12:00a.m. 17th July 2008

| By Carolyn Tucker

Owner of the Yandina hotel Richard Travers is seeing red over his power woes. Photo: Warren Lynam

It is enough to drive anyone to drink.

After two years jumping through hoops to obtain council approvals to renovate the historic Yandina hotel, owner Richard Travers thought the hard yards were behind him.

He didn’t expect to encounter a whole new tangle of red tape to upgrade the pub’s power supply.

Mr Travers said he had been trying for the past month to have his supplier, AGL, provide Energex with the necessary paperwork to enable the work to be carried out, but an "in house problem" was thwarting his efforts.

He said the supplier had been "unable to recognise him as a customer" and suggested he contact the ombudsman about his dilemma.

“It’s crazy,” Mr Travers said.

“Why should I have to do that because they can’t get their act together?

“Apparently they cannot find us in their system, despite the fact that we have been paying them for the last 18 months. I bet if I stopped paying my bills they’d realise who I was.”

Mr Travers said he had hoped to open a new drive-through bottle shop on Friday and install much needed security surveillance but his plans were on hold due to the debacle.

He said Energex was ready, willing and able to connect the additional power supply but was waiting on receipt of the correct information from AGL.

“I’ve got a whole new meter box but they can’t even give me temporary supply,” Mr Travers said.

“I’ve got a new transformer just lying on the grass outside because I can’t get it connected.

“It’s farcical.”

A spokesman for AGL told the Daily it was investigating the matter and was confident the issue could be resolved in the "next day or so".

“AGL apologises to Mr Travers for the frustration he has experienced,” he said.

However Independent member for Nicklin Peter Wellington said Mr Travers’s problem with AGL was just the tip of the iceberg and his office had been inundated with complaints about the company.

Peter Wellington said he struggled to understand how AGL could be a provider when its service was so poor.

“It’s just a shambles - not a week goes by when we’re not referring someone to the Energy Ombudsman,” Mr Wellington said.

“We’ve heard complaints across the spectrum – pensioner rebates not being acknowledged, accounts being sent to the wrong people and others who had not received their accounts.

“It seems the handover has been a schmozzle, AGL hasn’t been able to provide the service it said it would, and the government also has something to answer for there.”

Mr Wellington said he had received excellent feedback from constituents about the Ombudsman’s handing of their complaints but questioned why the office should have to be involved at all.

“I take my hat off to the staff in that office but consumers shouldn’t have to rely on the ombudsman because AGL is not up to scratch.

“It’s a waste of time and resources.”