EDF & Saur

[Uffcat]

EDF and Saur

Can someone please let me have any ideas on these two companies and the bills I now have please?  I'm hoping I've done all possible to sort things out but some extra input would be great.

We bought our house in late October and other than two weeks here in November we have not been here since (until arriving last Sunday night).  We will only be here very briefly and I don't think this pattern will change for quite some months.

The estate agent fixed up a DD to EDF and they are, it appears, happily taking €88 per month.  This was news to us until we arrived this week.  I have calculated that we have so far used the equivalent of €10 of electricity.  I do understand there are standing charges as wellthough.  I phoned them today and was told the amount would be reduced to €40 but this is still going to be way too high and they had rung off before I had had chance to say so.  I have registered online now and had planned on changing the account so that we can notify them of actual usage with meter readings every two months.  However it seems I can't do that as we are registered to pay by DD!  I can't see anywhere to un-register for this "privilege" so does anyone know how to do that?  Or should I just go to the bank and cancel it and wait for them to get around to realising they are not getting their payments?  I think we plan on cancelling the DD arrangement anyway as we don't like the idea of companies grabbing just what they like and we have read comments on the difficulties with French banks and their operation of the DD system/getting overpayments back etc.

With the Saur account they are estimated enormous usage of water and so far we have only used 5 m3.  I have two bills to pay, apparently one for 2007 (part) plus the first six months of 2008.  I have notified them online of the meter reading and they acknowledged this but did not say whether they would send new bills etc.  Does anyone have any experience as to what they will do?

Also I notice we are paying for water AND drainage although we only have a fosse septique.  Again I've looked through the FAQs on their site and it seems this is "Selon la loi, les usagers disposent, pour effectuer les travaux de raccordement, d'un délai de 2 ans au maximum, à partir du moment où le réseau public d'assainissement est opérationnel. Toute collectivité peut décider qu'elle percevra auprès des propriétaires des immeubles raccordables une somme équivalente à la redevance instituée pour le service de l'assainissement".  I basically understand what this is saying but I'm not sure whether they are suggesting we don't actually need to be using the fosse as we could be on mains drainage or that they are likely to be putting in a facility at some point.  Can anyone enlighten me please?

[Benjamin]

Welcome to the forum Uffcat. I'll answer the bits I can and maybe someone else can fill in the gaps.

EDF

There are several elements to an EDF invoice: actual electricity used, a standing charge based upon the amperage for which you (or in this case the previous owner had requested), a contribution to the public electricity services, local taxes and finally TVA (VAT) on the lot!

As you can see the actual amount of electricity you use is only a part of what you pay. I guess you started paying 88€ a month because either that was what your estate agent filled in for you or that was the amount the previous owners were paying either on a DD or calculated from their actual usage. The next bit is a guess but it wouldn't surprise me if without you causing a stink 40€ is the minimum amount that EDF are prepared to accept. The only way to cahange any of this to your satisfaction is to go and visit their office the next time you are over.

This would also give you the opportunity of changing from a DD to paying an actual bill. Invoices are sent every two months with an actual reading being taken twice a year. Hence you pay four guesstimated invoices and two actual ones which correct any under/over charging that may have occured. Like utility companies the World over these are always likely to be over charges! Once you know the approximate dates your meter is read you do have the opportunity, via their web site, to send them actual readings but of course you would need to be here to do that.

I must say that I've never heard any horror stories concerning DD's in France although there will always be some out there.

SAUR

Again you are probably being estimated on the previous owners readings but again bear in mind that you pay for the water actually used  and also a fixed standing charge. In our case, and we are fairly light water users (75 cu mtrs per annum), the standing charges equates to about 50% of the annual cost. Invoices for water are sent out six monthly and an actual reading is taken once a year. You have obviously taken your own reading but I would advise anyone to periodically check your reading (I do it about every two months) just to make sure a leak has not developped somewhere. An awful lot of water can be lost with a leak over a 12 month period.

Although we are also on a fosse septique I don't understand/know about your final paragraph. Our invoice shows a charge, based upon consumption, titled Lutte contre la pollution but it doesn't mention anything about mains drainage. Hope someone else can help you with this one.