Electricity utility Geneco has apologized for overcharging a customer by more than S$800 (US$560), blaming a glitch for the problem.
The privately held company apologized yesterday after Lee Jian Fa complained via Facebook that S$961 had been automatically deducted from his credit card last month when his electricity bill only came to S$72.26. Another S$64 for May’s electricity bill was deducted from the outstanding amount, the bill showed.
In a statement to Coconuts Singapore, it said S$824.21 would be refunded to Lee.
“We would like to start with an apology to Mr Lee for the inconvenience caused by this incident. An investigation has been conducted into our system and our team has identified its root cause and since rectified the glitch,” the statement said.
He went on to say the company believed it was an isolated incident.
“On whether other clients have been affected by this, we believe that this case is an isolated one, but we are in the midst of checking through our systems again to ensure that nobody else has been affected,” it added.
In Lee’s now-deleted online complaint dated May 6, he included a screenshot of his bill, showing the extra charges.
“Dear all, please do not give your credit card number to Geneco (electricity company) for automated payment. As they have secretly charged $961 to me on 8 April without my approval,” the complaint read.
“Now after paying my electricity bill [of] $72.26 for the month of April. I still have $824.21 in excess with them. That means I do not need to pay my electricity bill for the next 12 months!” he added.
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