ComplaintsforElectricities of North Carolina, Inc.

• Initial Complaint

  06/07/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  The building is usually locked to customers to pay in person. They are inconsistent with their mailing customer bills. *** called numerous occasions to ask them to send me a bill and get my balance. They are extremely rude and have shamed me when asking for waved fees. Unethical monopoly. The website has glitches when trying to pay your bills. Customers are charged extra to have it turned back on and there is an extra fee for turning back on after 6 pm or on weekends. Make it difficult to pay, 60 days to shut off. I have had my electricity shut off for non payment when cold out and called to have it turning back on. Extra charges when it was already difficult to pay. I just called them at 11:45pm and left a message because attempting to pay before midnight over the phone to let them know that the phone pay service is down as well. When the recording asks me to confirm my account number and to press 2, nothing happens. I then tried to pay via website and the Bill *** option page will not generate. I left a voice mail in their after hours website which indicates that they have up to 24 to return the call.All of the telephone calls from Electricities come from random phone numbers and the last time they called and left a message me to warm me that my electricity would be turned off AFTER I had paid my bill. It was shut off and I had to start from scratch. I saved the screen shot of the time. Then they charged double. When I called to try to get the fee waved they said they would not since I was a repeat offender with having my electricity shut off due to late payments. (As if I am trying to get out of paying my bills- I am a teacher) They told me You should know that it need to be paid or it will be shut off. I will have to try to go call someone in the morning to try to catch them before they send someone out to shut off my electricity again and a 100% chance they will double charge me and most likely deny phone and website problems.

  Business response

  06/10/2024

  Thank you for your submission. We have reviewed our detailed records of your account for the past six years and found we assessed several late fees, and your service was disconnected for nonpayment eight times over the past six years. We strictly follow town policies for waiving one late payment in twelve months and policies for electrical disconnection and reconnection with established fees for each. 
  
  We mail bills on the 19th of every month, which are due on or before the 7th of the following month, before becoming past due. We typically disconnect on balances that are 45 days past due. Before disconnection day, we do a minimum of three callouts reminding customers that their balance is past due and subject to disconnection.
  
  Our lobby hours are Monday through Friday, 9:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. In addition to the *** phone system and website, payments can be submitted in person.
  We apologize for the inconvenience you experienced on the morning of June 7, 2024. We were experiencing network connectivity issues, which prevented us from processing payments via the web or the *** phone system. We were back up and running after 1:00 p.m. that afternoon. We received payment for your current bill via the *** system on June 7, 2024, which brings your account balance to $0.00.
  
  I would be happy to discuss your account with you in more detail, and you can call me directly at ************.
  
  *******
  *********************************
  Business Office Manager
  ************/********* Operations Center
  Main: ************
  Direct: ************

• Initial Complaint

  07/10/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I submitted a disconnection request with Electricities on Monday, July 10th 2023, because there is no process to disconnect service on the weekend. Speaking to the representative, who confirmed that they only process requests with live personnel during business hours M-F, I asked if any notice was given that advanced notice was required. She said it was on the website. I responding saying that since that notice wasn't given to me as a customer, I'm not responsible for any charges after I gave notice. Had I been notified of the process, I would have called last week to give notice since my move out date was July 8th. I asked to speak to a manager and she submitted a callback request for me. ********* called me back. On a recorded line, I explained to her that they could not hold me responsible for a policy that they hadn't notified me of. She said that most users see it in the *** section of the website, to which I responded saying that that isn't sufficient notice for a requirement to terminate service. She noted that they could possibly look at adding it to the bill, which I said was fine, but I will not be held liable for the extra days. She said the typical process was 48 hours, but she would have someone out tomorrow, July 11th. I asked her to hold on a moment as a coworker entered my office, and she hung up.

  Business response

  07/11/2023

  I have read your complaint and I am sorry that your expectations of us were not met. Unfortunately, we do not offer weekend disconnections. This is something that most power companies in North Carolina do not provide. We value you as a customer hope you can understand that with over ***** electric customers in ************ and a small staff, we simply cannot accomplish every request for disconnection the day it is requested.
  

  Under the electric service provisions, so long as the account is open in your name, you will be charged for any electricity registered by the meter. This remains in effect until our technicians are able to properly disconnect your services or get a meter reading to end your electric service. We are not able to determine how much energy was consumed from the time of your notification of your desire to be disconnected and our technicians actually disconnecting your service.
  

  We cannot inform every customer of every policy when they request electric services from us. We also cannot know when a customer needs to vacate a premises until that customer notifies us of their request for disconnection.
  

  I spoke with the manager you said hung up on you and she advised that when you told her to hold on, the phone call was terminated. She did not intentionally hang up on you. She also advised that she was unable to answer your return call as she was engaged with another customer but did call you back later and  left a message.

  At this time, we are unable to offer you a billing adjustment. Please let me know if I may be of further assistance.

  Regards,

  
  

  Customer response

  07/13/2023

   
  I am rejecting this response because:
  "We cannot inform every customer of every policy when they request electric services from us. We also cannot know when a customer needs to vacate a premises until that customer notifies us of their request for disconnection."

  I fully understand this statement, just as you should fully understand that an undisclosed policy is not enforceable. You cannot hold a customer liable for a policy that you didn't provide notice of. Otherwise, Electricities would be able to create and enforce policies on a whim without customer agreement. While you may not be able to inform customers of every policy when service is requested, by the admission of the manager I spoke with, you had plenty of opportunities to disclose the policy on a year's worth of bills sent to me and still did not. I will NOT be held liable for a policy that I was not informed of. When your technician receives the reading is based on this policy and again, is not my responsibility to bear. 

  Also, the call with that manager was recorded. I asked her to hold on and put the phone down. The call was disconnected on her side. 

  Business response

  07/20/2023

  I am sorry that you feel this was an insufficient answer to your complaint. I have explained what our policy is and we cannot make an exception for you. We cannot offer an adjustment on your bill.

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