Some chap just turned up at my door, asking to read my gas meter. I’ve taken to asking these meter readers a few questions: who’s my gas supplier? what’s my account number? Not one of these questions could he answer though, bless him, he did guess at British Gas for my supplier. Wrong answer, of course.
He purported to work for Accuread, and his plastic ID looked plastic enough.
I’m not sure one can be too cynical about these things – perhaps he really did work for my gas supplier, perhaps he was from another gas company doing ‘market research’, most cynically, he didn’t work for a gas company at all.
If any of the latter answers are the case, then this is a serious matter. I’m wondering how to take it further.
I'm Ben Griffiths: an escapee of web 1.0 and web 2.0 start-ups; a programmer; developer; architect; sometime consultant; team leader; agile exponent.
I live in Greenwich, London.
4 comments ↓
Of course the thing to do with these guys is to just say no (anyone remember Grange Hill?) and to take the reading yourself – most bills will have the details of where to send the readings to. These guys could be anyone just popping round to see if it’s worth turning you place over at some later date! How difficult is it to laminate a piece of card anyway . . .
I work for AccuRead and can tell you that we dont get given your gas suppliers details on the HHC (handheld computer) Accuread will be either working on behalf of your energy provider or the people that own it all,the National Grid.Your meter only needs to be read every 2 years by law.This isnt just to check the meter reading but to check the actual meter itself for signs of tampering and to make sure everything is safe on it.All AccuRead staff carry i.d and there is a freephone number on there to verify who the person is and they will also tell you who they are reading the meter for.If you dont want them in your house just say no,we then put it down as no access on the hhc.Bad point of that is that you will get an estimated bill.
But Steve, who’s to trust the Freephone number that the potential thief/scammer/whatever is giving you? That’s just madness.
Because when you phone you can ask as many questions as you like….we have all your details.
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