Electric Meter

[Melissa Mae 771]

 

 

I do not want to go down the roads of doubting other people's word

 

perhaps not the best attitude when dealing with things in the Philippines

[Melissa Mae 771]

 

 

go check if meter is spinning

 

of course you have to know which meter is yours after you have climbed up to them 

[Woolf 8,550]

of course you have to know which meter is yours after you have climbed up to them 

well  easy 

the bill has serial no.  meter no. and pole no.

 

just go look for  the right pole then look for meter number

 

but before you get to the meter you may find yourself

laying on the ground,  25 kV will knock you off the pole

[Jawny 4,617]

Easy  to check if anyone is stealing

 

Turn everything off (main cb to off)

go check if meter is spinning

now do that a few times random

and you will know

This is an excellent and easy to do technique. It serves many purposes.

 

If the meter is still running after everything is shut down, this leads to two possibilties. One, there is some theft of power going on. Two, there is something in the wiring that is causing a power loss. I've had this happen where power was being consumed with a short circuit which had not tripped a breaker.

 

If the family is not willing to do this, perhaps that leads to the follow on request for a copy of the bill. I won't specialate on the issues you may be having about trust. Perhaps you can express interest in the bill itself and some surcharges or such.

 

I am pretty sure the disconnect of the meter is something that may not be safe for the consumer to do. That would be fun to do, especially as suggested at night so you could watch for reactions. "Hey, BROWNOUT".

[John B 325]

    Look in the mirror to see that HUGE sing on your forhead.   It says  ""I am a really stupid gulible foreigner"".   Hate to be rude, but that is the way it is.

    I lived in Cebu City 10 years.   My last electric bill was about $65.00 (about 2,700 pesos).      This was May 2012.   I had fan running 24/7 a very large refrigeraton turned to extremely cold, tv, microwave, toaster over, electric oven, 1 and most of the time 2 desk tops running, lights all over.   Never made any effort to conserve electricity at all.  Used and aircon sporadically, but seldom more than a couple hours a month.    You are being scammed big time.   If your wife is backing them up then she is part of the scam also. 

    Lived in that apartment over 10 years, essentially same electrical appliances, etc and same usage.   Over those years my bill went from about 800 pesos a year to the 2,700 peso one May, 2012.  due to rate increases only.

[D_D 572]

Hello Friends

We assist my in-laws in the Phils, Cebu with monthly transfers of money. 

 

 

You are being scammed big time.   If your wife is backing them up then she is part of the scam also. 

   

 

Fredanna said he assists his in-laws, so how is that a scam ? 

 

Why did you call his wife a scammer cause she assists her family ? 

 

[Woolf 8,550]

A watt meter can be bought as low as 470 PHP

 

http://www.olx.ph/index.php/view+classifieds/id/61452650/Electric+Watt+hour+Meter?referralKeywords=electric+meter+price&event=Search+Ranking,Position,1-14,14

[SkyMan 23,722]

Fred, didn't we go through this a while back where they were ripping you off blind with requests for outrageous amounts for propane?  Guess what, now it's the electric.  Before bothering moving a meter see if you can find out if the current is being stolen.  You'll probably have to pay VECO something to move the service and that's also an opportunity for her family to rip you off again.  Have them turn everything off (which doesn't sound like much, make sure any chargers or other DC adapters are unplugged) at a few times a day and see if the meter is turning.  If it is, have VECO investigate that.

[Headshot 29,355]

Have them turn everything off

 

All he needs to do is flip the main breaker and go see if the meter is still registering usage. If it is, there is a thief. He shouldn't advertise that he's doing it or any thieves will turn their stuff off too. Then again, that will only work if he knows which meter in the meter bank is his. If the meter bank is elevated, it may not be possible to read the meter serial number without a bucket truck. The chances of VECO providing a meter at the house in an area where meters are typically banked is almost nil.

Edited November 23, 2014 by Headshot

[Headshot 29,355]

A watt meter can be bought as low as 470 PHP

 

Then again...you put up your own meter at your house. The reading on your meter says you used 100 kwh but the VECO meter in the meter bank says you used 1000 kwh. Which reading do you think VECO will believe? You can pay them to clean any illegal taps off your circuit (on your side of the meter), but as soon as VECO is gone, the taps will be back. Remember...the thieves are stealing from you...not from VECO. VECO gets paid for the electricity regardless of who is using it. They have no incentive to keep your circuit (on your side of the meter) tap free. So you go through the expense and effort of installing a meter at your house and getting the taps cleaned off your circuit. What have you gained?

[Woolf 8,550]

Then again...you put up your own meter at your house. The reading on your meter says you used 100 kwh but the VECO meter in the meter bank says you used 1000 kwh. Which reading do you think VECO will believe? You can pay them to clean any illegal taps off your circuit (on your side of the meter), but as soon as VECO is gone, the taps will be back. Remember...the thieves are stealing from you...not from VECO. VECO gets paid for the electricity regardless of who is using it. They have no incentive to keep your circuit (on your side of the meter) tap free. So you go through the expense and effort of installing a meter at your house and getting the taps cleaned off your circuit. What have you gained?

 

If your meter is way up on a pole, how will you check if it is spinning

now your only choice is to have a meter installed at/in your house

 

of course you will have to pay what the VECO meter reads,

but with your own meter, you have a good chance with a complaint to VECO

at least you can prove to yourself that something is wrong

Edited November 23, 2014 by Woolf

[+to_dave007 5,914]

All he needs to do is flip the main breaker and go see if the meter is still registering usage. If it is, there is a thief. He shouldn't advertise that he's doing it or any thieves will turn their stuff off too. Then again, that will only work if he knows which meter in the meter bank is his. If the meter bank is elevated, it may not be possible to read the meter serial number without a bucket truck. The chances of VECO providing a meter at the house in an area where meters are typically banked is almost nil.

Then again...you put up your own meter at your house. The reading on your meter says you used 100 kwh but the VECO meter in the meter bank says you used 1000 kwh. Which reading do you think VECO will believe? You can pay them to clean any illegal taps off your circuit (on your side of the meter), but as soon as VECO is gone, the taps will be back. Remember...the thieves are stealing from you...not from VECO. VECO gets paid for the electricity regardless of who is using it. They have no incentive to keep your circuit (on your side of the meter) tap free. So you go through the expense and effort of installing a meter at your house and getting the taps cleaned off your circuit. What have you gained?

I'm in CEBECO II territory not VECO, so I don't know how VECO is at dealing with complaints that are properly made to them. But I've raised several issues to CEBECO II before, being careful to make sure I'm talking to the right person when I make them, and I was amazed at how quickly and completely CEBECO dealt with the issue. The issues were:

- wires touching tree and arcing occurring (< 24 hours)

- needed to get pole moved from centre of lot to lot line (2 weeks)

- getting the initial connection once fire inspection done (same day)

 

I agree with others here that 4,000+ peso a month sounds high. I would expect more like 1800 to 2200.. and if fridge is off a lot then not more.

 

I think Headshots advice is the best OP will get.

 

My additional suggestions would be:

 

- Having someone sensible and drama free making a proper complaint to VECO, verbal with written copy, telling them you think theft is occurring.

 

- Find a VECO "licensed electricians" (we have them in CEBECO area) and have him check the wiring. The CEBECO licensed electrician I dealt with was 100% honest and fair and communicated we

ll, and put CEBECO authorized price structure on the table the first day I met him. I have no doubt that my guy would tell me straight if electricity theft was occurring.

[fredanna 94]

There have been long 2-3 hr conversations between my wife and the family. I'm sure the drama is building on how to get VECO involved and what I am hoping for the electric meter moved to their house. I have brought this up before and there was some chatter. But now I will be pushing the buttons and insisting on action.

Fred