duztee

Can anyone explain why the figures printed on a utility bill never add up?

Usually I just pay the amount requested without really checking the bill, since the amounts always seem reasonable.

My latest gas bill has just arrived from planet Mars.
usually the amount to pay is around 34,000 fts, this one (for the hottest months of the year) is 190,000fts.

The confusing part is the large orange box which says that without discount the bill would be 700,000 fts. This usually says something in the region of 50,00fts.
Even subtracting the discounts I do not end up with a figure even remotely related to the actual bill.

Do they roll a dice or some such to arrive at these figures?

Water and electricity bills are the same in that the figures in the large coloured box bear no relationship to the amount due.

Peter_in_Hungary

Hi
August is the 'catch up' month when someone goes around and reads the meters. All the other 11 monthly bills are either estimates based on last years usage or what ever you enter if you enter your usage monthly on line.

To get a bill of 190,000fts you must have been under paying since last August i.e. they got the estimate wrong or your usage has gone up since last year. If you don't like the surprises of the August bill you can either enter usage monthly on line or ask them to adjust the estimate part way through the year to better match your usage.

The 700,000fts refers to the reduction in the price of gas due to the government forcing the gas company to lower the price. So without the government intervention your annual gas bill would have been 700,000fts higher.

Electricity also has a catch up in August and I presume water does as well but as I don't get water bills I don't know for sure (off grid for water!)

duztee

Ok Thanks Peter. that would explain the bill, but why do they bother to come to read my meter quarterly if they do not use the information to make an adjustment.

I will take your advice and ask them to raise my monthly payments, hopefully next years bill will then be less of a shock.

Thankfully my huge gas bill was offset by my electric bill being only 1900 fts for August.

Peter_in_Hungary

Are you sure they read it quarterly, mine only get read in August

Electric bill of 1900fts - Do you have gas lighting???

duztee

Peter,
Yes readings are quarterly.

My electric bill is the Yin to the Yang of my gas bill, I have been paying slightly over each month, hence the one off low bill.

almafak

We moved into our village house on December 1, 2014 and took over the electricity account using the previous owner's estimate. After paying 11 monthly electricity bills in cash at the village Post Office, E-ON notified us that we were due a refund of around 20,000 forint after settlement of the December bill. This morning our postie knocked on the door bearing the amount in CASH! We did have the option of using direct debit but the bank would charge us a monthly fee so the postal option suits us better.

Peter_in_Hungary

This is quite normal, I am amazed at how much cash the posties carry around, especially at pension time. It says something about the Hungarian society that it is considered safe (and is!) for them to carry the cash cycling around the countryside.
By the way when you pay the bill at the post office there is a charge but if the payment slip is yellow then E-ON pay this charge, however if the slip is white then I believe you pay the charge. (we pay our bills on-line by debit card)

almafak

The bills, both for E-ON and Délzalai-víz, have yellow slips. I only pay the amount stated on the bill (but lose 2 forint on rounding up).

Peter_in_Hungary

Or 0.0046311833 British pounds sounds expensive

jetsam1

They are not meant to be understood. Elmu's aren't.