It’s said the balance between a business and customer (consumer) has always been assured through the ability of a customer to take their business elsewhere. It’s also one of the key values in modern economic theory. Let the market decide. The assumption is there is always a better alternative. However in Australia for many of our markets it’s not so.
I can understand why AGL have made the move. They are not prepared to carry the costs of credit for up to 3 months on their electricity and gas services - for those customers who choose to bill and pay quarterly. Also to note not all trust the direct debit system - as correcting or reversing errors is not a simple same day process. There is a disproportionate power with the retailer/business. IE The business is always right until such time as the customer can prove the business wrong.
To be honest AGL have not removed the option to manually pay each month - however for convenience many will see direct debit monthly as the less painful way forward. Most consumers have come to accept monthly billing and direct debit of mobile and internet services. Long gone are the memories of the quarterly Telstra phone bill. Although for many years mobile and like services were on a PAYG basis, with the painful surprise of even short mobile calls costing many dollars. Given many consumers now have flat monthly all included plans for phone, internet etc or pre-paid with easy cost tracking the risks of mobile bill shock are low.
The AGL advice suggests it is only smart meter customers who are being targeted for the change to monthly billing. Possibly not the only electricity retailer heading in that direction. To ask if they are the only one or if this is a trend? Is this also happening with other services, EG water utilities etc? There are many instances from vehicle rego to home insurance where one can pay annually or choose more often including monthly. The difference with AGL is that the change is a unilateral change on short notice (at the end of the current billing period). T&C’s are only assured for as long as each billing cycle.
It appears monthly billing is now default, and if one wishes to remain with quarterly billing cycles, they need to log into their account to change the billing cycle.
We used to have quarterly billing cycles, but, moved to monthly about 5 years ago. We found that while one gets more bills (12 compared to 4 per meter), it makes it easier to manage the bill costs. Instead of getting bill shock, especially for consumption during high use times of the year (winter for heating and/or summer for cooling), monthly bill amounts are smaller and more manageable. We also don’t pay more for more frequent bills and pay each bill (we have 2 each month) using BPay with our electricity retailer.
Unfortunately the email received from AGL makes no mention of retaining or changing back to quarterly. Likewise when I log into our account there is no option for quarterly billing. Only an option for monthly. The change advised is only because we have a smart meter. Hence can if we use the AGL App see our usage and supposed costs to date, or for gas estimated cost based on previous consumption. Similar for those without smart meters AFAIK.
Our bills are typically small or sometimes a credit. Bill shock is not a concern. Monthly payment is simply one more inconvenient and un-necessary task. Even with direct debit - the billed amounts vary with consumption, and one still needs to check the amount. I can see why those who are larger consumers have a greater interest in managing monthly. There are however many consumers who are not large consumers of power, gas etc. Many older Australian’s rely on funding additional to or in place of pension entitlements. For costs which vary the less often they need to be paid the easier it is to manage. Perhaps the next step with AGL and similar services will be a short ending of the payment period, currently 21 days from end of each billing period to 14 or 7 days. Telstra recently updated their post paid customers billing and payment requirements to require the following months fixed payment to be due in advance of the month. Effectively a fully prepaid service unless one incurred select added charges (eg for OS daily travel packs, paid for number services, etc).
The cynic here is expecting further changes in electricity charges that will significantly impact our future costs - and not for the better. Monthly billing one way AGL presents to the customer the increases as lesser absolute amounts. It’s about managing perception through the optics. I will be talking to AGL re the change to see if they will put us back to quarterly - since there is no option through our AGL online account to do so. A reminder that electricity retailers such as AGL operate in more than one state - and what they offer can vary depending on where one is.
I contacted AGL by phone (I’m in SE Qld) re the change in billing cycle from quarterly to monthly - unilaterally varied by AGL and effective when the next bill period ends in 3 days time.
The AGL customer service rep advised it was not possible for the customer to change a monthly billing cycle to quarterly or block the change from quarterly thorough the options provided in the AGL App or by logging into ones account. I was advised a customer needs to contact AGL directly (customer rep) who for the present time can do so if requested by the customer. It will be informative to see what follows.
We received this email too. I was upset by it as it takes 8-11 weeks for us to pay of our bill. that would mean we’d have at least 2 overdue bills before we finished paying off our last quarterly bill. So i contacted AGL thru the chat feature within their app and they switched it back to quarterly then and there. We’ve since received our latest bill and is showing quarterly for the next one
I pay ahead because bills are becoming more difficult to manage. I’m not yet doing direct debit, but rather BPay, and when my pension lands, I deal with all the bills except council rates because since switching to email from paper bills, I never know what my nexxt will be. Previously we’d get the annual + monthly costs on one sheet. So its fortnightly payments for all utilities, and I’ve moved from my annual prepaid mobile to a monthly (which is wayyyy more over the year) but I’m not being hit all at once.
It is a smart move by any company to flatten out the peaks and troughs of getting their money through Monthly instead of Quarterly , do I agree yes for small business but for major corporations it should be an opt out choice
