BVIEC apologises after ‘abrupt’ disconnection at local business
The BVI Electricity Corporation (BVIEC) has apologised to Nutmeg & Co after disconnecting electricity service to the Tortola-based business over what the company said was an outstanding security deposit adjustment.
The dispute unfolded publicly on social media this week after Nutmeg & Co claimed its electricity supply was cut despite being a long-standing customer with a history of paying bills on time.
In a Facebook post, the business said BVIEC informed staff that the company needed to increase its security deposit and had been notified by email. However, Nutmeg & Co said it never received the communication.
“We have been an on-time paying customer for years, and they suddenly cut us off today,” the business posted.
According to the company, staff contacted BVIEC after the disconnection and were told they needed to visit the utility’s office within 20 minutes to make payment. The business argued that no prior telephone call, Facebook notice directed to customers, online account notification or email alert had been received.
“We are a business. We are on it every single day,” the company stated, adding that the disconnection occurred “in the middle of the day, in the middle of the week, in the middle of customer transactions”.
BVIEC responded publicly and apologised for the disruption.
“We sincerely regret the frustration and disruption this situation caused, particularly during business hours and while serving your customers,” the corporation stated.
The utility said its security deposit adjustment initiative had been publicly announced on February 9 ahead of a March 9 implementation date and that information had been shared through its official communication channels. BVIEC further stated that affected customers were contacted using the information on their accounts and encouraged customers to ensure their contact details remain current.
The corporation maintained that the deposit adjustment was not intended as a penalty but was designed to ensure security deposits remained aligned with current electricity usage. BVIEC also noted that deposits are refundable when accounts are closed in good standing.
Earlier this year, BVIEC announced it would reinforce its long-standing security deposit policy following what it described as an increase in delinquent accounts. The corporation said the measure did not introduce a new fee but represented enforcement of an existing policy under its financial regulations. Updated deposits began appearing on customer bills from March 9.
The incident generated a significant reaction online, with many commenters criticising the utility’s communication methods. Several claimed they had not been notified of deposit increases, while others argued that customers with a strong payment history should not face disconnection due to deposit adjustments.
“How about send your customer service staff out to the affected businesses and homes IN PERSON, to ensure customers receive the notice and fully understand the process,” one commenter wrote.
Another customer said, “I received an email and had to go into the office to pay.”
Nutmeg & Co later posted an update stating that payment had been made at 2:41 pm but electricity had still not been restored two hours later.
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To me the most egregious thing here is that you can’t pay the deposit top up online. You have to go into the BVIEC office.
Create a special bill, add 1/3 to each of my next three bills, do something to make it easy for ME to pay. People are trying to run businesses and feed their families. In the meantime banks, utilities and government departments always want you in their building to accommodate them. Time is money people but standing in line does not pay.
To me what BVIEC is doing is very unethical.
How can you make me sign a deposit fee agreement when I signed up for service and then increase the deposit years later down the road? And threatening me with disconnection in order to force me to pay the deposit increase. This is the kind of thing that results in class action lawsuits against businesses in most countries. Increasing the deposit fee is a financial windfall for BVIEC. There are other ways to deal with delinquent customers, and they know that. What this amounts to is a criminal act against the consumer.
I’m in
I really thought they were serious abput getting the add’l fees charged. However, they neglected to add on their payment portal. You can see it stated, however we cannot pay it on the portal. All Management had to do is ask IT to make an add’l slot for DEPOSIT so we can just take care of our bills and the deposit at the same time. Naw, thats too much to do for their good standing customers, instead pay your bill online then come into their Office and wait for almost 1 hour standing im a slower than molasses line to make an adjustment deposit payment of $28.00. Mehn, i already paid y’all $200.00 about 15 years ago and hhave moved several places never owing y’all any money. Now, y’all want extra. So i hope whenever i no longer need y’all service i can get all of my money back promptly because i don’t want any story. I didn’t play when it was time to pay all this money which i really don’t understand why its needed. The bills only went up due to y’all fuel surcharge which is always more than my actual bill. I used to pay np more than $50.00 now i’m paying twice that amount and my home still has single occupancy. Guess, i might have to go back to kerosene lamp or candles if not those, then it might be wise to utilise y’all lamp post lighting.
I wish i was a different color
with a black mother and an Indian father & a white uncle
Why as a first world advanced Financial center of the Caribbean are customers going into to an office to pay an electricity bill or in fact conduct most business? It should all be online, setting up/requesting now accounts , paying bills etc. And why is a long standing account automatically cut off ? Is there no one making a leadership decision and looking into their history that shows that they are never delinquient and saying lets investigate further before cutting off ? Thats the difference between managing and leading
@ Why???
It’s the BVI, are you new here? 🙂
Oh please! We all would have heard about the implementation of security deposit from via BVIELEC official platforms, news articles and/or roadside conversations. Even so, you should have noticed an addition to your bill which would have prompted you to inquire about it. It doesn’t matter if you’re an “on-time paying customer for years”, just like everyone else, if you are delinquent with payments, you will get disconnected.
If that is the mindset then its no wonder the service is as poor as it is. If the BVIEC is not looking at itself as a business with valued customers and instead a monolopy(which it is) that can treat clients without courtesy , as soon as a alternative comes along they will soon be out of business. Its not impossible
Possibly BVIEC made a billing error and it was not on the bill.
I emailed them with a list of questions. Same standard response. But they never answered my questions on how the funds were held? Escrow or working capital? no response. This means the BVIEC is bankrupt ans struggling to maintain the business and were an interest free loan to try keep it going. Everything will fail eventually and we will still be in the dark.
If businesses and homes are up-to-date with their bills, why on earth are you increasing security deposits? Shouldn’t that be for people who don’t pay their bills on time?
The corporation needs a forensic Audit. The people working there with their bad might have the right attitude; they need to be held accountable to the same public whom they serve.
There was a time when that corporation was very liquid in recent times. What was the cause of all? Now that it struggles for money, what bad decision was made other than high salaries for management cronies?
First I heard of this, but yesterday Flow informed me that they have stopped direct debit payments, without telling customers, and that we now have to pay manually. Mine was due 5th June and already they threaten to cut me off. FCIB dont know about this.
Why are security deposits x 2 months when BVIEC cut you off after one month. The extra is not needed and provides no security to anyone.
When will se be guarenteed 100% electricity supply like the resy of the world. The fact that the island is so small should be easier to manage. In 2017 the whole grid was rebuild why is everything failing so often.
How can you afford to write off 20M in electricity for the government and cut off businesses for not paying security deposits.
There is clearly more going on in the background. What happened to the hack of the system. Did they take the money, was there a ransom paid?
There are answers needed as something does not add up.
BVIEC needs to answer these questions