Mislabeled Meters in apt complexes

[Pootnaigle]

Ummmmm long time back I went on a fire call in an apt complex. There was a gang meter box with bout 12 meters, each with their own main breaker. The fire dept wanted a meter to the apt that suffered fire damage to be removed until it could be inspected. So I called dispatch and got the meter number assosiated with that apt ,removed it and guess what? it was for the wrong apt. After a marathon of turning off mains I finally located the correct meter, It was incorrectly associated with yet a different apt.Meaning that the guys staying in one apt were payin the light bill for the guys staying in the other. Next day we investigated a lil further and found that of the 12 only 3 were correctly identified.I never knew if the company ever told any of the residents or made any attempt to correct the past billing. But I do know it was a major cluster**** to update all the billing and meter information.This ever happen to anybody else? Damn narrowbacks labeled em wrong.

[Trojan]

Seen that before myself. Sometimes they were
installed wrong. Often crooked customers were making some innocent pay their bill.
It was fun to open a main and hear the thieves start hollerin' and run down to the basement. They got quiet when they saw the landlord and light man standing there.

[topgroove]

Seen it too a bunch of times:(

[electriklady]

See it all the time.....what a pain in the arse.......I often wonder what the office does once it is found........Just found one last week. A duplex.....meter mix.......What I love even more is the foreign load orders.......all that stuff gives me heartburn!!!

[freshjive]

Loop checks ....At least that's what we used to have to do when i was in the meter dept...We'd be flippin breakers in the apartments that we thought went to the correct meter, testing it with a wiggy, and talking on the walkie..Multi tasking at its finest

[electriklady]

Loop checks ....At least that's what we used to have to do when i was in the meter dept...We'd be flippin breakers in the apartments that we thought went to the correct meter, testing it with a wiggy, and talking on the walkie..Multi tasking at its finest


I am the only field tester in my area.....the next closest tester is an hour away, and he has a territory to service about as monstrous as mine. There used to be 2 testers in my building,,,,,but now I am "super" tester by myself:rolleyes:;)
Soooooo time consuming.....by oneself

[T-Man]

I did a stint as a meterservicer and we would get the assignment to install the meters for a large complex. We would use walkie talkies and one person would go to the unit and the other would flip the breaker and we'd note which meter handled which unit. This worked fine for new customers but the rewires and additions got messy because the Electricians would move the meters around and we might have missed or not checked well enough then down the road the guy says I was in Europe for a month why do I have such a big bill? Then the investigation wold start. Or when someone was dilinquent in the bill and we went to turn them off and took out the neighbor, The investigation would start. . . .
I feel your pain EL been there done that.

[barehander]

I did a stint as a meterservicer and we would get the assignment to install the meters for a large complex. We would use walkie talkies and one person would go to the unit and the other would flip the breaker and we'd note which meter handled which unit. This worked fine for new customers but the rewires and additions got messy because the Electricians would move the meters around and we might have missed or not checked well enough then down the road the guy says I was in Europe for a month why do I have such a big bill? Then the investigation wold start. Or when someone was dilinquent in the bill and we went to turn them off and took out the neighbor, The investigation would start. . . .
I feel your pain EL been there done that.

It happened alot when I was running trouble. Turn off a meter at an apartment and the neighbor would come out complaining....
Used to get alot of high bill complaints, 99.9% were just angry customers. Got called out 1 night for a high bill at an apartment complex, was talking to the customer and he said he had been working out of state for 2 months. He always had a high bill, but not being home, he knew something was wrong. I walked over with him to check out the meter, opened the main.......and all 30 lights in the parking lot went off.........the look on our faces were priceless......

[lewy]

I did a stint as a meterservicer and we would get the assignment to install the meters for a large complex. We would use walkie talkies and one person would go to the unit and the other would flip the breaker and we'd note which meter handled which unit. This worked fine for new customers but the rewires and additions got messy because the Electricians would move the meters around and we might have missed or not checked well enough then down the road the guy says I was in Europe for a month why do I have such a big bill? Then the investigation wold start. Or when someone was dilinquent in the bill and we went to turn them off and took out the neighbor, The investigation would start. . . .
I feel your pain EL been there done that.

We have also run into the problem a few times, but it is up to us to make sure the right meter is connected to the right house. Electricians are not aloud to pull our meters, if they are changing something that involves a meter pull, they also need an inspection before the meter can be re installed. Serious consequences if the electrician does not do this. Bottom line up here if the meter is connected to the wrong house it was our mistake.

[electriklady]

I am meticulous about the new installs.....yes....I usually grab the troubleman or a young lineman, the walkie talkies and go at it that way....what I hate are the ones that are already set......and we find that 2 walls of tenant a are on tenant b's meter and then we have a basement light on tenant a's meter....those are the ones that give me the MAJOR headache and when I see one of those foriegn load orders I wanna scream......The meter mixes on old single home converted to 6 apts is horible....the new installs are cake cause I am there from the get go.....some of this stuff has been mixed for decades and now just being caught.

[T-Man]

We have also run into the problem a few times, but it is up to us to make sure the right meter is connected to the right house. Electricians are not aloud to pull our meters, if they are changing something that involves a meter pull, they also need an inspection before the meter can be re installed. Serious consequences if the electrician does not do this. Bottom line up here if the meter is connected to the wrong house it was our mistake.

We had the same rules Lewy, but that didn't stop things from getting balled up. . . Where there's a will there's a way. . LOL

Meter service is constant in my opinion. Even the new AMR's turn up a few blocks away once in a while. . .wonder how that happens?

[freshjive]

elektricklady that sux..I give you props being a single worker doing loop checks..Most people in your shoes would go out there, loop check one unit, and if it corresponded would, say "Yup......they all correspond!" We're all set....Good for you....When I was in the meter dept, we used to have 3 or 4 doing loop checks...Its time consuming, and you have to remember what meter goes to what unit, etc....One lapse and it may mean you have to start all over...

[Trojan]

In Chicago, the new meter socket must be amrked with the unit number by the electrician, It may be code also, but if it's not marked they won't get meters.

[freshjive]

sometimes they're marked and other times they're not..Alot of the new installs are, but a lot of the time they are not, weather its do to laziness or whatever i don't know, but it's not a code round here..Even if they are labeled, we still have to loop check it to make sure they go where they say they go..

[hotwiretamer]

We have the same problem, even with duplexes! The company came out with a policy where no meter would be installed without permanent labels on the meter panels. The electrician would label the panel left to right,
"101,102" or "A and B". The builder would put the finishing touches on front doors, left to right "101,102" or "A and B". So when the meter panel was on the back of the duplex (which is most of them) it was always backward!! We were constently hearing about it from the business office and and metering dept. Now if it is multiple units, we check voltage and glass cover, and let the meter shop take care of it.

[reppy007]

Ummmmm long time back I went on a fire call in an apt complex. There was a gang meter box with bout 12 meters, each with their own main breaker. The fire dept wanted a meter to the apt that suffered fire damage to be removed until it could be inspected. So I called dispatch and got the meter number assosiated with that apt ,removed it and guess what? it was for the wrong apt. After a marathon of turning off mains I finally located the correct meter, It was incorrectly associated with yet a different apt.Meaning that the guys staying in one apt were payin the light bill for the guys staying in the other. Next day we investigated a lil further and found that of the 12 only 3 were correctly identified.I never knew if the company ever told any of the residents or made any attempt to correct the past billing. But I do know it was a major cluster**** to update all the billing and meter information.This ever happen to anybody else? **** narrowbacks labeled em wrong.

That brings back old memories....lots of times it occurs at the time the meter was set....they were not buzzed out correctly or there was a lockband removal on a gang box because of the fire........maybe siding that needed to be replaced due to a fire or just rotten wood or that stupid masonite siding.......hated them cause when we did it,every meter had to be written down with the address and the reading.....then later,which might be a day or a week you had to install the same ole lockbands and write down the meter,address and the readings once more......some of the complexes had 25 - 30-40 meters...so it was time consuming.........and to make matters worse theres the lockbands that had to be cut,pried,and all that stuff...........seen only a few where the meters were on a whole different building......and sometmes they would be in a small meter room that was locked up............yes major cluster f---.