Direct Energy and Enbridge
At the end of December, we received an update on this complaint. Here’s the update:
I received a bill from Enbridge this morning. It would seem that this matter has not been resolved despite promises from both Enbridge, Direct Energy and the energy Obudsman.
In June of this year we sold our house and purchased a new home. Unfortunately our new home would not be ready until October. Due to the delay we had to rent an apartment and were unable to transfer any of the companies with which we were dealing to represent us in our new home. I contacted all of the companies (hydro, gas, banks) and explained the situation. In July I received a final bill from Enbridge. Aside from the usual charges we were charged an additional 383.53 as cancellation charges. These charges pertained to our Home heating and cooling protection plan.
I called the company and tried to speak to a representative about the charges. I was told to call Direct Energy as they handle all of the billing for Enbridge. I then called Direct Energy and spoke to a representative. I explained the situation and the rep. Elizabeth agreed that we were billed in error (the amount represented the remaining charges as we were not going to keep the heating and cooling plan for a year). The representative agreed that we had been paying the monthly fee for 10 years, and rarely used the plan. Elizabeth also agreed that we should not be committed to paying fees for a service we would not be using and that nowhere in our agreement did it state that should we cancel that we had to pay a for a year in advance. Elizabeth gave be a PR # TEMINO and told me that we would be credited the $387.53 on our next bill in August.
In August I was surprised to see that our account was not credited. I called Direct Energy, explained the situation to Amanda an executive officer. She checked our file, agreed that a mistake had been made and re-assured me that Direct Energy would contact Enbridge and that the amount would be credited to that account.
In September I received a letter from Enbridge saying that our account was passed due and that our names would be sent to a collection agency. I tried once again to explain the situation to the Enbridge rep. Pashoy employee # 660059 who in turn told me that there was nothing they could do that the information had to come from Direct Energy. I then called Direct Energy and spoke to Amanda Ross, another executive officer. I again explained our situation, was told once again that our account would be credited and that the credit would be reflected on our November account. Imagine my surprise when I opened the bill from Enbridges saying this is a final notice, and that our name would be place in collection if the bill was not paid. We now owe $411.57 because of additional interest charges for late payment.
I called and spoke to Donavan employee # 32585. I again explained the situation to Donavan. Donavan in turn told me ‘not to worry that if our name was place in collection that they -Direct Energy’ would do everything possible to help! I was not happy with his answer. Dovan assured me that he would look in to the matter and call me back within 24 hours. It has been 24 hours and I have not heard from Donovan nor any other representative from Direct Energy.
In the end I am absolutely disgusted with the treatment we have received at the hands of both Direct Energy and Enbridge. It would appear that there is no longer any such thing as ‘customer service’. It would seem that being very good customers for 10 years holds absolutely no significance to either company.
What can I do?
Where do you go from here.
Disclaimer
This article was submitted by one of our readers. Penciltrick cannot make any claims as to its authenticity but the article was accepted on a good faith belief that it is an accurate and truthful account of the events listed.
December 2nd, 2009 at 8:19 am
I work for Enbridge and would like to help you resolve this. Could you contact me at our Ombudsmans office. Ombudsman@enbridge.com.
Eileen
December 2nd, 2009 at 9:45 am
Hi,
I’m with the Direct Energy public relations team. I’m very sorry to read about your experience in trying to cancel your protection plan.
I would be more than happy to help you reach a resolution on this matter. Please contact me at the email address provided.
A quick clarification on billing for all readers – Enbrdige bills on behlaf of Direct Energy, which is why they’ve not been able to assist in resolving this matter.
Best regards,
Crystal
December 18th, 2009 at 1:00 pm
I would like to thank penciltrick for looking into this for us. We received calls from both companies almost immediately, and our problems were solved within a few days, along with a lot of apologies. Thank-you penciltrick for being there for us – you were great
December 19th, 2009 at 3:28 pm
Our pleasure John. I’m glad we could help. And great work to Enbridge and Direct Energy. Other companies could learn a lot from their quick responses.
January 8th, 2010 at 10:12 pm
The narrative above reads like something out of the twilight zone for me. We moved to a new house in August, and Direct Energy / Enbridge continue to send us bills for a water heater in a home we no longer own. We have phoned numerous times and (once we manage to crack the surly and unhelpful exterior of the reps we speak with) have been told this would be corrected. The latest bill contains threats of collection action. We are at our wits’ end.
January 27th, 2010 at 2:42 pm
[...] Here’s an update from the person who sent a complaint about Enbridge a while back. The original post is here. [...]
January 28th, 2010 at 10:53 am
I have a severe complaint about Enbridge as well. In late 2008, I began receiving letters that my gas meter needed to be changed. I called in three times over the next few months to provide them with my landlord’s info since I didn’t have access to the room where the gas meter is kept. Since that date, I was also receiving estimates only on my bills, and never actual readings, even though I asked Enbridge three times to rectify the situation.
Finally, in late 2009, after a fourth call, Enbridge changed the meter. Then in January 2010, they slapped me with a $663 bill in back charges for the previous 14 months. Doesn’t seem fair or right to me. I called Enbridge, and spoke to three different people who gave three different reasons as to why my meter wasn’t being read for the past 14 months. However, all three people did agree that I was out of luck and had to pay.
This especially doesn’t seem fair to me since I wasn’t even living with the same roommates in 2008 that I am living with now, which makes me solely responsible for about 75% of the bill, unless I’m able to squeeze some money out of my old roommates.
Any suggestions??
January 30th, 2010 at 2:59 pm
received a bill from enbridge. am with direct energy for gas supply. gas supply charge i understand customer charge 16 and high cost of delivery. however why am i charged for delivery to enbridge one at .044850 and again .054600 for all those charges thats 103.00 plus gas supply charge of 249 adding my bill 387.57 a month on heat. thats crazy
February 4th, 2010 at 8:07 pm
I have had a 4 year contract with Direct Energy Heating/Cooling Service.
The contract ended Dec.1. I – I called to confirm.
Dec. /09 I see they took out their payment anyways.
Another flurry of letters to them/phone calls. i rec.d a letter saying, ” Sorry you have not renewed.”
Not trusting them now, I spent $20.00 to put a stop on any further withdrawals for 6 months.
January they changed the amount slightly and withdrew the money.
(Apparently this is how companies get around stop payments , as the “stop” can only be put on a specific amount and not the company name.)
I wrote the “Home Services Ombudsman” but he said he couldn’t get involved in money.”
PS The icing on the cake: We had this service because we had a 60 year old furnace. We got a new furnace. We were told they couldn’t come out and service the new furnace as it would be on warranty. ( Understandable.) HOWEVER “your contract still stands”.
February 8th, 2010 at 6:55 pm
Has anyone noticed that the bills are sent out just a few days before the end of the month, not allowing for snail-mail delivery to make it to your door before month end? I usually get mine about 3-4 days after I’ve already paid the month-end bills but the due date is given as, ie: the 11th, never the 15th. I wonder how much Direct Energy sucks out of their customers in late fees with this nasty, immoral business conduct…someone should investigate THAT! No, it’s not illegal but it sure isn’t fair. Anyone have a suggestion as to the best place to call/start a complaint against this practice?
February 18th, 2010 at 7:26 pm
Has anybody considered or taken a legal action against the Enbridge billing on behalf of a Direct energy scam? (Enbridge doesn’t care, they are just billing on behalf of DE, DE keeps feeding me the same fodder, we are at fault we are looking into it ….. it has been 6 months …)
I am considering it since it has cost me so much time for the last 6 months that I am not about to prepare to give them a free pass (who knows when they billing issues will be fixed …)
March 11th, 2010 at 1:57 pm
Im one of the customer who have a problem with direct energy billing system.I had my water heater tank rental eversince with them. Now that green environment product is been coming up to the market. I decided to chance my Tank in too Tankless and get the new tankless with the other company. Tankless is been installed last August of last year,the old tank which belong to Direct energy is been pick up last September of last year i even pay them $75 to return back there product thats fine its there policy. And i even expect them that the rental charges will replect on my bill for the next 2 billing cycle at least. And credit back the consumer after a maximum of 3 mos. thats how it goes, so thats fine at least by December heater rental wont appear on my bill, and get credited for the last 3mos.I kept on calling them every single months Dec. to gave them the heads up,so they wont forgot. Jan. of this year Feb. and March too.I really dont know what is going on if they are ignorant or mormons, or this is the way that there going to piss off any client that has a plan in leaving there company. This people is one of the best in stealing other peoples money, dont get me wrong
but look. If your rental with them is January 1 to 31, and you return the rental propery at around January 5 or 10. They will be still charging you up to 31st of January. This is one of the best smart concept guys, There allowed to double jeopardize their client. Thats why ask of March billing my Water Heater rental is still on my bill, and every single months i called them they will always tell you adjustment will appear after 2 billing cycle.
March 23rd, 2010 at 4:07 pm
Unacceptable service for hot water tank repair. this was left on the DE website:
“service#/file#139-72769 – no hot water from new 1yr old (rental) water heater
March 21 – placed service call; made a Monday morning appt [GOOD].
March 22 – tech arrived at 11am; replacement part ordered. tech said to call and he’d return that day to install it [GREAT}; husband (Kevin O'Neil) called that afternoon asking about status of deliver and was told that the delivery window was up to MIDNIGHT that night [UNACCEPTABLE]. Of course, the courier company could not be provided, nor a tracking number [UNACCEPTABLE] – we were just expected to patiently wait up all night [UNACCEPTABLE]. As well we were told that no tech’s are scheduled for evening appointments At that time he/she set up a backup appt for Tuesday afternoon[UNACCEPTABLE]; part arived at 6:16pm and I immediately called asking for the tech to return. it seems you have no idea who completes which call!My call was escalated and ‘Elaine’ said she would try to find the tech to get him to return [GOOD] With no call from ‘Elaine’ I had to call back at 9pm asking for a status. The rep (no name)said tech was scheduled to return between 7-9pm. there was no call from the tech and he did not show up. Elaine also called me shortly after 9pm to say that she was looking for the tech. She did not call me back. In all conversations I said that we would be willing to wait until midnight (in reference to horrific courier window). Not one call back![UNACCEPTABLE
Tuesday March 23 - shortly before 9am I called to get yet another escalation. After yet another BRUTAL conversation taking my name number and having the nerve to ask me to update our file I finally get through to another rep. Another Elaine - maybe it's an alias for all your reps. She could not cancel someone els's appt to push mine in for a morning app't. she could not find the name/number of the rep. [UNACCEPTABLE] aT 2:30PM I called again asking where the tech was. After 10+ minutes waiting while the call is logged, the file is read, the file is pushed forward, I speak with ‘Andrew’. he tells me that the tech is scheduled to arrive between 3:30-3:45. [UNACCEPTABLE] I was assure this morning that his work was to be COMPLETED by 4pm today – 12-4 is not an arrival window – I very specifically asked that question. My husbacnd has stayed out of the office for 2 whole days and re-scheduled board meetings because of your inept scheduling department. We have 3 young children at home who are extremely inconvenienced by this issue. I am tired of making all the calls to follow up on an issue resulting from the piece of crap that’s intalled in our house! All of this is UNACCEPTABLE. It is very likely that the issue will not be resolved by 4pm and we are at the mercy of the tech to decide if he will come back tonight after 8pm to finish it! If I re-schedule I will lose a paid day at work, my children will miss a day at school and I probably still won’t get it fixed! This has been an UNACCEPTABLE EXPERIENCE and I will be passing this message on to all departments, consumer groupd, blogs and websites. You have left us at the mercy of a department that specializes in the phrase ‘I understand’, ‘I wish I could help’ – who do you think your fooling? I’m very aware of how your staff are trained in dealing with ‘situations’ and the special words to use – well let me tell you that they are UNACCEPTABLE.
Oh here’s an update – it’s 3:36 and the tech just called to day he 5min away. According to him, he only needs to show up before 4pm [UNACCEPTABLE]. the call center is a joke and your service is a joke. thank God my house isn’t on fire-the team would probably say ‘i’m sorry we can’t help you’.
And don’t bother insulting me by sending a pleasant templated email thanking me for my input and that the team/company is always looking to improve processes and experiences. “
May 6th, 2010 at 11:17 am
I responded to this thread in December, and the situation HAS STILL NOT BEEN RESOLVED. The “overdue” amounts have been credited back to us after numerous calls, emails, and much wasted time. However the company continues to issue a new bill each and every month for service in a home we haven’t owned for close to a year. We made the mistake of providing our new mailing address so now the bills arrive at our new place – showing charges for a completely different property.
This company’s billing systems are a joke. We are now considering filing a Small Claims Court action to account for the nuisance and the amount time we’ve wasted on this, with the hope that legal action will finally make somebody in that organization sit up, take notice, and properly close our account as should have been done last summer.
May 8th, 2010 at 9:45 am
Hi Direct Energy
In Apr 2009 water heaters started failing in my neighborhood. When my neighbor’s water heater burst – I called a Direct Energy technician to have my 15+ year old heater assessed and replaced. It was a know fact that most water heaters in my neighborhood were failing around the 15 – 20 year age mark – the age range of the houses.
I was told the water heater was fine.
Fast forward to Apr 2010. My water heater burst and flooded my basement. I was charged $150 to replace a plastic pipe that was apparently not to “code”. My insurance company says that you are negligent in the maintenance and replacement of water heaters an that they are suing you for what appears to me to be a lack of maintenance process and a blatant lack of integrity. The flooded basement is a HUGE hassle. I notified you in advance and you did nothing.
DR you are UNETHICAL, OPPORTUNISTIC, LAZY and should go out of business for punishing your loyal client base. I hope someone starts a class-action suit against you so that you realize you cannot hide behind the power of your self-serving corporate arrogance and play the “system” to your financial benefit. You cost clients money and frustrate them to no end, your inflate the costs of insurance companies, and give yourself a bad name in the process.
You should be horrified by this treatment of customers – instead – you seem complacent.
I hope you go bankrupt very quickly and that your Senior Executives work at Wal-Mart as greeters for a few years to learn a bit about personal integrity in business.
This process cost us a few days in salary, a $500 insur. deductable, a $150 service charge. Add it up. This could have been prevented.
Irvin Kovar
Mississauga
May 15th, 2010 at 9:34 pm
I have a fantastic story about the ‘software upgrade problem’ with Enbridge. I have been waiting for a bill from Enbridge since last year, and everytime I called, they gave me the software upgrade problem excuse, and told me to just wait for it.
About a month ago, I come home to find my gas cut off (no warning or anything). After my own investigation, it turns out that there was no software upgrade problem. Late last year, someone had called in pretending to be me and asked that my mailing address and telephone number be changed to another address. Not only this, but they had their Enbridge account changed to my name, so that I’d be responsible for their bills as well! I have no idea how that could be done without my knowledge or consent.
I’ve also learned that the only verification system Enbridge uses over the telephone is to ask the caller for the current address and current telephone number of the client. Once that’s provided, all account information of the client can be divulged and even changed.
How this company hasn’t collapsed on itself I have no idea.
May 25th, 2010 at 10:53 am
In July 2009, we moved from 1 house to another. In the old house we had put a new A/C unit in that we had bought from Direct Energy We made monthly payments on our bill for this unit. When we moved we had to pay this off in full, which we did. In August 2009 Direct energy took well over $800.00 out of our account. We went to the bank and had these charges reversed as well as putting a stop payment on them. In September and November 2009 they tried again to take this money from our account, each time increasing the amount.
I got on the phone after the first time and spoke to a customer service rep who was very rude and said if we had paid our bill we would not be having this problem. I then asked to speak to a supervisor. I was put onto a women by the name of Daniel Dawson.( the only bright spot in that company) After explaining everything again she said she would look into it. After several months of talking back and forth everything was finally settled, or so we thought. I do have everything on tape so there is no saying,I said or did not say that.
On May 19th we received a call from a collection agency (for the second time ) saying we still owed $290.00 and spoke to a guy by the name of Kahan. (the most ignorant person I have ever spoke to).
I then phoned Daniel back and she gave me the phone number of the ombudsman. On may 20th the ombudsman phoned and said someone would be in touch within 2 days. It is now the 25th of May and I am still waiting for a call back.
These are two companies that really need to get their act together.
June 8th, 2010 at 9:56 am
My Direct Energy contract for gas supply is up April 30 2011. I am paying about 41.3 cents cub m. I want the contract to run out which I have no problem with, but come April, D.E. says they will send a renewal contract with cancellation contract in it and if I want to leave them, I have to fill this cancellation contract out and send it in. I just put in a new furnace, A/C with heat pump and tankless..I want to see what my costs for energy will be on an Endbridge variable rate. Any suggestions how to get out of this contract now? without penalties etc..So far I have had no problems with D.E. since I have been with them about 12 years..but now I want out to experiment..the guy told me he can offer another plan for 5 years at 26.5 cume but I just want out..let me know…thanks..
June 22nd, 2010 at 5:35 pm
June 21 2010
Water Heater leaking called DE sent out a teck told my son i had to ripe out my ceiling from east to west side to allow for new code pipe to be put in ! fine new code and then the tech left still have water heater leaking called the next day june 22 spoke to 4 different @#!$S ONE SAID SO THEY INSTALLED THE TANK BUT DID NOT HOOK UP THE NEW PVC PIPE NO i said the tank is still leaking transfere to next #@$!s so they installed the pipe when will your tank arrive??? how am i to when your shipping me my tank and no they did not install the pipe…… WTF transfered me again and hung up on me … i had to call them back. sorry they say cant be done until the23 isaid my tank is still leaking he said shut off the water i said there is still 50 G of water in the tank that will leaK OUT he said thats right WTF im buying a water heater no more renting for this chump,
July 20th, 2010 at 8:31 pm
I can’t believe that i have spent the last 3 hours online reading complaints against Direct Energy and Enbridge Gas.
I had an experience with both companies in the past 10 years. When we moved into our new home we had trouble with the water heater. When I called Enbridge they sent a technician that informed us that there was no inspection done on it since it waw installed and he did the inspection while he was repairing the unit. The last thing he told me was not to worry the cost for the inspection would be charged to the builder since it was their responsibility. Fast forward to the next three billing periods and my constant calls to them reminding them of theis error and everytime they reply ‘we’re very sorry it will be corrected next month…yeah…right! It was 6 months after the fact that they finally removed it from the bill and it was because I got very irrate with the rep and when I requested to speak to her supervisor she told me that she was too busy to talk to me!!! When I finally spoke with the supervisor I informed her of what the rep said and she came out and said to me “Oh…..I don’t think she said that….I proceeded to become even more irrate spewing threats for calling me a liar of television and a class action suit. This did the trick.
fast forward again to the present and I am currently paying DE three times the current rate to supply my gas because I didn’t know enough to read any and all correspondance from them [DE]. They informed me that since I didn’t cancel my contract it was renewed at a higher rate without my consent. I am paying a ridiculous amount of money to a company for no reason at all!! Why hasn’tanyone started a class action suit against DE?? They tell me what they are doing is perfectly legal… really!! this from the people who run our government….This should be big news!! I have never heard of a secret contract renewal hidden within a contract as being legal…..there has to be something we can do!!!
I guess it’s time for someone to stand up and shake the cage!!!! COME ON PEOPLE!!
TIME TO ACT IS NOW