No mobile phone cannot change plan without supplying a mobile number!!

[CustomerX]

I wish to change my plans for electricity and gas BUT I cannot do this without providing a mobile telephone number.

I do not have a mobile number to provide to AGL. I cannot even view other plans.

Does this mean I have to go to another provider?

[Natalie-AGL]

Hello @CustomerX, 

Thank you for taking in the time to reach out to us. 

I am sorry to hear that you are having trouble changing your energy plan online and I can appreciate how frustrating this must be. 

If you only have an energy account, you should typically be able to change your plans without needing to provide a mobile number. However, I appreciate you bringing this matter to our attention and I would be more than happy to take a further look into this and assist you with changing your energy plans. I'll send you a private message and get some details from you. 

Kind Regards, 

Natalie 

[ExCustomer]

Hi CustomerX,

Thanks for reaching out. I left AGL as I found them completely inflexible.

They were charging me for paper bills and also for paying my account at the post office.

I don't understand how companies can get away with that. They charge enough for power and gas and their prices don't justify charging for bills and paying at the post office. It was better when power and gas was government owned and operated.

Go to this website and compare other retailers:

https://compare.energy.vic.gov.au/

Yours sincerely, ExCustomer.

[ExCustomer]

Oh, and it appears that Natalie didn't really answer your question.

If you want to contact them, call their bill inquiries number 131245 and ask for the Resolution Centre.

It is located in Australia and you don't have to put up with the apparently scripted responses from the off-shore call centre.

[NeilC]

@Natalie-AGL,

CustomerX stated that they had Gas and Electricity accounts which does not make your reply applicable.

Now I did some testing using our account.

In an Australian standard phone number there is 10 digits, for a mobile it starts with 04 then has 8 more digits, for a home phone it is similar having an area code (2 digits) and then a 8 digit home number.

The authentication that  AGL uses to confirm that it is a mobile number is simply that the number starts with 04 and has a total of 10 digits.

Now this is a valid statement to confirm that it is possibly a mobile number but does not check the number.

I also found that if I entered the full mobile number with the international number +61 412345678 that the number was changed to 0412345678 automatically, but if I entered +61 0412345678 the number was not accepted.

Area   Code Region           State or Territory

02	Central East	New South Wales & Australian Capital Territory
03	South East	Victoria & Tasmania
04	Mobile Telephones	Australia-wide
07	North East	Queensland
08	Central & West	Western Australia, South Australia & Northern Territory

Above is the area codes for all states in Australia, you can see that 04 is designated as a mobile phone number, therefore if you put in a home number 0312345678 your system should then work out that the number is a home number and allow the number to be entered.

This of course, is really the best contact number not a mobile number and your system should be changed to reflect that.

So when you go to Contact Details you should be asked for Best Contact Number and the system should accept that.

[NeilC]

@ExCustomer 

I would like to point out that in your account settings under "eBilling" it states 'Avoid paper bill fees and reduce paper use'  by turning on eBilling, from memory it is about $1.50 per bill.

Also AGL does not set any fee for payment through any method and actually warns you on your bill that:

~ You may have to pay a fee of $3.20 (incl. GST) if you pay your bill in person at the Post Office. ^Payment processing fees may apply to the total payment amount (incl.GST) for debit cards - Visa 0.14%, Mastercard 0.30% and credit cards - Visa 0.65%, Mastercard 0.78%. Debit and credit card payments via Post BillPay 0.49%.

The above fees are set by the banking groups and are only passed on if you use those methods, please note that besides the $3.20 Post BillPay charges you more for Debit and Credit Cards as well.

I personally use BPAY direct from my Bank Account, don't have to line up, don't pay any extra fees and can do it anytime.

In fact we pay AGL every fortnight $22.50 which is normally enough to keep our account in credit ($282.36 at the moment), our last bill was $140 for the quarter, in a Quarterly Billing cycle there are 6 fortnights, so $140 divided by 6 is $23.33 slightly above the $22.50 but covered by the credit.

As to pricing, it is up to individuals to manage their electricity accounts and I am glad that you have found the Victorian Equivalent of the Federal Governments https://www.energymadeeasy.gov.au/  website.

No, I don't work for AGL, only try and help people that access these pages with facts to help them.