Payless Power Reviews

Joe M. in Wahington
Published on March 16, 2021

Response: We are so thankful for your review and would love the opportunity to speak to you about your charges, so that we can help you in any way we can. We invite you to reach back out to us via email or phone, so we can offer further assistance. Published on March 16, 2021

Crystal N. in Angleton
Published on March 16, 2021

Response: Ms Nelson- Your review comments state that you feel our reviews must be false because in your experience, our staff is unsympathetic and offered only minimum assistance throughout the pandemic. You also state that Payless Power disconnects if there are medical devices in use or elderly in the home and that the deferred payment plans are only designed to generate more fees. Without a doubt, its not a good situation if a customer constantly struggles when paying for their power. It’s understandable that anyone facing such challenges would feel overwhelmed and look for a reprieve . Payless Power has designed its policies and plans around the concept of making it easy for customers to manage their cash flow. There is one basic concept of pre-paid service that is unavoidable however, funds must be available on the account to ensure service. For customers who need a little help from time to time we have what we believe to be the widest array of assistance options available in the Texas re-regulated retail electricity market. We offer automated extensions through 8:00 PM same day and deferred payment plans even though we are a pre-paid provider without a deposit requirement. We also eliminated disconnection and reconnection fees , late fees, assistance fees, account load fees and internal payment fees. We also do not have minimum usage fees or usage thresholds you must reach to receive discounts . During extreme situations we offer more options. The Pandemic was one of these. Payless Power participated in the States Covid-19 Electricity Relief Program and did not disconnect customers who were enrolled in that program while also applying monthly credits and discounts . Following the end of the State’s program in October we had an option for every customer needing assistance which included adding or modifying their deferred payment plans. Keep in mind that DPPs do not accrue any additional fees. We simply take the balance owed and spread it out to make it easier for the customer to handle. Recently we contacted you to advise of a federal covid rent and utility assistance program. This could result in some real relief for you. We also have not disconnected any customer since prior to the storm and If you need assistance with your balance , call us. We can help. When it comes to customer’s with medical devices etc, your options are based on whether you are qualified with the state as a critical care or chronic condition customer. If you have not applied we can send you the application but be advised that the State prohibits these customers from using pre-paid service sue to the frequent possibility of disconnection with little notice. That’s a lot to digest but please be patient and realize that our options are not unlimited . We can help quite a bit but depending on the level of your needs and whether they are ongoing, we may not be able to each time. We will review your account and give it fair consideration each time though. 888-963-9363 Published on March 16, 2021

P. M. in Dallas. TX
Published on March 16, 2021

Response: Hello- Your comments state that Payless Power charges higher deposits for those with disabilities who register as Chronic Care and that you would need to pay $350 deposit for service and pre-paid service is not covered under any ADA laws. We will reach out to you to get more information or who you spoke to but this information is absolutely incorrect. The most important fact is that as an exclusive provider of pre-paid service the Public Utilities Commission of Texas forbids us from enrolling any customer designated as critical care or chronic condition patient (PUCT Rule 25.498 {3} {k} https://www.puc.texas.gov/agency/rulesnlaws/subrules/electric/25.498/25.498.pdf. Secondly as a pre-paid company we do not require a deposit and do not run credit checks. An initial fee to start service is required and based on which plan offer the customer chooses. We have a no contract, month to month plan with a starting fee of $49.00 and a 12 month contract with a lower rate that requires a payment of $75.00 to start. Payless Power has never required more that $75.00 to start service as this would also be a violation of the PUCT’s prepaid regulations. Based on what you describing the 3rd party may have correctly explained that as a chronic condition patient you cannot enroll in a pre-paid electricity plan and instead must select a post -paid plan from another provider. We do partner with 3rd party marketers who can offer service through a number of other providers based on an individual’s needs or circumstances. It is conceivable that if you called and advised that you are a chronic condition patient that the representative correctly advised that you are not eligible for pre-paid service and directed you to a post paid option with an alternate provider that does require a credit check and deposit based on the customer’s credit score. We will attempt to contact you for clarification but also ask that you call us at 888 963 9363 and ask to speak to a customer care supervisor. Published on March 16, 2021

Babak A. in Dallastx
Published on March 01, 2021

Response: Mr. Akhlaghi- You comments state that you were billed 104KWH while your power was out and that you spoke to a representative and what they advised you made no sense. Please allow me to apologize for any confusion. I will have a supervisor call you to explain what we are doing to resolve the issue and what we can do for you until this is completed. You can also find more information here: https://paylesspower.com/texas-winter-power-outage-blackout-2021/ Published on March 01, 2021

Donna H. in Crosby
Published on March 01, 2021

Response: Ms Howard – Your comments state that you were charged on days your power was out and that your rate went up. Those are pretty common reactions after the storm and its understandable why you would feel that way. The good news is we can provide some clarity and hopefully this will help put your mind at ease. First let me state unequivocally that Payless Power has not raised your energy rate in 2020 and there are not plans to do so at this time. We also do not offer Indexed Variable rates that go up and down daily with the wholesale cost of electricity. Usage for almost all customers did increase dramatically during the storm due to the intense cold and this resulted in higher charges for those days but in some cases customers also received high charges for days in which their power was partially or completely out. This was due to estimations generated by the local utilities when a meter could not transmit back meter read data. Please note that we are aware of this and our systems are designed to automatically adjust your account as soon as we receive your actual meter reads for those days. We do have options to assist customer until that can occur. Please call us at 888 963 9363 for more information. Published on March 01, 2021

Araceli C. in Laredo
Published on February 24, 2021

Response: Araceli- Your comments say that you were without power for 3 days that week with no one home but you still used the same amount of money in 2 days that you normally use in 2 weeks. You feel like Payless Power is trying to make up for the days that the power was off. Its very understandable that you feel that way. The winter storm has resulted record usage across the state but if you were without power for several days your billing could be based on estimations that were automatically generated by AEP because they meters were not transmitting usage data. Unfortunately we do not have a better way to handle the initial billing in these situations but we do have processes to correct it. We responded to your email about your questions yesterday but you were not able to speak to someone. A representative will reach out to you to help you through the options . We fully recognize how stressful the situation with the storm has been and commit to you that we will guide your account through the process of correcting your charges. 888 963 9363 Published on February 24, 2021

Adrian G. in Temple
Published on February 23, 2021

Response: Adrian- Your review comments say that you had a horrible experience because your power was out for 6 days and you were still being charged . You also state that in your opinion, Payless Power is trying to blame Oncor for its problems and no one answered your calls for 6 days. There is no doubt that being without power for 6 days during the worst winter storm in Texas in over a hundred years is a terrible thing. There was plenty of suffering to go around statewide so your anger is reasonable. You are also correct in that ultimately you are our customer so we accept our role as the focus of that anger. The best thing we can do is try to educate you on what happened, what’s going on now and what is being done currently to correct any billing issues you’ve experienced. The first thing to address is your power last week. Payless Power did not send out disconnection orders on any accounts last week and that is continuing this week as well. If you were able to see the news at all you probably heard that ERCOT implemented statewide rolling outages . On top of this , instability with the State electrical grid prevented Oncor from restoring some customers under the planned outages. This resulted in some homes being without power for days. This affected some of our own employees so we know acutely how awful that was. These outages also triggered the automated estimation processes at Oncor . Oncor owns and operates the meters in your area. All electric providers rely on Oncor data. If Oncor detects that its meters are not generating data their system automatically operates under the assumption that the meter is working but not able to report usage data. Our system then assumes those estimations are actual reads and generates charges. This can be infuriating to see your balance dwindle even though there is no power at your home . Anyone would feel like they were being cheated. We don’t have a better way to handle those types of situations but we do have automated processes to correct the billing as soon as we get the actual meter day from Oncor. That can take anywhere from a couple of days to a couple weeks depending on where you are in your monthly billing cycle. If this is too impactful for you we also options to help you get to the point where your billing is corrected. In short… no Payless Power customer affected by the storm has to move forward with no options. We can help. As far as no one answering … we need to get more information from you. Our team worked hard under very difficult circumstances to be there for our customers. We were operational last week for all of our standard business hours including limited after hours email support. In the afternoons there was little to no wait to speak to an agent. I’m not sure what was going on when you tried to call but I can also advise that in certain parts of the metroplex, cell phone service and even landline phone service was affected. Please call us at 888 963 9363 and we can discuss what happened and what we can do to help you. Published on February 23, 2021

Wendy E. in Terrell
Published on February 23, 2021

Response: Wendy – Your comments state that your charges were high last week but you weren’t home and your thermostat was set to 65. You want to know why. Almost every Texas resident with an electric account saw an increase in their usage last week and it’s understandable why anyone who received increased charges for last week would be angry…. regardless of who their provider is. The first thing that I can tell you is that any increases you have seen were not due to an increase in your rate. Payless Power has not increased energy rates this year as is not planning to do so at this time. We also do not offer Indexed Variable rates that increase daily with the price of wholes electricity. I can also tell you that if you left your thermostat set to 65 last week while you were gone it certainly still ran non-stop. When high temperatures are in the teens and lows are down to -2 a central air system will not be able to effectively heat the home above 65. This happened at my own residence even with a fireplace. So what if power was out? If your power was out you may have a billing adjustment coming in the future. Oncor’s system will generate estimations for your usage if they do not receive usage data from your meter. Our billing system takes the estimated read and generates your charges automatically. The good news is that there is an automated process to true -up estimations as soon as we get the actual meter read. Call us at 888 963 9363 and we can advise when that should occur and advise of the options we have to assist you until that point. Call us and we can go over everything with you. Published on February 23, 2021

Amy A. in Andrews
Published on February 23, 2021

Response: Ms Adams- Your review states that your usage tripled during the storm even though your power was out a lot of the time . You feel that you were priced gouged. Its definitely not a good thing to feel you were price gouged during a very vulnerable time . I do want to take a moment to clarify that we have not raised the energy rate for you or any customer this year and currently have no plans to do so . Based on your comments it sounds like your meter was not transmitting data so Oncor generated usage estimated for your address. If so it looks like the Oncor and Payless Power systems are set to automatically correct this around March 10. If this is placing an financial burden on you please call us at 888 963 9363 can we can cover the options available to help you until the adjustments are made. Published on February 23, 2021

Lynda K. in Ft.Worth
Published on February 22, 2021

Response: Ms Kasula- Your usage tripled last week and at during the same stretch you were without power long periods and you cannot afford this. What you are experiencing is a side effect of the statewide outages related to the winter storm. Transmission and Distribution Utilities (AEP Texas, Oncor, Centrepoint, Texas New Mexico Power) own the power distribution infrastructure and the meters. Typically, a smart meter will transmit usage data in 15-minute increments, and they are very reliable. If the meter stops transmitting data. The Utility systems assume that the meter is still working but and that there is simply a problem with the data transmission. Because if this the Utility systems will automatically generate an estimate. At the end of a customer’s 30-day billing cycle they read the meter for the whole month which catches any discrepancies so the customer’s bill can be properly adjusted. This is a pretty straightforward and accurate process and the meters are accurate enough that there is rarely a noticeable issue. Unfortunately, this same process works during widespread outages due to extreme weather, grid damage, fires etc. The meter stops reporting data because there is no power, but the Utility metering systems still generate estimates, and these estimates are then sent to Retail Electric Providers. Payless Power also has automatic processes that bill customers daily based on the metering data that the Utilities send to ERCOT and then to us. Because of this, many customers are seeing charges on days when they had no power. The last time this happened on such a scale was during Hurricane Harvey. We do have good news for you though. Your money is not gone. We also have an automated process to adjust your account balance if you were over billed during this week’s winter outages. If you were charged for usage while your power was out this will be reflected at the end of your 30-day billing cycle when we get the monthly read from your local utility. If you would like to know approximately when that will occur, please contact us through your My Account Portal or at 888 963 9363. We do have options that can assist you until the account true-up is completed. Published on February 23, 2021