Damn meter readers, have to watch them like a hawk.
 

I got an email that my electric bill was due, so I went to pay it. I was pretty astounded that it was $97+ since it is usually around $50, and I haven't been home long enough to really jack my usage. I decided to call their support line.

They had me go out and read my meter for them, and they came back with the determination that I had been overcharged by about 200 KWH, which is fairly significant since I was only charged for 578.

Guess it is a good thing I noticed.

bingbaaaangBOOM

sounds like my leaky toliet, apparently its all wireless now. They dont have to physically check the meter, just drive by and download usage. I got a crazy water bill and it turned out they were right.

When I was sitting on hold I was running things thru my head about what was new that might account for a rise in usage, evem though I wasn't home. The only two things were LED's.

I went and unplugged one, thinking, how the hell can an LED use that much electricity?

But yeah, leaky toilets and faucets can crank up a water bill quickly.

Maybe someone robs your electricity while you're away...?

I really hope you guys don't write articles as part of your outsourcing, as reading doesn't seem to be one of your skills.

Sucks... we just noticed that too.. we've been paying quite a big amount for the last years.. already mentioned this to my parents... if they even see the guy checking the meter.. cuz it's too much really, a few days ago we received 3KP / day consumption.. I mean wtf..this is a private home and not business owned property ..I knew there's some bogus happening here..

worst part is most people just pay and dont give it any thought.

I remember at my last house I got hit with a bill that was like 5 times higher than normal. Turned out the meter reader had not actually "read" the meter for several months, had just guestimated.

When he did read it for real, he discovered he had underestimated and I got screwed.

I've gotten the leaky toilet bill in the past too. Those drops add up!:Oh crap

I call shenanigans..

Check this out, http://UtilitiesLA.com Bills are going up next year

There was a landlord who paid his utility bill biyearly well the water bill
A water leak caused a bill in the thousands,
The water was going under the ground to somewhere.

He fought them he lost.

I had a feeling mine wasn't being read at all and just 'guessed' at so I made it as dirty as possible, impossible to read without cleaning off the dirt. Sure enough two months afterwards it's just as dirty as I made it. Called to complain about it and I just get the run around everytime.... sucks ass.

good catch by the Baddog... fuckin meter readers

That's a good reason not to have automatic bill paying.

atleast you got to the bottom of it ;)

We read the meter ourself once a year here, then paying estimates per month and the difference +/- once a year. Much easier, just put the numbers into the companys website :)