Electricity

2024-01-10 Meter Installer

After talking to the meter installer I revised my complaint to just ask Genesis drop their sneaky contract cancellation fee. I've asked UDL to handle the complaint on my behalf with the following explanation:

I managed to talk to the meter installers and they do confirm that my smart meter was installed on 13 April 2023 and that it would have started at zero. So went back to the bills. I calculate that over the 4 months after that the average cost was $9.40 per day. In Christchurch in the middle of the winter I was paying $4.80, so it's almost double here in Karamea with the same company and a tariff that they unilaterally assigned me.

The number of units I used are however similar and the big difference is in their tariff. In Christchurch I had day and night rates. With the old meters here I had something similar. This they changed when the smart meter was installed, and i accepted their explanation that was unnecessary because I was now heating water with gas. Alas they gave totally incorrect estimates for the next 3 months. It meant I didn't notice until they sent me a crippling bill.

Genesis have no justification for giving me estimates all that time because a smart meter can be read remotely. They failed to advise me that I could only switch between normal and low user tariffs once and neither had they informed me they had sneaked in a contract cancellation fee when I moved home.

Note: I am not dependent on electricity for health reasons, but without it my water pump will not work. Without water and no way to cook food let alone heat the place, I cannot survive here.

Reality is that my superannuation from the UK is caught up in bureaucracy and even when it does come through there is simply no way I can make ends meet now.

Genesis exit fee is in my opinion just taking advantage, so I shall not pay them without a court order and I will be demand a hearing. I won't lie down and quietly starve.

2024-01-06 Utilities Disputes

The moment Genesis didn't get paid they sent a demand by SMS, but that phone number they provided is just their automated payment service, with no option to talk to anyone or question their invoice. Genesis even seem to have kept my credit card details on file even though I cancelled the card I had registered with them.

I decided I can't deal with Genesis "customer support" and have asked utilities disputes to intercede. I would have preferred to talk to my meter installer first, but he's still on holiday and udl gave deadline to respond. (click the thumbnail to read e-mail sequence).

Genesis Energy Ltd.

Recorded phone call and I've cut off the tedious jingles and the ubiquitous We are experiencing higher than usual call rates, they do say "This call may be recorded for the purpose of staff training." so I interpret that as them giving me permission to record it.

Here is the main part of telephone conversation to raise my issue with Genesis. At 2:10 you can hear her superviser whispering about the readings to her and it's obvious I'm not going to get any intelligent conversation about them estimating readings from a new meter without an actual reference point from when it was installed on my property. These are bureaucrats. I consider them more like cogs in a machine rather than sentient life forms (Use Disqus to post what do you think).

So I paid the bill and in panic mode at high cost, I switched to the normal rate, unaware that I would not be allowed to change it back if that was wrong. I was not happy with the way Genesis was treating me, but unexpectedly Mercury phoned up. They offered a mobile phone and energy supply package. I had talked to them back in Christchurch, but this time I decided I would just go for it.

I got a final bill from Genesis. Once again a lot of money for one month of electricity. I decided to put my concerns in writing Click the info tab to see what I wrote.

Alas, Genesis do not provide an e-mail address for customer issues, just that useless phone number and a postal address. I did send it to the energy ombuds man website they mention and I suppose I could print a copy and post it, but I wonder if it's worth me wastin a postage stamp and printer ink. Let the parasites take me to court and let a judge make a decision. They better not send any debt collectors without a court order where I have had an opportunity to respond, because I will tresspass the fucker and defend my life as well as my property with force!

Notice the Genesis person explains they were estimating me at 9kWh per day, but after the actual reading decided it's more like 49kWh. My new Mercury Energy provider has just informed me that this week I'm averaging 7kWh per day, so that too suggests Genesis fuct up.

Electricity Meter

My new meter has a date written on it of 13-4-23 which I read as year 2023, month April, day 13. However Genesis' next invoice after said date purports to be ACTUAL readings from my old unsmart electricity meters (click PDF to see their invoice). Thus that cannot be the date that the meter was installed on my place!

Sadly I can't remember what date that actually was and don't seem to have kept a record, but I do remember questioning the guy who installed it: Why did his new meter did not start at zero? He said that meters may be used on calibration rigs before being installed, but that readings are recorded at the point of installation. To me that meant I would not be charged for any prior reading.

After he left, the next morning in fact, I remember making a recording of the meter, but I notice that the video I do have has a date of 7th July. By then Genesis had already made two estimated readings and I hadn't been paying attention. I also remember he came back the next day, because after his visit my fridge was not getting any power. Then he explained I had to hold the select button down to make it show different things, and not just click it like I was doing here.

Maybe I will have to try and phone them to get the exact date the meter was installed. I definitely need to ask if he did the actual meyter readings at the time and if not to explain how Genesis can invoice me correctly for that period.

Heat Pumps.

Were scheduled to be installed on 18 or 19 July by Modserve. It was their last opportunity to get up to Karamea, not sure it wasn't delayed. This means that the high energy estimates before that date cannot be explained.

LPG refill

Not only did I not need ANY gas in Christchurch, but moving into the country really has made the cost of living go through the roof. A 45kg cylinder delivered in Christchurch is 139$, but here it's $172 and i have to go collect it myself. Then they also charge a rental on the gas bottles and I don't even know what that will be.

Discussing it on Twitter and we concluded that it's actually cheaper to get the 9kg gas cylinders where you own the bottle yourself and you can take it with you for use in the camper van too. Much easier handling even if you do have to get a refil more often, so I will see if i can fit one of those and then cancel the Caltex contract.

Now IDK if it's all part of a sinister plan to price us useless eaters off the land into the new age 15 minute cities without our own transport, but I do think people need to be made aware of this so they don't fall for it, like I did.