The supply address on my electricity account was recently and incorrectly changed, for some unknown reason (i.e. unknown to me, anyway), to that of a neighboring property with which I have no connection what so ever .
I contacted my energy retailer to point out the mistake. They assured me that the error would be fixed. And, indeed, that appeared to be the case when I got my latest account i.e. my billing and supply address were back to being the same - as they have always been.
However, I am currently in the process of changing electricity suppliers and the new company has just advised me that the the wrong address is still in place on the National Database (whatever that is !).
So far, I canât get a straight answer as to who decided to change my details or why it was done. It seems that it may have been the electricity distributor (?).
The new supplier has told me that the only way it can be corrected is by yours truly providing a rates notice to the distributor (?) or the National Database (?). But Iâm currently in a rental property in another location (from where I normally live)
I really donât want to just let the mistake continue. As I have explained to the retailers the supply address that is now being detailed on my account is neither the property where I live nor the property where my meter is located.
Clearly, this whole situation is someone elseâs mistake and I canât quite see why I should have to waste a lot of time sorting it out.
Any ideas as to how I should proceed would be appreciated. Thanks.
It will be the national metering identifier, used to identify each and every electricity meter installed in Australia. I am not sure who is responsbile for the NMI database, but suspect that it could be AEMO.who manages the database. It would be worthwhile contacting them anyway as a first port of call as they should know, if it is not them, who manages the database to make the necessary corrections.
Apparently the AEMO doesnât handle all this. They have advised that itâs the retailerâs responsibility to update the supply address details when the customer has made them aware that the current information is wrong. Iâve asked AGL to do all this on about four occasions. I donât understand, why thereâs so much drama.
The database used by the new retaiker may be out of date, namely they are using a copy of the database which has not been updated since your NMI details have been corrected by AGL.
Alternatively, the updated details could be somewhere between AGL and the database. AGL may have maneded the NMI details but the proposed updated is held until the data is migrated to the database. This might be some time after it is amended depending how often data migration occurs.
A friend of mind had the same problem. Nobody could find any instructions from him to change the address, nor identify the operator who changed it. But every few years it would happen. The only solution is to contact the company, and persist. You will also need a bank statement or similar document to confirm your address.
Certainly, no one seems to be prepared to either take responsibility or even suggest who might have done it or why it was done.
All I know isâŠthe more dealings I have with people in the energy business, the more âcreeped outâ Iâm feeling⊠to use that quirky American expression. The whole thing seems to be absolutely riddled with secrecy, deceit and bumbling incompetence. Yet, theyâre making millions⊠hell ⊠probably even billions !!
Essential services should never have been sold off to private companies. Once that happened, cutting corners, maximizing profits and share holder dividends became the main concern - at the expense of service.
I hear you. This should be easy & quick, but these companies are notorious for refusing to admit fault. Getting my friendâs issues sorted took months. Good idea also to involve the Energy ombudsman in your state right at the start.
The internet seems to recognise AGL as setting the standard for the latter in the utilities game, if not also the former in their customer relationships.
Many of us remember the âgood old daysâ of government monopolies, but it was not always good. Using Telecom as an example I ordered a landline in Southport Qld in 1971 and was quoted 2 years ETA. After 1 year I moved on with the only communication being my cancellation of the order. I do not remember anything about the utilities excepting weeks to connect the electricity to a new property in the city, and then their being days late anyway. I also remember many organisations being somewhat arrogant, but we had nowhere else to go. However, once connected they held up their part of the deal and took care of us, at whatever price structure they felt like.
I am not a fan of privatisation of infrastructure or essential services, but many things get better in our memories after the facts are long over.
I keep reading this line about the âgood old days werenât really that goodâ but I rarely agree with it.
Give me back the SEC, the Gas & Fuel Corp and the MMBW any day of the week if itâs also going to mean returning to a time when we werenât subjected to constant, ongoing and excessive price increases. âEssential servicesâ are now, rapidly becoming a luxury item that many people, such as those on fixed, single incomes can no longer afford.
These days we certainly have other options. Only problem is that, based on internet reviews, most of them seem to be as bad as each other. The majority of them are simply âgetting up to thingsâ and spending much of their day shafting their âvalued customersâ at every available opportunity.
Maybe the service wasnât 100% crash hot back in the â 70s and â 80s. But, at least we werenât paying astronomical prices for it. Now, weâve got the triple whammy of outrageous costs, utterly woeful service and the âadded bonusâ of often having to waste weeks (or even months) on the phone and the internet doing battle with shifty energy companies. Theyâve certainly got âthe businessâ and thatâs precisely what weâre being given as well.
Weâll have to agree to disagree on this one BBG.
Sorry to keep harping on this topic. But AGL have caused such a gigantic, ongoing mess with both my electricity and gas accounts that itâs talking forever to untangle the whole fiasco.
As mentioned previously, the supply address on both my electricity and gas accounts was recently and incorrectly changed (by someone and for some reason) to that of a neighboring property.
Also, as previously mentioned, Iâm now in the process of leaving AGL - completely - and I have already switched the electricity account to another provider.
I have established that the supply address of the electricity smart meter can only be updated if a copy of a rates notice for my property is sent to my electricity retailer who will then contact the National Database.
However, Iâm not sure what the situation is in regard to changing the supply address for the gas meter. Are gas meters also registered on the National Database or elsewhere ? If so, whatâs the procedure for updating address details ?
It seemed that AGL had corrected the mistake on both my gas and electricity accounts. But the new electricity provider has just sent me a screen capture / photo of the relevant page on the National Database and my supply address definitely has NOT been updated
Thanks again. Appreciate your ongoing assistance with all this. No doubt, others have experienced the same problems
Thanks BBG. Sigh ⊠I dunno ⊠what a total nightmare all this has turned into. Be happy when I can just put all this âenergyâ BS on "set and forgetâ mode. Itâs become a full time job over recent weeks
I could probably get a job working for them. I reckon Iâve just about earned a PhD in the art of fighting with shonky âenergy suppliersâ over the past month.
You should write to AGL and tell them to change the address and provide you with satisfactory proof they have done so and give them a reasonable amount of time to comply say 14 days⊠Send the letter via registered post and require proof of receipt.
If within the the 14 days you get an appropriate answer then the problem is solved. If not lodge a case with your Stateâs Administrative Tribunal regarding the issue. AGL will need to respond to that case and that should either make them fix the issue or the Tribunal will most likely require them to fix the issue. I also recommend you get some legal advice about the steps you should take from a free legal aid service who may also be willing to help draft your request to AGL. You may also be entitled to compensation for any costs that you have incurred in having to change suppliers and any interest on any outstanding funds that AGL may hold.
I feel your pain ⊠Business is relying more and more on Address Databases, and if you are not on it you donât exist.
Our property was subdivided 30 years ago - but the owners for 25 years had their mail to a PO Box and some to the letterbox. When we bought 5 years ago and tried to change address for Drivers Licence, Medicare, insurance, etc the address did not appear. I had to get creative. Finally wrangled it out of someone that they used the Australia Post Database, applied and got us put on a month later. Postie had to certify the letterbox he had been delivering to for 30 years did exist. All fine now, but depending on the database used, were are in one suburb or another, Google maps canât accurately pin us using either - our shed builder kept siting the shed across the road in the neighboursâ on the paperwork & application - Mr Google canât be wrong! Our visitors get lost using their car nav. Gas & Electricity was easy once we told them who had the account previously.
Some people would pay big bucks to have our level of privacy!
