Competition issues
You can contact the Energy & Water Ombudsman NSW (EWON)
for help with an energy competition-related complaint. Since
competition commenced, we have helped resolve a range of
different complaints, but most have been in the following areas:
If you have experienced problems with energy competition,
you can contact us for help.
Generally, we would expect you to have tried to sort out
your complaint with the relevant electricity
or gas supplier first. Before contacting
your supplier, see our tips for dealing
with your supplier.
Marketing
A number of energy suppliers have been marketing energy
contracts door-to-door. EWON has received complaints from
customers about the way salespersons have behaved, or the
information that salespersons have given them about contracts.
Common complaints we have received include:
- a belief by customers that the salesperson was from
their existing supplier, when they were not.
- misunderstanding the nature of the documents customers
were signing; some customers did not understand that they
were signing a binding, two or three year contract.
- customers signing a contract because they believed it
would provide benefits that were not really available.
- customers who had difficulty understanding the contract
due to language difficulties, a disability, or age.
Termination Fees
Many suppliers charge early termination fees if a customer
terminates the contract before the end date. The amount
of the fee and the circumstances in which it will be charged
depend on the contract.
Common customer complaints have included:
- being unaware of the fee, or the amount of the fee.
- feeling the amount of the fee is unreasonable.
- being unable to contact the company to cancel the contract
during the cooling off period and then having a fee applied
when they did terminate their contract.
- being unable to take their contract with them to a new
property when moving, thus forcing them to cancel their
contract and being charged a termination fee.
- being charged a termination fee when ending a contract
due to unsatisfactory customer service or misleading information
from a salesperson.
Transfer difficulties
If you are signing a contract with new supplier, the account
will need to be transferred. Some customers have experienced
delays with the transfer process, or have found their account
accidentally transferred to another supplier altogether.
Common problems have included:
- double billing, where the customer has received a bill
from both the old and new supplier.
- delays in billing, often followed by a large catch-up
bill.
- problems with payment plans, with Centrepay, direct
debit, or smoothpay payments being sent to the wrong supplier.
- customers unable to find out who their supplier is after
being transferred in error.
