Billing Reviews

“  My position is that Infinite manipulates the billing cycle (# of days) to maximize their profits since they wont provide me a listing of the billing cycle in advance. Infinite Energy claims they rely on Centerpoint Energy to determine the billing cycle and the corresponding start and end reading on the power meter. BUT, that is ridiculous since they have access to the information on my smart power meter. There is a website called "smart meter Texas" that will provide smart meter readings every 15 minutes and this information is available to Infinite Energy. I selected a tiered plan with Infinite Energy that provides a $100 credit when consumption exceeds 1000kWh. So, my game plan was to monitor my power meter during the month and "adjust" my energy consumption to ensure I exceeded the 1000kWh threshold to get the $100 monthly credit. At least that was my expectation, but it appears that the monthly billing cycle will vary and the customer service supervisor claims they don't know the billing cycle as that is determined by the "energy provider" which in my case is Centerpoint Energy. Infinite energy claims that Centerpoint "reads" the meter monthly and transmits that info to Infinite and that Centerpoint determines the billing cycle. Well, I confirmed with Centerpoint that I have a smart meter and no one physically comes to my home to "read" a meter. Well my bill stated that I used 992 kWh but the "Smart meter Texas" website stated in the same time period I exceeded 1000kWh. Those 8 kWh are the difference in my monthly bill being $121 instead of $21 hence you can see there is significant incentive for this company to try and manipulate customers billing cycles and/or withhold basic information such as the exact dates of the billing cycle. So, I paid my last bill as I received the $100 credit and will plan to submit a complaint to PUCT and also change to another provider if Infinite wont correct my bill to reflect useable > 1000kWh for my last bill. I will also seek clarification from PUCT regarding energy providers responsibility to provide customers a firm billing cycle schedule. ”

“  I have been with Stream Energy for 6 years, never having any problems with my bills being payed by computer banking. Well, a hell broke loose when I payed a bill for a months service and was as usual billed for the next months service. I never anticipated any issues with the next bill until I noticed that the previous months charges were put onto the new months bill. When I called customer service, I first was confronted with individuals that lack proper communication skills. It was very difficult to understand the representatives but after repeating my story to the person, all I could get was that I did not pay the previous months bill and it was added onto the next months billing cycle. I tried repeatedly to explain, without success that I payed the bill twice but I could not get through to this person because he relied on what was in front of him on their computer. My attempts to settle this issue started on July 24, 2015 and continued on till this day, Sept.29, 2015. I made 6 attempts to settle this problem but each time it was having to explain to each and everyone the entire story of what happened about the bill. Each time it was difficult communicating with their representatives. I finally turned this issue over the our Public Service Commission only to have one of the representative from their corporate office call and pretty much put the entire problem onto me. While attempting to explain the issue, I was accused of being hostile, uncooperative and all of this incident was going to be reported back to the Public Service Commission. I was so angered by the disrespect exhibit towards me that I had to report the incident to the PSC. Along with their representatives lacking proper communication skills, their corporate personal lack customer service skills. I would warn people that in the event there is an issue with anything about your service, be prepared to get frustrated having to repeat yourself to people on the other end of the phone who don't understand you. Being disabled and on a fixed income, the small amount in question is important to me. The monies could go to my medications. I know thats not a concern with these people but after faxing my proof of my payment, one can see why I am so angry and frustrated with these people. With proof in their hands, they are not doing a thing to resolve this issue. I am so disappointed by the way I have been treated. Six years of service but now I see its time to seek other services. Take heed, pay your bills with a check so one has a paper trail. Stream Energy will not accept proof of payment from your computer. ”

“  I was a customer for 6 months, then wanted to renew for another 6 months. Sales rep told me it was impossible, that he could only do 3 month contracts, however he would contact me before end of 3 months to discuss a renew. That never happened and my price has nearly doubled. Upon calling them, the billing clerk said something would have been mailed and there was nothing she could do.

Some associate will probably reply saying "I'm sorry you had this experience, blah blah blah", but frankly I'm out $150 extra dollars for showing any customer loyalty to them.

Is that really the type of company you would want to do business with? I know I'll be avoiding them like the plague. ”

“  It all sounds great - "green" energy. I guess they put all their money into something other than accounting software. I have been in business for 31 years and they take the prize as the most screwed up accounting ever encountered. No one is a close second. I cringe every time I see a Green Mountain bill - knowing it will require my time and patience to resolve something. Using online bill pay does not work with them - you have to use direct pay through their system to make sure your payment is posted on time. The topper - after thinking I had finally cleared up all my billing issues - I received a large credit but no one at GM can identify why. Just to add insult, there is a $ .66 "Past Due Penalty" on my credit. At this point I would rather swim in oil and roll in coal than recommend Green Mountain for anything other than a good example of how NOT to run a utility company. I am not a fan of TU Electric but I never had any issues with them. The time wasted on the phone kills any savings at the meter. I will say their customer service people are nice and very apologetic, but it rings hollow after a while. ”

“  It took 3 months for me to figure out something was up because my bills were listed online as half the actual total. Two identical charges were hitting my checking account two days in a row (example, $173 on 8/5, and $173 on 8/6, but they weren't duplicate charges. They added up to my actual total bill of $346)! So, I thought, wow, my rates are low. Turns out I was really getting charged $400/month for the last 3 months. That's shady business. And the service rep was like, "oh I don't see that." Even though it was clear on the billing history page. I said, shall I send you a screenshot of my bank charges? Ridiculous. And the billing error only occured over the summer, for the three most energy intense months in Texas, at a suddenly jacked up rate of 17.55 cents kw/hr before straightening out again. I like green energy, and made a point to use 100% wind b/c the hydro plans aren't always the best for wildlife. Really, you aren't actually getting renewable energy in your home. They are just buying renewable energy certificates on your behalf based on how much energy you use, and registering those certificates on a regional energy network plan, likely REGGIE. But after today, I'm done. Other companies now have competitive green energy options at much better, locked-in rates without cancellation fees. So after 6 years, I am going to give Bounce Energy a try. They are highly rated, and I just locked in a 9.4 cent rate for 12 months, wind energy based. I don't even have to cancel with Green Mountain. Bounce takes care of it for me. ”