Only In Thailand

[onzestan]

At the end of february I noticed (without paying to much attention to it) that my electricity bill was about 25 % cheaper than my normal invoices.

End of march my invoice was Baht 44 and this really caught my attention.

So I checked the meter and low and behold it was stuck at 1.000 KWatt.

I had my wife phone the electric company and this is where it really became interesting. The first thing they wanted to know, was if we still had current or not.

Upon the yes from my wife she was told : “Oh then it’s not so urgent” and was given a new telephone number of the maintenance department, to which my wife phoned 6 or 7 times without anyone picking up the phone. So she called back to the other girl and she said she would take care of it..

End of April invoice 44 Baht.

So my wife phoned again and again was told they would take care of it.

I told my wife to sign a note saying in Thai : This meter is broken, please replace ! hung the sign on the meter, and took a picture of it.

The sign disappeared , and end of May invoice 44 Baht.

Last month I took my wife to the office in Banglamung ( about 15 km from our home),

With all the invoices, the picture showing the sign we had put up, my wife went inside

(I didn’t go in – bad for my temper) and told them we would like our meter repaired or replaced. My wife said the girl was very nice about it and thanked my wife for informing them. She also said that it would take some time to have it fixed because priority repairs are for people that don’t have current.

End of june invoice 44 Baht, but no problem because we were told it might take some time.

Today when we came back from shopping, my neighbour told me that a repair crew of the electric company had done some work on my meter, so I immediately went to have a look, and you won’t believe this, they replaced the outer casing of the meter, but the faulty meter is still in place.

Now if you don’t believe me, PM me and I’ll give you my address so you can come and have a look for yourself.

Cheers

onzestan

[chuckd]

I don't want to look at it, but I would like to buy it from you.

Edited July 10, 2007 by chuckd

[soundman]

Hey you've done your bit. If they want to keep giving you electrcity, far be it for you to complain.

Soundman.

[Humphrey Bear]

I understand that there are different sizes of meter, for different consumption levels.

My house (sorry, my wife's house) has a low level meter on it at the moment, but I want to add more A/Cs and similar. I have been advised that this will necessitate a larger meter which means a higher tariff.

Does anyone know about these things?

[monty]

The price for the electricity remains the same, but you'll have to pay a bigger deposit to obtain a bigger meter.

In Onzestan's situation I would be a little apprehensive, friend of mine had a similar situation where in the end they did replace his meter after 4 months malfunction and only paying the rental.

The biggest shock came with the next bill, on which they made him pay for the months he only paid the rental of the meter. The amount was calculated on the average of the 4 months prior to when his meter went bust, only these 4 months were bang in the middle of the hot season, and as such this average was way more then what he actually consumed in the 4 months his meter was malfunctioning.

His refusal to pay only resulted in him being disconnected!

[Humphrey Bear]

Thanks, Monty. Good to know - my wife can go ahead with the air-cons now!

[wca01]

I believe you. Since 2002 I pay almost the same amount as you! Another reason that I love Pattaya.

WCA

[raro]

The price for the electricity remains the same, but you'll have to pay a bigger deposit to obtain a bigger meter.

In Onzestan's situation I would be a little apprehensive, friend of mine had a similar situation where in the end they did replace his meter after 4 months malfunction and only paying the rental.

The biggest shock came with the next bill, on which they made him pay for the months he only paid the rental of the meter. The amount was calculated on the average of the 4 months prior to when his meter went bust, only these 4 months were bang in the middle of the hot season, and as such this average was way more then what he actually consumed in the 4 months his meter was malfunctioning.

His refusal to pay only resulted in him being disconnected!

I can confirm that...Happened to friends of mine back in Ban Chang...they didn't notice that the meter was broken and the bill came in...close to nothing. Nice, they thought, paid the bill and the next one came and so on...untill...the big one came with the "estimation"...same thing here, the estimate was on the most expensive months of the year and the meter was broken during cold season. Nothing they could do but paying...