OK this makes me sound like a wimp; but I have been trying to pay my gas bill for at least a week and I can't do it. I want to do this partly because I believe gas prices are going up and partly because I have moved into a new home and I want to get an idea of how much gas is going to cost me.
Dealing with EDF is a nightmare. Don't get me wrong if you can get to speak to a human they are nice pleasant people. But as with all things online (seemingly) you just go round and round in circles.
My issue is that I can not read the meter, probably because it is an electronic meter. Every gas meter I have seen before just has a row of digits you copy down and transmit to the gas company. Not this one. It has a keypad and a dial that flashes unintelligible messages. By pushing buttons on the keypad more or less randomly I can get a three digit figure (the relevant number of digits) but when I send this in to EDF they say it is too much (that's a bit frightening).
A couple of times I have got through to a human who has been very friendly and who promises to help. But the conversation ends with them asking me to send them a photo of the meter. When I do this I just get an acknowledgement. Nothing more.
Perhaps it will all end splendidly with them writing off the rather small amount of gas I have used (I am parsimonious when it comes to heating) but who knows?
There was a time when the gas board had a shop in every high street you could visit. Not today. Now we have the whizz bang efficiency of the internet and direct communications (probably with India).
Jonathan Brind