Electricity complaints against companies rise more than 30 per cent in the last year
COMPLAINTS against electricity companies have soared more than 30 per cent in the past 12 months, the NSW Energy and Water Ombudsman has revealed — with complaints about high bills topping the list.
NSW
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SOARING electricity bills have powered a 30 per cent surge in complaints against electricity companies.
The NSW Energy and Water Ombudsman said in the past three months of 2017 it received 5283 complaints about power companies, compared with 4100 in the same period of 2016 — with billing gripes alone rising 43 per cent.
“As in the previous quarter, many customers contacted (the ombudsman) because of concern over energy costs, reflected in their high bills,” the watchdog’s report said.
Ombudsman Janine Young revealed the litany of complaints made against electricity companies also included customers being disconnected incorrectly, companies failing to respond to calls, misleading discount offers, meters not being read, and poor service.
“The largest single contributor to this increase has been complaints about high bills; many of the top 10 issues we regularly see have also increased,” Ms Young said.
“The most serious consequence for customers is disconnection. When this occurs, remembering that it is through no fault of the customer, retailers should be doing their utmost to rectify the situation. Unfortunately … this is not always the case.”
To put the electricity crisis in perspective, the ombudsman received only 195 complaints about water connections.
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The report follows news the boss of electricity company AGL Andy Vesey has hired a spin doctor to massage his image ahead of announcing a 91 per cent jump in profits — and the fact AGL takes 33 per cent of the customer’s bill as profit.
A common theme identified in the ombudsman’s report was “misleading marketing where customers end up with higher tariffs or a lower discount than they were promised”.
Complaints about payment difficulties rose 40 per cent, while the regulator also recorded a whopping 49 per cent jump in households having trouble either opening or closing their accounts.
Ms Young said the regulator was monitoring complaints about being transferred from one electricity company to another without their consent, but in many instances retailers were still not abiding by the new rules.
“Similar deficiencies are repeated in many of the case studies, reflecting the widespread occurrence of noncompliance across many retailers,” Ms Young said.
The report said “poor marketing practice” was a problem, with retailers promising people a discount but not delivering.
Opposition energy spokesman Adam Searle said: “These are staggering increases in the level of complaints.”