A Wellington landlord incensed by a meter reader who defecated in a bag and left it on his apartment doorstep has had his claim for compensation knocked back from $200,000 to $800. Genesis Energy said the meter reader was caught short while at the apartment and could not access the toilet, so "with a lack of judgment" used a supermarket bag and "unfortunately" left it behind. The company apologised to the female tenant who found the unwanted parcel when she returned home and described the incident as "very serious and regrettable".
She accepted the apology and a gift and sought no further action. However apartment owner Errol Anderson, who lives in Australia, pursued the matter and lodged a claim with Genesis for $130,000 compensation. Genesis public affairs manager Richard Gordon said when this was not accepted by Genesis, Mr Anderson increased his claim to $150,000 and then, days later, to $200,000.
The company did not dispute the seriousness of the incident but felt the claim made by Mr Anderson was excessive and referred him to the Electricity and Gas Complaints Commission. At that point Mr Anderson reduced his claim to $20,000 to fall within Commissioner Judi Jones' jurisdiction. Ms Jones agreed the incident was unpleasant but ruled that a compensation payment of $800 was reasonable.
Genesis was ready and willing to make the payment, but Mr Anderson had not accepted it, Mr Gordon said. "It was an error of judgment by the meter reader who subsequently lost his job. There was no malicious intent. It was a pretty sad thing to happen at the end of the day."
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