{"id":22232,"date":"2024-10-07T15:53:06","date_gmt":"2024-10-07T05:53:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.originenergy.com.au\/blog\/?p=22232"},"modified":"2024-10-07T16:01:05","modified_gmt":"2024-10-07T06:01:05","slug":"fred-meets-fred","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.originenergy.com.au\/blog\/fred-meets-fred\/","title":{"rendered":"Fred meets Fred"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Our energy specialists speak to hundreds of Aussies every day. But when Melbourne team member Fred answered Karen\u2019s call, he could never have imagined what would happen next\u2026 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Karen had a little lamb<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Let’s rewind a bit and introduce our lovely customer, Karen. Karen and her partner Steve own a sheep farm in regional South Australia. Having always wanted to be a farmer, Karen is in her element in the paddocks, taking care of the sheep, hand-rearing baby orphans and giving each of them their own name \u2014 they even follow her around the property. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As you can imagine, there’s no shortage of work when it comes to running a farm, and shearing season is when the year-round hard yakka really pays off. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

With 3000+ sheep having to be shorn three times per year for their top-quality wool, which is sold at auction and used both here in Australia and overseas (some of it may even end up in the finest fashion houses in Milan), this income is what keeps sheep farmers, like Karen and Steve, in business. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A critical factor come shearing time? You guessed it, electricity. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Karen names all of her sheep and even hand-rears baby orphans<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Getting energy right for our customers<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

A flustered Karen first reached out to us when a metering issue \u2013 due to a mix up with the neighbouring property \u2013 threatened to put their whole shearing season in jeopardy. And who should answer that call but our very own superstar, Fred. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fred set to work wrangling the complex metering issue \u2013 working closely with Karen, SA Power Networks and several different members of the Origin team, working tirelessly to ensure the new meters were installed correctly and power was restored to the shed in time for the shearers\u2019 arrival. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Our Melbourne team member, Fred.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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An unexpected friendship blossomed<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

As Karen and Fred worked together over many weeks, Karen grew fond of him and after one exchange even remarked that he should, \u201ccall his mum when you hang up and tell her she should be proud of you!\u201d (We believe that\u2019s exactly what Fred did).  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

With the power back up and running, and the shearers all set to get to work, Karen thought of an unexpected way to say thanks to Fred for all his help…  
 
Serendipitously, Karen had just taken on a handsome new ram and decided to acknowledge Fred\u2019s hard work by naming him after our very own Fred. Karen then sent a lovely thank you note to Fred, along with the good news and CC-d in Fred\u2019s boss. Pretty soon, Fred the Ram was stuff of legend here at Origin. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt was so great to meet Fred (and Karen and Steve) face-to-face and see firsthand how, quite often, the work we do on the phones at the office makes a huge difference to our customer\u2019s day-to-day lives.\u201d <\/em><\/p>– Fred, Energy Specialist.<\/cite><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Fred (the person) meets Fred (the ram)<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Flash forward to a crisp winter\u2019s day in July this year, where Fred the Origin energy specialist travelled from his hometown in Melbourne to picturesque Langhorne Creek \u2013 about 65km northeast of Adelaide. With Karen and Steve opening their home to us, putting on afternoon tea, showing us the ins and outs of wool shearing and, most importantly, introducing the Freds to one another for the very first time! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For Fred the energy specialist, it was love at first sight. For Fred the ram\u2026 well, we\u2019ll let you judge that for yourself…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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