In July, however, he was billed for $810.26 with CUC indicating that this was his consumption for 77 days.
His August bill, he added, amounted to $633.04 for 64 days of consumption and the due date was moved from the 23rd to the 17th.
“How does this compute in any way?” he asked.
He said he paid $247.26 on Aug. 4 and another $200 on Aug. 28 hoping to “correct” his bill.
But on Sept. 1, he said he got a delinquency notice from CUC stating that he owed $389.395.
“We are quite furious being called delinquent, when all we try is to get a wrong to be righted,” he said.
A resident from upper China Town said CUC charged them for power they have yet to consume.
The resident, who declined to be identified, said their average monthly bill was $200 but it rose to $762.67 in August.
“I am willing to pay if we are charged according to our consumption, but that’s not the case,” she said.
She said CUC didn’t honor her husband’s authorization letter for her to lodge the complaint.
CUC chief financial officer Warren Charles confirmed receiving complaints from customers regarding “inappropriate” billings.
But he explained there was a slight increase in the power rate because of the change in the Levelized Energy Adjustment Clause.
The last LEAC showed that CUC was “under collecting,” he said.
“We actually paid for more fuel than we actually billed out so then that fuel amount was adjusted to take care of the difference,” he added.
The power rate was adjusted per kwh to collect the difference, he said.
However, Warren said if there’s a big discrepancy in the current bill compared to the previous one it should be corrected.
The customer, he said, can file a complaint.
A dispute will normally be settled within 24 workings days and the correction will be reflected in the next billing cycle, he said.
“The meter readers are humans and may commit mistakes sometimes but certainty we don’t want them to overcharge anyone,” he said.
Warren said meter readers also find it hard to get into some residential houses because of the presence of dogs.
The locked gate is also another issue, he added.
In these situations, he said a meter reader will only make an estimate based on the historical usage of the customer.
But Friedle said he make sure that somebody is at home to take care of the dogs while the meter is being read.
He has also listed the dates and time of each reading.
“Are customers in good standing getting punished for other instances we dare not to ask? Can CUC publish simple guidelines for their billing practices and also adhere to them?” he asked.
