Getting a better Energy deal - WHAT A JOKE!

[FenceFurniture]

One thing I've noticed (with Origin) is that where I used to get whatever (variable) rates with a hefty discount of around 30%, now they have woken up to the fact that whatever the rate is, I was still getting 30% off. There is no % discount now, just "mate's rates" which they can of course change at any time they like.

The whole system is bollocks, skewed completely in the retailer's favour. A contract for 12 months guarantees the consumer absolutely jack, except that they have to pay whatever is demanded of them by the retailer.

[FenceFurniture]

Fer crying out bloody loud! What's the title of the thread? Something about a joke?

It's descending into farce.....




I transferred to them on 10th August (8 days ago), and at 11.01am on the 11th they sent me a "welcome" email about how warm and fuzzy they felt.
The next day the Origin retention team rang me (I missed a call at around midday, and answered the one at around 2pm), so I stayed with Origin, and later in the afternoon of the 11th I was getting emails from Origin about how warm and fuzzy they felt.
At 15.24 I got an email stating proudly "Your electricity is all sorted", so that's precisely 28hrs 23mins after Energy Australia. Origin's computer has told EA's computer to "bugger off, we still have the poor sodding bastard".



All was well....I thought.

I must say that I did think it was a little odd that I still got emails from EA after 15.24 on the 11th. I didn't even open them, thinking "you'll find out". All part of this merry jig I have to dance.

3 days ago I heard the meter door slam down so I knew that Origin would send me a bill by the end of this week.

This morning I got a bill from Energy Australia for the last three months from...wait for it....18th May. That's 84 days before I even bloody well called them! GRRRR! Email to my contact at Origin with the reply "Nup, not our fault, you'll have to call EA".

So I rang EA....have a wild guess what they said. Go on....

[Bushmiller]

So I rang EA....have a wild guess what they said. Go on....

"I'm sorry sir, but you didn't contract out so that means you accepted." Not a "fait accompli" by any means if that is the case.

Regards
Paul

[FenceFurniture]

Well they haven't actually said very much yet, except "It was Origin's fault."

So here we go again with two large corporations blaming each other, with me in the middle having to berate them into submission. One of them (Origin) already has my money for the period in question, as I pay a fixed amount to them each fortnight to avoid bill shock. The other one (EA) wants me to pay it all over again....and get this...at their new current sky high rates backdated to gouge me for something they did not provide (or at least administer), compared to my old rates at Origin which only expired a few days ago (that's why I had to renew the plan). My calculations show that where EA want $545, the old Origin plan would be $362.

Last week sometime someone from EA called me from a mobile number, but I could barely hear a voice. At first I thought it was yet another scam call with nobody there, but I'm pretty sure I did here my name. Anyway, I said to call me back to fix the comms problem, but nothing happened. I returned the call which is when I found out it was EA calling me, but I have no idea what for.

Right now, as I type, I am back on the phone to EA. I have been told this will be sorted out today.

Yeah.


Right.

[FenceFurniture]

So I have just completed a 110 minute phone call with EA, speaking to four different people (is this sounding like deja vu??).

Origin should have told me to contact EA to say I wasn't staying with them.
That makes Origin at fault.

EA should have returned my call on Monday, when their retention team called me but I couldn't hear them.
EA should have called me back yesterday as the promised they would.
EA should have made damn sure that I understood that the electricity was going to be back dated to the last meter read in May (due to a change in Legislation late last year). They said "it's in the fine print" to which "I said "Bollocks! Do you read the 10,000 words of fine print of T&C before you click I Accept for a software installation? No, I didn't think so". Especially in the circumstances of the last three months, where prices have nearly doubled, they need to make sure that people know BY TELLING THEM UPFRONT!
That makes EA at fault.

So by 95 minutes we were up to
Him: "Is there anything else I can help you with?"
Me: "No. Ahh, well, actually I suppose we better make sure that the same cockup isn't happening with the gas"
Him: "No, it's still transferring".
Me: "From? To?"
Him: "From Origin to us".
Me: "Ah fer chrissakes!"









So that was when I had to speak to the fourth person.


Now I have to go back to Origin and chew them out for not advising me properly. I think a $50 credit to my account for my time (3 hours) would be appropriate. After all, even though they both screwed up, it started with Origin when they didn't tell me I had to call EA to cancel the transfer, and none of this would have happened had they done so.

[rwbuild]

If you want to try and take it further
Energy & Water Ombudsman NSW (EWON) | Service NSW

[Chris Parks]

So I have just completed a 110 minute phone call with EA, speaking to four different people (is this sounding like deja vu??).

Origin should have told me to contact EA to say I wasn't staying with them.
That makes Origin at fault.

EA should have returned my call on Monday, when their retention team called me but I couldn't hear them.
EA should have called me back yesterday as the promised they would.
EA should have made damn sure that I understood that the electricity was going to be back dated to the last meter read in May (due to a change in Legislation late last year). They said "it's in the fine print" to which "I said "Bollocks! Do you read the 10,000 words of fine print of T&C before you click I Accept for a software installation? No, I didn't think so". Especially in the circumstances of the last three months, where prices have nearly doubled, they need to make sure that people know BY TELLING THEM UPFRONT!
That makes EA at fault.

So by 95 minutes we were up to
Him: "Is there anything else I can help you with?"
Me: "No. Ahh, well, actually I suppose we better make sure that the same cockup isn't happening with the gas"
Him: "No, it's still transferring".
Me: "From? To?"
Him: "From Origin to us".
Me: "Ah fer chrissakes!"









So that was when I had to speak to the fourth person.


Now I have to go back to Origin and chew them out for not advising me properly. I think a $50 credit to my account for my time (3 hours) would be appropriate. After all, even though they both screwed up, it started with Origin when they didn't tell me I had to call EA to cancel the transfer, and none of this would have happened had they done so.

Set up a conference call and let them fight it out.

[woodPixel]

This is a very confusing read.

[FenceFurniture]

This is a very confusing read.

You oughta try living it! Even after all that yesterday, there are still two twats at EA who think they'll be sending a bill, and another subsequent one who says not. All based "offshore" as near as I can tell:

First twat:
"I can confirm that the account is still active on our end but since you prefers to stay with Origin, a final bill will be issued once the billing rights has been transferred back to them, deem necessary."


I responded:
You will NOT be issuing a final bill, or any other bill, and you will be completely cancelling the bill that was sent yesterday.
In my first email to you I said: "Please ensure that my accounts are completely cancelled and that I am not issued with any bills."


Then the second twat:
"EA has the billing rights of your electricity since 18/05/2022. This is because the account was submitted as a retrospective Change of Retailer, where the account start date will be the previous meter reading. Please contact your previous retailer for them to adjust your final bill. Once the transfer of account to Origin Energy has been completed, we will issue a final bill because this is a proof of your final usage with us."


I responded:
"Is anyone there paying attention? READ MY FILE - there will be no bill whatsoever from EA, as agreed with "Shay" this morning.
EA asked me to complete a survey, which I did this morning. I was scathing about the incompetence that has been displayed during this saga.
It's about time EA stopped continually proving this to be an exceptionally accurate assessment of their performance!"


Then, finally:
"Trust that once origin gained their rights again, we will no longer issue you any bill."




We'll see about that (which btw does NOT mean they are going to try to issue a final bill). I think I might have said earlier that I'll have to berate them into submission. Apparently it's the only thing that works.

It occurs to me that with all this unbelievable confusion, Origin may not get a trigger to issue a bill for the period May-Aug – I will gladly accept that outcome, should it happen.

[woodPixel]

This doesn't sound like something a consumer can fix.

They are either unwilling to fix it, or cannot fix it. Probably both.

I would very clearly write up the problem with account numbers/dates/conversations(+lengths +numbers used), no hyperbole, and send it to the ombudsman.

I would also email AND send a posted copy of this, to both retailers.


The time for your involvement is over. Let the ombudsman handle this.


(I also record all of my calls. Always have. Useful for review.)

[FenceFurniture]

Today I received an SMS from Energy Australia reminding me I had to pay my bill by 5th Sept. This means they haven't done what they said they would about cancelling all bills. That means I have just ticked over another hour long (so far) phone call still trying to get this sorted out. I'm just typing this to deaden the pain of being berated whilst on hold, as they "look for the best solution for me, to sort this out today".

The incompetence is unbelievable.

[Glider]

Here's a good one. I've just received two bills from the same retailer but for two different properties, one on the Central Coast and t'other near Oberon:

Peak rate: Central Coast $0.1964/kWh Oberon $0.3839 /kWh. Nearly double.

The "resolutions team" for the retailer told me that the provider for the Central Coast is Ausgrid and for Oberon, Essential Energy. They can't control what the provider charges, sorry.

How is this possible?

mick

[FenceFurniture]

Presumably because it costs more to deliver energy to Oberon, especially with its sparser population compared to the Central Coast. That's probably yet another good argument for nationalising energy provision so that people in the bush get a fairer deal.

[Glider]

Presumably because it costs more to deliver energy to Oberon, especially with its sparser population compared to the Central Coast. That's probably yet another good argument for nationalising energy provision so that people in the bush get a fairer deal.

No mate, it doesn't work that way. The Service Charges are double for us in the bush but that's all about poles, wires, and distance. It shouldn't be about cost per kWh.

When I explored an alternative plan, I could access cheaper usage charges, but the Service Charges also increased so any savings disappeared.

mick

[ian]

No mate, it doesn't work that way. The Service Charges are double for us in the bush but that's all about poles, wires, and distance. It shouldn't be about cost per kWh.

When I explored an alternative plan, I could access cheaper usage charges, but the Service Charges also increased so any savings disappeared.

mick

well, Mick
That's just another reason why the service charge -- poles and wires -- should be regulated.
It's the same "fixed" cost to the supplier (Ausgrid or Essential Energy) no matter where you receive your power -- Central Coast or Oberon -- but by fiddling the usage charge the retailer can make the apparent cost particularly opaque.



strongly reminiscent of the old days with mobile phone pricing plans.
at one time I believe there were over 200 different plans -- the basic differences being how much you paid to access the network [Telstra, Optus, Vodaphone(?)] and how much each call would actually cost either per 30 seconds, 1 minute, or otherwise.

Curious because when you placed a call, the network access charge was essentially fixed.