Residents in the Tumara Park subdivision in Burwood say they have been left frustrated and stressed by ongoing billing and customer service issues with gas supplier Elgas.

The company took over reticulated gas supply from Vector Ongas in February, assuring households there would be “no change” to the service.

But since then, residents say they have faced overcharging, missing invoices, inconsistent rates and a lack of communication.

One resident said she repeatedly asked for monthly statements, only to find she had overpaid her account without realising.

“I was charged a paper bill fee for a bill I never received and discovered a duplicate service charge on my account,” she said. “It is impossible to keep track when they will not send the proper statements.”

She said other neighbours had also overpaid without knowing, while some had been billed at different gas rates. “We are all just frustrated and sick of the lack of customer service. They have admitted to some of us that their system has failed, but they have not communicated that to customers or explained how they will fix it.”

At a residents’ meeting last month, neighbours compared invoices and said they had been charged at varying rates, with some billed 20 cents a litre more than others.

Others described confusing invoices with different measurement units including kilowatt hours, megajoules and litres.

Long-time resident Dave said the transition from Vector Ongas had been “a nightmare” despite assurances of continuity. “The invoicing has been a mess from day one, with service charges missed, backdated, or duplicated,” he said. “When I contacted them about the pricing disparity, I was told even their analysts couldn’t work out how it happened.”

Dave said he and others laid a complaint with Utilities Disputes Ltd, which resulted in Elgas offering credits and waiving some back charges. But the problems continued. “The invoices are near impossible to read, sometimes the GST is missing from line items, and statements contradict invoices,” he said. “We ended up cancelling direct debit because it was the only way to make sure we were paying what we actually owed.”

Another resident, Gary Manch, said the situation had been especially hard for pensioners in the neighbourhood. “It’s causing a lot of stress, both from a service point of view and financially, where consistent billing is not happening,” he said. “They have a complete monopoly over reticulated gas here and seem happy to ride roughshod over residents.”

Residents say they are now considering compiling spreadsheets to compare rates and invoices across the community to better understand the discrepancies.

They also want to know whether households in other subdivisions across Christchurch with reticulated gas are experiencing the same issues.

Despite multiple calls and emails, residents say they have had little response from Elgas beyond slow replies and vague promises.

“They could have avoided all of this if they had simply communicated the problems they were having,” one resident said. “Instead, they have left their customers in the dark and feeling ignored.”

In a statement sent to chrislynchmedia.com by Elgas through its public relations firm, the company said “We are aware of an increase in billing queries from Elgas customers in Tumara Park.

 “We are committed to answering and resolving all enquiries individually. We are also reviewing existing processes and systems to improve the future experience of our customers.

 “We have assigned a dedicated person to support customers. They can be contacted at retic@elgas.co.nz and we will reply as soon as possible.

 All gas supplies continue uninterrupted” The statement read.