loong Posted October 14, 2012 Share Posted October 14, 2012 (edited) In our village, somebody comes to read the electricity meter and about 4 or 5 days later a man comes with the bill and collects the money. This is usually a very nice and convenient system. The guy came with the last bill and it was about 4 times the usual amount. We checked the meter and could see that the reading was wrong. He jotted down the correct reading and told me that I did not have to pay right now. About a week went by and I heard nothing. I was getting a bit concerned that they may disconnect the supply because of non payment. So off to the office armed with the incorrect bill and the right reading. This is not ideal as it wastes about an hour with the travelling. The person in the office looked at the bill and says that they need the previous bill. What for? so they can see the previous reading. "Hello"!!! glance to the right on the current bill and there it is in blue and white. Not only that, haven't they got all the records on computer???? They are adamant that they cannot do anything without seeing the previous bill and you know that you are wasting your time and have no choice but comply. So another trip with the previous bill.Fine. But they are still unable to tell me what I owe and so I cannot pay there and then. Have to go home and wait for them to telephone me. About a week later they telephoned and I was able to pay the bill. I really don't understand why they were unable to sort it out the first time as they didn't issue a proper bill. Actually a till receipt that has the previous and current reading. Sometimes I think that they just enjoy giving people the run around. 3 trips, wasting about 4 hours and fuel because their meter reader was incompetent! Edited October 14, 2012 by loong Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rooo Posted October 14, 2012 Share Posted October 14, 2012 I faced that several times on Samui. I think it's a power trip for them. also if told an easy way to do it they will procrastinate further & show you who is boss. Most of the time they are just counter staff, too afraid in losing face asking their bosses. eg: Getting my licence years ago, 4 trips to the Land Transport office. Every Time she needed something else.. At the end of the day a small price to pay. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soutpeel Posted October 14, 2012 Share Posted October 14, 2012 buy yourself a diesel generator and some solar panels problem solved.. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post noob7 Posted October 14, 2012 Popular Post Share Posted October 14, 2012 Why Can't It Be Straightforward? You are in Thailand? 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jcw Posted October 14, 2012 Share Posted October 14, 2012 We get PEA bills, printed out on PEA paper work. I am not sure when the meter is read, but the bill is ALWAYS delivered by hand, and is delivered about 1 week after the due date. So I can never pay at 711 as it is past the due date. Last month, it was not convenient for me to pay it for another 2 weeks. The misses got up the PEA last time. They didn't care, said they know there is problems, and do not have a problem with us paying now 3 weeks late on paper. Maybe this is why people use calendars rounded off to the closest week instead of a watch, what is time?? I must point out to folks, as a warning that in Bangkok it is not like this. People late only a few days that I know of have had there meter cut off, but I believe that the bills came a week or two before money is due. In BKK, take the due date seriously. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
noob7 Posted October 14, 2012 Share Posted October 14, 2012 We get PEA bills, printed out on PEA paper work. I am not sure when the meter is read, but the bill is ALWAYS delivered by hand, and is delivered about 1 week after the due date. So I can never pay at 711 as it is past the due date. Last month, it was not convenient for me to pay it for another 2 weeks. The misses got up the PEA last time. They didn't care, said they know there is problems, and do not have a problem with us paying now 3 weeks late on paper. Maybe this is why people use calendars rounded off to the closest week instead of a watch, what is time?? I must point out to folks, as a warning that in Bangkok it is not like this. People late only a few days that I know of have had there meter cut off, but I believe that the bills came a week or two before money is due. In BKK, take the due date seriously. Phuket: Meter get read (piep, piep, piep) , bill get printed and delivered (one person, one job), 10 secs after! 1 week time, to pay at 7/11. After you need to go to town, to join the queue. No problems at all Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crossy Posted October 14, 2012 Share Posted October 14, 2012 Phuket: Meter get read (piep, piep, piep) , bill get printed and delivered (one person, one job), 10 secs after! 1 week time, to pay at 7/11. After you need to go to town, to join the queue. No problems at all Yup, same for us in Pathum, we have a little box under the meter (provided by PEA) for the bill, keeps it dry. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rancid Posted October 14, 2012 Share Posted October 14, 2012 Yeah the Electricty mob seem to be a bit sour they aren't skimming as much as other bureaucratic leeches so seem to be playing more games these days. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
I Like Thai Posted October 14, 2012 Share Posted October 14, 2012 The guy came with the last bill and it was about 4 times the usual amount. We checked the meter and could see that the reading was wrong. He jotted down the correct reading and told me that I did not have to pay right now. It was straightforward until you made it otherwise 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ggold Posted October 14, 2012 Share Posted October 14, 2012 (edited) You should have just wait for them to get back to you, very unlikely they were going to cut your supply off. Sent from my GT-P6200 using Thaivisa Connect App Edited October 14, 2012 by ggold Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
loong Posted October 14, 2012 Author Share Posted October 14, 2012 buy yourself a diesel generator and some solar panels problem solved.. Not really because then my electricity would probably cost 4 times as much every month The guy came with the last bill and it was about 4 times the usual amount. We checked the meter and could see that the reading was wrong. He jotted down the correct reading and told me that I did not have to pay right now. It was straightforward until you made it otherwise The office had no record of the amended reading and were unaware that the reading was wrong. They only knew that there was an unpaid bill. If I had done nothing, the supply may have been disconnected. I wanted peace of mind, especially as we had 2 power cuts which made me worry that the supply had been cut. Just because the collector says it's ok not to pay doesn't necessarily make it so. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
loong Posted October 14, 2012 Author Share Posted October 14, 2012 You should have just wait for them to get back to you, very unlikely they were going to cut your supply off. Sent from my GT-P6200 using Thaivisa Connect App They are usually quite quick at cutting the supply to late payers and I was concerned that we would be considered as not paying our bill Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrisinth Posted October 14, 2012 Share Posted October 14, 2012 When they do the meter reading up here (Phitsanulok) they will take a photograph of every meter read as well as imputing the numbers into their handheld devices. They have been doing that for a couple of years now. What they actually do with the photographs I have no idea, and how long they would keep them for, again no idea, as the number of phots would really mount up over a year period. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David006 Posted October 14, 2012 Share Posted October 14, 2012 (edited) Phuket: Meter get read (piep, piep, piep) , bill get printed and delivered (one person, one job), 10 secs after! 1 week time, to pay at 7/11. After you need to go to town, to join the queue. No problems at all Yup, same for us in Pathum, we have a little box under the meter (provided by PEA) for the bill, keeps it dry. Don't know what's happening with bills down here...used to arrive 28th of month or so ...now about 15th of of following month..we now drop in and pay without the bill and yes they pull it up on the computer. Now I finally know what those little boxes full of bugs are for? Never gave us one.!........sulk.... Just learned last week from the smart arse step daughter that you can pay your bill at 7-Eleven! Good.... they keep better hours..... Edited October 14, 2012 by David006 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pauljones Posted October 14, 2012 Share Posted October 14, 2012 Why Can't It Be Straightforward? You are in Thailand? They are looking for a backhander. Happens at the Land Office, Immigration, Land Transport, Building Dept, etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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