An Origin Energy customer in Sydney was left “baffled” after receiving an eye-watering charge on his energy bill this month — so he did something about it, shaving more than $1000 from his bill.
Now the Sydney man has a warning for other consumers.
His efforts began when the young dad and his wife moved into a small home with their 14-month-old child and received an invoice for their December 30 to May 10 billing cycle.
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“We were shocked to see that our provider had calculated that we owed $1384.13,” the resident, who wishes to remain anonymous, posted on Reddit.
“We use gas for our stove and hot water. We were baffled. We have only just moved in, and neither of us had paid a gas bill before.”
But closer inspection of the bill revealed a small detail that had blown out the cost — the charge was just an estimation. So he checked the metre himself.
“The meter did not even remotely match what was stated on the bill,” he said.
“Check your bill to see how they indicate an estimated bill or actual bill.
“I submitted my meter read to our provider and received a new bill today indicating we actually owed only $271.19.”
But that wasn’t the end of it. He told 7NEWS.com.au that he received another bill on Thursday for $1420.48.
“I have had to contact them once again to reissue a bill based on actual readings,” he told 7NEWS.com.au.
“I’ve been told I’ll be issued a new bill for $296.54. No explanation why they have tried to overcharge me again.”
The man has also been sharing his experience online.
“With the cost of living going through the roof, surely there is a way to ensure … that customers aren’t charged 510 per cent of what they use,” he wrote on Reddit.
“An apology (at the very least) would have been nice.”
Customers with natural gas connections are billed by their energy retailers based on physical gas meter readings taken by the local gas network company. In Sydney, the gas network company geographically responsible for the readings is Jemena Gas.
If meter-readers are unable to access a customer’s meter, the retailer (in this case, Origin) will provide a usage estimate on the bill, based on the historical usage at that site.
Jemena Gas states on its website that trees, fences, walls, secured doors, landscaping, and even pets can deter a meter-reader and result in meterage being estimated.
If residents just have a basic meter, as opposed to a smart meter, estimations may also need to be made due to uncontrollable events like natural disasters. For example, meterage was estimated for basic meters in some locations during the COVID lockdown.
An Origin spokesperson told 7NEWS.com.au: “One thing customers can do to help avoid getting a bill based on estimated usage is to provide safe and easy access for meter-readers, including making sure there are no locked gates or unrestrained animals.”
But the Sydney father said there was nothing noticeably hindering meter access. “Our meter is at the front of our home. About 3m from the front boundary. No fence, no dog,” he said.
Given his recent move, however, that may not always have been the case at his residence.
Another Sydney resident who experienced a similar overestimation said on Reddit that they discovered there was a note against his residence because of the previous tenant.
“I found out after more than a year that there was a note on my place about a previous tenant having an aggressive dog. I had to do self-meter reads and eventually got them to remove the note,” they wrote.
A little too late for some
The estimation is a detail that many residents report noticing too late.
Another Origin customer, living in a one-bedroom apartment, wrote on Reddit: “In two months they deducted over $2000 from my account.”
And while an underestimation by the provider might appear a prosperous inverse, that isn’t always the case.
One woman’s usage was “significantly underestimated” for five billing quarters, her friend wrote on Reddit. “She didn’t realise and just paid the account,” she said.
On the sixth billing quarter, her meter was physically read by the gas network company, and she was invoiced $4500 as a result. The name of her provider was not disclosed.
She reportedly took the invoice to The Energy & Water Ombudsman NSW, and won her case against the provider.
An Origin spokesperson told 7NEWS.com.au: “We know getting a bill based on an estimate can be frustrating, so we aim to make it easy for our customers to submit their own self meter reads, so they pay for what they have actually used.”
You can learn how to do a self-meter read by following the four steps outlined on the Origin website.