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Case studies
Xiu’s story: unreasonable delay results in a determination
Nassir contacted EWON on behalf of Xiu who did not speak English very well, after her claim for compensation was denied by her electricity company.
Nassir explained that in May 2005 Xiu’s unit was without power for about two hours. When power was restored her satellite decoder would not work anymore. They took the decoder to a repairer who said it could not be repaired. Nassir submitted a claim to the company on behalf of Xiu, seeking $379.20 to replace the decoder.
In late September the company wrote to Xiu noting there had been an unplanned interruption but they denied her claim. Nassir contacted EWON in October 2005 and asked us to review their decision.
He explained Xiu had a health condition which meant she spent a great deal of time at home and so her access to television was important to her. As Xiu relied on a disability support pension for her income, she could not afford to replace the decoder.
In line with our investigation process, EWON asked
the company to provide us with the information they used to assess the claim, along with details of the
power interruption.
Even though we made numerous requests over a period of months, the company did not provide sufficient information to enable a complete and independent investigation of the decision to deny Xiu’s claim.
In June 2006 the Ombudsman made a determination that the company pay Xiu $440. The determination was made on customer service grounds, given that Xiu had experienced unreasonable delay and inconvenience in waiting for her claim to be reviewed.
Anne’s story: upset to find her account transferred
Anne called EWON because she had spoken to a telemarketer and was concerned her account would be transferred without her consent. She said she agreed to have the terms and conditions sent to her, but did not agree to a contract.
Anne said she had spoken to a friend who said they had consented to receiving information then found they had been signed up, and ended up paying a fee to cancel the contract because the cooling-off period had expired. Anne was very concerned this would happen to her.
We advised her that with energy contracts offered by phone, NSW law prevented a contract being established until she had sighted the terms and conditions.
A week later, Anne rang EWON to say she had just received a letter from a new retailer saying her account had been transferred to them. She had contacted the retailer by phone to cancel the contract and was surprised to be told she would need to email them. She was also concerned she had missed the cooling-off period because the letter was dated ten days before she received it.
EWON contacted the retailer who agreed to cancel Anne’s contract without penalty and send her a letter of apology.
We contacted Anne to advise her of the outcome and while
she was pleased, she said the retailer had really upset her.
Anne said, “We are a small community and the retailer has
really worried a lot of the elderly people here”.
Scott’s story: disconnected for 8 months
Judy called EWON on behalf of her cousin Scott, an Indigenous man who had been living without hot water since his gas was disconnected 8 months ago. Judy said that Scott was permanently in a wheelchair. He wasn’t comfortable talking on the phone so she was calling for him. She said he couldn’t go on without hot water – he had been using cold water but winter was approaching. Scott had made part payments towards his bill and only had $20 arrears outstanding. His bills were usually less than $100 but having been disconnected four times in the past two years his debt was mostly made up of reconnection fees. The disconnections happened when he was in and out of hospital and couldn’t get to pay his bills.
EWON contacted the company who said they would reconnect and waive the fee if Scott set up a Centrepay arrangement. We explained to Judy that Centrepay meant there were regular payments going towards his bills. Scott agreed and Judy helped him set up Centrepay to cover future usage and avoid disconnection.
Terry’s story:
concerned about marketing practice
Terry works with a community agency that helps disadvantaged people living in public housing. He rang EWON when he found a number of his clients in one unit block had been approached by energy marketers.
He said 7 out of 8 families had signed contracts which he found disturbing because at least two of the account holders suffered disabilities that would make it hard for them to make an informed decision. One customer had told Terry that the marketers said their current energy supplier was going out of business and if they wanted to stay connected, they would need to sign a contract. When one customer said he didn’t want to sign, the marketer verbally abused him and stormed off.
Terry complained to EWON because he felt the residents had been targeted as a group. He was concerned that most of them did not really understand what was being offered and the fine print was so small it would be difficult for someone with literacy issues to read.
EWON discussed Terry’s complaint with the retailer who acknowledged there had been a breach of the Marketing Code and that this would be reported to the regulator. The contracts were cancelled.
Dmitri’s story: marketing and privacy make a complex case
Dmitri called EWON on behalf of his father who had recently received a final notice from his energy supplier, saying the account had been transferred to a new retailer. Dmitri’s father was concerned, as he hadn’t requested the transfer and wasn’t sure how it could have happened as the account was in his name.
Dmitri explained his father owned a property with six units which were rented to individual tenants. There was only one meter for the whole property, so Dmitri’s father paid the electricity bills for all the units. His father was having difficulty sorting out the problem with the original retailer. He was told that because he was no longer the account holder, due to privacy laws the company couldn’t tell him who the new account holder was.
EWON worked with Dmitri and the new and former retailers to establish how the transfer came about, without infringing the privacy of the tenants.
We discovered that when the most recent tenant signed a lease with the real estate agent, they mistakenly checked a box saying they wanted an electricity account set up. When informed of the issue, the real estate agent arranged for the tenant to contact the new retailer to confirm the error.
The new retailer accepted that the contract had been established in error, agreed to cancel it, and waived the termination fee. Dmitri’s father was returned to his original retailer. Dmitri indicated they would speak to their real estate agent about amending the lease form to avoid the problem of an unwanted transfer happening again.
Roy’s story: building plans disrupted by a sewer line
Roy owned the vacant block of land next to his house and had purchased it with the intention of building a property he could rent out. A few months after he bought it, Roy received a letter from his water distributor which said they would be upgrading the sewer in his area.
Some time after he received the letter, Roy was surprised to find people working on his vacant block, removing plants to lay sewer lines. When Roy asked why the company had not contacted him, a worker said they believed the land was owned by the local council. Roy was upset with the way the worker treated him, especially as the company did not have an easement over the property.
He contacted the water company and then his solicitor
to try to stop the work but it appeared he would need to take his complaint to the Supreme Court to do this. Roy approached EWON hoping to resolve the matter without having to go to court.
Roy complained that the type of work the company had planned would mean he couldn’t build in the future, effectively eroding the value of his land. While he appreciated the need to upgrade infrastructure, he found it difficult to accept that the pipes had to go right through his property. He felt the company had treated him poorly.
EWON assisted with negotiations between the company and Roy. Our main concern related to the adequacy of the notice. We were also concerned about the lack of detail about the company’s plans which had been provided to Roy when he made enquiries prior to purchasing the land.
After considering all the information, EWON proposed a face-to-face meeting between Roy and company staff, to discuss options for resolving the matter.
After the meeting, the company halted further work on the property while Roy sought advice about the impact on the value if it was sold. The company also undertook an independent valuation.
Roy accepted the company’s offer of compensation for his particular situation, which included the creation of an easement and the right to build on it.
The company redesigned sections of the sewer to lessen the impact on Roy’s property and restored the garden which had been affected. As a result of this complaint, the company said they would review their processes.
Both the company and customer said they were grateful for EWON’s work as the ‘moderator’, particularly as they were able to resolve the matter between themselves and avoid going to court.
Jenny’s story: faulty meter causes high bills
Jenny moved in to a townhouse with her husband and two children. Her first two electricity bills were moderately high
at around $400 per quarter, but her following bills ranged from $776 to $1455.
Jenny paid the bills because she was worried about being disconnected, however she rang EWON for help because she couldn’t afford to keep paying such high bills.
Jenny said an electrician had examined her appliances, a plumber had checked for hot water leaks and a pool technician had checked the swimming pool pump. All tests found everything to be in good condition and operating satisfactorily. Jenny said she did not have air conditioning or any other large appliance, apart from a storage hot water service on general supply.
Jenny checked her meter and noticed it would spin rapidly at times but presumed that because all her bills had been based on actual meter readings, the problem couldn’t be the meter.
After being contacted by EWON, and considering the high consumption being metered for the appliances installed, the company agreed to cover the cost of testing the meter.
When the technician tested the equipment he found the meter was faulty and was registering 180% fast. The meter was immediately replaced by the company.
We negotiated with the company about refunding Jenny for the overcharge caused by the faulty meter. Jenny then received a credit of $3,228 to her account.
Sam’s story: a higher than normal bill causes alarm
Sam lived alone in a two bedroom unit and complained to his energy company when he received a higher than normal bill of $515 for the winter period. The company visited Sam’s property to check his meter and do an energy audit, and having found everything in order attributed the higher bill to Sam’s oil column heater.
Sam contacted EWON because he felt his electricity company had not responded to his concerns satisfactorily when he complained about his bill, and he was not happy with their investigation. He felt he hadn’t used his heater any more than previous years and he could not accept their explanation.
When EWON contacted the retailer they were happy for us to be involved, as they had been unable to resolve Sam’s complaint. The company provided EWON with all the billing data and meter reads, and EWON began its investigation.
EWON asked Sam to check his usage by turning on his heater and doing a meter read over a period of time. This information plus a review of previous bills, strongly indicated that the
cause of Sam’s high bill was the use of his heater over the winter period.
We realised that while Sam had a Centrepay (direct debit payment) arrangement, he was only paying $25 per fortnight towards his bill when his overall consumption
was closer to $35.
We discussed these issues with Sam and while he was not happy about the results, he accepted the information and said he would pay the bill.
We suggested that Sam think about increasing his payments to avoid building up debt and we gave him details of local agencies that distribute EAPA vouchers if he wanted to seek financial assistance.
Marika’s story:
a high bill and an unhappy customer
Marika and her husband had extended their home to accommodate their growing family. As part of the extensions, they had additional meters installed however their electricity company had failed to read the meters for a number of years. The company realised their error but according to law could only bill Marika for the last 12 months, which they did.
While Marika understood the company had made an error, she was distressed when she received a backbill of $2400 and called EWON to complain. We initially offered to refer Marika’s case to a senior person in the energy company, but Marika wanted EWON to investigate her case and declined this offer.
In our investigation of Marika’s complaint we found the company had billed her correctly for the 12 months and offered her an equivalent time to pay. Marika felt she was suffering a huge inconvenience for the company’s error, so EWON went back to the company to see what could be done.
In response, a senior officer in the company went to Marika’s home to conduct an energy audit. The company also reduced the debt as a gesture of goodwill.
Julie’s story: taking on more than a new lease
Julie moved her small business into new commercial premises and opened an electricity account. She was surprised to find her first bill included a range of network charges and rates, so she rang the retailer to dispute the charges. Julie was told she needed to change the meter to be charged at the normal commercial rate and she would have to arrange this with the electricity distributor.
Julie liaised with the retailer, distributor and building manager to organise the new meters, which took some months to be installed. While Julie waited for the new meters, the retailer continued to bill her for the network charges she was disputing. Julie and her solicitor wrote to the retailer and included a cheque for what they believed was reasonable usage.
Julie contacted EWON after the retailer – who had banked the cheque but lost all the related correspondence – put the matter into the hands of debt collectors.
EWON’s investigation revealed that when Julie opened a new account the retailer had incorrectly transferred the contract terms from the previous tenant, who was a large retail customer. The retailer accepted responsibility for the considerable delay in getting the new meters installed, stopped the debt collection process and wrote off the balance on Julie’s account.
Jack’s story:
not sharing information leads
to a determination
Jack moved his business into new premises and found his electricity bills increased dramatically. At the new location he was paying an average of $639 per month, where previously he was paying $537 per quarter. He realised when he moved into the premises that he shared a meter with another unit but he agreed to be the account holder as the neighbour said they were not operating a business and the property was only used for storage.
Jack contacted his retailer a number of times to query his high bill. He explained he was using the same equipment and operating the same hours as before, however the bills were significantly higher. He also requested the company do a meter test.
Jack paid his bills but struggled to do so. Eventually, he moved his business again to another property and found his power bills reduced dramatically. He continued to dispute the high bills he paid at the previous business site.
After almost three years of queries and many phone calls, Jack called EWON for help. He explained the situation and said he felt the company could have done more to help him. He said the company would always put the onus back on him to sort out the cause of the high bills.
Our investigation revealed that the meter at the property was a TOU (time of use) meter. Data recorded by the meter indicated that as much as 40% of the power was being used between 10pm and 7am, the time band when Jack’s business was not operating.
While Jack had requested a meter test, the company’s records were inadequate and the company was not able to confirm whether the test was carried out, what the results were and if Jack had been informed about their findings.
Following a stalemate in negotiations, the Ombudsman issued a determination on the basis that the company was well placed to assist Jack with information about the high level of night-time consumption being registered at the site but had failed to do so.
Jack took reasonable steps to address his high bills and the retailer had information [TOU metering] available which they did not share, which could have helped him substantially reduce his energy charges.
The failure to conduct a meter test and provide this information meant Jack was left to sift through technical information provided by his electrical contractors to find the cause and work out a solution to his problem.
Considering this the Ombudsman determined the company should pay Jack an amount equivalent to the charges for the consumption outside his business’ operating hours.
Arthur’s story: fallen pole becomes an unwanted inheritance
Arthur contacted EWON after he had received an extremely large bill for urgent maintenance work carried out on the pole supplying electricity to his home.
Arthur explained that the pole at the entrance to his dead-end street fell and blocked the road. When the repair crew came out Arthur was told the property owners would be liable for the cost but the work was ‘contestable’ which meant he could ask other companies to quote for the job. It was the start of the weekend and the crew said that if he did not agree it would leave many families in the street without power for some time. Arthur said he felt he had no choice but to agree, and he thought he would be able to contest the issue of ownership with the company later.
Arthur complained that this was the first that the residents knew about ‘owning’ the poles which had been there when he purchased the property. We advised Arthur that we were investigating a number of similar complaints and they were taking some time to resolve. Arthur accepted the matter was complex and may take some time to investigate, and asked EWON to proceed with the investigation.
Arthur advised that the company had worked on the poles in the past and the issue of ownership or maintenance had not come up. Moreover the poles in the street were in poor condition and now the residents were concerned about safety and damage to their properties if they fell over. The residents felt that if they had to pay the hefty cost of replacing the poles, they should be given adequate time to budget for the expense.
We contacted the developer who had subdivided the land more than 15 years ago. He was able to confirm that the Council and distributor had signalled their intention to charge him for establishing the supply, but they never got back to him and the power line was installed in the services easement provided. Consequently, the lots were sold and there was no reference to owning the poles in the contracts.
We also spoke to the local council who said that they maintained the road and gutters within the street despite
the fact that the company had advised this was a private
access road.
We spoke with the company who said they were unable to produce design plans for the construction or maintenance records for the upkeep. However, after searching their archives, they found documentation that the power lines had been constructed and paid for by the County Council
at the time.
The company accepted responsibility for all the poles in
the street and withdrew the large amount charged to Arthur’s account.
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