City Power employ cowboys

Anonymous from Roodepoort writes:

Last week contract technicians arrived at our gate to install a new Smart Meter. The power was down for about twenty minutes whilst they installed said meter. Having had previous experience in matters with City Power we asked for a copy of the job card. ‘No, there is no job card.’

Everything is recorded on a hand held device which you even sign after the job has been completed. They couldn’t even give us the order number as once you have signed, the job for your address is automatically removed from the device never to be seen again.

They then went on their merry way to the next installation. In the ensuing couple of days following the installation we noticed lights flickering. The toaster taking ten minutes to toast a piece of bread. On the Friday the microwaves were basically nonfunctional.

I also noticed an increase in the clicking from what I assume is the voltage regulator for my PC’s UPS. I noticed the same clicking coming from the amplifier for the surround sound. The washing machine stopped working displaying a funny error message which turned out to be a power issue error.

On Friday night the lights again were flickering. I went to the meter and lightly place my hand on it to feel if it was hot (I have heard stories overseas where these Smart meters have caught fire) and the light behind me brightened. I touched the meter again, the light dimmed.

I immediately reported it on the City Power website and asked for them to please send someone out as a matter of urgency. This was around 1pm. To their credit, City Power (not the contractors) were there before 8am Saturday morning.

After a few minutes he came down the passage with the meter in his hand. He told me that it had not been installed correctly.

City Power, what cowboys have you engaged to effect these installations? Electricity is not something to be fiddled with by anyone with a screwdriver. They need to be vetted a bit more carefully. We could have lost all our appliances and at worst had a fire. Thankfully my PC is protected by the UPS as I fear that would have become a voltage casualty.

To anyone else in the Hamberg area who had a Smart meter installed around the 7th October it may be worthwhile getting the job inspected before you suffer any losses as I suspect obtaining compensation from CP would be an exercise in futility.