AGL electricity bill, please help

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AGL

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  pyramid on 29/09/2014 - 17:02

  whats your pay-on time discount? its percentage or fixed amount?

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    Pete-W1960 on 29/09/2014 - 17:53

    Pay on time credit is 99.53 + 9.95 so it should be 109.48. Which it actually does appear to be right because that brings it down to the actual charge of 637.42, BUT where did the 84.68 come out of it which is my entire point.

    Thanks for your help

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  cocomelon on 29/09/2014 - 17:05

  yeah it happens to me as well, took me 4 months to get them to correct my bill thats after the fair trading guy gave them a call. gave them a call, get them to get you to understand how the bill calculate, even the guy who spoke to me got confused himself, and promised to get back to me which never did.

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  geek001 on 29/09/2014 - 17:27

  Must be a bug in their software lumping your previous bill on-time discount with this month's on-time discount.

  Even then, their website says you should be getting 15% assuming you are getting their online offer pay on time discount, but both bill discounts comes up just slightly short of 15%. I would be questioning how they arrive at 15% in your last bill as well.

  Last bill: 570.35 - 485.67 = 84.68. 84.68/570.35 = 14.84%
  This bill: Total credits = 99.53 + 9.95 = 109.48. 109.48 / 746.90 = 14.66%

  Definitely a bill error here.

  • 

    Pete-W1960 on 29/09/2014 - 17:47

    Even if its a bug in their software, I have requested they add the amounts but the only thing they are looking at is the 84.68 credit and as far as they are concerned it has been credited.

    I just don't see it.

    But thanks for taking the time, I appreciate it :)

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  tonyiscariot on 29/09/2014 - 19:11

  What is your % POTD with AGL?

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    Pete-W1960 on 29/09/2014 - 20:03

    I looked on the bill and it doesn't say. The best I can tell you is the energy plan is smart saver 18……whatever that is, I cant even access their website to find out.

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  emibel19 on 29/09/2014 - 22:22

  +2

  The $84.68 was the debit balance outstanding from the previous bill because you paid $485.67 from the total of $570.35. This has been credited on this bill, so now you effectively start from scratch for the current bill. Your total new charge is $679 before GST, i.e. $746.90 including GST.

  They then say that your discounted amount is $637.42. That's the only part I don't get because the discount is a bit less than 15%.

  So I don't see a problem with the $84.68 not being credited, only how they calculate the POTD.

  Edit: I think I've worked out where your POTD comes from. You said your plan is Smart Saver 18, which suggests 18% discount. However, that's probably on usage charges only (not supply charge). My supplier, Energy Australia, recently changed to % discounts on usage charges only, where it used to be on the total charge. Your $99.53 POTD is 18% of your usage charges (before GST).

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  Ozziejack on 30/09/2014 - 08:01

  Yes, AGL's customer service section is a bit of a pain. I had a problem with them and I could get no satisfaction from them (It looked like their meter reading was a terrible guess) Finally I went to the Ombudsman - then I got immediate attention, the account dropped a couple of hundred. It seems to be the only thing they respond to. As soon as the current contract is over we'll be signing up with someone else.

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  moar bargains on 30/09/2014 - 08:44

  I have to say this is RIDICULOUSLY COMPLICATED!

  I think the bill is correct, but the way they've done it is just crazy hard to work out! And you are certainly NOT stupid!

  What they should have done, (and what I believe they have done, in a round-about sort of way) is completely remove the $84.68 because that was a discount from your previous supplier.

  Essentially what they've done I believe is to charge it because it showed up as unpaid, BUT THEN credit it to wipe it out to 0 because it was a discount. New charges + $84.68 (carry over from previous supplier) - $84.68 (credited to negate charge) = New charges.

  So, if you ignore the $84.68 as it's been wiped out, and just look at the new charges, I believe the bill is correct.

  New charges and credits
  Peak $552.93
  supply charge $126.07
  Total charges $679.00
  + GST $ 67.90
  = total $746.90

  Then with discounts
  $746.90 total
  - $ 99.53 POTD
  - $ 9.95 POTD GST
  = $637.42 with discount

  So your bill says $637.42 with POTD. I'm not sure what you should get, but this is about a 15% discount.

  Hope this helps. I'm happy to clarify further if this doesn't make sense.
  EDIT: I'm a mathematician, but I'm not infallible ;)

• 

  Geewhizz on 30/09/2014 - 09:12

  Balance brought forward $84.68

  Then under CREDITS is has:

  Prompt payment discount $84.68

  So that takes care of that, and starts you at zero owing up until this bill.

  New charges and credits
  Peak $552.93
  supply charge $126.07
  Total charges $679.00
  PLUS gst $67.90
  .
  Total due $746.90

  To your POTD for this account:

  Discounted amount if paid by due date $637.42
  includes $99.53 pay on time discount
  includes $9.95 gst credit

  The bill states that the GST component has already been included in the $99.53, so the actual discount you are getting is $89.48.

  Total new charges and credits $594.32 - the pay on time discount they have given you is close enough to 15 per cent of that amount.

  So far all good, BUT this is where it becomes murky. If you paid that last account after they had taken over as your supplier, then the figures given are all correct.

  If, however, you paid it before they took over, They have charged you GST on the $84.68 POTD from your previous supplier, as well as on the new charges on this bill, and if that's the case your GST should actually be $59.43, not $67.90.

  If you have any doubt about this you would have to look back through your financial records to compare the date you paid, and the date they took over.

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  tonyiscariot on 30/09/2014 - 09:19

  Okay, so what's happened here is that AGL have taken over your previous retailer Australian Power and Gas — as a company, not just taken over their services. You're on the same contract as you were with AP&G (AGL doesn't offer the Smart Saver plans, AP&G did). So as long as AGL are honouring your contract as it was I don't think you would automatically have a right to exit the contract without conforming to the obligations therein, i.e. exit fees.

  As to the bill itself: emibel19 is correct in stating that the POTD applies to the usage, not the total bill: http://www.esc.vic.gov.au/getattachment/ca236fe9-c780-473e-9… http://yourchoice.vic.gov.au/media/file/tariffs/australian-p…

  So first thing would be to take that away from the bill as you're not getting discount on that. So:

  Peak $552.93
  supply charge $126.07
  Total charges $679.00

  You're only looking to the top figure for your discount. So I've done the calculations below. The other important thing is to forget the following: the front page and the credited amount. We're just focusing on the new charges for this billing period, as the credited amount should simply cancel the prior balance carried forward.

  CALCULATING YOUR POTD
  Usage = 552.93. + 55.293 GST. = 608.223. This is the figure on which the POTD is calculated.

  18% of 608.223 = 109.480 (you can also do this against the usage and the GST figures which is what they go off of, but it's basically the same — 18% of 552.93 = 99.53, 18% of 55.293 GST = 9.953, adding them together = 109.483). Your POTD on this bill is 109.483.

  CALCULATING YOUR CHARGES BEFORE APPLYING POTD
  Supply charge = 126.07. + 12.607 GST. = 138.677. + 608.223 GST inclusive usage charges. = 746.9. This is your total bill before applying the POTD calculated above.

  APPLY POTD
  746.9 - 109.483 = 637.417. Round up to 637.42. This is your bill after applying the POTD.

  ---

  So the bill is correct. I hope the way I've laid it out is followable. The important thing is to: a. ignore the credited amount when calculating the bill; b. calculate the POTD appropriately — i.e. only on usage, not supply.

  As for your options should you be unhappy with this arrangement — according to the PDFs above that I've linked to, this contract is 3 years with a $20 exit fee. So you could look around for a deal elsewhere and just take the $20 exit fee. Alternatively, you could just make a new deal with AGL and they'd probably be more than willing to ignore the exit fee in moving you on to one of their plans.

  Strongly recommend http://yourchoice.vic.gov.au/ for deals, your rights, etc. And be nice to the people on the phone.

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  Pete-W1960 on 30/09/2014 - 12:26

  +1

  Thankyou so much everyone for taking the time and applying much more patience to the subject than I have. I knew I would get the right answers here, I really do appreciate the help. Although I feel a bit a silly, especially once it has been explained as you guys have. Thankyou for the links Tony :)

  I really needed someone at AGL to have explained it but the last person spoke so fast I just couldn't get a grasp on it.

  Next question, is there a way to mark this thread as solved? I would hate some other poor sole to try and work it all out :)

  Thanks once again everyone.

  Best Regards

  Pete Wingard

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    emibel19 on 30/09/2014 - 12:44

    +1

    No worries, Pete. I like to have problems like that to keep my old grey matter active, but I also sometimes long for the good old days when there was only one electricity supplier, one rate all year round, no percentage discounts to worry about, and no GST.

    • 

      Pete-W1960 on 30/09/2014 - 15:20

      +1

      I agree on that %100……..lol the good old days, don't get me going on that subject. I laugh at the looks I get from the 20 year olds at work if some of us start talking about the cost of things when I was a kid. And thanks again :)

  • 

    Geewhizz on 30/09/2014 - 13:20

    Just hit the report button Pete, and ask the mods to close it.

    • 

      Pete-W1960 on 30/09/2014 - 15:21

      Will do, and thanks :)