Cafe belge bill row

Now Gary and Janet Bush of Cafe Belge claim they were told to pay up or risk being cut off.

"We are in a hopeless situation," said Gary this week. "If we have no electricity we have to close down."

Cafe Belge on the Marina is a small restaurant with seating for just 35 customers.

Electricity costs were consistently in the region of 300 per quarter but in August last year the couple suddenly received a demand for 7,785.86.

"How can anyone have an electricity bill for that amount of money?" asked Gary.

"We don't know what to do - they just won't listen."

Seeboard has sent an electrician to test the equipment at Cafe Belge and also suggest energy saving measures, but so far insists the bill is correct - although at first it was put down to computer error.

The latest move came when Seeboard insisted the bill was paid in full which the couple have done in the hope of being reimbursed when the situation is resolved.

"Hopefully we will get the money back, but God knows......they say the bill is right but it can't be and it is their word against ours.

"You read in the newspaper how people get these enormous electricity bills but you never think it will happen to you., but just imagine if this bill was sent to an elderly couple living on a pension."

Now he has appealed again to Seeboard Energy: "We cannot understand how you have reached this massive sum, indeed we feel that a bill of this size would be sufficient to light up the whole town for some considerable time or ourselves for something like seven or eight years."

He has asked for the meter at the restaurant to be tested over a period of time and that the bill be adjusted to conform to normal day-to-day consumption.

He then hopes to be reimbursed "for what must be a very large overpayment."

A spokesman for Seeboard Energy apologised for "any distress the unusually high bills have caused" but felt the main reason for the large demand was that recent bills at Cafe Belge were based on actual meter reads rather than estimated bills as in the past.

Bills between September 2000 until April 2003 were based on estimated readings until the meter was read on April 4 2003.

"Earlier this year, Seeboard Energy sent a customer care adviser to advise the customer of how to make savings through energy efficiency measures. In addition to this, we can confirm the meter was tested earlier this year and found to be accurate to 0.9%, within the prescribed margins of 2.5% and 3.5%."

He said that customers who wish to discuss payment terms should contact customer services immediately.