Electric Meter Taken

[BIGJIMMY]

Hey'up TV folks, heres the story, looking after a condo for a friend, the place has been empty for 6 months, the last time I was there the leccy was turned off and the last bill was 0000, i've just come back from a long trip away from Patts and checked on the condo and the electric meter has been taken away and there is a leccy bill for 40baht. The Mrs went to the electric office today and asked whats occurring, basically they said that as the leccy hasn't been used for 3 months they charged a one off fee of 40 baht as the electric service is still available should we want to use it but surprise surprise as the 40 baht bill wasn't paid on account, on account we weren't here, they took the meter away and as that was over 3 months ago they are saying they want a 4000 baht fee to replace the meter.

I've never heard of this before, i've been a customer with no meter before and had to pay for re-installation etc and i've also heard of having to pay for a new meter but not after the unpaid bill was created for not using the electric, the wife was having this conversation with the lady in the office and she was adamant that it's always been like that, I've asked Mrs Bigjimmy to head back tomorrow and get some documentation from the electric company about this as it seems a bit rough.

Anyone else experienced this before, there must be 100's if not 1000's of empty condos all over Pattaya and Thailand that don't have any electric used in them for months at a time.

Thanks

Jimmy

PS I don't want any timewasting answers like 'you should have done this or should have done that'

Edited October 11, 2011 by Rimmer
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[Darrel]

"PS I don't want any timewasting answers like 'you should have done this or should have done that'"

Really? Too bad.

You should have left a thousand Baht with the building office to cover emergency costs. Anyone with even half a brain would have done this.

[Darrel]

......still.........charged 40 baht after no use for 3 months then take the meter and want 4000?????

4k for reconnecting the meter is indeed a bit steep.

[Apsara]

actually, it is indeed true. Since July this year (with the new government) the minimum maintenance fee for the electric meter (as PEA call it) is charged monthly

(40,90 THB) even though power supply was off for unit to avoid any consume. The next month PEA can confiscate the meter if not paid, then if over 120 days the payment and the penalty (121 THB) still not paid then the meter has to be re applied with the respective deposit of over 4,000 THB (depends on phase) + the regular household documents backup.

so yes, better leave some deposit with the building management...

[BIGJIMMY]

AAARRHHH, was afraid that someone was going to come along and say something like that.

Still, if a no electric has been used then the place is empty and chances are the bill isn't going to get paid then it's another 4 large in the companies pocket!! (Not everyone leaves money with the office surely)

Thanks for the info.

Jimmy

[Rimmer]

One post using oversize fonts has been removed, see the posting guidelines and netiquette.

[bmore99]

Easy way to avoid the problem of the bill not being paid (on time), is by having them withdraw the money from your bankaccount.

I have this automatic payment method without any problems for many years now.

[Gonsalviz]

AAARRHHH, was afraid that someone was going to come along and say something like that.

Still, if a no electric has been used then the place is empty and chances are the bill isn't going to get paid then it's another 4 large in the companies pocket!! (Not everyone leaves money with the office surely)

Thanks for the info.

Jimmy

What is the minimum monthly charge in your country? Mine is way more than than that.

[Theo007]

I too use the automatic payment method from from Thai account , they send a receipt each month so one knows exactly how much money was withdrawn.

[saengsureeya]

It doesn't matter....it's just ridiculous that they charge you THB 40,90 per month and take the meter after 3 months and charge you THB 4,000 for replacing the meter.

However, a house opposite mine has 4 bills stuck on the fence and both water meter and electric meter are still there.

[PattayaParent]

actually, it is indeed true. Since July this year (with the new government) the minimum maintenance fee for the electric meter (as PEA call it) is charged monthly

(40,90 THB) even though power supply was off for unit to avoid any consume. The next month PEA can confiscate the meter if not paid, then if over 120 days the payment and the penalty (121 THB) still not paid then the meter has to be re applied with the respective deposit of over 4,000 THB (depends on phase) + the regular household documents backup.

so yes, better leave some deposit with the building management...

Since before July this year.

I've had my meter taken a couple of times when working away in 1998 and 2002.

The problem has been that they don't have enough meters for the new constructions so quickly remove meters from deliquent payers.

[BIGJIMMY]

Well the Mrs was able to finally sort it and after all that we didn't have to pay the 4000 baht, just the back dated bill of 40.9 baht - ??????? no idea why, TIT.

4 grand up so on it tonight!!

Jimmy

Edited October 21, 2011 by Rimmer
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