Hello everyone,
I am supporting a Syrian family who has integrated very well and has managed to establish themselves, including owning a small home.
The father recently asked me for advice. He received the gas bill and was shocked. He had prepaid €3,500 and now has to pay an additional €8,000.
I was able to verify the numbers. The gas consumption has increased by a factor of 3.7 compared to previous years, which explains the high additional payment. I asked if there was an issue with the heating system. Yes, it was broken and someone repaired it without providing an invoice. The strange thing is that the gas meter was replaced by the utility company two weeks ago. I have the report including the final readings.
I don’t know why the meter was changed.
Do you think it is possible to negotiate some kind of reduction here? Considering that the meter readings were consistently stable for the last four years and now within a 12-month period the consumption has almost quadrupled, this seems rather unusual.
I am supporting a Syrian family who has integrated very well and has managed to establish themselves, including owning a small home.
The father recently asked me for advice. He received the gas bill and was shocked. He had prepaid €3,500 and now has to pay an additional €8,000.
I was able to verify the numbers. The gas consumption has increased by a factor of 3.7 compared to previous years, which explains the high additional payment. I asked if there was an issue with the heating system. Yes, it was broken and someone repaired it without providing an invoice. The strange thing is that the gas meter was replaced by the utility company two weeks ago. I have the report including the final readings.
I don’t know why the meter was changed.
Do you think it is possible to negotiate some kind of reduction here? Considering that the meter readings were consistently stable for the last four years and now within a 12-month period the consumption has almost quadrupled, this seems rather unusual.
Hello,
Not to offend anyone, but if they have been living in their "small private home" for 4 years (which is great to begin with!), they must have been there for quite some time and, above all, should have become familiar with some local rules and customs. Part of that process eventually includes managing contracts.
Best regards,
Andreas
In der Ruine schrieb:
You can’t apply the usual standards to a Syrian refugee family. These are typically German things you have to learn first.
Not to offend anyone, but if they have been living in their "small private home" for 4 years (which is great to begin with!), they must have been there for quite some time and, above all, should have become familiar with some local rules and customs. Part of that process eventually includes managing contracts.
Best regards,
Andreas
H
HilfeHilfe26 Nov 2025 14:14tomtom79 schrieb:
Wasn't there once a cap on heating cost prices? Maybe something could be done about that.
I won’t say anything about the other topics like contract and defaults. What kind of cap? I want to help them.
The problem is, it’s not the municipal utility but another provider.
HilfeHilfe schrieb:
What kind of cap? I want to help them.
The problem is, it's not the municipal utility but a different provider. Result from Google...
Heating costs were capped in 2023 by the gas and district heating price brake, which applied retroactively from January and lasted until the end of December 2023. The gas price was limited to 12 cents per kWh and the district heating price to 9.5 cents per kWh, each for 80 percent of the previous year’s consumption. Any additional consumption beyond that had to be paid at the contractual price.
In addition, subsidies of up to 2000 euros per year were available.
M
MachsSelbst27 Nov 2025 18:49hanghaus2023 schrieb:
Trial leads to knowledge. As the saying goes.
Submit a goodwill request?Goodwill... for what exactly? Sympathy will be limited if the family lives in a single-family home and uses 4, 5, or 6,000 m³ (141,000, 177,000, or 212,000 cubic feet) of natural gas per year...
In 2023, there was the gas price cap. The problem is, if consumption was estimated that year, the cap can only apply to this estimated amount, since the actual consumption is unknown.
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