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What do I do if I have a problem and
my company is not a member of the scheme?
If your company is not a member of the complaints
scheme still try to resolve your complaint with the company
first. If this is not possible you might like to call your
nearest:
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Community Law Centre
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Citizens' Advice Bureau
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Your Member of Parliament's office.
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What if it's a complaint about
a gas problem that happened before 1 April 2005?
The Electricity and Gas Complaints Commissioner
deals only with gas complaints raised on or after 1 April
2005. For gas complaints prior to this date, start by talking
to the company involved. If this doesn't work you might like
to call your nearest:
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Community Law Centre
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Citizens' Advice Bureau
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Your Member of Parliament's office.
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What if my complaint is about an issue
of more than $20,000?
The Electricity and Gas Complaints Commissioner
can make binding decisions only where the amount in question
is less than $20,000 (from 18 April 2005). However, in some
cases the commissioner can make decisions on amounts between
$20,000 and $50,000 (see terms of reference).
If your complaint relates to an issue arising
before 18 April 2005, the commissioner can only consider claims
valued at less than $10,000 (unless the company agrees to
extend jurisdiction to up to $25,000).
Where the amount is too high for the commissioner
to investigate, other options are to:
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Talk to a lawyer
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Call your nearest Community Law Centre
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Go to the District
Court. If your complaint is with a company that
is a State Owned Enterprise, you can contact the Office
of the Ombudsmen.
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For more information check out the About
Us and How to make a complaint
pages on this website.
Why have I received a high bill?
There are a number of reasons for an unexpected
or random high bill. Some of the reasons that you should consider
(questions to ask) if you receive a high bill are:
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Installation of a new appliance
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Faulty or damaged appliances
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Changes in the household (have you had
visitors staying over?)
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Changes in tariffs (has the price of electricity
/ gas increased recently?)
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Backbilling after a series of estimated
reads (does the company have safe access to read the
meter?)
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High estimated read (you can provide the
company with your own meter reading)
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High catch up read after a low estimate
previously
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First bill at a new address
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Missed payment
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Information about how much electricity appliances
use can be found on electricity company websites or Powerswitch.
If you are having trouble paying a high bill,
you need to talk with the company to set up a payment plan.
If the high bill indicates a billing or meter reading error,
talk to your electricity or gas retailer in the first instance.
You could also contact WINZ and / or Budget
Advisory Services.
Why is my electricity
usage climbing when I am not doing anything differently?
Talk to your electricity or gas company.
See if they have any options for looking into the issue.
When appliances age they can become inefficient,
so you may need to look at replacing or repairing them. For
advice on energy efficiency contact EECA, www.eeca.govt.nz
Telephone: (04) 470 2200 or fax: (04) 499 5330.
Information about how much electricity appliances
use can be found on electricity company websites or Powerswitch.
Why have I got no electricity?
Check that the fuses at your meter board
are intact. If the fuses are okay, call your electricity company.
Ask whether there has been an outage or fault in your area.
It may be that the company is undertaking maintenance work
and notification of that work has not been communicated to
you. Another cause of "no power" is that you have been disconnected.
If you have not paid for your electricity
you can be disconnected. The electricity company should have
sent you a warning letter before disconnecting you.
According to the code
of practice, except in the case
of agreed or emergency disconnections, Consumer Contracts
must:
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Provide for at least seven days notice
of warning of disconnection and allow an additional
three days for the delivery of the notice; and
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Provide for a final warning no less than
24 hours before disconnection.
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You should call your electricity company
first, to check why your electricity has been cut off and
what can be done about it. If you are not satisfied with their
response you can contact the Electricity and Gas Complaints
Commissioner.
Why have I got no gas or there is a gas
emergency?
If there is a gas emergency, turn off any
appliance that may create a spark and call the emergency number
on your gas bill or in the front of the telephone directory
white pages under emergency services.
If you have no gas and it doesn't appear
to be an emergency situation, call your gas company. Ask whether
there has been a fault in your area. It may be that the company
is undertaking maintenance work and notification of that work
has not been communicated to you. Another cause of "no gas"
is that you have been disconnected.
If you have not paid for your gas you can
be disconnected. The gas company should have sent you a warning
letter before disconnecting you.
According to the code
of practice, except in the case
of agreed or emergency disconnections, Consumer Contracts
must:
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Provide for at least seven days notice
of warning of disconnection and allow an additional
three days for the delivery of the notice; and
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Provide for a final warning no less than
24 hours before disconnection.
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You should call your gas company first, to
check why your gas has been cut off and what can be done about
it. If you are not satisfied with their response you can contact
the Electricity and Gas Complaints Commissioner.
What if I think that the price is too high?
The commissioner cannot look into the amount
companies charge. Companies can make their own commercial
decisions about what to charge. However, the commissioner
can check that a company has provided accurate information
about its tariffs and applied them correctly.
If you are concerned about the amount companies
charge you can take the matter up with your Member
of Parliament's office or the Commerce
Commission.
If you can't afford to pay, you may be eligible
for some help from Work
and Income New Zealand (WINZ). The phone number will be
in your white pages directory. You could also seek some budgeting
advice from the New Zealand Federation of Family Budgeting Services.
The phone number will be in your white pages under Budget
Advice Services.
Why can't I get low-user rates for
our holiday house?
The Ministry
of Economic Development advises that the Government's
fixed charge policy is designed to ensure that small consumers
receive a fair deal from their electricity company. The regulations
require that low fixed user charges are made available to
homes which are a principal place of residence (ie
not a business or a holiday home).
MED go on to say that in some areas
of New Zealand there are large numbers of holiday homes, and
it is often expensive for line companies to maintain lines
to these regions. Since holiday homes tend to use only small
amounts of electricity, lines companies would not be able
to earn an economic return on those network assets if they
were limited to a low fixed charge for holiday homes. It would
be unreasonable to require permanent residents in any area
to subsidise holiday homes.
For this reason it is Government policy
that lines companies are not required to offer low fixed tariffs
for holiday home connections. This does not prevent lines
companies from extending the offer to holiday homes if local
circumstances permit. Electricity retailers generally follow
the same policy as the local lines company with respect to
holiday homes.
Reference: Ministry
of Economic Development Electricity (Low fixed charge tariff
option for domestic consumers) Regulations 2004
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