Texas is lucky to have energy deregulation. You can pick and choose electricity companies as you please. But something you need to be wary of, is winding up with a bad electricity company.
This does happen to folks occasionally, and it is important to be aware of the situation. You’ll see so many tempting deals and bargains out there, don’t simply reach for the next bright and shiny offer without doing a little research on what the electricity provider is all about.
Common Problems with Bad Electricity Companies
Here are some common problems you’ll face with a bad electricity company:
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Billing Errors
One of the most frustrating things for any customer to see, is to open their bill and discover they have duplicate charges or to be overcharged. Sometimes this can be a computer generated error and other times this is a careless mistake by a person. Some people have discovered they’ve been signed up for the wrong energy plan, so not only are they paying too much – but they don’t have what they want in the first place! Untangling this mess can take longer than receiving your next bill.
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Calling Repeatedly to Reach Customer Service
We’ve all had the experience of needing to speak to customer service. But what’s even worse is trying to reach someone and not getting through. So the telephone rings and rings, no one answers or the phone disconnects. Or you get put on hold, listening to cheerful music for so long that you call back over and over.
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Receiving Your Electric Bill Late or Not at All
If an energy provider is going to send you the electric bill via snail mail or email, then you need to receive it ahead of time to make payment arrangements. But if you receive the electricity bill late….or not at all, this can make you so frustrated you can’t even speak a full sentence! Because now you might have a problem with your electricity due date and probably will have to pay late payment fees.
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Poor Financial or Pricing Management
Let’s face it: whether it is poor financial management or bad pricing, bankruptcies do happen sometimes. Although it’s hard for the average user to know the financial situation of a company, our best advice is to sign up with a reputable energy company that has been in business for a long time. If you do happen to be a customer of an electricity company that goes bankrupt, your account will be given to a Provider Of Last Resort (POLR) and the pricing is relatively high-priced. There’s a high chance that you won’t realize this has happened until your next bill has already skyrocketed. So signing up with well known electricity companies that have a good track record really matters.
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Continuous Problems with Their Website, Unable to Use It
This is one of the biggest reasons people consider an energy company “bad.” When you just can’t count on accessing your account portal or make payments on a consistent basis, you do not have a great electricity company. Today you should not have much difficulty accessing a website in the USA, hearing continuous complaints simply doesn’t cut it.
Avoiding A Bad Electricity Company – Our 3 Tips
- Check with the Better Business Bureau. This is one of the best things you can do. The BBB is a consumer protection agency that helps customers across the USA to know what businesses are reliable. If a customer complains about an electricity company through the BBB, they will have a record of it. So reaching out to them will help you to be well-informed.
- Ask family, friends and neighbors what they think of the company you’re considering signing up with. If you are concerned an energy company is not great, try talking to the people you trust. Start with your neighbors, as they probably have similar energy needs that you do. Then ask family and friends that you have in the area. Take note of what they say about some of the concerns we’ve mentioned above, such as billing and customer service.
- Pay attention to social media reviews. Not every customer with a complaint is going to go to the BBB. Quite a few of them are going to turn to their favorite social media channel, such as Twitter or Facebook. This is a great way to see if customers who have had service through this energy company will give you confidence in them, or make you wary of signing up for their service.
Yes! You can avoid doing business with a bad company by comparing electricity companies in our website portal.
