Direct Energy RIPOFF DO NOT DO BUSINESS WITH THIS COMPANY THEY HAVE NO CUSTOMER SERVICE AND WILL LIE TO YOU Houston Texas

I signed up with the company in 10/05 and was set up on a Budget Billing Program. My average billing amount was at first $229 then it dropped to $211 per month. I paid that amount from January until May but this was a 1 year signed agreement that was in effect until September of 2006.

In May of 2006 I received a letter to sign up for another program and would have the ability to take $150 off of my bill for that month if I accepted this program. I did accept but did not realize that it was going to raise my KWP from $0.96 to $0.14 until I received my June bill. Also, since I was still under the first agreement this should not have taken effect until 9/06 but when I received my June bill it started that month.

I wrote to DE 5 times from July until October and received acknowledgments from their website stating that my email had been received and they would get back to me in 2 business days. The only thing I received from DE was a cutoff notice in September. I filed a complaint with the Public Utility Company of Texas for review but they favored for DE (big surprise). I then received a phone call from one of their complaint managers at my place of business and also an email from her as well. Regardless to say the phone call was not returned but I did respond to her email. Why would I talk to them on the phone when they can't even respond to my emails that were sent? They stated they never received any contact from me whatsoever but I have the emails that state they were received by the company. If they can't respond to emails I obviously didn't want to discuss my issues with them on the phone because there would be no documentation whatsoever.

When I first signed up with DE my contract should have been carried out until the end of the agreement and not changed regardless of what was offered afterwards. But since it was the beginning of the summer it was a way for them to get the most money they could out of their customers. Instead of my average billing amount of $211 they raised my budget amount to over $340 per month. Now they are saying I owe them over $700 of past due bills when in fact I have paid my monthly amount of $211 regardless of the dispute and despite the fact that I didn't have to pay anything while the it was going on.

I have sent them the $150 back that I received off of my June billing plus any amount over the $211 that should have been paid. I am sending a final $150 even though I probably shouldn't.

If they can't even read emails I'm wondering if they even read my meter correctly.

What gets me the most from this company is the customer service (which they obviously do not have). I have received 2 phone calls from them stating they were going to file an internal complaint because they take their customer service very seriously. What a joke. The first complaint was around the 1st of December and I was told that they would get back to me within 10 business days. Needless to say nothing. The only phone call I received was when I emailed them AGAIN and told them how sorry their customer service was and the fact that they didn't respond to the first complaint. They then told me they issued another complaint number but I didn't not hear about that one either.

I filed a complaint with the "do not call" listings so they would quit calling me with their recorded messages but they said that they were not calling me for "solicitation" but for payment of my past due bill. It clearly states on the do not call website that if a consumer asks a business not to call then they have to honor that request or be subject to a fine up to $11,000. They have called me 6 times since my request of them not calling me. I also have a recorded message of them actually saying they have received it.

I have never in my entire life encountered such a worthless company and even worse customer service.

Marsha
Corinth, Texas
U.S.A.