Dear LPG,

Recently I received a letter that got me thinking.    I thought that I was being scammed, but it turned out that the letter was quite genuine. 

The letter was addressed to ‘The Present Occupier’ and the letterhead showed it to be from the National Grid.  It informed me that the battery in my Gas meter was of an age where it is likely to need changing, and went on to say that they had people working in the area.  I was to expect a visit from a worker in the near future, who would change the battery free of charge without having to enter the house and, if I did see this worker, he would be able to show me a card with a telephone number on the reverse which, if I telephoned it at the time of his visit, would prove his identity.

I was suspicious because the letter was address so impersonally, the national grid does not supply my gas, I live in a house which is divided into flats and the words ‘we are currently working in your area’ always bring a level of suspicion with them.

In spite of the telephone numbers supplied on the letter I phoned my gas service provider direct, using the contact number found on a recent gas bill, and after being put through to some four departments I learned that the national grid does provide this service, and I was told that once every five to ten years it is necessary for the battery to be changed.  The National Grid is the organisation responsible for the work that needs to be done, and the reason that the letter was so vaguely addressed is because their records with reference to my address were old and a little vague. 

I suppose that it was good of them to inform us that they would be tampering with the Gas meter outside the house before they did the work, but for all this, their official letter showed all the classic signs of a scam to me.

JW, Downham

LPG did a little research and we found that there are times when pre-pay Gas meters fail because the battery runs out of charge.  We agree that it was good of the National Grid to warn the household of their intention to send a worker who might have appeared to be tampering with the metre in advance of his visit.  But we applaud JW for investigating through her gas supplier and not the numbers supplied on the letter received.  

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