Getting Electricity Re-Connected in New Apartment over The Weekend

SpaceFrog on 12/12/2020 - 08:36
Last edited 12/12/2020 - 08:36

Hi guys, My girlfriend and I took possession of the keys to our new place on Friday. An old apartment, that is accross the courtyard from my place. Electricity was connected on Tuesday, when we made our final inspection. And we organised a new retailer for electricity and asked the previous owner for her NIM number, which took a few days.

Girlfriend picked up the keys and was greeted to a house with no electricity. We rang our retailer who wanted us to turn off the power at the switchboard, which was locked.
I managed to get some help and got it turned off, but they're saying it's going to be Monday or Tuesday before they can re-connect it.

What the hell is going on? If they can turn off a smart meter remotely, surely they can press a few buttons and get it turned back on just as quickly.

Are the previous retailers being nasty, and trying to get us to re-sign with them? I don't even know who they are. We flicked off the switch at like 6:30pm or something, and our retailer was not answering the phone at that point. The movers are coming in 20 mins, so we have a busy day ahead.

It would have been nice to have lighting and vacuum cleaner available, on our first 48 hours.

Any tips on what we should do? just be patient?
I'm a bit syncial but I really think the old retailer is being shifty. Is this common place? I know when I moved in here, I rang up and moved my account to the new address, and AGL claimed someone blocked the transfer. and sent me a hefty bill 4 months later.

any advice would be much appreciated. Thanks

Home & Garden

Comments

  • oscargamer on 12/12/2020 - 08:42

    Maybe talk to neighbours and see if you can use their power for your vacuum.

    Other than that, it's on your power provider.

  • [Deactivated] on 12/12/2020 - 08:53
    -5

    Best call daddy or local member of parliament, this is a bloody outrage

    • oscargamer on 12/12/2020 - 10:17
      +6

      a bloody outage you mean

      • [Deactivated] on 12/12/2020 - 10:24

        Not standing for it, how dare he have to do endure standard and reasonable service

        Im fuming right now

        • oscargamer on 12/12/2020 - 10:26

          I'm fuming also and I'm outraged for him and you and everyone else

          • [Deactivated] on 12/12/2020 - 10:36

            @oscargamer: When a premium member of society is not getting their well earned premium treatment, tears me up inside

          • MontyMacaw on 13/12/2020 - 12:13
            +1

            @oscargamer: I’m just outaged

    • SpaceFrog on 12/12/2020 - 12:38
      +1

      My dad's dead, and he wasn't one to rock the boat, So that's the type of person I am.

      • oscargamer on 12/12/2020 - 17:35
        -1

        My dad's dead and I do rock boats. Fairly sure the amount of oxygen consumed by a parent does not correlate to a person's anger levels.

  • whooah1979 on 12/12/2020 - 08:56

    We flicked off the switch at like 6:30 pm or something, and

    What is to stop you from turning the electricity back on?

    • sini180 on 12/12/2020 - 10:33

      This. Just turn it back on.

    • SpaceFrog on 12/12/2020 - 12:41

      So the smart meter read "disconnected"

      I'll see if I can gain access to it again, But it is a locked box, and I'm relying on the kindness of one of our neighbours to get access to it. I think she's busy today.

      We were instructed, to turn it off, so they can activate the service. I assume they will notify us when they have done so.

      • pjetson on 12/12/2020 - 17:13
        +1

        I agree with whooah and sini180 - if you turned something off, just turn it back on. What's the worst that can happen? It's not like the company can do anything, since they apparently don't work on the weekends.

  • elgrande on 12/12/2020 - 09:24

    accross the courtyard from my place

    Extension cable?

    • SpaceFrog on 12/12/2020 - 12:44

      up 3 stories, passed at least 3 doors, pissing off 250 other residents

      • MS Paint on 12/12/2020 - 13:11

        pissing off 250 other residents

        Wow. Is this some giant hostel or something?

  • SF3 on 12/12/2020 - 10:01

    Or get the power from the foyer/lobby/common area, using extension cord (as above).

  • avoidfullprice on 12/12/2020 - 10:54
    +3

    Have you checked your RCD is not switched off, by say the last resident?

    In my experience, electricity distributor won't turn off power between residents. Maybe they do it if the account holder hasn't paid the bills .. but if there is electricity last week then this is unlikely IMO

    What the hell is going on? If they can turn off a smart meter remotely, surely they can press a few buttons and get it turned back on just as quickly

    Not sure if that's the reason

    Are the previous retailers being nasty, and trying to get us to re-sign with them?

    The retailers can't do that themselves. Has to done through the distributor.

    • SpaceFrog on 12/12/2020 - 12:43
      +1

      All i know is that our retailer said they couldn't do anything yesterday, and we could try another retailer. It feels like they all have some sort of code between them so they can extort people for money.

      We told our retailer we were moving in on a certain date, and they really should have had the power ready to go.

      • avoidfullprice on 12/12/2020 - 12:57
        +2

        Have you located the RCD (fuse box) inside the apartment and checked it is flipped on?

        • SpaceFrog on 12/12/2020 - 16:32

          Yes fuse box was fine, smart meter clearly says "disconnected"

      • pharkurnell on 12/12/2020 - 14:05

        It feels like they all have some sort of code between them so they can extort people for money.

        Anyone got any ozb deals on foil hats?

  • OzHunterNSW on 13/12/2020 - 11:50
    -1

    Wake up boy… wake up….
    the way in which you handle this "crisis" will imprint in the mind of your partner your ability to deal with situations beyond your control.

    Can't change the tyre, so you start bashing the car with the tyre wrench. Ebay item stolen, so you start blaming the world, ranting and raving kicking the dog.

    Wake up boy… this is your opportunity…. show how calm and methodically you can handle the situation.

    Turn it into some romantic survival situation where you take charge and turn the negative into a positive with "romantic" candles strewn about, soft music emanating from your mobile, and Uber dropping off MacDonnalds.

    Look, you are not going to die… 4FS…. its a couple of days without electricity.

    Show her you are a MAN

  • avoidfullprice on 14/12/2020 - 13:26
    +1

    Is your power back up and running? What did they do to fix it?

    • SpaceFrog on 16/12/2020 - 00:30
      +1

      Power is up, We were too busy moving to do anything about it during the weekend.

      Movers were late, and were still moving things in at 9pm by candle light.

      We asked the neighbour to flick the switch on Sunday, no effect. The smart meter still said disconnected. We were told it would most likely be up by 6pm Monday, I texted the neighbour and she turned it on at 8pm.

      She stayed over at my place on Saturday night, On Sunday we mustered up enough energy to assemble the bed, and she's been sleeping there ever since.

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