Opening and closing accounts

The AEMO transfer procedures and industry now allow estimated reads to be used for any bill, including transfers and final bills. This could cause issues for customers moving in and out of a property where there have been historic estimations.

 A customer moved into a property in October 2022 and established a new electricity account. She received her first estimated electricity bill of $430 for a 40 day period. She contacted the retailer, and it said it would send someone out to read the meter, however the meter was still not read. She was also charged for the meter readings.

She read her own meter and the usage was significantly lower than the estimated bill that she had received. The retailer reduced the bill to $170, which she still considered too high. The retailer said the meter readings at the property had been estimated since June 2022 and that the start reading of the account was estimated, therefore she considered that the account was not an accurate reflection of the usage at the property and that she was being billed for the previous tenants consumption.

EWON referred the matter to the retailer for resolution at a higher level, with the knowledge that the customer could return to us if he was unable to resolve his complaint. As a result of our referral, the retailer waived applicable fees and applied a $100 customer service gesture to the customer’s account.