Payless Power Lies About Not Doing Credit Checks. They DO Credit Matches With Just Your Name And Birthdate. They Are Also PREDATORY. 11.8 CENTS RATES!! EXPLOITATIVE! LIARS & CROOKS! Fort Worth Texas

 Payless Power does not use customer information to conduct a debt check, credit check, credit match or background check of any kind.  I am familiar with the customer who filed this review characterizeing Payless Power as a rip off as I have already addressed the same complaint from her with the Better Busiess Bureau (which has given Paylesss Power an "A" rating) as well as the Public Utilities Commission of Texas.  The customer's fears and concerns on this point are completely unwarranted. In this instance  the customer contacted us on 6/4/13 at 12:59 PM to inquire about service at her new efficiency apartment in Ft Worth. Per our company policies the sales representative, Jon, created an account profile and as part of this process asked for her date of birth. She provided “*/**/78” at that time. Payless Power requires a minimum pre-payment of $25 to start service. The customer did not make a payment on the account and the account profile was cancelled on 7/5/13 due to the fact that the 30 day payment deadline was not met.The customer contacted us again on 7/18/13 to inquire about service at the same address. Once again, Jon handled the enrollment process at which time he again asked the customer’s name, phone #, address and birthdate. This time the customer provided the same date but a different year- */**/80. The customer exited the call before the enrollment process was completed stating that her phone was about to die and that she wanted to contact another provider before committing. She did indeed call back at which time she was transferred again to Jon.  Jon inadvertently pulled up the original account from June and saw that it was cancelled so he mistakenly set up a 3rd account instead of using the 2nd and copoed the account infomration from the original account in which the customer had provided 1978 as the birth year. He confirmed this information with the customer who immediately questioned him as she had intentionally provided a false DOB when she had called earlier in the day. When questioned about this Jon stated that he had “guessed” the year but in reality he simply didn’t realize that he referenced the first account when setting the newest version instead of the information the customer had provided the 2^nd time. 

There was certainly no grand conspiracy to trick a customer into running any sort of background check or debt check. Instead it was a simple case of a representative trying to quickly help a customer who had already used profanity riddled rants due to her frustration about having to be transfered to the correct department.  As stated previously Payless Power does not conduct any sort of credit or background check. On a negative and potentially libelous Google review the customer (under a false name) stated that she had intentionally provided the wrong date of birth due to an issue regarding spousal abuse which mirrors the content of this complaint While this is understandable it should be pointed out that the Public Utilities Commission of Texas Substantive Rules 25.474 (5) (b) (vi) requires that Retail Electric Providers obtain one of the following pieces of information during a telephonic enrollment of service:  “… last four digits of the social security number, mother’s maiden name, city or town of birth, or month and day of birth, driver’s license or government issued identification number. For non-residential applicants, a REP may obtain the applicant’s federal tax identification number.”  By intentionally deceiving the Retail Electric Provider the customer interferes with the Retail Electric Provider’s ability to adhere to PUCT regulations.  Payless Power does not perform any sort of credit inquiry or background check or debt check with this information however we do use the DOB as an identity check when the customer calls to access the account. We will also provide this information to law enforcement when credit card fraud is reported to us by local law enforcement agencies. The Public Utlilities Commission expressly forbids any retail electric provider from "data mining"/selling customer information and we have no interest in doing so. Unfortunately this customer is  seemingly paranoid due to the situation with her ex husband however  this ire should not be directed at Payless Power.  We provided her electricity for approxiamtely 3 weeks for $2.00 per day on average. As far as rates go the customer's complaint is also unfounded and her recollection of the phone conversation has become increasingly exagerated in each telling . Payless Power's rates are not predatory.They are indeed higher than most post paid companies that require a contractual commitment and deposit but usually no more that 1 or 2 cents per KWH depending on the area.  Still the PUCT places ceilings on how much a retail electric provider can charge per Kilowatt Hour. We are well within those guidelines and we informed the customer during enrollment of the price and the fact that we are a varible rate company.  The customer is absolutely incorrect in her assertion that we charge different rates for customers in the same service area based on the phone # they call in from. The only varible that determines rate is which Transmission and Distribution Service Provider services your region. In Dallas/ Fort Worth/ North East and North Central Texas all of our customers are served by Oncor so they all get the same rate which is 11.8 cents per KWH. If the customer lived in Houston she would receive the  Centerpont rate. Rates do not fluctuate by neigborhood or based on the toll free # you call. 

 The customer apparently searched through Paylesspower.com and found our press -release archive which announced a dicount program that was launched back in 2012 and considers this "advertising a rate."  She seemed to miss the our currentl legal disclosure documents which shows the actual rate as well as our rate history which is prominetly featured.  Payless Power follows all Superlative Advertising guidelines as written by the BBB and all pricing rules as followed by the PUCT.  We were not found to be out of compliance in regard to our rates by either organization when the customer filed her complaints.   In reference to her concerns about our daily fees. These were disclosed to the customer during enrollment.  The customer became alarmed immediately while  making accusations of "predatory" behavior and "loan sharking". Jon offered to cancel the enrollment but the customer insisted on continuing.  In my opinion the consumer's voice is heard loudest by  decling an offer... not knowingling accepting the terms of an offer and then spending their time  attempting to smear the company's repution online because they didn't like the terms they willingly agreed too. That is an impossible standard for any company to uphold. This customer does not have the right to set our rates and fees except through her refusal of our service. The Texas retail electricity market , the wholesale price of power in Texas and our overhead determines what we charge. We feel that's fair and that is how a free market economy works.  When the Texas Legislature approved retail electricity de-regulation in 2002 it opened up options for customers . A customer now has dozens and dozens of companies to choose from . This customer was not forced against her will ito selecting Payless Power and was not lied to about rates or background checks . She willing agreed to enroll with Psyless Power and was charged what she was told. By definition this cannot be a "rip-off."  I do want to  point out that the customer's enroillment was not error free.  After offering to cancel the enrollment for the customer Jon did fail to disclose the Oncor priority move in fee of $10.35. Although the customer never contacted Payless Power to discuss ANY concerns with a supervisor or manager we refunded the difference between the standard and priority charge upon discovering this error while investigating her PUCT complaint.

Once again , this was noted by both the BBB and PUCT.  In summation, this customer was never lied to or mis-lead by Payless Power The customer willing accepted our fee structure and rates and was charged accordingly. We did not conduct any sort of debt check with the customer's information and all of these issues could have been addressed verbally or in writing at the customer's request along with the backing documentation. Ray Honeycutt- Regulatory Compliance Manager- Payless Power ray.honeycutt@paylesspower.com