Energy company sends ridiculous four-cent bill, threatens legal action

ENERGY Australia has sent a family an overdue notice for an outstanding bill of just four cents. They want to pay up, but there’s just one problem.

When electricity companies won’t let go

IT’S the other kind of bill shock.

While we’re all too familiar with the gut-churning feeling of opening an expensive utilities bill, one Australian family is frustrated over another kind of inconvenience.

After moving out of their home in the Sydney suburb of Lakemba and cancelling their account, the couple received a reminder notice from Energy Australia.

The letter warned that their final account was overdue, advising them to pay up immediately to avoid enforcement action.

The amount due was four cents.

“If you don’t pay us in full (or get in touch to arrange a payment plan) by 06 Dec 2015, we may start action to recover your debt,” the letter warned.

“If this happens, you might also have to pay our recovery costs.”

News.com.au reader Mohammad said he tried to pay the bill, which is in his wife’s name, using BPay on his mobile phone.

But his bank displayed an error message stating Energy Australia would not accept the payment — because the transaction amount was too small.

Computer says no.

Who wants to process a four-cent payment? Not Mohammad. And not the nation’s largest utility company.

After being contacted by news.com.au, Energy Australia kindly wiped the debt from the customer’s account, and advised that a computer glitch was to blame for the farce.

“Customers should not receive a credit and collections reminder to pay for an amount below $20,” a company spokeswoman said in a statement.

“We are aware of an issue with our system where some customers are incorrectly receiving these reminder notices.

“We are working to fix this issue so that our customers aren’t bothered by collections notices for small amounts, or inconvenienced in the attempt to pay them.”

Let’s hope the telcos, and rival energy providers, follow suit.

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