Transferring utilities
The joys of making phone calls (91)
Call us odd, but we like both power and showers (Scott is, in fact, an award-winning power showerer1), so since we were moving, we needed to transfer our utility contracts to our new apartment. This turned out to be a time-intensive process that involved a lot of phone calls. Phone calls here are scary. Well, neither of us love phone calls anywhere, but the idea that the first thing we’ll have to do is ask the answerer if they speak English makes for an added bit o’ fun.
Note: The original plan for this post was to wait until everything was settled before sending it out. Things with MEO, our internet provider, have taken a turn, though, and it’s unclear when we will be up and running with tv and wifi (could be next week, could be a couple of months), so we’re sending out the info about power and water now and we’ll circle back to MEO when/if that dust finally settles.
The good news is that transferring the most important utilities - electricity and water - turned out to be relatively simple, though not always easy.
Electricity
Our power company is Goldenergy. They bill themselves as “The fairest, most sustainable and 100% green electricity and gas company.” Marketing copy aside, their prices seemed reasonable when we signed up with them a year ago from St. Louis and we haven’t had any complaints. Scott called (they have English telephone prompts!) and was quickly transferred to Francisco, who spoke excellent English and was happy to help. The transfer turned out to be a two-part process as we needed to 1) close the existing contract at our rental apartment and 2) open a contract at our new home. Closing the existing contract was simple, done in minutes. Opening a contract on the new place required a few steps, which Francisco walked him through.
First, Scott needed a CPE number, which identifies the meter to Goldenergy. The fastest way to get that number was to call E-REDES, the company that runs the distribution network. Francisco rattled off the phone number to dial (218 100 100 if you’re calling from Lisbon) and the questions to ask and said he’d call us back in an hour. It’s almost like this wasn’t his first rodeo.
The call to E-REDES involved a little more time on hold but went quickly and smoothly. A NIF and an address were about all that was needed. (Note: CPE numbers are LONG!)
Francisco called back a few minutes early and Scott gave him the CPE. Next, Francisco needed proof of residency. Since Scott was calling on April 3 and we weren’t signing the deed (closing on our apartment) until April 5, they agreed he’d WhatsApp a copy of the deed to Francisco as soon as possible.
After we got home from the deed signing, Scott sent the deed to Francisco, who said we’d get a text from the power company a few days before their scheduled visit, which Francisco hoped would be on April 10 or 11 (moving day). On Thursday, April 6, Scott got a text from E-REDES scheduling a technician appointment for Monday, April 10 between 13h and 15h30. Two days later, another text arrived with a slightly adjusted appointment window: 14h-16h30.
On April 10, Scott walked into the new apartment at 13:50. A text at 14:05 announced the technician’s arrival in an oddly-specific 11 minutes. Less than two minutes later, the technician was at the door. After a handshake and an exchange of boa tardes, he said a thing, to which Scott responded with sim. Apparently, that was enough to tip off the technician that English was the way to go as his next words, spoken in front of the electric panel were, When I say ‘open power’ you move this switch up, while flipping the main circuit as a demonstration. Great! Can do!
He vanished leaving Scott standing uncertainly by the front door. Would this take 30 seconds? 30 minutes? Turned out to be somewhere in between (though closer to the former) and voila! we had power. He called out goodbye and exited through the front door. At 14:22 a text arrived saying the job was done. Easy peasy.
We thought we’d also need to be present at Rua do Salitre a few days later to ensure the technician had access to the meter to stop our existing contract. But on Saturday, April 8, Scott got an email saying E-REDES would shut off the power remotely: This intervention does not require your presence, being more convenient and simple for you was the English translation. Perfect!
Yay power company! Five stars!
Water
EPAL is the main (only?) water company in the area. They’ve recently modernized their website and after multiple attempts to call (they do not have English telephone prompts) and quite a bit of time marinating in their hold music, the person Scott finally reached told him (curtly) to use the website. At least the website has an English option.
We wanted the new contract in Amy’s name for any future “proof of address” needs, so on Monday, April 3, Amy filled out the online form to open a new contract while Scott followed the process to close our current one.
Amy requested a technician to come to the new place and install a meter on Monday, April 10. On Saturday, April 8, Amy got an email with our new water contract (which needed to be signed and returned) and a message that a technician would arrive on Tuesday, April 11 between 16h and 22h.2 We were crossing our fingers they’d arrive on the early end of that window as neither of us expected to be awake very late on moving day.
Fortunately, our move went quickly. Because EPAL arrived at 11 AM - five hours early - without any advance notice. We don’t know what would have happened had we not been here. As it was, they were in and out in about 15 minutes and we had water! Yay!
Getting the water shut off at the other apartment did not go as smoothly. Scott requested the water be turned off on April 13.3 Since we gave up the keys on the 14th, we had no way to physically check to see if the water there was still running but as of April 20 we hadn’t gotten any confirmation it had been turned off.
EPAL requires a meter read to submit a stop service order. While it’s possible to read the meter without entering the apartment, doing so required another trip over there prior to resubmitting the online form (which seemed like the definition of insanity given that we’d be doing the same thing and hoping for a different result).
With no better ideas, Scott got the meter reading on April 20 and tried again to cancel the contract.
He was unable to login to his account via the EPAL app. He was unable to recover his password. He tried using the website from a computer. No dice. Different browser, same result.
Finally, around 23h and out of options, he called EPAL again. They have a 24-hour customer service line. Perhaps the late hour might reduce the waiting time before reaching a human being? It did. Ana was very nice and patient. She also spoke very little English.
It was difficult to tell which of the two on the call was more miserable they didn’t share a common language. After many painful minutes filled with inexplicable cellphone internet drops (we have no wifi yet … again, that’s an entirely separate post) that made using a translator difficult at some moments, impossible at others; poor Portuguese; and long, uncomfortable silences, Scott came away with the understanding that the reason he couldn’t log in to his account was because the account had been canceled.
And the reason we hadn’t gotten any confirmation of the cancelation (and this is where things got hazy) is because the cancelation would take effect on April 25, five more days … ? So if someone else had moved into the apartment the day after we’d moved out, we’d be paying for their water?
Regardless, on April 25, Scott got an invoice from EPAL in his email. That appears to be the end of the story.4
Not quite as amazing as the power company, but a solid three stars for EPAL. The process was simple, once we knew what the process was. One simple communication to explain when the water would be turned off would have saved a lot of angst.
Overall, changing the power and water worked out just fine. The most important thing - that we had water and power in our new apartment when we moved in - happened. The most complicated piece - contacting E-Redes for the CPE number - was made easier by the comprehensive walk-through Scott had from Goldenergy.
The internet/tv/phone saga will be a tad more dramatic and we look forward to being able to share it with you.
That’s all for now.
Love from Lisbon,
Scott & Amy
University of Connecticut, Colt residence hall year-end superlative winner: “Longest Shower,” multiple years in a row.
Really EPAL? You’re gonna install a meter at 10pm?
We wanted a couple of days after the move to get back in and clean the apartment; the better it looked, we figured, the harder it would be for our landlord to keep any of our deposit, a hefty three-month’s rent.
If it turns out it’s not, you’ll be the first to know.
Reading this made my stomach clench. I dread having to call anyone for anything vital. The closest I have come in Portugal thus far was when Vodafone came to wire our apartment for internet service. The technician arrived at the first hour of the appointment window. As I was told would happen, a call was made to me on my cell. I thought “Showtime!” After I emitted a timorous “Ola” a disembodied male voice loudly said “Voodphone!” to which I asked “Vo-da-phone?” as that was the only pronunciation I knew and had no idea what was said to me. After he said “Voodphone”, “Voodphone”, “Voodphone” and hung up, it occurred to me there as more than one way to say the company name. The rest of the appointment was done in pantomime and through DeepL, broken English and Portuguese. We parted amicably. No blood was shed.
I think 10pm is still part of the workday in southern European and Latin American countries, since dinner is so late. You've been in Portugal almost a year now and have accomplished a lot, and it's all interesting. I'm looking forward to the time when you can actually become an in-country tourist and do travelogues around all of Portugal and its islands. In the meantime, keep those wonderful posts coming! Makes me feel better about some of the bureaucratic difficulties in the US