I kind of knew where the water meter was located, but it still took 40 minutes of careful digging to uncover it. This shows how often they come and take readings which is like never.
Today I spent the day trying to fix our electricity supply so we can get the correct billing. We have had an issue with our pre paid meter for some time now and this has been reported on numerous occasions. The meter does not work and does not even show on the utility suppliers system when typing in the serial number of the unit, yet we are down as a pre paid customer.
The problem is we still receive the electricity and I would like to pay my own way without thinking I have got lucky. Sounds great, but not really as who is going to believe your innocence and why I am trying to get this resolved and the sad part is what should have been straight forward has been anything but that.
I have had an electrician come out who is a verified service provider for the utility and he said this is not our fault as all seals are intact and nothing has been bypassed. His advice was to sit back and wait for a visit which does not sit well with myself and why I thought it was best to be proactive. There is nothing to hide and somehow we have fallen trough the cracks.
You do wonder if you are doing the right thing by coming forward and after about the third hour of waiting I was having second thoughts. The good thing is now they know the problem and the process has started of correcting this. How this even happens is beyond me as somewhere along the line someone has dropped the ball or not done what they were supposed to have done. One can understand that there is a high probability of that happening as this is a government run department.
The good part about all of this is I came forward and by being proactive this is tackling the problem head on. I could have remained silent, but at some point it would have to be resolved. I have kept some cash one side just in case there is a back penalty to pay or a fine and have no problem paying the cheapest option.
Apparently the process now requires me to remain as a direct customer for 6 months before applying for prepaid again. I don't see the point in this as I will just reduce the monthly bill anyways due to the solar that was installed and target a monthly bill of around $50. I shall just have to sit patiently and see what their investigation uncovers if anything at all and who is to blame. I do feel more relieved that this problem as fallen on the right desk and we can now move forward without a cloud over our heads. How many days, weeks or months will this now take?
I know many people who have issues with their utility bills whether it is water or lights and somehow we always come off second best. My Durban house regularly has water leaks and this is directly down to the changing water pressure which will always find a weak spot. The last time this happened was 2 years ago when we had 3 burst underground pipes within 12 months. The water insurance barely covers the repair expense let alone paying up front for an exorbitant water bill.
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