$1700+ Electricity Bill without notice of change of supplier

revo on 11/09/2014 - 19:43
Last edited 11/09/2014 - 22:06

OKAY CORRECTION:
So I've carefully read all the enclosed materials in the several envelopes. Total is $1700 and that is due for a period of 9 months. (They've technically been supplying us electricity for the past 10-11 months or so..)
So they've enclosed the bills for OCT13 to SEPT14. And according to law they can only charge us for 9 months worth (Which they have).
I was confused because the opening balances carried on from bill to bill, so they weren't all separate bills that needed to be paid.
However does not change the fact that they did not notify us or send us a bill. Therefore not being able to attain any sort of reduction in cost and also meaning we are required to pay this lump sum.
Does the suggested advice still remain? Contact the Ombudsman to get it sorted?

Thanks for all the great help so far!

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Hi all,

So recently we discovered that the last electricity company we were with (Australian Power and Gas) disbanded and was bought by AGL Energy. However we were not given any notice of this. Not long ago we received a letter from Energy Australia that if we did not provide them with account details they would cut off our electricity supply.
Essentially probably around 9-11months ago we stopped getting our electricity bills (did not realise at the time) and so I contacted Energy Australia after receiving the letter last week(Not sure why they supplied our electricity seeing as AGL bought out Australian Power and Gas) and they said that any previous discounts/rebates we received could not apply to the 9 month period where they were supplying our electricity. Didn't receive any notice there was a change of supplier either.
No discounts/rebates meaning: Originally I was receiving 12-14% discount, pensioners rebate + Family tax benefit rebate. However these 3 bills that they've sent us recently amount to a total of over $4000. As you would imagine, pulling out $4000+ in a short period of time is not the breeziest task…

My questions is: Is there anything I can do about this (no notice, no discount)?
Also: Should I stick with them or move to a new company?

Thanks!

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Comments

  • MITM on 11/09/2014 - 20:10
    +4

    You need some serious help. Who pays that amount - ever?
    What was the cost of the last bill you DID receive. Multiply x3 should give you an approx amount owing until they prove otherwise.
    The new company took over the old companys contracts. Not your fault their billing procedures failed them.
    You're going to need the ombudsman.

    • MustResistPurchase on 11/09/2014 - 21:18
      +1

      +1 for ombudsman. Had an issue with our electricity bill a few years back because they didn't correctly calculate the solar power that was generated.

    • revo on 11/09/2014 - 21:31

      Thanks,

      One major problem is we don't have our last bill. We cleared it out at the end of last year… :/

      Even though Energy Australia is not owned/related to Australian Power and Gas?

  • TheAccountant on 11/09/2014 - 22:02

    Mining bitcoin are you?

    Seriously though, seems like they screwed up somewhere. Maybe a nice and strongly worded letter would help them sort it out.

  • c64 on 12/09/2014 - 08:06
    +1

    if you contact them and explain your situation you should be able to repay the bill in payments.

    possibly you've come out ahead if they've wiped out a portion of your bill.

  • MITM on 12/09/2014 - 22:59
    +1

    Electricity companies have been known to delay bills for months and then send an estimated bill. If you don't get a bill after 3 months - ring them. They usually advise the next meter reading date.
    Ultimately the meter says it all and you pay for your usage only.
    As for your discounts, you're out of pocket approx $250 perhaps, which is why you might not have received bills.

    Ask for time payments of the bill then time to ring around for your best deal.
    Don't get cut off, it will cost you more than a reconnection fee.

  • yoonibear on 13/09/2014 - 12:40
    +1

    I would ring them energy retailer and see if you can talk to a resolutions/complaints team then work your way from there. If they've given you a 9 month bill, then they need to give you a reasonable time to pay that back.
    A few pointers;
    - Make sure that the meter number that they're billing you, is as the one that appears on your property.
    - Contact their complaints/resolutions team and organize time to pay this amount
    - Let them know if you have any concession cards and if they're applicable to be applied on the invoice.

    If you find that the retailer isn't helpful - go through to the Ombudsman.
    As for the total amount - ring them up for the most current balance.

    From personal experience it works wonders to give them time to rectify the issue and if nothing happens, throw in Ombudsman a few times and they'll have it sorted quicksmart :)

  • [Deactivated] on 16/09/2014 - 14:26

    Hi revulshenary,

    My name is Heather, I am happy to help with your account query. Could you please forward me your account details to [email protected] and I can be in touch.

    Kind regards
    Heather
    EnergyAustralia

  • revo on 22/09/2014 - 22:04

    Update:

    Referred by Heather I contacted Energy Australia, and after a few emails explaining the situation they said they'd waive the bills if I switched retailers. and so I did. I switched to AGL.

    "My name’s Finn and I’ve been able to look into your account on Heather’s behalf.

    I’d first like to thank you for taking the time to send me through the details, it is much appreciated.

    Looking into your account, it shows that EnergyAustralia won the billing rights in error in Oct 2013 from your previous retailer despite your quote with us being cancelled. This can sometimes happen when there is a delay on either EnergyAustralia’s end or with your distributor, the company who handles your billing rights.

    Further compounding the issue was a delay in EnergyAustralia billing your address. Normally we will send out your first bill 3 months after changing over to us, which is close enough to the transfer date to have the transfer reversed. Given that your bills have only just been received, the transfer cannot be reversed.

    Regarding the $1700 of bills issued, I have had these cancelled and the quote/account closed off as I don’t believe you were provided all the information necessary to make an informed decision of who to go with. Additionally, the quote was nearing the end of the cooling off date (19/09/2014) and would have become very difficult to reverse after this date and is unable to be extended

    Essentially, you have the option to choose any retailer you wish to be with and are not bound with EnergyAustralia due to us mistakenly winning your billing rights back in Oct 2013. If you choose a retailer besides EnergyAustralia, you will only need to pay from the day you start with them and would not need pay for the previous 10-11 months of usage.
    From today you will need to choose a retailer you wish to be with, be it EnergyAustralia or otherwise, to start billing you moving forward. Once you have confirmed who you wish to be with, call that retailer and request an energization quote to have a brand new account started with them within the week.

    Please let me know if you have any questions at all and I’ll be in touch as soon as I can.

    Kind Regards,

    Finn"

    However the next day I was contacted by another Energy Australia Rep who deals with Ombudsman and was told that I need to pay off the bills because it was being supplied via an 'anonymous resident account', I find it difficult to explain the situation because I thought I had explained it through Heather's referral. (She did offer $150 off the 3 bills in total… but it seems minuscule compared to the regular discounts we receive which can easily add up to at least $300) Essentially she said that the transfer to AGL was HIGHLY LIKELY not going to go through due to the unpaid bills still on the account. And something along the lines of the charges being on an 'anonymous resident' account and not a named account. (I believe)

    What do I do?? I'm back to the situation where I'm not sure who actually is going to take my billing rights….. again.

    To Top it off the bill is due in 2 days and I have not yet received a final response…

  • sempro on 23/09/2014 - 15:43

    I find the electrical companies more or less the same.

    If one gives you grief, then you have the 'privilege' to move to a different one!

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