Genesis answers required

While Genesis Energy deserves credit for apologising to a Brunswick family which was unable to have power restored to its home for 10 days after the large storm this month, serious questions need to be asked about how the situation was able to arise in the first place.

Tania King and her family, which includes three children aged 5 and under, were left without power after the storm hit on March 3.

The family contacted Genesis, as they had been told they should do in the event of a power outage, but their issues remained unaddressed until power was finally restored on Wednesday night this week.

The family was given inaccurate information about the restoration of power, and, all up, the Kings rang Genesis and its after-hours service a total of five times.

Genesis Energy public affairs manager Richard Gordon has confirmed that an apology has been given to the King family, and that compensation for errors by Genesis will be offered. Genesis also plans to undertake a review of its response systems.

Kudos should be given to Genesis for at least taking these steps, which is more than some companies would do if placed in a similar spot.

Yet that shouldn't prevent a thorough examination of how exactly this problem came about.

Genesis claims that during the storm it took more than 7000 calls similar to Mrs King's.

Sure, that's a lot of phone calls.

But severe storms are nothing new, and neither is the concept that if the power goes out, power companies are going to hear about it from unhappy customers.

As large and as damaging as this month's storm was, there have been far bigger weather events, and you have to wonder how Genesis dealt with those.

Any energy retailer worth its salt needs to have appropriate mechanisms in place to deal with a sudden surge in customer inquiries, brought about by extreme weather.

If nothing else positive has come out of the King family's unfortunate experience, perhaps it may serve as a motivator for change in Genesis which means the next time Mother Nature lashes out, the company is better placed to respond to the needs of its customers.

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