'Everyday' Intelligence: Your Bills Are Overdue

Another day, another pound, eh?

(As in money- pound and not ‘oh my God, you’ve let yourself go!’- pound. )

After a long and somewhat pseudo- exhausting day at work, all you want to do is go home, have dinner, watch some sitcoms and read my blog (subliminal advertising, ladies and gents).

So here you are, home sweet home; you open the door, take off your shoes and, as though you’ve just seen the horrid Chucky Doll, gasp in despair as your eyes set on a couple of envelopes with your name on them.

You know full well that those are most definitely NOT cards from loved ones for your birthday because:

A) It’s not your birthday.

B) You’ve got a loved ONE, not ONES.

You reach for one of them and, rather sheepishly, open it up.

It reads:

Dear Mr X

Your new estimated bill for the period of 01/07/2012 to 01/10/2012 is £ 327.00.

Below we have enclosed a credit slip by which you can pay us immediately and without any hassle.

We are looking forward to receiving the abovementioned amount.

‘To Hell With It!’ you say and pay the bill, right?

WRONG.

Think about it for a second.

Firstly, it says ESTIMATED. And who exactly estimates those; and how?

Also, that’s about £ 110 per month. That’s a bit pricey for a non- winter quarter, no? Unless you use electricity to keep your hair spiky when all else fails; then it’s ok.

Finally, does it really not bother you that they have kindly attached a credit slip and a pre- paid envelope for your convenience so that you could pay them the amount by simply singing the slip of paper? How nice and time- efficient of them, eh?

Now, I am not going to name and shame by saying that the above letter is most probably being sent by Southern Electric because I’m not that type of person.

But should you get such a ‘kind reminder’, please do go to your meter and take those meter readings and be ever so kind to call the electricity people and tell them to….

...recalculate.

Upon them doing so, your bill is most likely to drop from £ 327 to £ 77.

So, next time someone asks you to pay an estimated bill, tell him to go

To Hell With It!