Very dodgy electric meter reader today

[darklisruthven]

I am currently laughing in disbelief.
Just now, I heard the outer door open in the porch. And considering the postie had just been, I guessed it was him again. Then I heard Mum open the inner door and bawl someone out.

A bloke had just wandered into the porch to read the electric meter without knocking. Lucky for him he had ID and that Mum got to him before I did. Mum listened to his frantic explanations, examined his ID and then let him read the meter. I would have seen random bloke nosing about in our porch without permission, and ID or not I would have had him out of the door and would have refused point blank to let him read the electric meter, and taken his name to give the electric company an earful, IF he was for real.

His excuse that I overheard being explained frantically to Mum as I strode to the door, was that some old dears moan it him for knocking and say "just walk in and help yourself". yeah, well, at OUR house you KNOCK and ask nicely with introduction and ID shown FIRST!

And said old dears should be a tad more careful. You dont just let random people off the street wander into your house unannounced.Its scary that even though fake "meter readers" are a well known scam, some people obviously arent "taking it in"....

[suesjools]

Glad this worked out OK. You're absolutely right about the need for safety precautions, no matter who you are or where you live.

Best wishes for many sales to all,

[bykimbo]

If you have a porch with an unlocked door, I can see why service people would expect to open it and access what's inside - such as meters or your letterbox. If you don't want people to use your porch simply as a porch, but as a room in your house, lock it.

[shelleywelley]

This is something that always gets me in a do I/don't I dilemma. As an AVON rep, I ask for the books to be left outside. Some houses have porches and I can see the books inside. I never know whether or not to go in and get the book if I don't get an answer. II tend to err on the not, just incase, apart from one house that specifically leaves it there for me and asks me to leave their parcels there too.

[TonyBridger]

I always thought a porch is there so that visitors can shelter from the weather while waiting for someone to answer the door bell.

Also meters are normally outside the main building so they can be accessed by the company without them wasting time waiting for people to answer the door.

[MagnetsAndHangers]

I gotta admit - when I first read the title of this thread, I thought it must have been started by someone else.
Cant think who.

[raindropsies]

I gotta admit - when I first read the title of this thread, I thought it must have been started by someone else.
Cant think who.

Maybe it's a new "temp" job as he seems to walk in without proper permission

[booksntings]

I gotta admit - when I first read the title of this thread, I thought it must have been started by someone else.
Cant think who.

Chuckling to myself !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[darklisruthven]

the door was closed, the doorbell is outside the outder door, there was a light on in the house. You knock, you dont just walk in and start rooting about in other peoples stuff

[suesjools]

the door was closed, the doorbell is outside the outder door, there was a light on in the house. You knock, you dont just walk in and start rooting about in other peoples stuff

Agree. If anyone did that around here, especially out in the country, they might just be asking questions down the business end of a shotgun.

Knock or ring first is always a good policy.

Best wishes for many sales to all,