Best electricity providers

[PhilT]

@Jim2

[Origin agent] “I have checked and I can see that we had an actual reading coming through. Would you like me to adjust the bill accordingly to that reading? Just wanted to also let you know, that the actual reading we had this time is higher than the estimated reading.”

This was a shameful and unconscionable lie!

This seems the crux of the problem. If the Origin agent explained the process all might have been good. They obviously did not have an actual reading but may have tried to play the customer, perhaps a lazy agent not corporate policy, but customers can only judge companies by their own experiences.

[phb]

@PhilT

If the Origin agent explained the process all might have been good.

I initially thought the same thing, but, if Origin aren’t told the circumstances of the new account…or the account is set up online, there is no way that Origin would know these circumstances. I for one would not like being asked a number of private questions such as ‘have you moved’, ‘do you own the house’, where have you moved from’ etc when setting up a electricity account as I believe it is none of their business, especially if one is only changing retailers. If it was a move, a consumer should disclose this information only in contact with a retailer for a new account so that they know the circumstances. The retailer should then provide necessary information about the process to be followed to have the new account created, connection/metering transferred to the new account etc.

[PhilT]

@phb

, there is no way that Origin would know these circumstances

Perhaps such information seeking could be in the KPI or SOP when there is an issue? If not why not? It comes back to the company’s customer facing agents, processes and procedures and the customer’s experience regardless of all of that. eg Origins agent might not have misrepresented/claimed there was a real reading when it appears there was not, and been honest about that and might have had sufficient (not necessarily much) insight to query the situation?

Origin’s agent did not, it went ‘south’, they lost a customer, and the rest might be educational for a next time, if there is one, or for others who read this topic.

[Kylogie]

A few years ago I had some financial difficulties and managed to accumulate quite a large electricity bill. I’m in Brisbane and was with Origin. When I called Origin to explain that I couldn’t pay the bill, they were incredibly respectful and kind and let me pay it off in tiny instalments until my circumstances changed and I was then able to pay it off in one big payment. They never harassed me, threatened me, or made me feel guilty or embarrassed about my situation.
After going through this, the way a company treats someone going through a difficult patch has become, for me, a very important criterion for judging their customer service. And on that criterion, Origin were outstanding.