General Chat

Argyllgran..success so glad you got the problem sorted :-D

Andysmum glad you got to open a new account but will you address details ever get sorted out :-S

Lots of our post is addressed to the cottage, because it's the first of the three possible addresses on the alphabetical computer list for the postcode, but nothing has ever been delivered there. The postie and all the regular delivery people know who lives where.

I agree though, in other circumstances we could have problems.

By using the cottage address they are opening you to possible fraud. I’m sure you’re neighbours are fine but will the next ones be.

Today I had a letter from the Head Office of the Building Society, thanking me for opening an account with them and also for advising them of my new address. They have updated their records.

The letter was addressed to the Cottage! :-| :-| :-| :-| (The coachman's cottage - see OP if you need explanation).

Words fail me!!

Congratulations to you too, ArgyllGran.

I agree with you about banks, but if you go far enough back you had an account with only one branch, where the manager knew you. If you went on holiday and needed cash drawing facilities while you were away, it had to be specially arranged as a temporary transfer to a different branch! I might add that, apart from your weekly pay-packet, banks were the only source of cash!!

Congratulations, Andysmum!

Opening accounts with banks and building societies used to be easy, but not nowadays - especially as it usually has to be done online now instead of face to face with a person.

It took our church about 6 months to open a new account with the Royal Bank last year, mainly because of unclear online forms, multiple mistakes by the bank, difficulties "chatting" online on the bank's website with people who couldn't understand what was being asked, having to explain from scratch every time we "chatted" or phoned - and on and on.


Re the electricity bill problem I posted about earlier -
all sorted now. The house has been sold, and a correct final bill paid!

Success!! For Florence and anyone else interested, today I received the paperwork with my new Savings Account details. It only took a month, instead of a few days. :-(

Hopefully that will be the end of it. :-) :-)

Andysmum oh my!! i really hope this saga draws to a good conclusion soon. Keep us posted :-)

The latest thing in this saga was a phone call this evening to say that their computer didn't like my letter! The person on the phone was a bit surprised!!! and she works there.

Anywy, I made my suggestion about re-applying using the other address and they are now sending off another form, to be sent back with a bank statement copy and one of the Council Tax, which hopefully will see an end to this palaver. :-)

Yes, we've thought of your second suggestion, Andysmum, and will do that if the computer can't be persuaded otherwise.

We don't want to have the power cut off, in case the present offer on the house falls through. If the house is still our responsibility when the temperature drops below 12 degrees, we'll have to turn on the oil CH to comply with insurance requirements, and will need electricity to run the pump.
But we hope fervently that it won't come to that!


ADDED 12/9/24:
All sorted!
Manse sold, and final (correct) electricity bill paid.

AG, if the place is empty and no power is being used, can't you get the electricity board to cut off the power?

If you don't want to do that, could you put on something electric for about an hour each month - just enough to register on the meter so that it is showing more than the previous month?

When we lived in a tied house we weren’t responsible for the water bill so the ‘water board’ would refuse to tell me why we hadn’t got any water. But they were ok with me telling them there was a leak - or so they said.

When my mums flat was empty, I was responsible for the bills and i do remember one time, the readings hadn't changed and this wasn't a smart meter. So when I tried to submit the reading, it wouldn't have it.

So I rang Br Gas and they had to override it manually on the computer to produce a new bill. I like you still had to pay the maintenance daily chg

Hope you manage to get it sorted AG

The humans believe us, Florence - but their computer doesn't, and the computer's in control of the billing system.
It expects every reading to be higher than the one before.

We'll talk to the humans again today.

He has had a licence for over 20 years at that address and a free one for the last few years so surely someone has some common sense to disagree with the computer. He actually said, he doesn't care and if they want to try & fine him they can, he's 87 this year and past caring!

ArgyllGran, cant someone take a screenshot of the smart meter reading and email that to them?

I don't know about a medal, Florence, but at least the person on the phone knew what I was talking about and said I wasn't the only one with the same problem.

If your Dad is like my OH he will be worried because he isn't legal, but I am sure I read that the TV licence people aren't going to prosecute because the cost is so much more than the unpaid licence.

We have a problem with an electricity supplier's computer not believing the smart meter's readings.


Our church congregation has a vacant manse which is currently on the market.
As nobody is living there , no electricity has been used in the last month.
The supplier's billing system doesn't believe the smart meter when it shows the same reading as the previous month , and has sent an estimated bill.
We can't submit the correct reading online, as their website will only accept a reading which is higher than the previous one.
We've spoken to an actual person about this - but so far, they seem unable to convince their computerised system.
We expect another estimated bill in September, making the supposed amount due even higher.

We do owe them the standing charge amount, but not the rest.

Andys mum, my word you deserve a medal for all that but....

This year, the TV licencing wrote to my dad as they need to see proof that he gets Pension Credit to qualify for free licence. He sent them his latest letter but they would not accept it as the Post office has seen fit to rename his address. The building was converted legally into 2 flats several years ago. Dad is the free holder of the building and has the 1st floor flat plus the attics.

But the actual number and street address is the same. So lets say he lives at
4 Cromwell Rd, london. The PO says it should be First floor flat, 4 Cromwell Rd. he wasn't told to change the address in any way as all mail is posted through the door and whoever sees it first sorts it and puts it in a pigeon hole.

So the TV licence people say unless he can produce a document with the correct address on he cant get a free licence?? :-S :-S

But all other mail is delivered without a problem.
He has tried to explain he has lived at no 4 for over 20 years without a problem and no one else has told him to change it. He's now not sure what he can do and is currently without a license!

So I guess the computer at the TV license is just like the one you had a problem with Andys mum!!

they can also cause problems when they are too clever, in this case with their automated address systems! :-(

We live in what, in Scotland, is called a conversion. This is a large detached property, often Victorian, which has been split into two flats. Round here they were all built for wealthy Glasgow merchants, so that they had a summer home away from the industrial smog of Glasgow. Because the whole family, including servants, moved out for the summer, most of the houses had a coachman's cottage, with stables, in the grounds.

Back then the address was simply the name of the house, eg Clydeview. After they were split into flats and a separate cottage they were still called by the house name with nameplates by the door for delivery people.

It was still like that when we moved here and that was the address on all our official documents. Then, some years ago, Royal Mail decided that all flats had to be properly numbered. The system round here is for numbering to be in two parts - the first number being the floor and the other the flat. So downstairs is Flat 0/1 and we are Flat 1/1. But, like most people, we only use the Flat 1/1 bit when doing things online which won't accept anything else.

Sorry about the long intro, but it explains the problems I have just had opening an account at the local Building Society. I had an online investment which was maturing and as the website had "improved" so that it was virtually impossible to get into, I decided to move my cash to somewhere with a local branch.

I duly sent off the application form, using Flat 1/1 on the address (as they use computers!) and assumed all would be OK. Not so. They usually confirm everything using the electoral roll, but it has the original address, so I was asked for three forms of ID. I sent off copies of my passport, my driving licence and a recent Bank Statement.

A very nice person rang me to say that the Bank Statement didn't have Flat 1/1 on it and did I have anything else recent that did. She understood exactly what the problem was, but unfortunately their computer didn't. I hunted everywhere with no luck and was about to ring them and suggest re-doing the application without Flat 1/1, when I found the letter closing the online account that the money was coming from. Was that OK?

She said it would be fine, so I sent it off and sat down for a well-earned rest. I'm getting too old for that sort of palaver!! :-)