Bulb charging E7 reading at single rate

[Dartlec]

Had a weird one tonight, with a new tenant who had a higher than expected first monthly bill.

Studio flat with one storage heater and off peak immersion, standard white Economy 7 meter with teleswitch.

Bulb had set the tenant up on their single rate tariff and happily accepted the two readings from the meter from the tenant, then sent an email confirming that she was on a single rate tariff and that was charged on both readings....?

I could understand if the client has specifically requested going onto a single rate and if the off peak had been based purely on time (and internal timers on immersion) - but even then Bulb's own website states that it necessitates a change to a single meter (at customer's cost).

Surely when a meter has a teleswitch it's not normal practise to charge normal rate on both readings without their system throwing up a query somewhere? Or am I expecting too much from an electricity supplier.

Side note - why does no-one ever know what Economy 7 is! I seem to spend my life explaining to tenants how to use their immersion and why having both switches on all the time is not optimal....

 

[pirate]

I'm with Bulb. I give them the 2 readings, once a month, and they send me an itemised bill for day and night usage. Can't see why your customer should be treated differently. I have found their customer service line to be pretty good, so maybe a call to them might get a useful response.

 

[suffolkspark]

I'm with bulb, have economy 7, and pay 2 rates so they do do it, tenant must not have made it clear when they set it up, hopefully they can work it back with the seperate readings

 

[mattg4321]

Agree that nobody seems to have a scooby about economy 7. I need a leaflet or something to pass onto them. Anyone?!

 

[Dartlec]

I'm with bulb, have economy 7, and pay 2 rates so they do do it, tenant must not have made it clear when they set it up, hopefully they can work it back with the seperate readings

yep - the odd thing was the email she had from them that she showed me that stated that the standard rate was 16.5p and that it applied to both readings - so clearly a miscommunication somewhere but Bulb should have picked it up when there were two readings..

Left her to contact them with an email from me, so hopefully they'll retrospectively sort it out - since presumably they will have only paid off peak wholesale prices themselves.

 

[brianmoooore]

There's nothing unusual these days about an E7 tariff where both rates are charged at the same per unit.
I have three E7 supplies to my property. One is charged at a slightly high rate for 17 hours, and at a much lower rate for the other 7 (nighttime) hours, while the other two are charged at the same rate for the full 24 hours. Readings are still submitted as R1 and R2, but the rate per unit charged is the same.

 

[Georgey]

There's nothing unusual these days about an E7 tariff where both rates are charged at the same per unit.
I have three E7 supplies to my property. One is charged at a slightly high rate for 17 hours, and at a much lower rate for the other 7 (nighttime) hours, while the other two are charged at the same rate for the full 24 hours. Readings are still submitted as R1 and R2, but the rate per unit charged is the same.

The application of rates are not consistent.

 

[brianmoooore]

The application of rates are not consistent.

?????

 

[static zap]

What sort of total energy usage are we talking ?
.. ECO7 equipment standing charges were always steeper..

 

[brianmoooore]

Standing charges make are only a small proportion of the bill for any 'normal' domestic electricity usage. Even a difference of 20p/day only equates to £73 on the annual bill.