Cleco Power

Cleco is the absolute worst electric company in existence. They are a scam. They are price gouging and making money like nobody’s business. They claim higher propane charges but that is BS. An investigation needs to be done. We also have the most ignorant political figures with power especially to let this go on. Someone is getting their pockets lined and I hope they end up in prison all of them.

I have been a CLECO customer for over 25 years. I am a disabled veteran and don’t get paid until the 1st of the month. I have to get an extension each time my bill is due and each time there is a new $100 deposit. I spoke with CLECO and was told I had over $1300 in deposits with them. Why can’t I get at least half of that back? Not a credit, my money. This is a ripoff.

Clemons wants to charge people bs services charges because of the storms but atleast once a week we are without power this bs company needs to pay me for all the gas I have to spend in my generator (that mine yall I have to leave hooked up to my house because the power goes out so often ) so that my food doesn't go bad I wish these money hungry pos would go out of business

Have cleco for 3 years and they rob people all I've used on my break down on my light bill is $88 worth fuel cost $115 and several bs charges that end up making a bill of $333 I'm not happy if I had a choice I'd go with energy or slemco before this greedy garbage company

I cancelled my services with them months ago and they’re still charging me. Like what the hell? Whoever I was on the phone with for Cleco did not listen and they’re charging me for a resident I don’t even stay at anymore. I really hate this company and they’re going to get sued one day for keep playing with people

Whatever you do, do not let cleco put a light pole in your yard. You are responsible when it falls because of their poor installation.

How is it we had a tornado two months ago Cleco come cut the tree off the powerline and left a tree cut up on my property and will not clean it up my wife has told them numerous times they give her the runaround

Revdex.com:At this time, my complaint, ID regarding Cleco Power LLC has been resolved
Sincerely,*** ***

I have a vacation home in Louisiana that I go to maybe once a week every other month. I stay between 5 to 7 days. For almost 2 years it's been the same routine. I turn all breakers off except the Refrigerator, stove and outside light. I averaged 5 kWh per day for almost 2 yrs. All of a sudden, no changes, November showed I used 29 kWh per day and December 43 kWh per day. I wasn't even there in November. I was there in December 5 days and I receive a $147.00 bill. I was on the phone with them for 2 hours. No explanation from them except I must have forgotten to turn the breakers off. Something is very fishy. There is some price gouging going on. They are robbing me. Is there anything I can do besides hire an attorney? Who else can I contact to file a complaint? Anyone elses bill outrageous?

Paid my light bill a week in advance an still got disconnected because someone tried paying on the wrong account an the check got returned. I explained for hours that I didnt even have a bank account so how could I write a check for a payment? They still want me to pay 275 to have my lights restored, and my bill was only 190 before I made the payment. Thats theft. Why should I have to pay an additional payment if I already paid my total due, because of there mistake? Horrible company, I have never experience a worst light company in my life.

Anybody else out there noticing anything suspicious about her power bill ? Mine keeps going up and up even with nobody being home ! Doesn't matter how many things I shut off it makes no difference on the power bill! I'm seriously beginning to question the honesty of this company ! My parents had this same problem and went in and complained about it and they acted kinda funny when presented with the excessive charges. Instead of trying to find out why the bill was so high Cleco just threw the bill in the trash and said just don't pay it ! After that there power bills have returned to normal. My power bill for just a little over 2,000 sq.ft. is almost $450.00... it used to be $220.00 WHY ?

I have on MULTIPLE occasions called and asked for tree removal from around the pole that has a transformer on it. I have been told it would be turned over to the company that does that service. I am talking of YEARS here not just yesterday or within the past few months and NOTHING has been done. NOTHING. I have had loss of power on a couple of occasions because the tree limbs got into the wires and made the transformer blow. I had forgot about this because it has been so long until day before yesterday when the power went out across from me for the same reason. Sure seems it would be in CLECO's interest to take care of this type of problem. Boy I bet there is a lot of finger pointing when a real storm comes in and power is lost due to from to many trees on or around the power lines. Good job CLECO for all the excuses.

[A default letter is provided here which indicates that the business has not responded to you directly.  If you wish, you may update it before sending it.]
Revdex.com:
At this time, I have not been contacted by Cleco Power LLC regarding complaint ID...

12539096.
Regards,
[redacted]

Review: Fuel charge storm restoration charge customer charge environmental charge infastructure & incremental costs recovery. They don't offer any explanation and they have been charging this sense katrinaDesired Settlement: Stop this is the only county charging these fees

Business

Response:

Customer will be contacted to discuss her concerns regarding bill items.

Consumer

Response:

I have reviewed the response 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 need the false statements of what the charges are for. I need for this company to stop being fraudulent and to stop price gauging.

Regards,

Review: on 6/2/15 I came home and did not have power. I called Cleco to see if there was a power outage and was told that my service was disconnected. I was shocked. I have never had a disconnection of my service and I have had an account with cleco for approximateky 18-20 years. My average bill is about 50-60 dollars per month. I spoke to the representative and told her that there must be a mistake. I would not allow my bill to be disconnected for the amount of money. I told her that I did not receive the disconnect notice. She told me that I needed to pay the entire bill of $119.05. I repeated to her that I did not receive the disconnect notice. I paid the bill and my service was restored. I get my bill and I notice a $30.00 charge and a $150 deposit fee. I called Cleco and I asked her what was this charge for? She said it was the reconnect fee. I told her that no one told me that I would be charged a reconnect fee. I told her that Cleco cannot just charge you later for something without making you aware that there was a charge. I spoke to [redacted]( supervisor) and she said that the fee is on the disconnect notice. I told her that I did not receive the disconnect notice. She asked me why? I told her I don't know why I did not receive it. I told her that she can look at my bill and see that my average is $50-60 per month . I also told her that she can go back and hear the conversation I had with the representative and at no time did she mention a reconnect fee nor did she mention a deposit. I was told that they did not have to mention a fee for them to charge me for it. I told her that it is against the law for someone to charge you for something and not tell you about it. Even though Cleco is a large corporation that have to abide by the law and they cannot charge me for something that I was not aware that I was going to be charged. Just because Cleco is the only power company does not give them the right to charge customers whatever they feel they want to charge them. I received no notification.Desired Settlement: Take off reconnection fee and the deposit. I have been a long standing customer and have never had my service disconnected. I was never told or notified that there was a fee and that I would be charged this fee. Just because Cleco is a large corporation does not mean that they can do what they want. I am a law abiding, tax paying citizen and Cleco cannot just do want ever they feel they want to do. On June 2, 2015. The representative should have told me what I had to pay and what the fees are.

Consumer

Response:

At this time, my complaint, ID 10702282 regarding Cleco Power LLC has been resolved.

Sincerely,[redacted]

Review: 12/24/13-logged onto account with CLECO, bill due 12/26/13; called [redacted] to pay bill ASAP over the phone; representative refused to accept payment; instructed to pay bill on-line, then call toll free number back with confirmation number of on-line payment; instead, checked hours of local service office (154 Florida Ave, Slidell, LA 70458) at CLECO website & decided to leave work early to pay bill in person; service center was closed, a notice was posted that business hours changed a few months back (website was NOT updated); went home & proceeded to follow instructions given earlier to pay bill online through CLECO website; billing info was outdated (I had been paying through my bank's web bill pay for over 2 years); removed outdated account & added the current one (which required re-entry for verification); made payment, then called toll free number with payment confirmation; 12/28/13(Sat)-received email from the CLECO bill pay service that payment had been returned; 12/30/13(Mon)-called CLECO bill pay service (mycheckfree.com) & informed they, "could not locate my account." No explanation given as to why; scheduled payment via my bank website ((Capital One)as I had been doing successfully for over two years) $102.81 pd 1/7/14 & $124.17 pd 1/9/14: 1/14/14-power disconnected for nonpayment; paid bill at local Service Center to have power restored (including a $25 reconnect fee); called bank to inquire about payments, informed they were successfully mailed but never cashed, payment for $102.81 was cancelled as it was paid at service center; called CLECO to inquire about payments & informed billing address had changed, asked why I was not notified, told "CLECO did their best to notify all customers, but it was difficult to notify everyone, especially on-line customers who don't receive statements" then notified b/c I had a returned payment (which was the bill pay services error, not mine) & b/c a payment had been cancelled (pd at service cntr) now required to make future payments in cashDesired Settlement: Request refund of $25 reconnect fee as I was not informed of CLECO's change of billing address (previous e-bills were checked & no notifications included). I would like to continue paying my bill on-line, as I have done successfully for over two years. Request verification that I will receive important notifications in the future. Finally, my fiance & I are disabled combat veterans with small children that require power for medical purposes. Would like notification if power is to be turned off.

Consumer

Response:

At this time, I have not been contacted by Cleco Power LLC regarding complaint ID [redacted]. The problem has gotten worse I am now being charged erroneous return fees. I have made every effort to resolve my issue with this company to no avail. We are not problem customers, we are on automatic bill pay. Cleco not only manufactured these problems but has yet to return calls or answer Emails. Instead they have sent a generic letter threatening to send me to the district attorney's office. Once again, I didn't cause the problem, I have had poor customer service at their office by front line employees when explaining the problems caused by Cleco. They accept the fact that the company is in the wrong and in the same breath say there is nothing they can do about it. That it totally unacceptable. A simple communication with someone of authority can clear this mess up in minutes.

The poor service and communication ultimately had the power service terminated (Account paid in full). A disabled veteran lives in the home that CANNOT live without power. We had to get generators attached to the home while we waited for a technician to come back and turn our power back on. Someone from this company needs to step up and clear this problem.

Regards,

Review: I called the customer service line in regards to my deposit, the servie rep could now answer my question in regards to why my deposit was so high. I asked to speak to someone who could answer my question and she gave me ###-###-####. This number is sex hotline. I prefer not to do business with individuals who take there job as a joke.Desired Settlement: I just wanted an explanation and a fair deposit.

Review: I'm writing because I'm very upset with the utility company Cleco for their unfair billing practices. Im a single mom living on an extremely tight budget, paycheck to paycheck. My home is an 800sqft low income apartment. I was shocked when I opened my bill and it was $234 (it's normally around HALF that, even less than half in cool months). When I called them, they stated they charged me an additional $150 for a "high risk deposit" because my service was once disconnected (I was very ill back in July and yes, paying my bill slipped my mind and they cut my service off, but I paid it the SAME DAY and even paid a $30 reconnect fee). Cleco is not understanding nor are they willing to work with customers. If you are late, they will shut off your service even if it's dangerously HOT weather. When I first had service established, I paid a $150 deposit. I don't understand how after being a customer for two years, I was late this one time and they are able to charge me ANOTHER $150 deposit?! That doesn't seem right to me! Now I will have no money for groceries or gas to get to work! Cleco [redacted] their customers & this should not be legal!! I called & spoke to a rep & her supervisor, both were rude and would not help me.Desired Settlement: I don't think they should be allowed to charge customers an additional deposit after being a customer for two years! I already paid a $30 reconnection fee, how is it legal to charge another $150 deposit?! Not to mention, people who are struggling to pay bills are the ones who are being penalized. The temperatures are dangerously hot in the summer months and it should be a crime for utility companies such as CLECO to have such harsh billing practices. I should not have to pay an ADDITIONAL $150!

This review may seem pretty pointless because if you need electricity and Cleco is the only power company that offers service in your area, then you have no choice but to pay them. But I have to vent. Their customer service representatives are unbelievably rude, and yes I spoke to more than one and had no pleasant experience whatsoever. Also the deposit to start service is not based on your credit and is ridiculously high. Lastly, I have to physically bring my lease agreement to their office in order to start service and was told so in a very rude and disrespectful manner. So if any affiliate of Cleco happens to read this, please do what you can to make some MUCH NEEDED changes!