People without power during Cyclone Gabrielle entitled to 'credit' or 'refund' - Consumer NZ
Gabrielle
Gabrielle

People without power during Cyclone Gabrielle entitled to 'credit' or 'refund' - Consumer NZ

With the widespread outages of power, electricity, water, internet, cell phone reception and other services in cyclone-hit parts of Aotearoa - do you have to pay for them if you didn't receive them? 

Consumer NZ has produced some great advice for people impacted by Gabrielle to make sure they know what their rights are.

Speaking with Lloyd Burr on Tuesday afternoon, Consumer NZ's research team leader, Rebecca Styles, said given the circumstances, many consumers should not be charged for essential services.

"[If] consumers don't have access to electricity or Internet in the Cyclone-affected areas they should not be charged for it," Styles said.

"Once utilities are set up and up and running again, we think the utility companies should look at whether refunds or credits are appropriate in these circumstances. 

"We would hope there would be some goodwill shown to the residents that have lost power and connectivity."

When having that conversation with your service producer via phone or email, Styles said to note down the dates without power or Internet and ask them to consider a credit refund to your account.

"If your bill arrives and it's still charging for a period that you didn't have power for, then definitely get in touch with your retailer," she said.

"See what happens."

Listen to the full interview between Rebecca Styles and Lloyd Burr above.

You can also download the full interview on the Lloyd Burr Live podcast, and listen on the go. 

Download the rova app on apple or android to listen to this podcast on the go, or anywhere else you get your podcasts.