Check Your Utility Bills ： Foreigner Finds Extra Fees for。。。

Source: OT-Team(G),国家电网报

  Recently, a foreigner discovered that his electricity account in China had been continuously charged for electricity fees, despite having already left the country. What caused this issue?

  On November 12, Huang Lin, the power grid manager at the Power Supply Center in Chongqing, received a call from the customer service hotline 95598. The caller, a foreign national, had noticed that even though he had left Chongqing more than a year ago, his third-party electricity payment platform continued to deduct electricity fees. The foreigner reached out to 95598 for assistance.

  Huang Lin immediately called the foreigner , Mo Alim (pseudonym), to understand the situation in detail. It turned out that several years ago, when Mo Alim was working in China, he had rented a property through a leasing company. To simplify electricity bill payments, he had linked his account to a third-party payment platform. However, after returning to his home country, he forgot to unlink the electricity payment account. Meanwhile, the leasing company continued renting the property to new tenants after Mo Alim vacated it, and the electricity charges for the new tenants were still being deducted from Mo Alim's third-party payment account.

  Upon learning the full story, Huang Lin quickly checked the billing records in the marketing system and contacted the third-party payment platform. The platform's customer service team reviewed the payment history and, after verification by all parties, confirmed that from November 2023 to the present, Mo Alim had been charged for electricity a total of nine times, amounting to 5,490.16 RMB.

  Huang Lin then contacted the leasing company to explain the situation. After verification, the company promptly processed a refund for the mistakenly charged fees and returned the deducted electricity charges to Mo Alim's account on the same day.

  "That's so thoughtful! I didn't expect that even though I'm not in China, this issue could be resolved so quickly," Mo Alim expressed his gratitude to Huang Lin via a network call and text message.

    This incident serves as a reminder for everyone to regularly check the accounts linked to their utility and other service payments. By doing so, you can avoid unexpected charges and ensure your accounts are properly updated, especially if you've moved or changed services.