a bad debt.

If you are paying 80% of your wages on loans and mortgage then you need to get urgent help from MABS.

hdowney

Contact MABS and MABS will liase with them. They are well used to dealing with each other. MABS should be able to set an agreement of some sort with them, perhaps for half the debt (€300 from what I gather) upfront and then a meter connected. I can see it from both yours and their sides.

Boards.ie: Niamh

Moved to Electric Ireland forum - their charter now applies.

EI: Una

brendan86 wrote: »

Thanks for replies and advice..

I rang them again today offered 200 up front and to put in a meter (everytime I top up 25% my topup value would go to arrears) they were having none of it.. I now owe 599euro, they want 540 up front..

I cant see as to why they wont take the 200 then I owe them 400 and have budget meter installed which they get back every topup..

They are very rude down phone just 540 no deals etcetc

Hi Brendan,

We regret you are unhappy with your customer experience on the phone. When a customer has a balance past the due date, we would urge them to contact us to organise a payment plan, as while we appreciate they may already be paying in what they can, the system needs to be "told" what the amounts will be and when they will be paid. The payment plan needs to be a set amount of time in duration also.

Sometimes we are unable to install a keypad (PAYG) meter, e.g. due to the usage meter being dual-tariff (day/night) or if the property is an apartment (due to the usage meter being in a switch-room and its distance from the property; a keypad/PAYG meter needs to be installed at a certain proximity to the usage meter).

If you would like clarification on the above or anything else in relation to your account, do private message me your Electric Ireland account number and your name, address and telephone number.

Regards,
Una

Mantra

brendan86 wrote: »

Thanks for replies and advice..

I rang them again today offered 200 up front and to put in a meter (everytime I top up 25% my topup value would go to arrears) they were having none of it.. I now owe 599euro, they want 540 up front..

I cant see as to why they wont take the 200 then I owe them 400 and have budget meter installed which they get back every topup..

They are very rude down phone just 540 no deals etcetc

I had a friend who had a similar experience. He was disconnected due to the unreasonable resistance to reach any compromise on a similar amount owing. He hired a part time electrical engineer to reconnect him temporarily after being disconnected. Wrong I know but suppliers create enemies in customers!!

Electric Ireland: Brige B

Hi Mantra,

Thanks for your message.

Electric Ireland strongly advise against tampering with a meter (including reconnecting a disconnected meter), as it is dangerous and illegal to tamper with an electricity meter or to procure someone else to tamper with it.

For further information regarding meter tampering and electricity theft, please see the ESB Networks website here.

Any payment arrangements on large outstanding bills are set at the discretion of the Electric Ireland Credit Control department.

If your friend would like to contact Electric Ireland directly to discuss their arrangement in more detail, they can do so. We recommend that they send a private message via their own social media account (we are also available on Facebook, and on Twitter), they can email service@electricireland.ie, or call the dedicated Electric Ireland Customer Service team on 1850 372 372. They can be called from 8am to 8pm, Monday to Saturday.

Please let us know if you have any questions regarding the above.

Thanks,
Brige

Fred Swanson

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rawn

Fred Swanson wrote: »

Well that escalated quickly.

4 years is quickly?