Electrician’s shock at £4,300 electric bill
FILM crews were due back in North Wales this week as Beaumaris lends its pier to the latest series of cult teen drama Free Rein.
The British-made children’s show has already scooped two prestigious Emmy Awards and production of the highlyanticipated third series is currently under way.
Filmed in various locations in North Wales, Cheshire and Shropshire, the drama is based on
AN electrician has been hit with an eye-watering £4,300 electricity bill.
Self employed Andrew Challis-Jones, from Capel Coch near Llangefni, Anglesey was told he owed the money by Scottish Power for two years worth of supply to his farmhouse.
Mr Challis-Jones believes the amount is more than three times what he should pay and says he has had “constant hassle” trying to get the matter sorted.
And to compound his anger he says Scottish Power passed the unpaid sum to a debt collection agency while he was still trying to agree a settlement with the utility firm.
Our sister paper the Daily Post approached Scottish Power about Mr Challis-Jones’ claims and a representative of the company visited him the following day. a fictional island, with the coastal scenes shot on the Anglesey coastline.
Filming was expected to take place on Monday and Tuesday between 9am and 6pm, on the central road of Beaumaris green.
Locals and visitors were advised that vehicles parked on the stretch overnight would need to be moved by 9am on Monday to allow for the film unit to set up.
Described as a mash-up between Black Beauty and The Secret
Scottish Power said the problem originally arose from the property being on a business tariff.
The company said the bill should have been adjusted for domestic use and they installed a second meter to establish the correct usage at the address.
But Mr Challis-Jones is furious at the level of service he has received from Scottish Power.
He said: “I have spent way too much time on it. I was ringing them three or four times a week and sending more than five emails a week. They never once said they received emails.
“It was a constant hassle and it was driving me nuts. They sent me a bill for £2,800. I contacted them and said something’s wrong.
“The ridiculous thing is I only live in half the house because there is work to do upstairs and there’s no electrical heating – it’s solid fuel.”
Mr Challis-Jones said he paid the company £750, thinking it was a fair amount while Seven, the series follows American teenager Zoe who moves to a rural island in the UK with her mother, played by former Corrie star Natalie Gumede. The teen finds unlikely friendship at the local stables with a horse named Raven after becoming the only person that can tame the lively steed.
Written by two ex-Hollyoaks writers, the show is produced by Lime Pictures, the team behind the Channel 4 soap and The Only Way is Essex. the bill was being sorted out.
He claimed appointments were made to visit his property by the company but no one turned up, so the company sent him a cheque for £30 for the inconvenience.
A second meter was installed but there was still no resolution.
He said: “Every time I spoke to someone on the phone it was positive but nothing got done. I was giving them the meter readings.
“This January or February they said someone would be in touch about the meter readings with a new bill.”
He received an updated bill - for £3,580. Added to the £750 he had already paid it meant he had been charged more than £4,300 for a little more than two years’ supply.
Mr Challis-Jones added: “They sent it to a debt collection agency.
“I asked them how it could it be sent to a collection agency when I’ve got an outstanding complaint?”