Meter Installation Delay

[Paul1]

Hi I have come here in desperation because I cannot find contact numbers for Activestream.

I am a level 2 ASP with a customer which I am moving the meter box from an enclosed veranda to the outside wall. The main course of events are:

• 30 Aug: I put in an application to AGL to have the meter moved/changed to the new meterbox.
• I rang (Professional people at your Philippines call centre) a few days after putting in the application and was given the install date of 5 Oct
• On 4 Oct the customer receive an SMS: Hi, AGL has now sent the request for your meter exchange and will be completed on an upcoming scheduled date within the next 30 business days. However, with your consent, our technician can visit your property sooner, anytime during a 2 week window starting from 5 business days from today. We expect this visit will take up to two hours, and your electricity supply will be disrupted for up to 30 minutes. Please reply 'YES' within the next 2 business days to confirm the earlier schedule. If no response received,
  AGL will provide you with a specific date within the next 30 business days in
  You can also view site access and fee information online by visiting https://community.agl.com.au/t5/FAQs/Meter-Exchanges/ta-p/6882. If you have any questions regarding this, please call AGL New Connections on 1800 680 430
• The customer sent the Yes, I asked him how do I know when to turn up.
• On 5 Oct I rang the call centre and said that you cannot just turn up I need to be there to do the consumers main changeover to the new meterbox. They said it was a mistake and gave me a new date of 5 Nov.
• 22 Oct I rang to confirm 5 Oct she confirmed the appointment and gave me a job number and said I would receive a conformation SMS.
• The conformation did not arrive.
• Today 5 Nov I rang at 8.00am to confirm the appointment, she said that the job had been cancelled by Activestream, to say that I became extremely angry would be an understatement. The Professional lady Zara at your Philippines call centre did a very good job of looking after someone that went ballistic after she told me the news and that the new date is now 23 Nov. I asked to speak with someone in Australia at Activestream she gave me a number which ended up being a PlusES call centre in Australia, they gave me another number for Activesteam which was another number for PlusES with went to a voice mail.
• Who can I ring in Australia to confirm this appointment, there are no numbers listed for Activestream. How can I organise to get a concrete conformation of the appointment? How can I be sure that the meter installer will turn up?
• What I would really like is permission to move the existing disc meter to the new meterbox and Activestream can change the meter when they like.
• Also I would like to know, if I had not rung this morning and had livened up the new box to the SPD/MPD moved circuits to the new box, sat around all day and I rang late in the afternoon asking where the meter installer is, how would I have provided power to the customer as I would have removed the old consumers mains and done other irreversible work?

Sincerely Paul 0481 599 902

[THL]

Hi Paul, 

We appreciate you taking the time to provide this feedback and bringing this to our attention. I can certainly appreciate the frustration here and it definitely sounds like a lot of time has been spent to even get the ball rolling. 

We're aware that metering coordinators are currently experiencing significant delays in completing their work orders. This has subsequently caused a considerable discrepancy between the time frames quoted by AGL versus the true time frame in which these jobs will be completed by the metering coordinator.
 
We'd like to take this opportunity to apologise for this poor experience, and advise that you can contact our Digital Metering team on 1300 669 245 if you require further assistance moving forward. 

Kind regards, 

Le

[Paul1]

I do appreciate that the system of the so call 'power of choice' and meter roll out that has been set up by the NSW government is a complete stuff up. All I would like is written confirmation of the install date, I have only got, when I have rang, a virbal date that has been cancelled without telling me. How do I receive a written confirmation of the booking, SMS, email anything. I have been told I will not get confirmation until the date of the booking and have not been told of the procedure. Do I just wake up on 23 Nov and hang around at home waiting for the call, or do I go to the job and sit and wait for the call. I can not start the job without confirmation as the customer will be left without power if I start and do non-reversible work. This is what would have happened if I had done the work on the previously confirmed date that was cancelled without telling me.

cheers Paul

[THL]

Hi Paul1, 

Thanks for your response!

I completely understand everything you've put across which makes total sense. As a retailer, it's frustrating also for us due to the fact that it's also outside of our control due to the issues with their time-frames.

Once again, I apologise for this and can only ask that you keep in contact with our Digital Metering team on 1300 669 245 for follow-up on any issues relating to this.

Kind regards,

Le