Electricity disconnection fee - $122.20!

Daniel Plainview on 04/03/2016 - 14:41

Hi OzBers,

Finally moving out of rental properties and into one we purchased and I was shocked to me advised by Click Energy that the distributor of electricity in my area, Coffs Harbour - Essential Energy - charges a $122.20 fee for disconnecting services.

Perhaps I'm more sensitive as I just gave the NSW state Govt a crapload of cash for NOTHING via their lovely stamp duty rort….but it appears other electricity distributors around the country generally charge FAR LESS than this (and thats not factoring in remote disconnections where they do it electronically, which is at little as $10>).

Is there anything one can realistically do about such a rorted charge or is this yet another one of those things you have to 'suck up' and swallow regardless of how illogical & grossly disproportionate it is?

Thanks in advance,

Nick

Home & Garden

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Comments

  • pjetson on 04/03/2016 - 14:56

    Tell them that you'll sign up with them again at the new property if they waive it for you. Otherwise, you'll go to another company.

  • SnoozeAndLose on 04/03/2016 - 14:59

    It should be in your contract.

    Energy Australia charge $45 as hey said they need to send someone to read the meter,but normally they will waive it if you complaint about it.

    • Daniel Plainview on 04/03/2016 - 15:05

      I'd have thought so too but there's nothing in the original Energy offer/fact sheet regarding this - I've asked Click Energy to clarify where I'd have been advised that such a fee - specifically the size of it, might be charged.

      Yes, I'm keeping the 'waive it and I'll stay' threat up my sleeve as I'm still waiting on their sales team to call me to offer whats the best they can do to keep my business with them.

      Electricity providers are a dodgy bunch…make mobile phone service providers look positively transparent & user friendly.

      • SnoozeAndLose on 04/03/2016 - 15:11
        +1

        Electricity providers are a dodgy

        Click is one of the worst customer service amount all of them. May be they has given you 1-2% better price than Energy Australia.

        One more suggestion you could submit an complaint to electricity ombudsman, if you have deduct your money and holding on it not giving your any response you better lodge an complaint, they will react quickly after complaint lodge (within 5 business days)

        • amkssg on 04/03/2016 - 20:03

          The fee is not being charged by the electricity provider (Click Energy), instead it is being charged by the electricity distributor (Essential Energy).

          What that means is, regardless of whether she was with AGL or Energy Australia or Click Energy or Origin or … , it does not make a difference. She will still be charged $122.20

          TL;DR // Even if she was with Energy Australia (which is your recommendation), she will still be charged $122.20

          Link: http://www.energyaustralia.com.au/other-charges

        • SnoozeAndLose on 04/03/2016 - 20:08

          @bsmksg: Where did I recommended Energy Australia?

        • amkssg on 04/03/2016 - 20:24

          @LoveBargain15:

          Click is one of the worst customer service amount all of them. May be they has given you 1-2% better price than Energy Australia.

          I interpreted this to mean:
          1) Energy Australia would have been a better choice
          2) Energy Australia would not have charged her $122.20

        • SnoozeAndLose on 04/03/2016 - 21:16

          @bsmksg:
          Wrong interpration Click is worst doesnt imple EA is better.
          Also i shared my own experience and i did not say she wont get charge if you were with EA.

        • Daniel Plainview on 05/03/2016 - 09:43

          @bsmksg: What you have stated is correct…HOWEVER there's very few other goods and services where I'm aware of a supplier using the justification to its end customers that it's been charged by a 3rd party and therefore that cost is by default now the customers cost.

          What I mean by this is that my supplier/customer relationship is with Click. Their Customer/Supplier relationship is in this case with Essential Energy. So simply that they're charged by Essential - does not mean that this automatically becomes my cost without any discussion or flagging it up front.

          And this is aside to the fact that disconnection charges by Electricity distributors around the country vary soooooooooo much that it really does indicate that Essential Energy is taking the piss by charging such a high rate (otherwise how to other providers manage to do it for ~$20>, and thats for a physical disconnection, a remote disconnection is under $10!)

          The whole thing reeks of the distributor charging a grossly excessive which if Click had to pay it themself they'd NEVER accept at that level - but they instead say We we charged so now you get charged, like thats ever worked in any other industry (imagine the pizza delivery guy telling you he got pinged for a traffic offence delivering your pizza and therefore you're responsible for that fee/cost!) charge.

          I'm sure nothing will be done of it because as with the rest of the power industry the lobbyists got the rubbish pollies to put big businesses' interests ahead of consumers and as such we'll be bent over a barrel from everything like these charges to their 'infrastructure upgrades' causing power bills to go through the roof and insultingly low FIT payments of 8c for solar power back into the grid vs 3-4x as much for regular power and then they onsell the green credits for squillions.

          Its a rigged game and consumers always lose. :-/

        • amkssg on 06/03/2016 - 16:33

          @Nikko: I totally agree that the charge is unjustifiable, since like you said, you have no contractual relation with Essential.

          On a side note, there is an example of "supplier using the justification to its end customers that it's been charged by a 3rd party and therefore that cost is by default now the customers cost", it's called the GST (Goods and Services Tax). No one agrees to pay it, yet every stores slaps it on all our purchases.

      • amkssg on 04/03/2016 - 19:58

        As you mentioned, the fee is being charged by Essential Energy, and not Click Energy. Which means, regardless of which electricity provider you use, you will still be slapped with the exact same dollar amount.

  • gevidian on 04/03/2016 - 16:30

    It seems to be on their fact sheet - stated as $158.03. Also stated it is a pass on charge from Ausgrid and it is not a Click Energy fee.

    https://www.clickenergy.com.au/energy-price-fact-sheets/ausg…

    • Daniel Plainview on 04/03/2016 - 16:46

      Thats the current fact sheet - I signed up in ~2013 and there's no reference to such a fee on that fact sheet, which is as you'd expect significantly different from that one you've linked. :-)

  • oscargamer on 04/03/2016 - 17:54
    -4

    RTFC

    read the f…… contract

    what does it say?

    …

    failing that, ring them up and ask them politely how they arrived at that figure

  • MondaySleeper on 04/03/2016 - 18:42

    Mate

    I am also with them and joined on 16-Dec-2013. How do we get the FactSheet as of that date? I cant find anything sent by Click Energy to me. Confused…..

    • Daniel Plainview on 05/03/2016 - 09:44

      FWIW if you message me your email address I'm happy to email the fact sheet I have to you - dunno how relevant it will be if you've under a different distributors area but might assist you. :-)

  • Daniel Plainview on 07/03/2016 - 11:13

    FWIW I strongly queried Click Energy about this charge specifically flagging that I could not see it specified in my original 'energy offer' - despite my pessimism I got this response:

    This fee is charged by your network Essential Energy and
    is not a Click fee. As this was not charged when you joined Click; we have
    waived this fee for you so you will not have to pay this on your current
    account. For any future account, a disconnection fee up to $171.55 excluding
    GST will be charged by your network for when you move out of the property as
    per our terms and conditions 07/12/2015. This fee is passed on to the customer
    by the network through the retailer.

    So whilst I have to say I'm a tad annoyed that they charged me at all (as it does feel like a 'We know you're not meant to pay this BUT we'll charge you anyway as 7 out of 10 people pay it begrudgingly anyway!") but I do appreciate that when I flagged it with them they were reasonably good about reversing on it without too much stuffing around.

    Will have to see what their offer is like to decide if I stay with them or not - the Govt comparison site is coming up with Energy Australia as the lowest overall cost for me by $50 or so….but am reading horror reviews on them via a few sites

    Powershop seems my hype than substance - relying on a lot of referral payments for business, and folks seem to say it's not as good as it used to be.

    I think Click's best offer is 'Platinum' - around 9% off the entire bill (usage and supply charges) - so thats the benchmark I'll be looking for. Any other providers or tips welcomed. :-)

  • kev98 on 07/03/2016 - 20:20

    Crazy. Mine was $35 from memory (Energy Aus)

  • kevmi on 14/06/2018 - 11:29

    I am with Click Energy and got this email from them

    Thank you for contacting Click Energy.
    We are sad to hear that you want to cancel your gas (#acc_no) and electricity (#acc_no) with us.
    A disconnection fee of $165 (gas) and $198.25 (Electricity) will be applied.
    For further enquiries, you can always talk to one of our customer service team and we'll help you out.
    Thanks,
    The Click Team
    Call 1800 775 929
    Email [email protected]
    www.clickenergy.com.au

    And since they're saying that the fees are passed on from my distributor (Endeavour NSW) and not Click, I then called Endeavour to find out what their fees are. The lady on the phone was nice and said that the price depends on what level of service Click Energy requires and ranges from $50 to $200.
    But for just a usual meter read it's around $60.

    Then I called Click Energy again and asked what happens if I don't disconnect utilities at all and just leave it running (still being responsible for the account and costs, of course) and wait until the new tenant takes over the property and utility connections. The guy was very unwilling to give me a straight answer and just trying to scare me into "what if they use too much and other blah-blah" but in the end he said that in this case there's no "disconnection fee" charged to my account.

    So.. in the end, considering that $360 they're asking for disconnection is enough to have the house running full on for more than 3 months and I hope the new tenant will be a decent guy and move in shortly after.. I decided to just leave it as is and keep going.

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