Late last week Origin emailed a reminder that our contract needed to be renewed in January and offering us a "predictable’ billing option. This involves paying the same amount per month throughout the year, billed quarterly, regardless of how much gas you actually use. The amount they offer is supposedly based on averaging out your past and your predicted annual usage. Problem was they were offering us a deal that meant we would be paying $150 a quarter rather than the $110-$120 we usually pay. When I called to question how they arrived at this figure, the very polite call centre operator pointed out that this deal meant ‘you can use as much gas as you like without being charged extra’. As a two-person household with only a gas cook top and ‘instant’ hot water system, we’d be struggling to make it to the $50 per month, even with a constant flow of house guests.
Moral of the story: when you’re offered these deals (gas or electricity), go over your last 12-24 months of bills and average them out yourself, don’t rely on what your provider tells you is a good deal!
Another problem other than the extra cost, is that this type of contract encourages wastage, rather than conservation. Burn gas like there’s no tomorrow… and there wont be if everyone does!
Also read the fine print .There is a clause where they can a "adjust " the payment if you take the plan into the second year . For instance if you did go on a gas using binge and continually used more than the $150 for three months , the next year they would adjust it to , we’ll say $170 for three months . That way they never loose .
I agree. We’ve done everything we can to conserve energy (and minimise our bills) - installed LEDs everywhere, solar panels, ceiling fans to limit air-conditioning use, using exterior and interior shutters and blinds to keep the house cool/warm. We both work from home but our electricity bills are a third of those of our neighbour even though the two houses are almost identical in materials and design and she works full-time away from home.
The modus operandi of most utility companies is to obfuscate so it is all but impossible to compare offers without a spreadsheet, and then only with some difficulty as their offers are rarely 1:1 in how they charge and discount.
This reads like a total failure in their marketing obfuscation since it was readily found to be a bad deal.
Certainly was. The minute I saw the amount and then read ‘We’ve taken a look at your previous usage, estimated how much energy you’ll use in the future and tailored a price for your home’, I thought ‘No, this is tailored for your profit margin’!
