Electricity competition

EWON can help if you have a problem with a negotiated contract for the supply of electricity, or if you are not satisfied with the conduct of an energy marketer.

We can negotiate with your supplier, review your contract conditions and provide advice and referral information.

Generally, we would expect you to have tried to sort out your contract or competition issue with your electricity supplier first. Before contacting them, have a look at some of our tips for dealing with your supplier.

See also our information on energy competition or download our factsheets.

Case study: marketing practices

Mrs T owns a one-hour photo lab. When she was approached by a door-to-door salesperson to sign a negotiated contract Mrs T declined their offer.

A few months later Mrs T received an electricity account from the same supplier that had approached her. When Mrs T contacted the supplier, she was told that the company had received a signed contract from her, and if she wanted to cancel it she would have to pay a termination fee. Mrs T asked for a copy of the signed contract. Upon receiving a copy of the contract, Mrs T realised that her signature had been forged. She asked the supplier to cancel the contract immediately, and without charge.

Unable to achieve a satisfactory response from the company Mrs T contacted EWON for assistance. At the time, EWON had two similar complaints involving possible fraudulent behaviour by a marketer. During our investigation, the supplier confirmed that all three complaints had involved the same marketer. They believed he was signing contracts without the customers' knowledge and they had already referred the matters to the police.

The company cancelled all three contracts without charge and organised transfer of the customers back to their original suppliers. The company also wrote to the customers concerned to apologise and to offer an ex gratia payment of $100.

Case study: transfer difficulties

When Mrs F and her three-month old baby moved into rental accommodation, she rang a company that supplied both electricity and gas to organise connection. She followed automated prompts and selected the option to open 'electricity and gas accounts'. Mrs F then started receiving bills from this supplier, which she assumed were for both her electricity and gas.

A few months later, the local electricity supplier came out to disconnect Mrs F's electricity supply. They informed Mrs F that they had no record of her holding an account with another company. Upon calling the supplier that was billing her, she was given her account reference number to prove that she had an electricity account with them. Nevertheless, the local electricity supplier kept sending Mrs F letters requesting that she immediately establish an account, or she would be disconnected.

After five separate attempts to resolve the issue, Mrs F was told that she only had a gas account with the supplier. Her gas supplier told her that the account reference number was wrong and she should have been requested to sign a contract to have her electricity supplied by the one company. When she told them that no contract had been discussed the electricity company told her that she would have to pay $683 owing for the electricity used over the last eleven months.

Worried about the size of her electricity account and her financial situation Mrs F contacted EWON. In an effort to apologise for the confusion they had caused with her electricity connection, Mrs F's gas supplier offered to clear $193 owing on her current gas account, and waived her security deposit fee and late payment fees. This left her gas account $100 in credit, which they agreed to issue as a cheque of $100. Her electricity supplier established a payment plan to assist her in managing and paying off her arrears.

Case study: termination fee

When Ms C moved in to her new address six months ago, she asked her local electricity supplier to connect her power. She paid the bills as they came in, and was surprised to receive a letter from her supplier stating that they were sorry to hear that she had signed with another electricity retailer.

Ms C had not signed a new electricity contract, so she rang this new retailer for more information. They said that the previous tenant had signed a contract for the supply of electricity, so Ms C was obliged to honour the terms of that contract. Although she offered to forward a copy of her lease to prove she was not the tenant who signed, the new retailer told her she had no choice but to honour the contract or pay a termination fee. Ms C did not think it was fair that she should have to pay a penalty for ending a contract that she was not a party to and contacted EWON for assistance.

EWON discovered that the previous tenant had signed a contract shortly before moving out. It had taken six months for the transfer process to be completed and now the site 'belonged' to the new retailer. Nevertheless, the new retailer acknowledged that the advice given to the customer was incorrect and she could not be forced to comply with a contract she had not signed. The retailer agreed to immediately transfer the customer back to Ms C's chosen supplier without charging a termination fee.