Sounds like they have handled it poorly - especially as you had made two Bpay pmts prior - as that shows that the customer is genuine and has intent to pay the bill, common sense should highlight to the company that you are not trying to shirk the bill or avoid pmt, sucky action by them. Sounds like you got some totally idiotic representatives

We got a high bill from our electricity provider over Summer 2011. I rang up (before the due date) and arranged to pay over 3 pays (so 3 fortnights), the person on the phone was happy to accept my payment arrangement, said it would be no problem and then halfway through our payment arrangement we got a call from a Melbourne debt collector trying to collect the debt - I went to town on them the next day and after a really poor experience with the first person I spoke to, asked to speak to a supervisor and it got sorted out quickly. They had accepted my arrangement (and noted it in their system), but hadn't done anything to stop their automatic collections process - totally disorganized. I am no longer with that supplier!

Do they have online billing? That way you can check the bills yourself (or have them emailed) rather than relying on snail mail (which can too easily go astray).

More than likely too, they'd have a complaints department - the details should be accessible online as companies need to have this info readily available - so that may be a more convenient way to escalate it (and you can take the time to articulate yourself via email or letter rather than talking to another idiot)