When the Watchdog Sleeps: EWON Complaints – The Ombudsman That Protects Power Companies, Not Consumers

Most organisations strive to avoid their names being brought into disrepute by the way they handle complaints. Unfortunately, my recent dealings with the Energy & Water Ombudsman NSW (EWON) have left me questioning whether its processes serve the interests of consumers as effectively as they should. Many other small business owners have raised similar concerns through #EWONComplaints and #EnergyDisputes forums.

The background

On 8 February 2025, our company’s Surry Hills office was damaged by fire and has been unusable since. Because the premises – not just us, but an entire floor – are unoccupied, we have not been using any electricity there.

Despite notifying our energy retailer, Powershop, that no electricity was being consumed, it has continued to issue bills – at rates higher than when the office was in daily use. 

This prompted me to lodge a formal complaint with EWON, the independent scheme that is meant to help resolve such disputes.

The problem

While my initial experience with EWON was encouraging, the handling of my case since then has been troubling. In my view, key evidence has been overlooked, critical correspondence has not been meaningfully addressed and significant facts purposefully ignored, and the process has become bogged down in technicalities rather than focusing on the straightforward reality that no electricity could have been consumed after March 5, when the power supply to our floor was cut off.

Cases like this are increasingly cited in #NSWEnergyComplaints and #ElectricityBillingProblems, highlighting the gap between what EWON promises and what it delivers.

I provided EWON with written confirmation from the project manager overseeing construction works at our building, who clearly stated that the main feed to our level had been terminated. 

This, beneath, is the critical evidence, in an email from Kevin O’Neill, that project manager responsible for the remedial construction work being carried out at 35 Buckingham Street, stating unequivocally that it, “terminated the main feed to level three to make safe the works on that floor. This work was completed on March 05, 2025.

Yet, instead of this being accepted as evidence, the resolution offered so far has struck me as inadequate and unconvincing.

This pattern mirrors other #EWONReviews circulating online, in which consumers allege #OmbudsmanFail and poor accountability.

Bizarrely, in EWON’s representative’s reply, while I had referred to the evidence supporting our case being made by the project manager working on fixing the property, they made reference to a “property developer.” 

This is clearly yet another nonsense, written by someone not thinking clearly at all about what they are writing. 

What property developer keen to move on is likely to have any interest in a building it completed over 20 years ago and which has been in daily operation every day since?

I closed that letter by stating:

“Against this evidence, the resolution you have presented to us is simply laughable and not good enough, and I would be happy to stand up in any court in the land in our defence against Powershop’s despicable efforts to steal from us…

“Sorry, but I am not impressed by my dealings to date with EWON, and having done my research, I now know where to complain. As a former copy editor on the Australian Financial Review newspaper, I also know extremely well how the media works, so if Powershop comes after me, I will make this embarrassing spectacle public. Somehow, I can’t see this doing you or EWON any favours, either.”

Why this matters

Consumers rely on EWON to hold energy retailers accountable and to ensure fair treatment.

Yet, when #PowershopComplaints and #PowershopOvercharging claims are left unresolved, small businesses like mine remain exposed to unfair practices.

On its own website, EWON says: “We plan our activities and measure our success against six industry-standard benchmarks: accessibility, independence, fairness, accountability, efficiency and effectiveness.”

If its processes, however, fail to consider straightforward evidence properly, then small businesses like mine are left vulnerable to being charged for services we have not and can not have used.

I am publishing this account because I believe that experiences like mine raise broader questions about whether EWON is fulfilling its mandate to protect consumers. And heaven help those less able than I am – the aged, the illiterate, those whose first tongue isn’t English, the indigenous, and so on – to hold its shortcomings to account in defence of their own interests.

#EWON, #EWONComplaints, #EWONReview, #EWONNSW, #EnergyOmbudsman, #EnergyComplaints, #Powershop, #PowershopComplaints, #PowershopOvercharging, #NSWEnergyComplaints, #ConsumerRights, #BillingDisputes, #EnergyAccountability, #SmallBusinessRights, #HoldPowerToAccount

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Another letter of anger to Powershop, dated May 5, 2025

Today, I posted this to the three executives named beneath, as it is simply not worthy of being our energy supplier.

As not one of you – Tim Olsen, Michael Benveniste or Kristen Goodgame – replied to my email of complaint of March 31, I will be taking it to Energy & Water Ombudsman NSW (EWON)

Mr Olsen/ Mr Benveniste/ Ms Goodgame

On the above date, as I am being ripped off by Powershop, I wrote the letter to you, beneath. Yet, as, instead of solving my problem, you have continued to make it worse, unless one of you replies to me by the end of today – that is, by 6pm, Monday, May 5, 2025 –  advising me as to how you intend to solve my problem, I will be copying this correspondence to EWON and beginning the process of replacing Powershop entirely as our supplier.

If your complacency with angry customers is such that you feel you have no need to respond and are prepared to let them walk away, so be it.

If otherwise, however, in anticipation, I look forward to your prompt reply.

Graham Lauren

0416 171724

 

Unless Powershop sorts out its possibly fraudulent ineptitude in its management of our accounts, we will be leaving it entirely as our supplier, and promoting our dissatisfaction to the media

 

I have long been far from happy with Powershop as a supplier, but I am now disgusted at its ineptitude in managing our accounts, for reasons I outline beneath.

I currently have two accounts with Powershop:

For our office, for Shiro Architects, at 308/35 Buckingham Street, Surry Hills NSW 2010:  806727253

For our home, at 301 2 Shirley Street, Alexandria NSW 2015: 831047257

 

First problem:

On Thursday, 20 March, I received an email without an invoice attached referring to an account numbered 833919141 – nothing to do with us at all – telling me: Just a heads up – there’s a payment of $175.08 overdue on your electricity account. You’ll need to make payment by 31 March 2025. It has links embedded in the page to make payments, but it appears entirely fraudulent. 

At best, If this is not just a Powershop con, it appears to suggest that your systems may have been hacked and your security compromised in managing your customers’ financial interests. 

As this is extremely bad and embarrassing news, if this is the case, this is something both your customers and the media need to know about, which is of course what will happen – I used to work for the Australian Financial Review, so I know exactly how this works.

 

Second problem:

On 25 March 2025, I received an email telling me: Powershop 806727253 Account has $606.73 owing. 

On 25 March, I then received another email telling me that this amount had gone up to $682.89, and this extra amount accounted for the period 8 February 2025 – 8 March 2025. 

Yet, on March 13, I had called Powershop to advise its representative that because our neighbour’s office on our floor at 35 Buckingham Street had experienced a fire on February 8, our office would be unusable for a minimum of six months, meaning that if we got billed for any usage after this date, it would be fraudulent. It appears that this is exactly what has occurred.

On 25 March, I received third email from Powershop telling me:

Please be advised we have issued you two bills today.

You have recently advised there was a fire at site on 07/02/25, so we have estimated usage up to this date, and manually created your next bill with zero usage.

This is manifestly untrue.

 

Third problem:

On Friday, March 28, I then received an email – to my personal email address, nothing to do with my business – saying:

You left a little something behind

Hi Shiro Architects Pty Ltd,

You’ve still got a credit of $659.10 on your closed Powershop account. Get in touch on 1800 462 668 and we’ll help get you reunited with your cash.

However, although we may well do so when we sell our office, which may occur later this year, we have not closed our account, so why I have received this message is a mystery.

Please explain by reply why your systems are so broken and sort out this mess at your end, or it is extremely likely that we will be moving our household account in the very near future from Powershop, too.  

And I will relish publicising the story of your broken systems on my own web site, Shonkr.Com, which exists precisely to discourage others from doing business with shonky suppliers.

I look forward to your prompt reply as to how you will resolve this problem for me.

Graham Lauren

0416 171724