Time for Mrs. HM to complain again. Well. There's really not an off-season for her complaining. Specifically, it's time to complain about BILLING PRACTICES from her utility companies.
Here it is, January 21, and I've not received the gas bill for the flip house. You may recall my more recent complaints, which may have been here, or on my not-so-secret blog, about how we are expected to READ OUR OWN METER! Farmer H has done that at least twice now. And I've sent in the numbers in a timely manner. As for paying the gas bill, I've been doing the "guest pay" online. I don't want an account. It's a flip house! Temporary. No need for all of our info to be lolling about the cloud waiting to be hacked.
Anyhoo... at least we've been getting the bill. Late for return mailing, of course. Thus the "guest pay." The last one was due December 26. We got it December 17. No way would a payment make it through the holiday mail, with a weekend in there to boot, on time.
Now I still don't have the bill. You may recall that most often, if Mrs. HM doesn't get a bill, she doesn't pay, because she doesn't know something is due! But with the flip house, I'm always recording expenditures, and keeping track of The Pony's half of our investment. So I see when the last bill was paid, and know around the time the utilities are due.
I went online and paid that gas bill on January 18. I was lucky that I had the last bill, with the account number, and their system popped up the current amount due. (Three dollars less than December, woohoo!) Still, I have not yet received a bill. Which I keep for our tax records.
How will I know when to read our own meter again?
6 comments:
If the bill is monthly just mark the calendar 4 weeks ahead, if it is quarterly (as ours are), mark the calendar 13 weeks ahead. But mark from the day of the reading, not from the day of payment.
River,
Until a couple months ago, we didn't have to read our own meter. Then two bills came with a letter inside telling us to read it. If it was a permanent thing now, you'd think it would be directly on the bill, and not in an insert in the envelope. I don't know from month to month if we're supposed to submit our reading. It's a pain to have Farmer H take a picture of it, and for me to go through the steps online to report it. So I'm not doing it unless notified that it's expected.
Phone or email the company and ask, you need to know if reading your own is a permanent thing now.
River,
I would normally reply that I don't have time to wait for Not-Heaven to freeze over while waiting for a response. But that might happen this weekend!
I was under the impression that they could read the meter remotely. That is what they do here. Our power bill came. It was almost 3 times the amount as the last bill, thanks to us heating the underside of our home after the contingent of The Man's cat guests tore a hole in the vent work.
Kathy,
You would think so. The electric has been that way over 10 years. Why install new electronical gewgaws if there's no labor advantage to them?
Cats only think about themselves! A dog would get a job to help pay the bill, and snuggle to keep you warm while waiting for the paycheck.
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