Geneco apologises after man charged $961 for monthly electricity bill due to glitch

Electricity provider Geneco has apologised after a customer was charged $961 in his monthly bill cycle last month.

Stomper Lee said he was shocked when he received his electricity bill for April 2020.

Lee, whose payments to Geneco are automatically deducted from his credit card every month, told Stomp: "I was charged $961 on April 8 without my approval.

"After paying my electricity bill of $72.26 for the month of April. I still have $824.21 in excess with Geneco. That means I do not need to pay my electricity bill for the next 12 months!

"I called Geneco and their teller told me that I was the one who approved the transaction despite me protesting that I had never done so.

"I ended up cancelling my credit card as there was nothing the bank could do on their end.

"Good lessons learned: Never automate payments via credit card with small businesses. Always activate your SMS transaction alert for all credit card transactions and go through your statement carefully every month."

The Stomper also shared the incident on Geneco's Facebook page.

In response to Stomp queries, a Geneco spokesman said: "Firstly, we would like to start with an apology to Mr Lee ​for the inconvenience caused by this incident.

"We've done the checks and we note that a payment of $961 was made on 8 April 2020, resulting in an outstanding balance of $824.21 within our accounts.

"An investigation has been conducted into our system and our team has identified its root cause and since rectified the glitch.

"As a consumer-focused company, we put in our best efforts to continuously improve our system to deliver the best experience to our customers.

"We take this incident seriously and will continue to take all the steps and precautions to ensure that this error will not re-occur in the future.

"We are currently assisting him with the refund process to ensure that he receives the full outstanding amount from his payment."

"Once again, we would like to apologise to Mr Lee for the inconvenience caused and would like to thank him for his patience and understanding throughout this period."