Korean Job Discussion Forums

[shostahoosier]

Ok, something has to be wrong! I just got my electric bill this month and it was over 350,000W!!!!

I've never had a one month electric bill that high before, not even in the states!

Earlier this winter it was 200,000W, but that's because I was using a space heater. I ended up weatherizing my house and stopped using the heater and just using the ondol and it cut my bill in half, which makes sense, right?

But now, it's jumped to 350,000W and I didnt even use the space heater last month. I also used the ondol less.

Something just smells fishy to me. I live in a tiny, one room shoebox. There's no way I'm using that much energy.

[RMNC]

Ask for a detailed printout. And often times the total electrical usage of the building is divided equally among everyone, so some people might be using way more than that and you have to pick up the slack.

[shostahoosier]

[shostahoosier]

Ok....I just checked and my neighbor's electric bill and it is only 8,600W!!!!! (it's in his door..he isnt home yet)

WTF?!!!?

[Radius]

They always charge foreigners more, you didn't know??

[Radius]

[bobbybigfoot]

Could be someone has messed around with the metres and you are paying the bulk of the apartment costs. I use a space heater whenever I want. I also always have my Ondol on. My winter bill went up 50,000 won, for both.

[davemon]

You could have gotten hit with an adjustment. In the states, very otten they don't read residential meters every month, they just read every few months and approximate your usage for the upcoming months. Sometimes they forecast low for 3 months, read your meter and have to catch you up. This has resulted in monster bills.

No idea what happened in your scenario or if they do that in ROK.

[BoholDiver]

I have never paid more than 27,000 won or so for a small 2 bedroom place.

300k + is either..

1. the whole building's fee
2. a bill that hasn't been paid for 6+ months.

Obviously, don't pay it. If the electric company person comes, throw the bill at him/her.

[shostahoosier]

Thanks for the input everyone.

No, it's not an adjustment, I pay my bill every month. I've been here for about a year, and in summer, I use the a/c A LOT and I've never had a bill over 50,000W.

Earlier this Winter I had a bill for 200,000W and I chalked it up to me using a space heater (maybe it wasnt)....but this bill is astronomical!

I wasnt trying to imply that someone was stealing my electricity (I would imagine that's really hard to do!) as much as I thought maybe the meter was just broken/tampered with.

I didnt even think February was that cold (compared to January) and I was gone for a few days of vacation (unplugged everything before I left) so I thought for sure my bill would be smaller.

Do I have any options to dispute this? Obviously if they read my meter, then I'm not sure what else I can say.

If someone were siphoning off electricity from my house...wouldnt their bill be zero?

[akcrono]

[DeLaRed]

ask a Korean friend to speak to them about it...or your boss as the previous poster suggested.

[Steelrails]

Don't discount stealing power. I've seen a fair number of ajummas and ajosshis that can handle their way around electricity (byproduct of the factory era educational system and economy) Old Mrs. Kim may have decided to pull a fast one on the unsuspecting waygook. Your neighbor's bill seems suspiciously low.

[shostahoosier]

[Stan Rogers]