Synergy debacle repeats: Energy agency forced to apologise for failing to take power bill payments again

Thousands of Synergy customers have been hit with a direct debit debacle for the second time in a year, as the energy agency was forced to apologise to account holders for again failing to take payments for electricity bills. In an email sent to about 10,000 customers who had direct debits fail last month, Synergy said while accounts had been credited with a payment, they still owed money for their bills. Instead, the power agency will try to take the payments again from next week. “We wanted to inform you about an issue we encountered . . . with the financial institution that processes your direct debit payments for your Synergy bill,” the email reads. “This issue resulted in your scheduled direct debit payment failing. However, a credit for the equivalent amount was still applied to your Synergy account. “The issue with the financial institution’s payment processing system affecting the direct debit payment has been rectified, and future direct debit payments will be processed as normal in line with our agreement with you.” A Synergy spokeswoman said the agency would forgive the payments owed by those considered to be facing hardship. “Synergy is aware about 10,000 customers have not been correctly billed due to a third-party error,” the spokeswoman said. “No attempt will be made to deduct the amount owing from hardship customers. “While we appreciate this is frustrating, customers have been and will only be billed for electricity that has been used.” The error comes after a similar issue over a month last year where the joint State and Federal-funded power bill credits were eaten up by a double direct debit. For more than 15,000 Synergy customers, planned direct debits were not taken between May and July, forcing the agency to take a double payment in August. In this case, customers also incorrectly had a credit for the amount applied to their account, making it appear as though their bill had been paid. The timing meant many customers lost most to all of their $350 power bill credit as a result of the failure. Shadow energy minister Steve Thomas said the double blunder by Synergy was concerning for the billion-dollar agency’s reputation in the community. “It’s the old story of fool me once, shame on you. fool me twice, shame on me,” he said. “It’s an embarrassment when it happens twice, and so surely Synergy has the capacity to get this done. “Trust will evaporate in Synergy’s direct debit process. This is the second time in seven months that Synergy has messed this up. “It has the greatest impact, in my view, on people who struggle to pay their power bills and who are most likely to use the direct debit system and once again, they’re left struggling to manage their budgets because Synergy can’t get the bills sorted out on time.”