Latest complaint statistics
- Overview
- Complaints by industry
- Complaints by company
- Snapshot of customer issues
- 2011 growth issues
Overview 1 April 2011 - 30 September 2011
From April to September 2011, EWON finalised 11,073 cases, a 24% increase from the previous 6 month period. While the majority of complaints (69%) related to electricity retailers, complaints about gas, dual fuel and water also increased.
High and disputed bill complaints continued to dominate customer issues. Of growing concern however is the increasing number of reports by consumers that they were misled or pressured by marketers, or that their account was transferred without consent. We are also concerned to see a continuing rise in credit-related complaints involving payment difficulties, disconnection and credit listing.
Snapshot of Complaints
| Overall | Total complaints closed | 11073 | % |
|---|---|---|---|
| Customers | Residential customers | 10545 | (95%) |
| Small business customers | 415 | (4%) | |
| Living in social housing* | 329 | (3%) | |
| Receiving pension/benefits* | 2001 | (18%) | |
| Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander customers* | 53 | (<1%) | |
| Culturally and linguistically diverse customers* | 295 | (3%) |
*EWON does not routinely collect demographic information however it is recorded if offered by the customer.
Complaints by industry
| Industry | Provider type | Oct 2010 - Mar 2011 | Apr 2011 - Sept 2011 | % change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Electricity | Retailer | 6162 | 7645 | +24% |
| Distributor | 491 | 711 | +45% | |
| Exempt Retailer | 31 | 34 | +10% | |
| Other* | 86 | 199 | +131% | |
| Gas | Retailer | 1375 | 1492 | +9% |
| Distributor | 34 | 56 | +65% | |
| Exempt Retailer | 1 | 0 | -100% | |
| Other* | 7 | 14 | +100% | |
| Dual Fuel | Retailer | 284 | 388 | +37% |
| Other* | 5 | 5 | 0% | |
| Non-energy/non-water | Other* | 37 | 39 | +5% |
| Water | Retailer | 267 | 318 | +19% |
| Distributor | 123 | 147 | +20% | |
| Exempt Retailer | 0 | 1 | -% | |
| Other* | 18 | 24 | +33% | |
| Total | 8921 | 11073 | +24% |
*Non member specific, out of jurisdiction
Complaints by company
Legend: NSW retail customer bandwidth
Above 1 million customers
500,001 to 1 million customers
100,000 to 500,000 customers
under 100,000 customers
| Energy Retailers | No. complaints | |
|---|---|---|
|
ActewAGL | 84 |
|
AGL | 2929 |
|
Aurora Energy | 1 |
|
Australian Power and Gas | 406 |
|
Country Energy | 477 |
|
Dodo Power and Gas | 2 |
|
EnergyAustralia | 1315 |
|
Integral Energy | 1103 |
|
Jackgreen^ | 100 |
|
Lumo Energy | 37 |
|
Momentum Energy | 1 |
|
Origin Energy | 1948 |
|
Powerdirect | 72 |
|
Red Energy | 137 |
|
Sanctuary Energy | 133 |
|
Simply Energy | 1 |
|
TRUenergy | 631 |
| Energy Distrubutors | No. complaints | |
|---|---|---|
|
ActewAGL Gas Distribution | 1 |
|
Ausgrid | 297 |
|
Central Ranges Pipeline | 1 |
|
Endeavour Energy | 250 |
|
Essential Energy | 154 |
|
Jemena | 53 |
| Water Distributors/Retailers | No. complaints | |
|---|---|---|
|
ActewAGL* | 2 |
|
Essential Energy** | 2 |
|
Gosford City Council | 9 |
|
Hunter Water | 56 |
|
Shoalhaven Water | 9 |
|
State Water | 1 |
|
Sydney Water | 349 |
|
Veolia Water Solutions and Technologies | 2 |
|
Wyong Shire Council | 6 |
There were no complaints received about Albury Gas Company, APT Allgas, Diamond Energy, Envestra NSW, TransGrid or Water Factory Company.
^Suspended from the market
*These complaints were out of jurisdiction.
**Essential Energy is a water provider for Broken Hill customers only.
Snapshot of customer issues
2011 growth issues
Marketing-related complaints by quarter
| Marketing issue | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Misleading marketing | 172 | 211 | 350 |
| Marketing to non-account holder | 28 | 27 | 48 |
| Pressure marketing | 53 | 90 | 88 |
| Transfer-related marketing issues | 60 | 64 | 180 |
Affordability-relrelated complaints by quarter
| Affordability issue | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Debt collection/Credit listing | 270 | 307 | 375 |
| Payment difficulties |
624 | 637 | 741 |
| Facing disconnection for non-payment | 401 | 403 | 481 |
| Disconnected due to non-payment |
201 | 232 | 302 |
All customer issues
| Issues | Oct 2010 - Mar 2011 | Apr 2011 - Sept 2011 | % Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Billing | |||
| High bill or disputed account | 2094 | 2203 | +5% |
| Estimated account | 500 | 432 | -14% |
| Delay in billing or bill not received | 396 | 357 | -10% |
| Backbilling | 307 | 320 | +4% |
| Credit | |||
| Arrears or utility debt | 1071 | 1139 | +6% |
| Facing disconnection for non-payment |
782 | 884 | +13% |
| Debt collection or credit default listing | 543 | 682 | +26% |
| Disconnected due to non-payment | 400 | 534 | +36% |
| Denied an extension or payment plan |
220 | 197 | -10% |
| Marketing | |||
| Misled by marketers | 339 | 560 | +65% |
| Pressured into signing or agreeing to a contract |
111 | 177 | +59% |
| Non-account holder approached for consent |
44 | 75 | +70% |
| Transfer | |||
| Problems with the contract terms (variation in price, termination fee) | 502 | 657 | +31% |
| Did not consent to the transfer | 238 | 479 | +101% |
| Site ownership or disconnected in error due to transfer |
205 | 254 | +24% |
| Transferred in error | 110 | 182 | +65% |
HOW WE CATEGORISE COMPLAINT ISSUES
Note: There may be more than one issue raised per complaint
- Billing - high and disputed bills, fees and charges, responsibility for accounts
- Credit - disconnection, arrears, difficulty in payment, payment arrangement declined, debt collection
- Customer service - failure to respond, incorrect advice, poor attitude/service
- Land - impact of network assets, maintenance, environment
- Marketing - conduct by marketers, misleading information, pressure, non-account holder signed up
- Provision - problems with new or existing connections
- Supply - quality, damage/loss, outages
- Transfer - error in billing or account transfer due to switching retailers, contract terms, transfer delay, site ownership
- General - non-energy/non-water related, contractors
PLEASE NOTE: On 1 March 2011 TRUenergy purchased the retail arm of EnergyAustralia and Origin Energy purchased the retail arms of Country Energy and Integral Energy. Complaint data for EnergyAustralia, Country Energy and Integral Energy has ben reported separately for the period and has not been rolled into TRUenergy and Origin Energy data post 1 March 2011.
