Complain about a product or service

Pepco

Lisa of Gaithersburg, MD November 20, 2009

Pepco has turned off the power to my mother's condo. when I wanted it reconnected to have an inspection done for a short sale of the property I was told that I had to bring the account current and I was told I am responsible for arrears on accounts belonging to my mother and my (adult) brother "because at one point I lived in that same condo". Pepco refuses to listen to reason or to come up with a reasonable solution to this problem and since the inspection cannot be done without power in the condo, this property will be foreclosed upon, losing me a lot of money. Does Pepco have the LEGAL right to hold me responsible for arrears on my dead mother's and adult brother's accounts?

Willie of Upper Marlboro, MD November 14, 2009

My wife and I have been living in our home for about 5 years. We were also among the millions of homeonwners affected by the mortgage crisis. We have never had problems paying our bills however we did on occassion pay only half of the bills. My wife lost her job and I became the only bread winner in the house. I also should mention that in a span of 1 year our mortgage payments went from 1961 a month to 3500 a month within the 1st year. That aside we have recently had our mortgage modeified a now are on a fixxed 30 year payment of 1975 for 30 years. Our home is 20years old and not very energy effiecinet in terms of the HVAC system. Moving to the point we are now being told by Pepco that we much pay a deposit of 456 because we had not paid off our electric bill in the last 12 months. If a deposit were required why did they not do this when we first moved in. I was pleased when I read that I am not the only person this is happening to and would like feedback from anyone on what can be done to prevent this from happening. In the MD area we do not have a choice of what power company we use and it seems that all Pepco is trying to do is make additional profit off of the very public it serves.

Cynthia of Capitol Heights, MD October 9, 2009

On approximately Oct 5th 2009 I received in the mail my monthly Pepco bill for the service period of Aug 27, 09 to Sep 29, 09. The bill stated that it was issued on Oct 2, 09. The bill stated that it was based on an estimated meter reading and that the next meter reading was scheduled for Oct 28, 09. The usage calculated for the service period was 680kwh totaling 126.62. This usage is within an average usage range as compared to the past year and a half [the time that I've lived at this address]. I paid it. On Oct 8th 2009 I received in the mail a second monthly Pepco bill for the service period of Aug 27, 09 to Sep 29, 09. That bill stated that it was issued on Oct 5, 09. The bill stated that it was based on an actual meter reading and that the next meter reading was scheduled for Oct 28, 09. The usage calculated for the service period was 3680kwh totaling 656.22. There were no special notes on the bill. This usage is not within an average usage range as compared to the past year and a half [the time that I've lived at this address]. In addition, I did not have any abnormal usage activity that went on in the house over the past month. I did not pay the bill but I did call the customer service number to make an inquiry. I expressed my curiosity as to the reason for the abnormality and stated that I hoped that it was some strange error. I wanted to know, if an error, how in goodness name was it made! If not an error, I wanted to understand the reason behind such an abnormal billing. When my call began I was calm and reasoned and curious. My emotional state changed rapidly when the operator quickly began using a condescending tone. She insisted that bill was correct because it was based on an actual reading and the second bill for the same service period was due to the new actual reading correcting the first estimated reading. She assured me that this practice was routine.

I asked if the meter could be read by a computer or some other devise without having to have human eyes look at the meter to read it she assured me no and that a technician had to have physically made the reading. I assured her that no human eyes had looked at the meter in over a year and that I would bet my life on that. I explained that the meter is behind a locked-gated part of the property and no one has knocked on the door to request to read the meter since sometime last year. The conversation went down-hill from there. Many odd statements were made by her. One was "techs don't knock on doors to ask for meter readings" and another "average use has nothing to do with the current billing". It was quickly obvious that the operator's critical thinking skills were lacking, as were her customer service skills. I asked to speak to a manager. He and I went back and forth in a similar manner, my blood pleasure rising with every syllable. I even accused the tech of perhaps being too lazy to attempt to get an actual "actual reading" and perhaps the tech just made one up. I was told by the manager that it was unlikely, because it would actually take more effort for the tech to make up a probable actual reading than it would to simply get an actual. I proposed that the tech was perhaps not only lazy but also too stupid to realize the ease of the alternative to lying. It was apparent to me that these front line staff of Pepco are either woefully under-skilled for the job at hand or they are purposefully trained to discredit any complaint a customer might have at any cost with any illogical reasoning and just get them to pay the bills and get them off the phone as quickly as possible.

I played my last card. I insisted that I go outside with my cell phone and read the meter to the manager, which I did. The meter reading was significantly lower than the claimed actual reading on the bill issued Oct 5th. Based on my reading the manager roughly recalculated the bill and it was estimated to be almost precisely what was stated on the first Pepco bill issued for the service period of Aug 27, 09 to Sep 29, 09 and issued on Oct 2nd 09. He agreed to have the billing office recalculate the service period of Aug 27, 09 to Sep 29, 09 bill based on my reading and mail a new bill out. Now, most people would just walk away from this issue, happy to not have to pay an electric bill 650. However, curious as I am, I want and need to know how and why this error happened and what the processes are behind how my electricity is provided and billed and lastly, how a situation like this can be avoided in the future. There are some questions below that I would like to have some answers to. After doing a bit of online research, I know I am not alone in this kind of negative experience with Pepco. I strongly feel that someone or some office, with some sway and authority over this entity that provides such a critical component on which all our lives depend, needs to yank them into line. I'm currently one of the millions of Americans out of work and would be happy to help with that. I await a call from that someone's office.

Why were there two billings generated for the same service period? If there was some kind of an error in the meter reading process real or suspected on the first go around, why not correct it in the following meter reading/bill? What really prompted having the tech go out and take a second "actual reading"? Is there really an attempt to read the meter in-person every month? Why are readings called "actual-readings" when I know no one is actually reading the meter? Did/does the tech make up a number or does the billing office? Is making up numbers standard practice? If so, what do they base their made up numbers on? Is there no "quality control" in place to catch a bill that is so out of the ordinary as mine was? Why did my experience with customer service leave me feeling like they really didn't care about my service satisfaction at all and in fact that they were somehow doing me a favor by supplying me with electricity and it is, always will be and should be on their terms -- no questions asked? Now my younger and less cynical self would say that there are just plenty of opportunities for the operational processes of the organization to be looked at and refined. My older more worldly self has a sneaking suspicion that Pepco periodically needs to generate capital/cash flow/revenues and have found a way to do it at the customers' expense. After all, had I paid that bill [as I'm sure many others in a similar situation might] Pepco would have had the use of my nearly one thousand dollars for the next business quarter or even maybe a year, until the next fake "actual reading" would correct the error. Multiply that times thousands and thousands of customers and you have a fake "actual" profitable quarter and some interest revenue to perk up your bottom line.

SENORA of DIST HTS, MD October 7, 2009

On 10/6/09 I received a notice from Pepco stating due to my bill payment history per Pepco I will have do a depoist. I advised Pepco the country is in a economic crisis and why would they put a undue burden to their customers. At a time like this. I explain to customer rep that I had 2 people in my home at the present moment who have lost their job. I total think Pepco should be taken to task on this matter.

Hossam of Rockville, MD October 1, 2009

My new pepco monthly bill has risen from 86 last month to 263 this month (24-Aug-2009 to 25-Sep-2009). I have not used any more electricity this past month. Indeed, the usage has been less due to the weather getting nicer with no need to use AC frequently. To show you how improbable this is, I have included the Energy Usage History. How can I suddenly increase my usage from around 300 to around 1500 in 3 month! This is just impossible.

Gary of College Park, MD August 12, 2009

I am a new resident to College Park, MD, and just received my first Pepco electric bill for the last 30 days. I was shocked that the bill stated my usage was 1700 KWH in a small 1000 square feet 2BR apartment. I have lived in several houses in Virginia over the last 30 years that are much bigger, and never seen a bill that cost 300. This is outrageous! I share the apartment with my fiancée, and we are both energy conscious and keep the electricity usage to a minimum. The AC is used for only several hours each day, and we use laptop computers that consume low power.

Are you able to advocate on our behalf and investigate into Pepco's billing practices? I have found two links from consumers who have complained against the company, but apparently, these price-gauging activities are still counting. I have contacted Maryland's Governor's Office and also Maryland's Public Commission's Office, but have not received a response back yet. Thank you for your assistance.

Patricia of Gaithersburg, MD August 11, 2009

Every month I send the check with my payment one week earlier than the Due date to avoid the late fee. I make it to be pay off about 2 days earlier than the date, however this last month the money was taken earlier than the date written on the check. I understand mistakes happen, but this made me overdraft my account and had a fee of 35 dollars. I am really unhappy with this situation. I have gone to the bank and they do not have a scanned copy of the check since the deposit was made electronically by Pepco. The money was taken on the 7th when the due date is August 11th, the check was not made to be paid off on the 7th of August but the 10th. On top of that, you don't even post it and still shows (online) that I have not paid. I will be sending a copy of this to the Consumer Affairs, Fox and NBC news.

Kenta of Rockville, MD July 31, 2009

I move to new apartmen at June.12.2009 My first electric bill was 307.55. PEPCO said that from June.12 to July.17, my total use 1,805KWH. It is 10 times more than my use. I have a small one bed apartment. No TV, I only stay my apartment at night. No AC-unit used because I am cut off before I go to work. use AC only few hours in night time. PEPCO told me that you used 1,805 KWH. PEPCO rejected my request to check electric meter.

Larry of Capitol Heights , MD June 24, 2009

I filed a complaint last month with PEPCO in reference to my meter reading, this issue has not been reviewed properly nor addressed I would like meet with you and discuss this matter, you will find that there are a lot of discrepancy that are not addressed nor updated in your system such as locked gates, calling to re-read the meter, not reporting the meter readings.

In a letter I received from Charles Dickerson office Customer Care, it stated that an estimated was used to bill my account from September 29, 2008 to April 1, 2009 due to a locked gate. First of all in that time period the gate was not locked at all, second my gate has been locked since April after finding out that you all do not have to have access to read my meter, I have the meter that allows them to point and get an actual reading. Again my reading for last two month is an actual reading and my gate is locked so how is it that they can get that reading.

This has been going on for the past 2 years, I have been calling back asking PEPCO to come back and perform an actual reading and this was not updated in your system obviously There was on meter reader that came out for three months, and when he arrive he said “OH YOU AGAIN”. And my I also want to add in that time period I was traveling with the Secretary of the Treasury on a regular at least three weeks out of a month, now with no one at my resident and all electric, lights, heat, air condition is turned off not even a porch light is on, how could I accumulate all this electric uses. Your employee’s are not properly doing their jobs and I am not going to be a victim to this. Now I being charged 1,223.43

Reginald of Washington, DC March 11, 2009

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