A Dunedin man is burning up over his gas company’s failure to deliver a new gas bottle even though he ordered it more than a month ago.
Peter Dunn, who ordered a new gas bottle with Elgas in late November, said he had been given several assurances that the gas bottle would arrive, but so far the promises have been empty.
"They say it’s going to arrive on such and such a day, but it never arrives."
Mr Dunn was particularly aggrieved because on four separate occasions, he had to wait all day for the gas bottle delivery man, but they never arrived at their doorstep.
"So four times somebody stayed home all day waiting for them and they never arrived.
"So I mean, it’s just unbelievable.
"It’s like Waiting for Godot or something, except in this case, it’s waiting for the gas man."
Mr Dunn said it was incredibly frustrating, because he used gas for cooking and heating water.
"It’s one of those simple, essential things."
Mr Dunn is not the only unsatisfied Elgas customer — another person approached the Otago Daily Times complaining they have been waiting three weeks for a replacement gas bottle.
An Elgas spokesman explained the situation.
"Elgas deliveries to the local region have been impacted by staff shortages.
"We appreciate our customers’ patience as we work through these challenges.
"We are proactively shifting resources to meet local demand and expect service to return to normal shortly."
Elgas strongly encouraged customers to avoid handling 45kg home gas cylinders themselves, the spokesman said.
"This is best left to our people who are trained in safely connecting and disconnecting these bottles and conduct leak checks when exchanging cylinders."
