Persistence is sometimes needed when bringing complaints forward.

When Laurel opened her hydro bill she was shocked to see that it had increased substantially. Her neighbours were renovating their home at the same time and she wondered if she was being billed for their hydro usage. Laurel called BC Hydro and the staff member she spoke to acknowledged that her hydro billing had indeed been switched with the billing for her neighbour. Five months and several phone calls later, including requests to speak to a supervisor, the issue remained unresolved.

Feeling that she was being treated unfairly and wanting the issue resolved, Laurel reached out to us for help.

We contacted BC Hydro to see what options were available to help Laurel resolve the billing error. Two days after we spoke to BC Hydro, Laurel received a phone call from BC Hydro’s Customer Advocacy team. They had reviewed her bill and had identified the error – Laurel had been incorrectly billed due to a mix-up with the meter codes. It seemed that this mix-up had been going on for several years but was only discovered when the new owners moved into the neighbouring duplex and began renovations using significantly more power.

Recognizing its error, BC Hydro credited Laurel nearly $200 for the overpayments she had made. BC Hydro also switched the meter readings so that Laurel would finally receive the correct bill going forward.