A woman was left shocked to see here home smart meter display telling her she'd used £39,025 in a single day. Hannah Eastwood had a surprise on New Year's Day when she spotted that the display was showing the "laughable" amount for gas and electricity.
Hannah, who is supplied by Bulb, wrote on Facebook: "So according to our smart meter, we've used over £39k in energy... absolute bulls***!!"
She added: "Are we running an entire restaurant or something? After 12 months of issues with it not communicating with Bulb, this happens."
Speaking further to the Liverpool ECHO, Hannah said that she'd tried to get in touch with Bulb to find out what was going on, but the company was only taking emergency calls over the bank holiday.
She said: "I tried to get in touch with them, but they were closed, save for emergencies like no gas or electricity. As for how I'm feeling about it, it's absolutely laughable."
She added: "We've had nothing but problems with Bulb for the last 12 months. Our smart meter just suddenly stopped communicating after communicating with them for over three years previously.
"They tried to blame it on the fact it's a first generation smart meter so needs enrolling in the national database, but it was already enrolled a couple of years ago. Because it wasn't sending readings we've then had to manually send readings, but they were essentially estimating our energy usage for months even though I was doing as they asked."
Hannah explained that she lives with her husband Dan and her mum and dad, who are currently in bad health. She worried the extreme amount shown on the HUD could have added to their health issues.
She said: "When I said to my mum and dad what it was showing, they nearly fell through the floor. If me and Dan didn't live with them, it could have given either of them a heart attack if they'd seen it themselves first."
The smart meter display now seems to be working as normal, she said. When Hannah logged on to check the actual usage on Bulb's app, the amount for the day in question was actually only £5.06. But with not being able to get hold of anyone within the company, she was still worried about having to pay an extortionate amount.
A Bulb spokesperson told the Liverpool ECHO: "Hannah’s online account correctly reflects their current balance. It looks as though there’s a fault with the in home display on their smart meter, so we’re working on fixing it as soon as possible."
