Surge in billing gripes

Ergon says itemised charges responsible

ERGON Energy says a significant rise in the amount of customer complaints about the way it bills its customers during the past five years can be partially attributed to changes to bill layout.

The Energy and Water Ombudsman’s annual report reveals the number of billing complaints against Ergon Energy rose 127 per cent from 2012-13 to 2016-17.

A total 847 customers complained to the ombudsman about Ergon last financial year about issues ranging from billing and customer services, through to marketing and service provision.

But while there may have been 559 billing grievances against the energy provider, the amount of customer service complaints fell by 7 per cent, with the ombudsman only receiving 49 complaints during the 12-month period.

An Ergon Energy spokesman said its retail arm underwent changes in the way it serviced its customers last year, including billing and separation between the retail and distribution parts of the company’s business systems.

He said the majority of the increase in complaints could be attributed to the redirection of billing issues to the retail business, changes to the bill layout and the way charges were stated on bills.

“To manage and support this, additional resources were placed in areas of customer care with further focus on any vulnerable customer,” he said.

Queensland Electricity Users Network co-ordinator Jennifer Brownie said confusion over the visibility of metering on Ergon bills was a major issue for customers.

“People don’t understand that they’re not getting an extra cost, it’s just been separated so it’s visible on your bill,” she said.

“But it should have been explained by Ergon, so people understood that.

“That conversation about ‘oh, they’re now charging for metering’ – I’ve had that comment so often, it’s not funny.”

Ombudsman Jane Pires said the cost of electricity, gas and water rises, billing and credit-related issues continued to affect Queenslanders and remained the main source of complaints to her office.

“We know energy affordability is a major issue across the state and problems with providers can be incredibly stressful for consumers so our office works hard to resolve cases within 28 days,” she said.