Electric Bill Verification

[dick]

the administration in my condo is altering the electric meter on the regulare base.we were abcent for over a month but still got the bill matching with the others when we are here.the meters are hidden behind close doors.it has no use to check them because they were altered anyway.

is there any way to verify the meter readings through electric company or municipality?this concerns condo in Pattaya.

[enuff said]

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Hello dick,

The meters belong to the condo people not to the electric company. There is one big meter for the whole building that the electric company reads and sends the bill to the condo association.

The association reads the individual meters and charges more per unit than the power company does. Sometimes a LOT more. They do the same for water.

You should get together with other residents and complain. Find out it the charges are mentioned as part of the sales agreement.

Can you prove you were gone for a month? Was your water bill the same also? Maybe you need to hire a lawyer to file possible fraud charges.

hope this helps,

'nuff said

~

[dick]

.

Hello dick,

The meters belong to the condo people not to the electric company. There is one big meter for the whole building that the electric company reads and sends the bill to the condo association.

The association reads the individual meters and charges more per unit than the power company does. Sometimes a LOT more. They do the same for water.

You should get together with other residents and complain. Find out it the charges are mentioned as part of the sales agreement.

Can you prove you were gone for a month? Was your water bill the same also? Maybe you need to hire a lawyer to file possible fraud charges.

hope this helps,

'nuff said

~

yes,both meters were the same. in a neighbouring condo my mate pays the bill directly to the electric company.yes i can prove that i was gone for a month .the lawyers are not an option because i know the cost would exceede the benefit.

[bkkmadness]

Have you spoke to the condo management, what was their response?

Have other people in your condo also experienced this problem?

[backflip]

Are you renting, or do you own? If you own the unit, you'll get a bill directly from the electric company, not from the condo association. Opps, I guess that I just answered my own question. Here's another...if you rent, the condo association generally sells you electricity at a higher price, and there's no need to finagle the metyer reading. When I rented, I personally inspected the electric meter - at request of the building management - at the start of my rental period, and then at the end, just to verify that I got what I paid for.

How do you know that they are altering the meter?

[TAWP]

Read the OP again.

[dick]

Read the OP again.

it is my own condo where i live for several years.i am aware about general practises of condo administration.small amounts were always added by them which didnt really bothered me.but now i have this and i am going away for few months so i expect the same trick again.

how do i know the alter the meter for sure?I dont ,but i suppose they are not so stupid to overcharge me and then face my request to check the meter.i will not go and just argue about that with the menager.all i want,if possible,to verify with electric company the numbers on the bill and then present the administration with it. by the way according to their calculation one unit is 4 baht.as far as i know direct rate is 3,5 baht per unit.generally ,people around me also suspecting of being overcharged but they dont bother to argue.

[dick]

Read the OP again.

it is my own condo where i live for several years.i am aware about general practises of condo administration.small amounts were always added by them which didnt really bothered me.but now i have this and i am going away for few months so i expect the same trick again.

how do i know the alter the meter for sure?I dont ,but i suppose they are not so stupid to overcharge me and then face my request to check the meter.i will not go and just argue about that with the menager.all i want,if possible,to verify with electric company the numbers on the bill and then present the administration with it. by the way according to their calculation one unit is 4 baht.as far as i know direct rate is 3,5 baht per unit.generally ,people around me also suspecting of being overcharged but they dont bother to argue.

besides they bring a bill not exactly on the billing date so they would always have excuse of the reeding not matching the billing period.they would say ''you use it this week '' and there will be nothing to respond with.

[VanZam]

The numbers should be read on the billing date, regardless of when they decide to bring it to you.

[bkkmadness]

Read the OP again.

small amounts were always added by them which didnt really bothered me.but now i have this and i am going away for few months so i expect the same trick again.

people around me also suspecting of being overcharged but they dont bother to argue.

You gave them an inch, and they're taking a mile.

Why do people put up with it?

[mikeinminburi]

Read the OP again.

small amounts were always added by them which didnt really bothered me.but now i have this and i am going away for few months so i expect the same trick again.

people around me also suspecting of being overcharged but they dont bother to argue.

You gave them an inch, and they're taking a mile.

Why do people put up with it?

some people dont bother arguing with small amounts, i dont think i would argue if someone charged me an extra 100 baht a month for my ele bill...

but when i stayed in pattaya for 3 months, i rented a condo, and well i paid 25 baht per unit of elec AND per unit of water...

now, im paying 4 baht per unit of elec and my water is free...

well i was very green to thailand, and i learned from my mistake... suppose i would prefer to pay a little extra from the landlord sticking a few quid on the end of the bill extra, than 25 baht a unit...

not going to name the apartment building, but if anyone is going to pattaya and would like to know which place it was, well i dont mind telling over a PM...

only because the service sucked, the staff were so rude, abusive and we were not allowed back into the condo at 2am because we hadnt paid the total on our bill...

we wernt even checking out for another 3 days but they still demanded that we pay the bill or we were not allowed into the building....

but back to the OP, basically if your going away, tell the landlord, get him to sign a small note saying your going away for a certain period of time, and well that way, he cant charge you anything for the elec, water etc...

is it a serviced apartment?

because sometimes the cleaners do use the elec and water in the room, but that should only be pennies compared to a months usage....

if he signs something saying your gone, then you should have no bill, apart from what you used in the days / weeks you are there..

[Firefan]

If the condo (or meter) have a main switch, switch it off together with the landlord. Cheers!