Temporary builders supply - don't use Contact Energy!!

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SumnerBoy

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#289007 6-Aug-2021 10:43

Hey all,

Just a word of warning. I am about to start a new build and have had to get a new supply connection (we demo'ed the old house). I am with Contact at my current place so told the lines company to use Contact for the new connection also, to keep things simple.

I should have checked the rates.

Nothing has started on site yet, so there is an unmetered connection sitting there doing nothing while I wait for building consent to be issued.

I just received my first bill from Contact... for 53 days... $280!!! They are charging a flat daily charge of $4.595 which is utterly ridiculous.

I wrote them an email asking for it to be reviewed, as I was not even building yet, but was told the bill stands and "sorry, not sorry".

I have since switched to Meridian which is about 1/4 the price - and much more reasonable.

If you are building then do your research and don't use Contact!!

Ben

vexxxboy

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#2756081 6-Aug-2021 11:32

personally i wouldn't use Meridian either, i save $80 a month leaving them and going to Pulse.

Common sense is not as common as you think.

SumnerBoy

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#2756082 6-Aug-2021 11:33

For temp builders supply?

outdoorsnz

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#2756089 6-Aug-2021 11:42

Got caught with that helping out on a building project! You have your electrician, local inspector, lines company and power company for temp connection. And fees for everyone.

Then you get that all over again when it comes time to hook up new house.

Problem is they class this as your 2nd home, so you have to pay a high daily rate. Rates vary according to the plan they put you on. But that does sound excessive. From memory power shop were about $60 pm!

sparkz25

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#2756104 6-Aug-2021 12:22

Is it in town or rural?

What I have been doing for some of my rural clients is installing a freestanding lockable pillar bolted to a concrete plinth at the end of the driveway on the boundary, and installing a Small surface mount switchboard in there then livening that on a permanent supply.

This eliminates a disconnection fee for removing the BTS and reconnecting and re-inspecting for the permanent supply, also provides power for gates and so on, but then also allows us to run the sub mains to the house or shed at a later date and still have power at the site.

This one is installed right next to the Service Pillarbox about 1m away, with spare ducts that go into a pit that has been installed to make it accessible for future use when they start building the house and the shed.

Edit: Also get it livened on the cheapest plan that you can get in your area, in this case, this was contact and the mete charge was still $50 a month while not being used, have since changed to EOL as their rate was cheaper for this area.

SumnerBoy

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#2756105 6-Aug-2021 12:25

This is in town, Christchurch. My sparky has installed a similar looking box, just without the meter (by the looks). But I don't know enough about this stuff to compare any further.

Scott3

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#2756129 6-Aug-2021 13:04

Not familiar with building supplies, but $4.595 / day for an unmetered connection doesn't sound bad at all.

unmetered essentially means unlimited. And the power company need to cover the cost for sites that go nuts with power use (lots of big old floodlights left on 24/7, heater in a storage area 24/7 to try and manage moisture damage etc.

Any unlimited plan is going to be a poor deal for somebody who is connected, but not actually using it.

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Daynger

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#2756337 6-Aug-2021 19:57

Whenever we do a BTS it is a metered supply, never had anyone come back to me with large costs like this.

In Auckland and Waikato.

SumnerBoy

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#2756340 6-Aug-2021 20:18

I built a house 10yrs ago and had an unmetered supply. It was around $20/month. Reasonable and happy to pay it. Couldn't believe my eyes when I saw this bill from Contact.

Volt

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#2756403 7-Aug-2021 09:16

Iv'e done what Sparkx has at my own property, for the same reasons. I have a fibre pair to it as well for a network switch to connect gate intercom, cameras and an AP.

Incidentally my 3 phase 63A metered supply is only costing me 35c per day availability (low user as house is not yet built), that's with Meridian on the Powerco network.

snnet

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#2756637 8-Aug-2021 03:59

Contact also have an extremely annoying process for installation of meters for temporary and permanent supplies (at least in auckland) - the temp supplies they demand that delta installs the meter and you have to try and get a seperate inspection - a lot of inspectors don't like doing the inspection because they don't get paid what other retailers pay them, it just gets messy. As an electrician I'll definitely be telling people not to list contact as their retailer, at least until the permanent supply is connected and inspected

SumnerBoy

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#2756640 8-Aug-2021 06:46

Funny you mention that, it was a complete ball ache getting everything connected. For exactly the reason you say, they wouldn't do anything unless Delta did the connection.

It was such a mess, in the end the lines company i originally engaged just did the work and livened it up. And everything went thru fine. Sounds like a bit of under handed-ness going on.

Painful to have to deal with tho. Yet another reason to steer clear of Contact tho.

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sparkz25

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#2756643 8-Aug-2021 07:49

Contact, in general, a bunch of ....... to deal with, they take it upon themselves to put through a disconnection after you have changed providers and have notified them.

and getting through to someone to sort out the issue was a mission in itself, 3 hours I spent trying to sort it out, even the tech that turned up to the site was told to leave and not come back as we had changed providers (even had Bills to prove it), in this case, he drove around the block and then waited and pulled the fuses upon contacts instructions.

In all honesty, it would have been quicker and easier for me to re-liven and then follow it up later as it cost me 5k in damages, and the best part of a day to fix what they had done as all my UPS's had died, The lines company had no idea that contact had authorized this either as they were my first point of call.

snnet

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#2756891 8-Aug-2021 20:19

SumnerBoy: Funny you mention that, it was a complete ball ache getting everything connected. For exactly the reason you say, they wouldn't do anything unless Delta did the connection.

It was such a mess, in the end the lines company i originally engaged just did the work and livened it up. And everything went thru fine. Sounds like a bit of under handed-ness going on.

Painful to have to deal with tho. Yet another reason to steer clear of Contact tho.

yes, absolute nightmare. We made it known to them and one of the representives said it was under review- apparently their solution is that delta will now also inspect. This also did not improve things at all, we still ended up having to sort it out ourselves