Negative Meter Reading

E

Edin K

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Jan 23, 2021
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3
Hi,

I work in the water utility industry, recently I have taken on a role dealing with exceptions to meter readings. The readings can be either high or low. I find basic arithmetic to be very challenging to my mind often making my mind work so unnecessarily hard it drives me nuts lol ?.

I have one scenario where a customer was billed 1000 kilolitres based on an estimate reading. Following another quarterly actual reading it has come back saying the reading is negative ie a credit reading of -959 kilolitres.

I know the customer has used 41 kilolitres.

My question is: do I need to credit back 959 kilolitres or 910 kilolitres (959 - 41)?

Please help me! ?
 
Edin K said:
Hi,

I work in the water utility industry, recently I have taken on a role dealing with exceptions to meter readings. The readings can be either high or low. I find basic arithmetic to be very challenging to my mind often making my mind work so unnecessarily hard it drives me nuts lol ?.

I have one scenario where a customer was billed 1000 kilolitres based on an estimate reading. Following another quarterly actual reading it has come back saying the reading is negative ie a credit reading of -959 kilolitres.

I know the customer has used 41 kilolitres.

My question is: do I need to credit back 959 kilolitres or 910 kilolitres (959 - 41)?

Please help me! ?
Click to expand...
You paid 1000 for an item that actually costs 41. How much do you want back?
 
This is weird! HOW did you get a negative meter reading? I have never seen a water meter with negative numbers on it. And you say "I know the customer has used 41 kilolitres." HOW do you know that if that was not what the actual reading showed?

Any way, I would say that you simply ignore the bogus negative reading. If the estimate was 1000 kilolitres and you KNOW the actual amount was 41, you credit the customer 1000- 41= 959 kilolitres.
 
HallsofIvy said:
This is weird! HOW did you get a negative meter reading? I have never seen a water meter with negative numbers on it. And you say "I know the customer has used 41 kilolitres." HOW do you know that if that was not what the actual reading showed?

Any way, I would say that you simply ignore the bogus negative reading. If the estimate was 1000 kilolitres and you KNOW the actual amount was 41, you credit the customer 1000- 41= 959 kilolitres.
Click to expand...
It’s negative because the reading prior was an estimate reading which was higher. When access to the meter was made available in the following quarter the physical reading on the meter was much lower hence the negative reading with a difference of 959 kilolitres.

The opposite is true when it’s under billed with a low reading say last quarter it was 205. It was misread by the meter reader where it should have been 250 so 45 kilolitres they didn’t pay. The reading in the following quarter is a catch-up meaning the customer pays a bigger bill. The current quarter reading shows 300 where normally the customer uses 30-40 kilolitres per quarter instead they end up paying 95 kilolitres (300-205). Their usage hasn’t changed for 6 months but due to a misreading most of the usage is paid on one big bill where normally it’s spread over two quarters evenly.

I know 41 kilolitres is used because the current actual reading minus the last actual reading difference is 41 kilolitres. I have to disregard any estimate readings in between. It’s always an actual current reading minus a last actual reading. Sometimes that means a meter is estimated 2-3 times in a row or 9 months usually due to the site being under construction with fences preventing access to the meter.

But you are right it should be 959 kilolitres that I need to credit them back. I was in two minds whether I had to deduct the further 41 kilolitres from the 959.

I know this may seem so obvious to others but to me it really wasn’t. Thanks so much for your kind and prompt help! ?
 
Last edited:
Edin K said:
That’s the whole point of my thread, I am asking the question.
Click to expand...
I tried to restate your question so that the answer would be obvious. I don't know about you, but when I'm overcharged, my brain goes into the highest gear to make sure I am refunded the right amount.
 
I was in a store last week and the following incident happened. I purchased an item that was marked at $18. At the register it rung at at $32. The cashier immediately (and I mean immediately) took off $14 from my bill. I was so pleased with her math skills!
 
HallsofIvy said:
This is weird! HOW did you get a negative meter reading? I have never seen a water meter with negative numbers on it. And you say "I know the customer has used 41 kilolitres." HOW do you know that if that was not what the actual reading showed?

Any way, I would say that you simply ignore the bogus negative reading. If the estimate was 1000 kilolitres and you KNOW the actual amount was 41, you credit the customer 1000- 41= 959 kilolitres.
Click to expand...
The meter reading on the physical meter did not go down. It actually went up 41. The company estimated that it would go up 1000 and charged the customer for 1000. Then when they came and read the meter they realized that the customer was overcharged.
 
You need to figure out how to do it so you understand the method. Here is one way to do this.

The customer owes you for 41 units of electricity. Let's say that amounts to $75. (so the customer owes $75).
You charged the customer for 1000 units of electricity. Let's say that costs $300. The customer paid this amount.

Now you have to think about $300 as $75 + $225. The customer paid $225 more than they were supposed to so they get credited back $225

Alternatively, think about how much more $300 is than $75. This is the amount you owe this customer. To figure out how much more one amount is than another amount you use substraction. $300 - $75 = $225 = refund due to the customer.
 
Another way using the numbers I stated above. You have $300 in one hand. Take $75 from that hand and put it in the other hand. Now you have to do math. In one hand you have $75 and in the other hand you have $225. You should just have $75 so you give back what ever is in the other hand, namely $225, because you (ie your company) is not entitled to that amount. As I said, you can come here for help but in the end you will have to understand it on your own. Think real hard what subtraction is.
 
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