Privatised utilities SUCK!!!

[Anonymouse]

Does anyone else here find that water, gas and electricity companies totally get on your tits?

I'm with Powergen...although that may change if their behaviour doesn't. I just received a letter - not a proper bill, just a letter - saying payment is due IMMEDIATELY (their capitals). I'm supposed to receive an email to that effect when the bill's due. Nada. I rang them, and their only response was to say they'd cancel the email service and just send me bills from now on. Not even a 'sorry for the inconvenience'.

Dammit, that's why I signed up to the email service in the first place - because I wasn't getting the bloody bills! I got sick and tired of getting reminders when they hadn't sent me the bill in the first place - now I'm back to square one!

I will ask again: who the hell thought they had a right to sell off my property? No bugger asked me if I wanted to sell off the utilities, or public transport. It was legalised theft, pure and simple. And we didn't even see any money for it!

If I can ever afford a house of my own, I'm going to put a generator in the cellar, and also collect rainwater (water bills are a total ripoff!), and the utilities can get stuffed, arrogant money-grubbing motherfrakkers that they are. Hence the poll.

[Woolly One]

Totally agree with you Anonymouse. One thing though, the main component of water bills is the sewage cost - well ours in Anglian water is! So unless you have a septic tank installed, they've got us over a barrel(of something unmentionable!).

[Paul]

Sorry but do you really think they would be any better if they had stayed Government controlled? I seem to recall BR having a bit of a reputation for being useless. Move suppliers to one that offers what you want, Powergen obviously don't care about alerting customers to changes.

[Xaccers]

Originally Posted by Woolly One

Totally agree with you Anonymouse. One thing though, the main component of water bills is the sewage cost - well ours in Anglian water is! So unless you have a septic tank installed, they've got us over a barrel(of something unmentionable!).

In Leighton Buzzard, Anglian Water considered sewage was 90% of the amount of water that went into the house.
So, if you were on a meter and still used mains water for drinking/showering/washing etc, but rainwater for flushing the loo, you'd save money because your sewage amount would be lowered.

I seem to recall some years back the IoW water board getting rather upset over someone who used their grey water to flush their loos.
So much for being pro-water conservation!

[TheDaddy]

Originally Posted by Paul

Sorry but do you really think they would be any better if they had stayed Government controlled? I seem to recall BR having a bit of a reputation for being useless. Move suppliers to one that offers what you want, Powergen obviously don't care about alerting customers to changes.

They were a lot more accountable then, than they are now, most aren't even based in this country, part of the reason they were sold of was because government didn't want to be held accountable for whatever disaster was dogging certain utilities, so we find ourselves in a situation where profits are put before service and in some cases before public safety

[brundles]

To be honest I'm not convinced either approach is really best suited for the utilities. As a public concern the only time you'll see the government take an interest is at election time. As a private concern, the companies are only interested in making a large profit.

IMO, the problem is that it was sold off to be run as a private company but without any way of ensuring the company actually meets the needs of the public.

At least with Gas/Electric competition ensures some level of that. With the water boards you're stuck. Hence Thames Water get away with repeatedly failing to meet leakage reduction targets, enforcing pretty much permanent hosepipe bans and then rising our bills to pay for the pipe repairs they're told they have to do! (Despite record multi-million pound annual profits!)

[Woolly One]

Originally Posted by Xaccers

In Leighton Buzzard, Anglian Water considered sewage was 90% of the amount of water that went into the house.
So, if you were on a meter and still used mains water for drinking/showering/washing etc, but rainwater for flushing the loo, you'd save money because your sewage amount would be lowered.

Wouldn't they still still charge you the full sewage component? As your still using their network of pipes to get rid of the waste? Which will unboubtably end up floating - untreated - off coast somewhere

[Xaccers]

Originally Posted by Woolly One

Wouldn't they still still charge you the full sewage component? As your still using their network of pipes to get rid of the waste? Which will unboubtably end up floating - untreated - off coast somewhere

I don't know of a meter attached to the sewer flow.
They assume that only 10% of the water you take into the house doesn't go down the drain (drinking water etc) so if you reduce your intake of mains water by flushing your toilet with rainwater or the grey water from your washing mashine you'll reduce the sewerage charge.
Of course, they won't be happy about it as it'd reduce their income, but you could argue that you're saving them money by saving water and they'd have to process the rainwater anyway so it's not costing them more.
Check your bill, ours definitely said sewer use was 90% of clean water use.

[Woolly One]

Originally Posted by Xaccers

I don't know of a meter attached to the sewer flow.
They assume that only 10% of the water you take into the house doesn't go down the drain (drinking water etc) so if you reduce your intake of mains water by flushing your toilet with rainwater or the grey water from your washing mashine you'll reduce the sewerage charge.
Of course, they won't be happy about it as it'd reduce their income, but you could argue that you're saving them money by saving water and they'd have to process the rainwater anyway so it's not costing them more.
Check your bill, ours definitely said sewer use was 90% of clean water use.

True - but, the shareholders wouldn't like it

[Xaccers]

Originally Posted by Woolly One

True - but, the shareholders wouldn't like it

Which is why whatever board is in charge of IoW water were rather miffed at someone down there who'd set their house up to use hardly any mains water.
His setup was quite impressive, drainpipes and waterbutts all over the place.
Parent's used to use a large waterbutt to re-fill their fish pond at a previous house.

[sherer]

well i have to say in London public transport is a total mess.. we have one company looking after the tracks, other companies running the stations and then others running the service

the service is still late but now they tell you it's down to someone else which is no help

as i can buy my ticket on an Oyster card which goes to TFL if I get to a South Eastern station I get no help from that staff at all ..

at least if it was one company you could complain in the same place and might even get a refund.. try getting a refund on a rail ticket if they are late or delayed

[TheDaddy]

Originally Posted by sherer

well i have to say in London public transport is a total mess.. we have one company looking after the tracks, other companies running the stations and then others running the service

the service is still late but now they tell you it's down to someone else which is no help

as i can buy my ticket on an Oyster card which goes to TFL if I get to a South Eastern station I get no help from that staff at all ..

at least if it was one company you could complain in the same place and might even get a refund.. try getting a refund on a rail ticket if they are late or delayed

Bloody oysters, I am soon moving back that way, my friend told me that you have a limited number of journey's on your oyster card, unlike the old travel card

Lol trying to get a refund, where railways are concerned, the only the thing harder, is trying to get a seat

[sherer]

Originally Posted by TheDaddy

Bloody oysters, I am soon moving back that way, my friend told me that you have a limited number of journey's on your oyster card, unlike the old travel card

Lol trying to get a refund, where railways are concerned, the only the thing harder, is trying to get a seat

well you can still put a 7 day or monthly travel card on them but there is no help for them at national rail stations and as the money from there goes to the rail company and not TFL they don't help either

not heard about the limited number of journeys.. the money doesn't expire and if you make 10 journeys a day then the maximum you get charged is a travel card.. or so they say

[Maggy J]

I don't think they should have sold the water utilities at all.Afer all one can use other forms of energy to light or warm your home which gives some choice but you sure as hell CANNOT do without water.

[Stuart]

Originally Posted by Paul

Sorry but do you really think they would be any better if they had stayed Government controlled? I seem to recall BR having a bit of a reputation for being useless. Move suppliers to one that offers what you want, Powergen obviously don't care about alerting customers to changes.

It's interesting to note that although BR had a reputation for being useless, they often performed better (in London anyway) than the companies that replaced them. In fact, Connex South Eastern had a period where up to 75% of their trains were late or cancelled.

According to Private Eye, they cost the Taxpayer less too.

I've voted "Yes", but, TBH, I never really dealt with the nationalised utilities. All I know is it took > 2 years for npower to accept that my mother had died and I was the new account holder.

---------- Post added at 19:26 ---------- Previous post was at 19:22 ----------

Originally Posted by TheDaddy

Bloody oysters, I am soon moving back that way, my friend told me that you have a limited number of journey's on your oyster card, unlike the old travel card

If you get a travelcard put on your oyster, it works like a normal travel card. What your friend is probably thinking of is if you use a pre-paid oyster card and the amount you pay in one day goes over the cost of a one-day travel card, any further travel is free (as it would be with a one day travel card).

I've had an oyster for 3 years now. I've never hit any limit on the number of journeys.

---------- Post added at 19:29 ---------- Previous post was at 19:26 ----------

Originally Posted by sherer

well you can still put a 7 day or monthly travel card on them but there is no help for them at national rail stations and as the money from there goes to the rail company and not TFL they don't help either

Actually from what I have been told, if you buy a travelcard on an oyster, the money goes to TFL (they provide the machines, even to the newsagents). If you buy a paper travelcard at a train station, the money goes to the railway company.