Mercury Energy staff will not attend tonight's meeting of angry business owners in Dunedin, as the fallout from the company's botched marketing campaign continues.
Up to 100 people are expected to attend the meeting to discuss the power company's aborted offer of drastically discounted electricity, made last month to 410 business owners across the city.
Mercury general manager James Munro, of Auckland, yesterday confirmed his staff would not attend, despite an invitation.
Instead, they would hold one-on-one meetings with individual business owners this week, offering "some face time" while discussing their situation.
Mr Munro denied the possibility of a hostile reception played any part in the decision: "To be honest, I hadn't even thought about it."
Public reaction so far had been "relatively muted", with most business owners accepting the apology.
Mercury's new retail manager, Luke Blincoe, and a pricing analyst would fly to Dunedin tonight and stay for the week to meet customers, Mr Munro said.
"And if it's not done this week, we will send them back next week."
The decision came after company representatives cold-called 410 Dunedin businesses last month offering discounts - in one case 30%, a saving of $16,000 a year - if they signed up over the phone.
Those who decided to switch providers agreed to verbal contracts over the phone and later received written confirmation from Mercury.
However, the company's representatives then contacted businesses again, saying the deal was off because of a pricing error.
Confusing Dunedin with Dannevirke meant the quotes were incorrect.
On Friday, responding to criticism, Mr Munro offered to meet businesses halfway, with revised discounts representing half the savings originally offered.
Yesterday, he said the company remained embarrassed about the mistake.
"We are making a significant offer to try and put it right."
