Electricity bill blunder: Customer frantic after charge skyrockets in three days

An energy customer got the shock of her life when she received three different electricity bills in just three days from her provider – and she claims it's because she was too honest.

Grace Coitinho, from Sydney's west, told A Current Affair her nightmare began when she received an emailed electricity bill from Origin Energy for just under $400.

"I got the first bill of 390-something-dollars and I thought that was a bit too low," Ms Coitinho said.

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Ms Coitinho said she had been paying around $700 or $800 per quarter as a maximum up until that point.

The bill came through as an "e" for estimate after the company claimed they had unsuccessfully tried to come through her gate, however Ms Coitinho said she was home at the time.

"I thought, ok, I'll do the right thing and read my own meter," Ms Coitinho said.

Being an honest person, Ms Coitinho even photographed the reading before sending it to Origin Energy.

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"That's when I got the second bill of $1500," she said.

Frantic and in tears, Ms Coitinho called the customer help line and spoke to a man who she claims promised she would receive an amended bill.

The next bill that came through was more than $3000.

In a matter of three days, her power charges for the same quarter had gone from around $300 to $3000 - nearly ten times the original bill.

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So once again, she called the company.

"There was this lady on the phone that I could not understand a word that she was saying to me and I was trying to explain to her, step by step," she said.

Ms Coitinho said the conversation went nowhere and she now feels she's being forced to pay the $3000 - even though she claims there is no way she could have used that much electricity.

"Do I pay the three thousand? If I don't, they're going to cut my electricity off. What do I do? What do I do?"

After being a loyal customer for more than 20 years, Ms Coitinho says she is "very angry" at being treated this way.

With nowhere else to turn, she contacted A Current Affair.

Another man who recently had his own power nightmare was Peter Haylock.

He told A Current Affair he had a hard time finding someone to communicate with from Origin Energy in regard to his faulty meter.

Mr Haylock claimed he was overcharged $90,000 over the past 15 years.

"You just can't argue with them... by duress you have to pay for that," Mr Haylock said.

"It's almost criminal."

When Origin Energy learned of Mr Haycock's dilemma, they promised to rectify his bill and send him a refund.

A Current Affair can reveal Origin was apologetic and Mr Haycock has now received a refund since our last story.

But Ms Coitinho is still caught between a rock and a hard place and said in her circumstance, honestly was not the best policy.

"You try to be honest and this is what it got me," she said.

Since Origin Energy was contacted in regards to Ms Coitinho's claims, a spokesperson told A Current Affair in a statement: "Mrs Coitinho today provided Endeavour Energy access to her property to get an accurate read so we can help resolve this with her."

Statement from Origin spokesperson:

The network company Endeavour Energy has been unable to access Mrs Coitinho's property for some time to read her electricity meter due to a locked gate, so recent bills have been based on readings provided by her to us.

Mrs Coitinho today provided Endeavour Energy access to her property to get an accurate read so we can help resolve this with her.

For any customers, ensuring network companies can access the property to read the meter each quarter is the best way to make sure each bill accurately reflects energy usage for the period."