The owner of a furniture shop in Torrevieja (Alicante) publicly denounced the Iberdrola electricity company today for billing him 128,997 euros 'by mistake'.

José Manuel Plaza told the press about the shock he got when his April-May bill was more than 130 times the normal amount.  He usually pays between 600 and 800 euros and previous bills have never even gone into four figures, let alone six.

As soon as he received the bill, he contacted Iberdrola to point out the mistake and after numerous 'phone calls received verbal confirmation that it must indeed be a mistake, but he was asked to put his complaint into writing and his letter has still not been answered.

Although he told his bank not to pay the bill, Plaza has still not received any confirmation from Iberdrola of their mistake, nor has he received an apology.

'After a good deal of waiting and lots of to-ing and fro-ing, I was told to take a reading of the electricity meter and to put my complaint into writing and that someone from Iberdrola would come to investigate', Plaza told the press.  After doing everything the company asked him to, he's still waiting for a reply.