Customers fight back after energy bill bungles
A CUSTOMER has been forced to fight a gas bill of more than $24,000 caused by a malfunctioning meter.
The man’s retailer initially wanted him to cough up the huge amount, insisting it was correct.
But an investigation ordered by Victoria’s energy ombudsman revealed a fault recorded use 11 times more than actual consumption over several months.
The bill was adjusted down from more than $24,133 to $2832, and his gas distributor paid $400 for the “inconvenience”.
The massive bungle is revealed in an Energy and Water Ombudsman Victoria report.
Other mistakes the dispute resolution service exposed include: THOUSANDS of concession card holders were refunded $20,591 because of a botched gas tariff application. A BUSINESS was overcharged $10,000 in electricity demand charges due to “human error”. A FAMILY violence victim had her power cut off after her former partner switched an account back into his name without consent. An account lock and password was arranged, and $478 compensation paid. THE new address of a woman who fled a violent relationship was divulged to her ex-partner in an emailed bill because updated account details were incorrectly recorded. Her electricity retailer apologised for the serious privacy breach, and waived an outstanding balance.
Ombudsman Cynthia Gebert said it was a concern that these types of errors continued to happen.
“If it doesn’t seem right and you are not happy with the information your company pro- vides, it is important to know there is an independent service available to seek a fair and reasonable outcome,” she said.
Customers lodged 7654 complaints with the watchdog about electricity, gas and water businesses from January to March this year. Gripes regarding billing and credit issues were most common.
Ms Gebert noted customers were still experiencing problems negotiating affordable payment plans and payment extensions with companies.
EWOV registered 363 actual energy disconnection and water restriction cases, up 24 per cent compared with the previous quarter.
This included 222 electricity disconnection cases — a 44 per cent spike.
The ombudsman assessed 257 potential wrongful disconnections. More than half resulted in payments to customers, either with or without admission of regulatory breaches.
Those compensated included a man credited $4686 because his retailer did not use “best endeavours” to contact him in the month before cutting off his electricity over a $750 debt.