Prepay company bugs power customers

Mel McGrath is struggling to pay a $1300 bill she ran up with prepaid power firm Globug.

‘‘They stopped charging me for seven months. I wasn’t able to get hold of them, then all of a sudden one day they shut my power off.’’

Now 25 per cent of whatever she tops up goes towards that bill and she can’t change to a new supplier until it is paid.

‘‘I’m currently spending $120 a week to keep my kids warm and pay the bill back,’’ she said.

The Christchurch mum is far from alone. A survey by Consumer found 42 per cent of Globug customers experienced poor service in the past year, the worst result of any power company.

One in four Globug customers said they’d complained to the company about its service.

Consumer NZ head of research Jessica Wilson said other countries had safeguards to protect customers whose only option was prepaid power.

‘‘We don’t have any specific safeguards here and there needs to be to make sure they are not discriminated against.’’

A spokeswoman for Globug said the results were disappointing and the company wanted to talk to Consumer NZ about the feedback it received, which contrasted with a report from the industry complaints body, Utilities Disputes.

‘‘We see Globug as an important service for a segment of the population who aren’t being served well under post-pay arrangements.’’

The survey also found a significant number of households were having trouble paying their bills. Eighteen per cent of consumers had run into financial difficulties paying for power in the past year. Thirteen per cent had borrowed from family or friends to pay their bills.

Disconnections for nonpayment had also started to rise again. Last year, 25,317 people had their power disconnected because of unpaid bills, up from 19,106 in 2015.

‘‘Electricity is a basic consumer right. Everyone should be able to get affordable power and decent service. Our survey has found that’s not the case for many. The market really isn’t working for these customers,’’ Wilson said.