Deposit has been assessed in accordance with all applicable rules and regulations for the State of Virginia. Company declines to waive / remove deposit. Company has billed deposit in three installments and asks that deposit be paid as billed. It also should be noted that Company waived deposit...
five months ago (December 2014) and warned customer at that time that future late payments may result in deposit being re-assessed.
Per the Company’s Terms and Conditions of Service in the State of Virginia, the Company can withhold service until the bona fide lessee settles their obligations. The Company confirmed the only lessee is the prior account holder/brother to the applicant. The property owner is unaware of the sister...
(applicant) residing in the household, and confirmed [she] is not a lessee. The Company is referencing the following section of the Terms and Conditions of Service in Virginia: DENIAL OR DISCONNECTION OF SERVICE: Except as may be otherwise provided by law, the Company reserves the right to deny service to any applicant for any of the following reasons: 6) For prior indebtedness by a previous customer provided that the previous customer continues to be an owner or bona fide lessee at the premises.
The customer contacted the Virginia State Corporation Commission, also. The Company provided the following response to the SCC.
1 .Did the customer contact the Company regarding the complaint? Yes
2. What was the Company’s response to the complaint? Company explained deposit policy and reason for...
deposit.
3. Did the Company request a deposit on the account? Yes
4. If so, what was the amount of the deposit and date requested? $270
5 .What is the reason for the deposit and how was the deposit calculated? Failure to establish and maintain satisfactory credit. Deposit calculated using average 2 month billing.
6. Provide 24 months of usage, billing, and payment history - Attached
7. Provide 6 months of actual billing statements. - Attached
8 Did the Co. break the deposit into 3 installments? If so, on what billing statements? Yes. September, October billings with third installment to be added to next billing.
9. Did the Co. provide a deposit warning letter or notice to the customer before requesting the deposit? yes
10. If so, when was the letter or notice sent and provide a copy of the letter or notice. Yes, see bill mailed August 20, 2015.
11. Will the Co. consider waiving the deposit on the customer’s account? Company declines to waive deposit.
Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response offer made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and have determined that this proposed action would not resolve my complaint. For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.I agree with the response however money was taken to have the account paid off under the name of [redacted]. [redacted] with my card for the full amount in order to get my service set up while waiting on this response since [redacted] was finally able to get a hold of [redacted] from collections and she said payment in the full amount would be required before service could be connected in my name. A this point I would love to have my payment returned except for the amount of that actually came from the service address at [redacted]. Currently we do not have food to eat because we had to pay such an outlandish amount just to keep or connect service despite [redacted] canceling his service a little under a month ago. Attached is the original lease and an early renewal lease that shows [redacted] never lived at the [redacted] address.
Regards,
Melody [redacted]
On 6/23/16 a Company representative advised the customer plans had been made to schedule an outage on 6/24/16 to perform vegetation maintenance along the section of distribution line serving the customer’s residence. The remainder of the distribution “tap” line would also be inspected for vegetation...
issues at that time. Any problems found would be addressed at that time. The Company was unable to schedule the work on 6/24/16 as a result of storms and the subsequent storm restoration activity. However, the Company will re-schedule the vegetation maintenance ASAP. A representative attempted to notify the customer on 6/24/16 of the delay. During the previous 3 years the customer experienced 12 outages; 4 attributed to trees inside the right of way, 2 trees outside the right of way, 2 vines, 3 equipment failures and 1 weather related.
I have reviewed the response offer made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and have determined that this proposed action would not resolve my complaint. For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.
In response to the last part of the email sent by AEP, I have spoken with a representative named [redacted] multiple times. So me not returning their call is incorrect. I still have [redacted]s information. She was able to assist me in regards to my account as well as helping me arrange another payment plan, for now. At no time was the Leveling option offered to me. Even if it had been I cannot pay 460.00 a month. Thats still a rather large amount of money to pay each month. [redacted] and someone named [redacted] were the only 2 people that were able to assist me and this was after I had already filed the complaint and was ready to contact my local media. It should not take repeated phone calls and emails to get something like this Resolved, or at least looked at. I had to demand someone from AEP come out and check the meter, not one time did any representative I spoke with offer to do anything. [redacted] was very nice and responsive and [redacted] was beyond nice. But again, this was after I had to make a huge ordeal over this.
Regards,
[redacted]
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and find that this resolution would be satisfactory to me. I will wait for the business to perform this action and, if it does, will consider this complaint resolved.
Appalachian Power contacted me with a response very quickly. They appologized and assured me the problem was corrected. I appreciate their prompt response and actions.
Regards,
[redacted]
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and find that this resolution would be satisfactory to me. I will wait for the business to perform this action and, if it does, will consider this complaint resolved.
Regards,
[redacted]
Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and have determined that this does not resolve my complaint. For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.
[To assist us in bringing this matter to a close, we would like to know your view on the matter.] After reading response, he wants to absolve himself. He wants you to believe that we lost our electricity. False, the sump pump was working thru the rain storm. We have pictures of it working. The unit has a battery back- up even if the electricity goes out. The September flooding saturated 3 different areas in basement. What we went thru to have the grading of earth and porch rail reattached was to hold payment till job was done.That was done and the bill paid. Then when it leaked the first time Boiman came out and we were told by owner that it wasn't graded correctly. Boiman himself regarded. We had the huge leak in September and we waited days to get a response from the company.Their response to us was we will try to get to you when we have time. Rained on 9/10/16 and crew finally came on 9/21/16. They ran water from my hose and couldn't find the leak. Said well I saved you money and didn't remove the Porch. Mr. Boiman resonded that the last leak was months after the work was done. However I think the Lifetime Waranty falls within the time frame! He has never called us to discuss anything about a second sump pump. I think he does not want to honor his contract or re evaluate the job done. I think his employee did not do the job correctly but Mr, Boiman is not interested in inspecting the job by excavating.
Regards,
[redacted]
Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and have determined that this does not resolve my complaint. For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.
This is in response to the two points made by Mr. Boiman: a. Sump Pump operated on lesser battery power because of power outage. 1. Power was out for a short while. Our daughter called us immediately upon checking the basement. We went right over and the power was back on and the pump operating on the electric power.. 2. Our research found an Chicago Tribune article dated May 8, 2017 which reports that battery operated sump pumps DO NOT operate at diminished capacity.
Regards,3. This is the another deflection by Mr. Boiman and the first time this excuse was offered. b. we have had no leaks since then. 1., This is true bu once again Lifetime Warranty is just that. There is no exclusion for failures that only occur once in a great while. What value does a warranty have to the customer who hired his company.It continues to amaze us that Mr.Boiman refuses to re examine the work done by his employee who may not have done the job correctly. Mr. Boiman seems to not worry about his customers and their complaints once he has been paid. In hindsight we did find a similar complaint against him that had not resolution. His lack of response to earlier contacts seems to indicate poor business attitude. We are not satisfied and will continue to purse this issue.
[redacted]
I have reviewed the response offer made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and have determined that this proposed action would not resolve my complaint. For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.
I do not agree that most of our power outages are caused by MAJOR STORM EVENTS every time we have a cold front move through the power should not go out. This has been going on the whole time I have lived here 30 years. I don`t think it will change with the current management
Regards,
[redacted]
A Company representative completed several trips to the customer’s residence to record meter readings and determine the current kW load at the meter. The representative contacted the customer several times to discuss the load at the meter and the results of a meter test were also discussed. A...
load profile of the customer’s usage was also obtained which showed a constant load of over 2k watts for the billing period in question with many peaks of 8k watts or higher, mostly at night which indicated the customer’s heat pump was running in auxiliary heat mode for long periods of time, which is completely normal and expected for heat pumps when the temperature is below 30 degrees. The additional load profile information was discussed with the customer. As a result, the customer’s usage was determined to be accurate during the billing period and the increase was attributed to abnormally cold temperatures.
Deposit has been assessed in accordance with all applicable rules and regulations for the State of Virginia. Company declines to waive / remove deposit. Company has billed deposit in three installments and asks that deposit be paid as billed.
The company is delaying the requested service because both the applicant and the prior account holder are listed as the property owners through the county assessor. Per the Company’s Terms and Conditions, service can be withheld until the debt accumulated under a bona fide owner is paid, regardless...
of who the applicant is applying for the new service. The following is the section the Company is invoking:
DENIAL OR DISCONNECTION OF SERVICE: Except as may be otherwise provided by law, the Company reserves the right to deny service to any applicant for any of the following reasons: 6) For prior indebtedness by a previous customer provided that the previous customer continues to be an owner or bona fide lessee at the premises.
This is a domestic issue, and should be settled civilly.
The applicant requested service at two different accounts. The service listed by the Company as “trailer” has been connected. The other location is being withheld until the requested payment is received.
The company verified the customer resides in the upstairs apartment at the address provided. The account was opened 2/6/2014. Twice, while the customer resides at the premise, another customer requested new service at the address. Appalachian Power mailed letters to the customer on 1/18/16 and...
7/26/16 to inform of service request and to allow time (10 days) to respond before the company completed the account change. On 8/4/16 a company representative forwarded copies of the letters to the customer by email. The representative also advised the customer the company often finds that customers move out of a location and do not call to close the account. The company becomes aware of the situation when another customer applies for service or if zero (0) usage is observed on the account. Customers may also provide wrong addresses or meter numbers when requesting service, therefore, the company contacts the current customer of record shown on the account before honoring a new service request. The customer was also advised that the customer will never pay for anything but the electricity that is measured through their meter. If the account is closed in error, the balance on the closed account will show up as transferred on the new account, but remains for the usage as measured by the meter. Customers on a budget (EPP) or average monthly payment plan (APP) will notice the new account displays those amounts - deferred balance, etc. The company visited the premise to check for switched/crossed meters at the apartments. All meters were observed serving the correct customers - no crossed/switched meters were found.
A Company representative contacted the customer on June 17, 2016. Based upon the customer’s payment history and income from Social Security, the representative agreed to waive the deferred deposit. The account will be specifically coded to avoid future deposits. The representative also...
reviewed the Average Monthly Plan (AMP) with the customer and mailed information about the offering to be reviewed by the customer and spouse in order to make an informed decision in regard to the appropriateness of the AMP program for them.
The company does not intend to give the appearance that the customer is being “punished” for the prior customer’s responsibilities. The company is entitled to request occupancy details, such as lease and ownership, even if the previous balance is eventually resolved. The company respectfully requests the customer to provide the required documentation to the collector assigned to the case order and the company will subsequently connect service.
On Feb. 27, 2018 a Company representative visited the property and performed 3 tests on the meter. The meter was found to be operating perfectly. The customer moved into the residence during August 2017, so this is the first winter at this location. The large two story brick house with a sun room...
was built in the early 1950's and little regard was given to insulation in the walls etc. at the time. The house has two large heat pumps and a gas meter. Heat pumps will provide approximately 3 units of heat for each unit of electricity. Since the house has gas it would be advantageous to the consumer to use the heat pumps at temperatures above 34 degrees and gas below that temperature. This is assuming the heat pumps are in working order. A call was made to the customer and an offer extended to offer assistance in how best to operate the heating equipment. The Average Monthly Billing Plan (AMP) is available and suggested for customers with high bills. The high bills are a direct result of electric heat and cold weather. The number of people occupying a residential facility has very little direct bearing on the cost of heating the facility. The number of occupants does affect the electric or gas bills with regards to hot water, cooking and consumption depending on whether the appliances are gas or electric.
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted] and find that this resolution would be satisfactory to me. I will wait for the business to perform this action and, if it does, will consider this complaint resolved.
Regards,
[redacted]
Deposit has been assessed in accordance with all applicable rules and regulations for the State of Virginia. Company declines to waive / remove deposit. Company has billed deposit in three installments and asks that deposit be paid as billed. It also should be noted that Company waived deposit...
five months ago (December 2014) and warned customer at that time that future late payments may result in deposit being re-assessed.
Per the Company’s Terms and Conditions of Service in the State of Virginia, the Company can withhold service until the bona fide lessee settles their obligations. The Company confirmed the only lessee is the prior account holder/brother to the applicant. The property owner is unaware of the sister...
(applicant) residing in the household, and confirmed [she] is not a lessee. The Company is referencing the following section of the Terms and Conditions of Service in Virginia: DENIAL OR DISCONNECTION OF SERVICE: Except as may be otherwise provided by law, the Company reserves the right to deny service to any applicant for any of the following reasons: 6) For prior indebtedness by a previous customer provided that the previous customer continues to be an owner or bona fide lessee at the premises.
The customer contacted the Virginia State Corporation Commission, also. The Company provided the following response to the SCC.
1 .Did the customer contact the Company regarding the complaint? Yes
2. What was the Company’s response to the complaint? Company explained deposit policy and reason for...
deposit.
3. Did the Company request a deposit on the account? Yes
4. If so, what was the amount of the deposit and date requested? $270
5 .What is the reason for the deposit and how was the deposit calculated? Failure to establish and maintain satisfactory credit. Deposit calculated using average 2 month billing.
6. Provide 24 months of usage, billing, and payment history - Attached
7. Provide 6 months of actual billing statements. - Attached
8 Did the Co. break the deposit into 3 installments? If so, on what billing statements? Yes. September, October billings with third installment to be added to next billing.
9. Did the Co. provide a deposit warning letter or notice to the customer before requesting the deposit? yes
10. If so, when was the letter or notice sent and provide a copy of the letter or notice. Yes, see bill mailed August 20, 2015.
11. Will the Co. consider waiving the deposit on the customer’s account? Company declines to waive deposit.
Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response offer made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and have determined that this proposed action would not resolve my complaint. For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.I agree with the response however money was taken to have the account paid off under the name of [redacted]. [redacted] with my card for the full amount in order to get my service set up while waiting on this response since [redacted] was finally able to get a hold of [redacted] from collections and she said payment in the full amount would be required before service could be connected in my name. A this point I would love to have my payment returned except for the amount of that actually came from the service address at [redacted]. Currently we do not have food to eat because we had to pay such an outlandish amount just to keep or connect service despite [redacted] canceling his service a little under a month ago. Attached is the original lease and an early renewal lease that shows [redacted] never lived at the [redacted] address.
Regards,
Melody [redacted]
On 6/23/16 a Company representative advised the customer plans had been made to schedule an outage on 6/24/16 to perform vegetation maintenance along the section of distribution line serving the customer’s residence. The remainder of the distribution “tap” line would also be inspected for vegetation...
issues at that time. Any problems found would be addressed at that time. The Company was unable to schedule the work on 6/24/16 as a result of storms and the subsequent storm restoration activity. However, the Company will re-schedule the vegetation maintenance ASAP. A representative attempted to notify the customer on 6/24/16 of the delay. During the previous 3 years the customer experienced 12 outages; 4 attributed to trees inside the right of way, 2 trees outside the right of way, 2 vines, 3 equipment failures and 1 weather related.
I have reviewed the response offer made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and have determined that this proposed action would not resolve my complaint. For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.
In response to the last part of the email sent by AEP, I have spoken with a representative named [redacted] multiple times. So me not returning their call is incorrect. I still have [redacted]s information. She was able to assist me in regards to my account as well as helping me arrange another payment plan, for now. At no time was the Leveling option offered to me. Even if it had been I cannot pay 460.00 a month. Thats still a rather large amount of money to pay each month. [redacted] and someone named [redacted] were the only 2 people that were able to assist me and this was after I had already filed the complaint and was ready to contact my local media. It should not take repeated phone calls and emails to get something like this Resolved, or at least looked at. I had to demand someone from AEP come out and check the meter, not one time did any representative I spoke with offer to do anything. [redacted] was very nice and responsive and [redacted] was beyond nice. But again, this was after I had to make a huge ordeal over this.
Regards,
[redacted]
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and find that this resolution would be satisfactory to me. I will wait for the business to perform this action and, if it does, will consider this complaint resolved.
Appalachian Power contacted me with a response very quickly. They appologized and assured me the problem was corrected. I appreciate their prompt response and actions.
Regards,
[redacted]
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and find that this resolution would be satisfactory to me. I will wait for the business to perform this action and, if it does, will consider this complaint resolved.
Regards,
[redacted]
Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and have determined that this does not resolve my complaint. For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.
[To assist us in bringing this matter to a close, we would like to know your view on the matter.] After reading response, he wants to absolve himself. He wants you to believe that we lost our electricity. False, the sump pump was working thru the rain storm. We have pictures of it working. The unit has a battery back- up even if the electricity goes out. The September flooding saturated 3 different areas in basement. What we went thru to have the grading of earth and porch rail reattached was to hold payment till job was done.That was done and the bill paid. Then when it leaked the first time Boiman came out and we were told by owner that it wasn't graded correctly. Boiman himself regarded. We had the huge leak in September and we waited days to get a response from the company.Their response to us was we will try to get to you when we have time. Rained on 9/10/16 and crew finally came on 9/21/16. They ran water from my hose and couldn't find the leak. Said well I saved you money and didn't remove the Porch. Mr. Boiman resonded that the last leak was months after the work was done. However I think the Lifetime Waranty falls within the time frame! He has never called us to discuss anything about a second sump pump. I think he does not want to honor his contract or re evaluate the job done. I think his employee did not do the job correctly but Mr, Boiman is not interested in inspecting the job by excavating.
Regards,
[redacted]
Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and have determined that this does not resolve my complaint. For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.
This is in response to the two points made by Mr. Boiman: a. Sump Pump operated on lesser battery power because of power outage. 1. Power was out for a short while. Our daughter called us immediately upon checking the basement. We went right over and the power was back on and the pump operating on the electric power.. 2. Our research found an Chicago Tribune article dated May 8, 2017 which reports that battery operated sump pumps DO NOT operate at diminished capacity.
Regards,3. This is the another deflection by Mr. Boiman and the first time this excuse was offered. b. we have had no leaks since then. 1., This is true bu once again Lifetime Warranty is just that. There is no exclusion for failures that only occur once in a great while. What value does a warranty have to the customer who hired his company.It continues to amaze us that Mr.Boiman refuses to re examine the work done by his employee who may not have done the job correctly. Mr. Boiman seems to not worry about his customers and their complaints once he has been paid. In hindsight we did find a similar complaint against him that had not resolution. His lack of response to earlier contacts seems to indicate poor business attitude. We are not satisfied and will continue to purse this issue.
[redacted]
I have reviewed the response offer made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and have determined that this proposed action would not resolve my complaint. For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.
I do not agree that most of our power outages are caused by MAJOR STORM EVENTS every time we have a cold front move through the power should not go out. This has been going on the whole time I have lived here 30 years. I don`t think it will change with the current management
Regards,
[redacted]
A Company representative completed several trips to the customer’s residence to record meter readings and determine the current kW load at the meter. The representative contacted the customer several times to discuss the load at the meter and the results of a meter test were also discussed. A...
load profile of the customer’s usage was also obtained which showed a constant load of over 2k watts for the billing period in question with many peaks of 8k watts or higher, mostly at night which indicated the customer’s heat pump was running in auxiliary heat mode for long periods of time, which is completely normal and expected for heat pumps when the temperature is below 30 degrees. The additional load profile information was discussed with the customer. As a result, the customer’s usage was determined to be accurate during the billing period and the increase was attributed to abnormally cold temperatures.
Deposit has been assessed in accordance with all applicable rules and regulations for the State of Virginia. Company declines to waive / remove deposit. Company has billed deposit in three installments and asks that deposit be paid as billed.
The Company appreciates the customer's concern and will investigate the claim and take appropiate action, as required.
The company is delaying the requested service because both the applicant and the prior account holder are listed as the property owners through the county assessor. Per the Company’s Terms and Conditions, service can be withheld until the debt accumulated under a bona fide owner is paid, regardless...
of who the applicant is applying for the new service. The following is the section the Company is invoking:
DENIAL OR DISCONNECTION OF SERVICE: Except as may be otherwise provided by law, the Company reserves the right to deny service to any applicant for any of the following reasons: 6) For prior indebtedness by a previous customer provided that the previous customer continues to be an owner or bona fide lessee at the premises.
This is a domestic issue, and should be settled civilly.
The applicant requested service at two different accounts. The service listed by the Company as “trailer” has been connected. The other location is being withheld until the requested payment is received.
The company verified the customer resides in the upstairs apartment at the address provided. The account was opened 2/6/2014. Twice, while the customer resides at the premise, another customer requested new service at the address. Appalachian Power mailed letters to the customer on 1/18/16 and...
7/26/16 to inform of service request and to allow time (10 days) to respond before the company completed the account change. On 8/4/16 a company representative forwarded copies of the letters to the customer by email. The representative also advised the customer the company often finds that customers move out of a location and do not call to close the account. The company becomes aware of the situation when another customer applies for service or if zero (0) usage is observed on the account. Customers may also provide wrong addresses or meter numbers when requesting service, therefore, the company contacts the current customer of record shown on the account before honoring a new service request. The customer was also advised that the customer will never pay for anything but the electricity that is measured through their meter. If the account is closed in error, the balance on the closed account will show up as transferred on the new account, but remains for the usage as measured by the meter. Customers on a budget (EPP) or average monthly payment plan (APP) will notice the new account displays those amounts - deferred balance, etc. The company visited the premise to check for switched/crossed meters at the apartments. All meters were observed serving the correct customers - no crossed/switched meters were found.
A Company representative contacted the customer on June 17, 2016. Based upon the customer’s payment history and income from Social Security, the representative agreed to waive the deferred deposit. The account will be specifically coded to avoid future deposits. The representative also...
reviewed the Average Monthly Plan (AMP) with the customer and mailed information about the offering to be reviewed by the customer and spouse in order to make an informed decision in regard to the appropriateness of the AMP program for them.
The company does not intend to give the appearance that the customer is being “punished” for the prior customer’s responsibilities. The company is entitled to request occupancy details, such as lease and ownership, even if the previous balance is eventually resolved. The company respectfully requests the customer to provide the required documentation to the collector assigned to the case order and the company will subsequently connect service.
On Feb. 27, 2018 a Company representative visited the property and performed 3 tests on the meter. The meter was found to be operating perfectly. The customer moved into the residence during August 2017, so this is the first winter at this location. The large two story brick house with a sun room...
was built in the early 1950's and little regard was given to insulation in the walls etc. at the time. The house has two large heat pumps and a gas meter. Heat pumps will provide approximately 3 units of heat for each unit of electricity. Since the house has gas it would be advantageous to the consumer to use the heat pumps at temperatures above 34 degrees and gas below that temperature. This is assuming the heat pumps are in working order. A call was made to the customer and an offer extended to offer assistance in how best to operate the heating equipment. The Average Monthly Billing Plan (AMP) is available and suggested for customers with high bills. The high bills are a direct result of electric heat and cold weather. The number of people occupying a residential facility has very little direct bearing on the cost of heating the facility. The number of occupants does affect the electric or gas bills with regards to hot water, cooking and consumption depending on whether the appliances are gas or electric.
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted] and find that this resolution would be satisfactory to me. I will wait for the business to perform this action and, if it does, will consider this complaint resolved.
Regards,
[redacted]