Just joined but very pleased so far. Thank you.
Response: We look forward to having you as a new customer! Published on February 24, 2021
Muy fácil y sencillos y súper rápido muy
Completely horrible with no answer during a 6 day black out & was still charging when power was out they should be ashamed on how they treated ther custmers & family’s without eletric for 6 to 7 days & wanted to blame Oncore for the Chargers. & they are just as horrible as your services was ..
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
Electricity was very high this past week. I was not even home. Unplugged everything, and set my thermostat to 65. So tell me how my bill went up this much????? Y’all are a joke!
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
You need to update your ratings they are all dated the year 2017. Is no updated reviews available. The cost here is ridiculous. And I’m talking about before the Winter storm. Yes it was easy switching companies. Your rates have done another but went higher every single day. And now since the Winter Storm who can afford 100.00 for less the 3 days service. That would take my whole bring home pay. I cant pay rent due to having to pay 3,000 A month for electricity. I have to pay for the fact I have A Terminally I’ll daughter. Living with me. So either pay for electric that she needs. Or get evicted because the electric took all my money. And be kick out on the street with A Terminally I’ll daughter.
Response: Lonnie- Your comments state our costs are ridiculous even prior to the storm but now the cost for 3 days takes you entire take home pay. You also have a terminally ill daughter that you care for and the cost of your service makes you feel like you have to choose between your lights and getting evicted. First let me say that I can’t begin to imagine the stress of caring for a terminally ill child while trying to manage high utility bills. The pressure must be incredible. You are truly a special person for doing what you do. Last week hit everyone hard. So probably the best thing for us to do is call you on 2/23 to discuss your options. We can discuss a critical care designation for your daughter that may help. We would also like to learn more about your residence. You are correct in that your usage has been high all month even prior to the storm. At that point it skyrocketed so we need to learn if your power was out during that span. If so there may be an adjustment coming but you still face high usage. And we may be able to suggest someone to improve that . The good news that your bill will never be $3000 per month but your KWH range is very high so let’s talk about getting you on the 12 month contract plan that comes with a lower rate and also discuss what you can do to control your usage more effectively. Please call us at 888-963-9363. Published on February 23, 2021
I really actually like my service with payless power but on my billing statement for Feb. 15th when the power was out they charged me for 46 kws whuch is absolutely incorrect and because of that I have approximately 1 day left. when I calculate my bill every month I put enough ugh money on my account to last the whole month. So if someone could help me fix this that would be wonderful.
Response: Mr. Mullendore- Your comments state that you feel your usage for 2/15 is incorrect and it has put you in a difficult situation and you need assistance. Thank you for reaching out. Last week threw everyone in Texas for a loop. The good news is we have options for you. We re not disconnecting through 2/28. At that time you will be eligible for a deferred payment plan (DPP). You can arrange the DPP through your My Account Portal or through our automated phone line at 888 963 9363. A representative is also reaching out to get more information about your usage on 2/15. If your power was out during that day you may have received an estimation from Oncor and if so this will automatically be resolved around Sunday or Monday. Call us and we can discuss your options. Published on February 23, 2021
My electric $$ tripled in price during the winter storm. Yet we barely had power for days!! They basically price gouged us when we couldn’t even get to work to pay our bills!!
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
when are they going to update my account balance I had no light in and out of light but my bill just kept going higher Please and Thank You
Response: Argentina- You are asking when your account balance will be updated since your lights were off and on and the daily charges kept getting higher and higher. First let me say that we realize this is not good but we do have processes in place to get this correct and to prevent you from being affected until its fixed . A representative will be reaching out to you but I also encourage you to call us at 888 963 9363. We have options for customers in your exact situation. Published on February 23, 2021
My lights have been off since February 14 2021 and it’s February 19 2021 due to Houston having a winter freeze my lights are still off and I’m still getting charged fir it Why
Response: Curtis- Your review states that your lights have been off and you are still getting charges . You want to know why. The first thing to ask is “are your lights back on at this point?” If not please call our automated line at 888 963 9363. Follow the prompts to report an outage and you will be transferred to CenterPoint. Getting charges while your lights are out is about the most aggregating thing that occur with your account . This can happen when there are mass outages due to weather (i.e Hurricane Harvey) or an individual disaster such as a fire. The meter stops sending it’s data so automated processes at Centerpoint kick in which results in usage estimations. Our billing processes run automatically based on the usage data we receive so if its estimated, an adjustment will need to be made on the account. The good news there is an automated process for these adjustments as well. We will be working tirelessly to make sure that your account is adjusted properly . We just have to wait until Centerpoint sends us the corrected usage total. That will happen at the end of your 30day billing cycle and we have options. Call us at 888 963 9363 and we can help. Published on February 22, 2021
My usage went from $5 day to $15 .No power for 3 days but still charged this outrageous ammount. I cant afford this!. Cant even speak to anyone until monday. Terrible costly service now. Cant afford this. Even if I could. Who would!.
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