08457023461

I got a call yesterday (friday evening) at quarter to 7 on my mob.  I don't answer numbers I don't know so when I listened to the message it was a recording of a phone ringing and then some muffled words - I could just make out NPower.  I thought - how do they have my mob number?, and can't we get any peace from being bombarded with people wanting stuff from us 24/7?  I'd just finished talking to my Mum about how everyone in Britain (no longer Great) has a constant sense of anxiety due to all the surveillance, rules and regs so you never know if you're committing an offence etc.  And now I get called IN MY PRIVATE TIME.
I did get a card through the door the other day with N Power logo on it and Lowri Beck No 08457 023461.  I read the meter and went on to the site to log the reading THEN it said I needed to enter the meter number, which I hadn't written down as there wasn't a mention of it on the card.  I'm glad I saw this site about possible scam.  I think this is just a way of getting our private data, under the umbrella of being the meter reading recorders for our suppliers. I agree with the person who says they charge us enough, the suppliers should send people with ID and not expect us to do their job for them.

These people have rung me from 2 different numbers (the other call was from 01942614100).  They are actually genuine as I checked with NPower, but you wouldn't know it.  Their telephone manner makes them seem so dodgy it's untrue.  They don't give their company name, but just say they are NPower (which is a lie) or calling on behalf of NPower.  The first time they rang the woman who called hung up on me when I asked why they were ringing instead of sending someone around.  The second time the man who called insisted on getting a meter reading from me, even though I told him that I had just given NPower a meter reading online (which I did on their website after the first person called).  I told him that if he wanted a meter reading he should ask NPower for it.  He made out that him getting the reading over the phone made the reading somehow more official than me entering it online, even though in both situations they are relying on me giving the reading.

I presume they get a commission for every reading that they get, even if it's not needed.

Their bizarre persistence for readings that NPower already have, just seems dodgy, and even if NPower say that the company is genuine, I'm not going to put up with annoying calls just to get commissions for someone else.

It seems the spammers have found this website and are posting thingings under "ANON" to say trust them!
"OHH they have a office somewhere, OHH they have a website, OHH people who can't identify themselves on here tell us they are" What a load of rubbish!

Been called for 2 years by these muppets, almost always hang up. And when they don't they can never say who my power supplier is. but want me to tell them who my supplier is, tell them my full name and full address and give them my meter reading.
I give my readings directly to npowers website. If this company is real, and I have my doubts, then NPower should kick them out, add a page to their next bill asking us to supply their own website (which does not meantion these spammers) and tell us to load up to there. Most people have access to the net.

I have had a phone call off these guys im a 66 year old man and there telling me go and read my meter dont they have meter people coming round anymore I dont like how they have got my personal  information i have phoned npower and they said they dont know nothing about them so beware i dont trust them at all also just ask them for there name i bet it sounds like a made up like jack or jill

They have been bombarding me again so I have done more digging

This comes from a police website!
http://www.communitysafe.gov.uk/channels/80-m ... ood-team?page=2
Even the police think they are scammers!

"Village - Bogus Meter Readers. May 27, 2009 11:30  
Please be aware that we have had a report of people calling door to door in the Copse Hill area saying they are from Lowri Beck Services Ltd representing EDF and want to read your electricity/gas meter.

The people calling are not wearing uniforms and are not carrying any form of I.D.

Anyone genuine person calling on you from EDF or agents acting on their behalf will be wearing a corporate uniform and will have I.D.

If anyone calling on you wants access to your property and they do not have I.D. or you are not satisfied that they have a genuine reason to enter your property DO NOT LET THEM IN.

If in doubt please call us and we will be happy to assist.

Note: Please could this be forwarded onto residents association members by Association reps - Thankyou.

Regards
Tony Leworthy PC795VW
Village Safer Neighbourhood Team
Tel: 020 8721 2457
E Mail: Village@met.police.uk"

Weird!  Interesting to see this has been going on for some time. Scam or not, why did they leave a recorded message at my office when I have neither a gas nor an electricity meter? (Don't fret, folks, it's perfectly legal!)

Actually, I had no idea of the company name until I found this forum, as the English female's accent was too indistinct for this Scot to understand. Clear phone number and web address, though.

A scam for your meter reading?? haha!

Im sorry but you was called at 9pm? This is a lie as Lowri Beck is open 8am-8pm :)

ues, a scam so you suddenly end up with a different supplier. The one time (over a year ago) that I answered these scammers they were asking me for my address, my name, my supplier, my meter number... Naturally I told them to f#@k off.

About what you need to take out a loan

Hmm. They left us a message today, saying they were calling on behalf of "your electricity supplier, NPower". One problem with that - we don't buy electricity (or anything else) from NPower, and we never have. Now tell me it's genuine.

this company call and ask for a simon wen . if i dont answer on this they then call me from the number
01614781080 which u cannot call back on. Always on mobile never on the land line.

i too had a message left on my answer phone  for me to leave an 'electricity' meter reading-name-postcode-and property number on the above phone number or website from the below mentioned on behalf of Scottish & Southern Energy.......is this a scam too????

I received a call on my mobile at 18.27pm on 5th January 2011 asking to speak to my husband. When I asked what they wanted the woman said that they were calling on behalf of Npower and wanted a meter reading. I said I had only just given a meter reading to npower. So No!!
I phoned Npower and spoke to a very pleasant young man who told me that the call was not requested by them and they would be unlikely to phone and request a meter reading anyway. Busted!!!
My son said that I was overreacting but I am vindicated!!

Had call twice this week from this number and answered it today. It is from Npower wanting a meter reading. Didnt seem pushy at all and the lady was very polite. I was unable to give reading today as cant get round to meter cupboard at moment, but she was really nice and said she will call next week. People are right to be cautious these days but in this case she didnt ask for any personal details just a reading, there is no big deal in that!

I recieved a card through my door asking me to either ring this number or to go to their web site www.myreading.net. i looked on line first and saw this was a scam.

it did not even mention the company that i use for my electric

I was called around 19:35 on 10 January. A pleasant-sounding young woman asked to speak to The Occupier. I can’t remember if she said she was calling from N-Power or on behalf of N-Power. She asked if the 18 January was a convenient date to come round and change the electric meter. I thought she said 'come round and read the electric meter'. As this is something I do regularly, I offered to read it myself there and then. But no – she actually wanted to arrange for someone to come round and change the meter. She claimed that new government legislation said that all meters over six years had to be changed, and that this would be done free of charge. I replied that I had never heard of such legislation, and that I wanted to check on this matter before agreeing to anything. I commented that I had received nothing in the post about this matter. She said that my letter had probably not arrived. I don’t think she mentioned my address during the conversation.
Smelling a rat I immediately checked with whocallsme? and ended up on this site.
I then phoned N-Power, using a freephone number I obtained from saynoto0870  -  0800 553322. Sebastian Prout told me that he did not recognise the number I gave him for the caller (08457023461). He also tried to call this number and could not get a reply. He seemed unsure if meters were to be replaced. I told him I was looking at the website whocallsme, and that most people said the caller was Lowri Beck. He said that this company was the one who dealt with some matters for N-Power in my area. I commented that the caller had not identified her own company, and had led me to believe that she was calling from N-Power.
I currently have no idea what is going on. If anyone contacts me about this matter I will come back to this site and report. (I buy both gas and electric from N-Power.)

At 12:19 today  I received a call from 08457023461, the same number I received a call from two days ago - see my comments earlier on this site. The lady said she was calling from N-Power, and this time knew my name and address. She again wanted to arrange for my electric meter to be replaced, suggesting the same day as in the previous call. Again, I said that I had not been notified by letter about this matter, adding that I wanted to be.
I then phoned N-Power on their free number, and this time spoke to Clare Bland. I asked what was going on. She telephoned the company who carries out work for them in my area, and it would appear that everything is above board. N-Power apparently do want to replace electric meters between 6 and ten years old. (I asked her to call using her own contact telephone number, because obviously the 08457023461 number would presumably just say to her what they said to me!)
I did explain how suspicious I was of the whole enterprise, and suggested that both N-Power and Lowri Beck would probably learn how other people feel about such phone calls by reading the comments on this website. Miss Bland suggested that she make a complaint about the matter on my behalf, drawing attention to the concerns of people who are phoned out of the blue. I agreed to this. Hopefully someone in authority will contact me, and I will explain exactly how I feel about such phone calls.

Just got a call from this number, they asked for a woman (not me) and when I said they had the wrong number they asked "is this not [postcode of a flat I used to rent]?"  I said "no, sorry" and they apologised and hung up without saying who they were.  I realised when I got off the phone the name was my ex-landlady at the postcode they mentioned so searched for the number on here.  While staying at that postcode my electric supplier was N-Power and I know the landlady used the same supplier so I'd say it is most likely a genuine call.

On 17 January I received a letter from N-Power about the comments/complaint I had made about recent phone calls I had received from Lowri Beck (see my earlier posts on 10 and 12 January). The letter seemed anodyne to me, and didn't address my points. So I phoned the Customer Care Team office, using 0800 1973937. I spoke to Cass (or Cath) Ryan, a really pleasant lady who fully understood my concerns. She explained there were two types of complaint a customer could make; I had apparently been logged as one not needing any further action. She took it upon herself to try to find out whether management was aware of the problem, and if so what they were doing about it. Most managers seemed to be in meetings, but the following day she called to say that she had received an e-mail from Deborah Derby who explained that the management was aware at a high level of the problem, and that something needs to be done. N-power are apparently trying to work out how to make Lowri Beck better known to their customers. (They might start by asking Lowri Beck to explain over the phone who they are and why they are calling!)

I was also told that the comments about electricity meters needing to be replaced if they are over 6 or ten years old is not correct. A more usual time is over twenty years. Apparently there is a database in existence - not accessible to the general public – which lists all meters and their age. Somehow old meters trigger a replacement response. My meter is apparently twenty-two years old. (Which raises an interesting question - who actually owns electricity meters and who is responsible for them? I suppose SWEB put mine in originally.)

Lowri Beck is supposed to send a letter first about replacing a meter, and if there is no response from the customer, then, and only then, to make phone contact. I still have received no letter from anyone about my meter replacement.

I can assume Lowri Beck don't get paid if they don't collect your meter readings. However, why call them back or use myreading.net when your supplier probably offers a direct way of supplying your meter readings to them via their own website? I am with NPower, so when I received the card through my door, I simply submitted my meter readings to NPower via their website (www.npower.com).

No middle man and therefore less expense for NPower and no risk of my details being misused by an unknown party.