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
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
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
This is crazy. I am in one room. There is no one else in the house with me. I put a $100 on my bill and I am being told it will only last for 5 days. This is ridiculous. I might as well find another company to go with and be on a contract.
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 February 22, 2021
My electric bill in Louisiana is much lower than the low average in Texas in a 1000 Square Foot home. Where is your savings.
Response: Jorge, Thank you for the feedback. We will be more than happy to go over your billing and see what tips we can provide you on saving as much on your electricity. Please contact us at 888-963-9363. Published on February 22, 2021
We hace been without power for three days we will not be able to withstand the freeze. Everything runs on electric power we have nothing but chiill, no food, can’t cook, no warm water can’t take a shower, no phones, no internet. Only chill, not even information what’s going on or what to expect When will the power will be restored
Response: Manuel- We understand your concern with not having power especially during these harsh temperatures we are experiencing here in Texas. Unfortunately we have no way of knowing how the outages are implemented and since so many outages going on across Texas there is no time given as to when power will be connected. Please contact us at 888-963-9363 so we can further assist you. Published on February 22, 2021
Would never reccomend to anyone. I have been without lights since monday due to weather, and I’m still being charged $10 every day for “not using enough power”
Response: Ms. Kirkland- your comments state that you would not recommend us because you were still charged $10 per day last week for not using enough power and you were without lights since last Monday. First, hopefully your power has been restored for some time. If not please call out automated line at 888 963 9363 and follow the prompts to report an outage . Secondly, let me reassure you that if you received charges on days where your power was out this is due to the automated estimations that are generated by CenterPoint when your meter is unable to transmit data. Our billing processes are automatic so this can lead to inaccurate billing . The good news is that there are also automated processes to correct this . We just have to wait until the end of your 30 day billing cycle. If that looks like it will be longer than a couple of days we have options to eliminate the impact to you until the corrections can be made. A representative tried top reach out and your phone was not accepting calls. Please call us at 888 963 9363 so we can assist. We are not disconnecting this week so if you can reach us tomorrow we can take care of you with no worries. Published on February 22, 2021
I did a hurried “Switch0-over” from Griddy, which was to be effective the next day. I finally get power back and find “Payment” request in spam box. NOt happy that I was NOT told a payment had to be made in order to become effective!!!! I would have given that info over the phone had I known. Houston tx has been SHUT DOWN for a week due to weather, and I was unable to complete that transaction THAT I THOUGHT WAS COMPLETE!!! FRANK FAILED TO TELL ME THAT.
Response: Ms. Seltz- You comments state that you were trying to quickly switch from Griddy and that the associate you spoke to, Frank, failed to advise you that a payment was needed to start service. This resulted in a delay which was avoidable because you would have made the required payment on the phone . That’s an unacceptable situation and its not a good thing if you walked away from your enrollment with an incorrect expectation. I do see that you were able to get your service activated as of Saturday which is a good thing . We would like to get some more information about your situation as our records indicate that your enrollment was completed online. We also do not have a Frank working for us. I’m sure we can get to the bottom of this for you . Please call us at 888 963 9363 to discuss. Published on February 22, 2021
You get a ZERO HORRIBLE. RATES ARE THRU THE ROOF DURING A UNPRECEDENTED WINTER STORM. SHAME ON YOU. PEOPLE HAVE LOST THEIR JOBS MOST CANT PAY SO THEY ARE FORCED TO TAKE DRASTIC MEASURE SOME RESULTING IN DEATH. SHAME ON YOU
Response: Demetrius - You comments say that you are upset because our rates have gone through the roof when many customers are at their most vulnerable. The stress of the week makes this very understandable . That’s why it’s important for us to clarify that Payless Power has not raised anyone’s rate in advance of, or during the storm . Your charges may have increased substantially but this is due to the amount your home is consuming and not because we increased your KWH rate. You are paying the same rate as you were when the weather was pleasant … the record setting cold just results in heaters running non stop for days. This increased usage of course results in higher daily charges. We would be happy to go over this with you or you can visit your Payless Power MyAccount Portal for more information. We also have some additional options for you if you are struggling to keep your account current due to the storm. Call us at 888 963 9363 because we would like to help. Published on February 19, 2021