$300 Bill

[Jaydon68]

WELL SAID!!!

[computerflyer]

> That ombudsman looks like a useless decoration to impress the peasants.

Bingo - in all states, but in some states even more than others.

[Jaydon68]

Thanks Mop.

[The Mop]

The notice you got from Origin identifies them as the culprits; it’s them that are talking disconnection.
That ombudsman looks like a useless decoration to impress the peasants.
He knows well enough how it goes, but his task may be to lead everyone around the garden path.
Queensland only has ombudsmen to keep up with the Joneses.

It’s Energex that made the disconnection because of Origin’s say-so.
Maybe try to get Energex to explain why they disconnected.
Origin can be deemed as not responsible only where Energex disconnects premises that have no Origin account: things like squatters tapping into free electricity.
Anything else to do with accounts, only Origin knows.

[Jaydon68]

Thanks For your input people.
We received a notice dated the 29th of January 2010 which was a Friday, saying that "due to the possibility of weekends and public holidays reducing the time in which the account could be paid, we guarantee that we will not disconnect your supply for at least 7 working days ".
On Monday the 1st of February 2010, Energex came to the premises whilst my wife and I were at work and disconnected the power.

The Ombudsman are claiming that Origin were not responsible for the disconnection. However, we were entitled to be compensated for the loss that power disconnection caused. The problem now being is that we first must establish who initiated the disconnection.

Based on yours and others comments, it appears that Origin call the shots. They issue orders to Energex ( who are as I understand it now, the labourers for Origin and the owners of the electricty infrastructure.) Surely the Ombudsman knows this?

My question then is how can Origin be deemed as not responsible?

[computerflyer]

Jaydon68,

> GAURANTEED the power would not be disconnected for at least 7 working days.

That would be 7 working days from the date on the bill. Was the disconnection within that 7 working days?

If it was, you should send a letter of demand citing chapter and verse from the Ombudsman and related laws you can identify to Origin.

The letter must be sent registered or in some manner where you have proof they received it. The text must include the word "demand" and be very specific in what you want of them, with a reasonable date set for their reply.

If the disconnection was after 7 days from the billing date, but within 7 days after you received it you might make that case. Commercial law makes an assumption on delivery time that is not to the recipient's advantage, but some companies will work with you for delayed delivery.

> I refuse to pay a company who's arrogance and draconian methods have cost me

One bit of legalese to be aware of is that whether Origin may owe you $500 or $5 million for damages, that is generally unrelated to whether they assert you owe them $300 for electricity.

[The Mop]

Origin has the customers’ accounts, while Energex has washed its hands off so-called retail.
The spin is that Energex sells wholesale electricity to Origin, but Origin only has offices, office girls, decorations … and the customers.
Origin is the only one who knows who has paid what, while Energex owns the tackle like power stations, telegraph poles, meters and wires.

Energex reads the meters to prevent Origin from saying that there’s no electricity consumed.
Energex disconnects electricity when Origin tells it that it hasn’t been paid for that place.
Energex connects electricity when Origin tells it that it’s got a paying customer there.
When a dwelling changes occupiers, Energex does meter readings because Origin tells them of changing accounts.

Both have access to the national meter database where Origin must report the dwelling as having an account.
If a dwelling isn’t listed as having an account, but clocks up meter readings, it takes Energex months or years to find it, and disconnect of its own initiative.

The proof is the bill form Origin; it’s them that are after money and got Energex to disconnect you on their say-so.
There’s only Origin and Energex involved, and Energex doesn’t deal in bills anymore.
They’re floating in space, and ‘charge’ Origin for wholesale electricity.

The ombudsman told you to claim from the offending company, which is Origin, the only company of which you’re a captive customer.
Energex isn’t a company, they’re the state government, and they don’t know you, you belong to Origin only.


Joh Bananas introduced the electricity rip-offs in Queensland, and the present mob has expanded on it several times.

[Jaydon68]

Thank you. This is really important in my case. I note that you said that ALL connections and DISCONNECTIONS are initiated by Origin? Have I read that correctly? And 2: Not that I doubt what you're saying, but can you prove that? More to the point, can I prove that?

Origin are telling the Ombudsman that they were not responsible for disconnecting our power...and on that basis, wont compensate us for the loss that power interruption caused, despite the Ombudsman saying that we do have a right of claim against the body responsible for disconnecting the power.
If you can show me that what you just wrote is in fact correct, I'd be more than appreciative.

[computerflyer]

In Virginia USA some years ago "Virginia Electric Power Corporation" (VEPCO) was so well received there were very common bumper stickers reading "Welcome to Virginia, Owned and Operated by VEPCO". It reflected prices, service, and government, all in one.

QLD is just one of the herd.

[The Mop]

Thanks for this endorsement, computerflyer.

In Queensland at least, the collection is done by the state government-owned supplier.
They wouldn’t want the reseller to cheat.
The only purpose of attracting people to Queensland is to send them electricity bills.
Even so, there are cases of customers getting no electricity bills in the three years of the new scheme.
We had a quick look into gas schemes in Sydney, and the promised saving was going to be $4 per year.

[computerflyer]

The entire concept of "competition" in utilities are "parasites". Does anyone actually think each company has its own infrastructure? There is one supplier in each distribution area and everyone else resells those services and processes bills.

The differences in costs to the end user are reflected in the deal struck with the supplier, and overheads and profit from the billing and collection processes. Dilligence to compare offers usually requires a year of bills plugged into a spreadsheet. Once all the discounts and offers are accounted for the spread between suppliers is usually in the few tens of dollars at most.

Utilities Competition - a great Australian oxymoron.

[The Mop]

That’s if you can go elsewhere.
Origin, that we’ve never heard of before, appeared out of the woodwork and paid the Queensland government two billions of fake dollars to get the Energex customers.
You necessarily land in Origin’s lap, and transferring takes 28 days’ notice.
Unless you’re in Brisbane, I don’t think that there’s anybody else than Origin.
In the back blocks, nobody is interested; there’s not even Origin, and Ergon had to reluctantly keep ‘those putrid customers’.

Connecting and disconnecting electricity is done by Energex, at the instigation of Origin.
Origin doesn’t know or do anything electrical; they’re just parasites … a billing company.

[Jaydon68]

We moved house not so long ago. Thought we'd do the right thing and call origin and transfer out account.
Origin were not technically able to read our meter, and requested we travel 120kms to our new place of residence ( In which we hadn't yet obtained a key for )
and supply them with a meter reading. I'm not employed by Origin to read meters, so I flatly refused.
A day after moving into our new residence, we received a bill at our new address. At the bottom of the notice, it read that Origin understands that holidays and weekends may shorten the period in which the bill must be paid, and GAURANTEED the power would not be disconnected for at least 7 working days.
My wife went to work in Brisbane and I went to work a few minutes down the road. It should be noted that Origin had both mobile phone numbers should they want to contact us. I knocked off work near on midnight and came home to total darkness.
The pricks had cut the power while we were at work.
A total of $500 worth of foodstuff in our fridge and freezer were not fit for human consumption and had to be thrown out.
After making a series of complaints to the offender Origin, and then to the Ombudsman, The Ombudsman instructed me that our loss of foodstuff was something that we could claim against the offending company. I didn't have to do anything further, they would follow that process up on our behalf.
Yesterday my wife gets a letter of demand from Origin that they have commenced legal proceedings against us for the $300 outstanding bill.

I refuse to pay a company who's arrogance and draconian methods have cost me $500 in spoilage.
Origin are thumbing their noses at us saying, "Ha Ha, you cant beat us we're too big..."

The Moral of this story is simple.
DON'T CHOOSE ORIGIN AS YOUR ENERGY SUPPLIER.
They are so far out of touch with the average hard working australian that they don't deserve your custom. Go eslewhere....