Some energy companies whack you with a fee for paying at a New Zealand Post shop or bank.
A member told us he was surprised to discover a $1.50 charge had been added to his Meridian Energy electricity bill after he paid it at the local New Zealand Post shop. We were surprised too.
So we searched the Meridian website to confirm his claim but couldn’t find any reference to the charge – even in the section about making cash payments at the post office. Only after calling Meridian did we find out that sure enough you’d be hit with a $1.50 fee for each payment at New Zealand Post or over the counter at a Westpac branch.
Meridian tells us the specific info about paying in person is available on its website as part of its sign-up process. It's now amended its FAQs in the general part of the site to say "Fees may apply". Since April 2009 Meridian customers have signed up on various packs - one of them "The heaps of Choice pack" incurs the $1.50 payment fee. Customers not on a pack who joined before April 2009 don't have to pay the fee if they pay their bill at New Zealand Post or Westpac.
TrustPower charges
And it’s not just Meridian. If you're with TrustPower and you make a cash payment at New Zealand Post it'll cost you $1.35 … and that’s if you have your account details with you and are paying your bill in full. If you forget to bring your details or you want to make a part-payment, you’ll be charged a whopping $3.09.
We couldn’t find these charges on TrustPower’s website, so we rang the company to find out where to look. TrustPower referred us to page 10 of its terms and conditions – which unhelpfully said “some (payment options) attract a service fee”.
Although New Zealand Post charges power companies a fee for accepting payments on their behalf, other power companies maintain comparable prices without passing these fees directly on to consumers.
These charges appear to hit hardest those who can least afford it. According to Trustpower: “people who are facing disconnection for non-payment often pay at the 11th hour using New Zealand Post so that they can quote a New Zealand Post receipt to us to avoid disconnection."
Our view
- Meridian and Trustpower could do a better job of making it clear there’s a fee for paying your bill through one of their authorised agents. Burying away this information isn’t good enough.
- Other power companies get by without charging these fees. It’s time Meridian and TrustPower dropped them too.
- From 1 April the Electricity and Gas Complaints Commissioner will provide a free disputes-resolution scheme that covers both electricity and gas suppliers. This is good news for consumers.
More information
- Powerswitch - www.powerswitch.org.nz
- Electricity and Gas Complaints Commissioner - www.egcomplaints.co.nz
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I am surprised it has taken this long for someone to bring these fees into the spotlight. As long as two years ago, I went into my local post shop to pay my power account (Trustpower)only to be told by the person behind the counter that it was going to cost me an extra $1.50 because I chose to pay via postshop.
I presumed however that the charge was made because postshop was acting as an agent and was therefore charging the power company a fee who therefore recovered the cost from the customer.
I am charged for 'unaccounted for gas' on my gas account from Energy Direct. Their answer when I ask why; because the transmission supplier and network supplier meters are not accurate, therefore the customer pays for the "lost gas" through inaccurate metering. This is not my problem, I should only pay for what I use.