My view of ORIGIN, don’t ever be in credit
I spent the entire morning trying to get a refund from Origin, only to end up frustrated and without a satisfactory resolution. My ordeal began with being shuffled from one department to another, each time told they couldn’t assist and passed along, with long waiting times in between. Finally, someone was willing to attempt to help.
This issue started on July 9th when our account was over $500 in credit, anticipating a potentially high bill while we were away. The bill turned out to be lower, leaving us with a credit. Origin had already messed us around with the installation of a smart meter after fitting solar panels, rescheduling the installation date and then raising our rates while reducing solar credits. Frustrated, I switched to another supplier offering better rates and solar credits.
On July 15th, I called to request a refund and was asked to provide various identification documents, which I did promptly. Shortly after, I received another email asking for a bank statement showing the last Bpay payment, which I also provided. I then received a confirmation email stating that my refund would be processed within five working days.
Today, I checked and saw no refund, leading to my wasted morning. I was told the refund wasn’t processed because my bank statement was two pages, and they required it all on one page, despite the header being on the first page and the Bpay payment on the third. Because it wasn’t on one page, they refused to credit the refund directly to my account. Instead, they said they would send a cheque to my home address, which could take up to 28 days. I had no choice but to accept this settlement.
I pointed out that if I took 28 days to pay their bill, I’d be sitting in the dark.
Throughout this process, Origin’s inefficiency and lack of proper communication were evident. Initially, they failed to handle the installation of the smart meter efficiently, causing unnecessary delays. When it came to processing my refund, they repeatedly requested additional documentation, despite already having everything needed. Each department seemed to have no coordination or understanding of the previous interactions, making me repeat my issue over and over again. The final straw was their insistence on an unreasonable documentation format, ignoring the practical constraints of standard bank statements.
In summary, Origin’s handling of my refund has been a prime example of poor customer service, lack of internal communication, and bureaucratic inefficiency. Their processes are cumbersome and customer-unfriendly, causing undue stress and inconvenience.
ED: Thank you for allowing me to vent my frustration!
I’ve never had a problem with Origin, but have never had to ask for a refund. I regretted getting solar fitted for which I paid every cent plus the government subsidy and was promised 24 c per kWh exported to the grid. This never happened. It began at 20 c and quickly dropped now to 6 c per kWh.
When I queried the drop from 24 to 20 cents, I was told it was because I had a discount of something or other which I could never track, so I just gave up.
My import cost is mostly 46 cents per kWh because the off-peak hours are when I’m asleep, so the piddling 6 cents is not worth a crumpet.
My advice to anyone considering domestic solar is don’t . I can’t imagine it’s much better for industrial solar. And there is talk of solar exporters being charged to input to the grid rather than vice versa because of the grid instability.
I was with Powershop on an excellent deal until someone at Powershop realised I had not paid an electricity bill for years due to solar FIT and batteries, so they raised my rates for power and dropped my FIT. I left them and spent days trying to find a company that would offer a decent deal, they don’t exist, if you have panels. I eventually took the best deal I could find from AGL, they must have realised I don’t pay for power due to my panels and batteries so within a week of joining AGL they emailed me to say they were changing my plan. I will be looking for another provider next time or going off grid altogether. I contacted the relevant NSW Minister to clarify if I would get stung with the access charge of $1.90/day if I went off grid, the response was no I would not get any charges if ‘off grid’ even though the grid was available in my street. Fed up with the main political parties green agenda that is pushing up electricity prices. It is obvious that the current crop of pollies did not take Science when at school or they would know that CO2 keeps plant life alive and without it, all plant life dies. In England at the moment the radicals are out to ‘save the deserts’ now because the CO2 in the atmosphere is greening the planet, God help us from the loonies.