Estimated meter reads leads to complaint

Darren lives in a community housing unit and since 2013 was provided with estimated meter readings for his gas usage. He felt that his bills were overestimated, so provided a self-read to the retailer, however his bills were not adjusted.

Darren was asked to provide a photo of the meter reading but he did not have phone with a camera, and could not send emails, which he felt was a disadvantage.

Outcome

We contacted the retailer and established that, based on the Darren’s selfread, the hot water meter was not registering consumption and needed to be replaced. The retailer adjusted Darren’s estimated hot water usage to reflect a reasonable level. It also rebilled the account for the period 8 April 2018 to 6 April 2020 resulting in a credit balance of $478.28. It then applied a credit of $287.45 to the account for the period 24 September 2014 to 7 July 2017, which was the difference between the billed and adjusted data.

The retailer also offered a customer service gesture of $150 which resulted in a credit balance of $940.73. Darren acknowledged that his meter needed to be replaced and this would occur once COVID-19 restrictions on entering properties is lifted.

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