Delmarva Power

Customer filed a complaint with the Delaware
Public Service Commission (DEPSC) on November 4 and was disconnected for
non-payment on 11/12 at 11:04 am in error prior to contact from DPL. The
service was reconnected at 1:33 pm the same day. DPL has responded to the complaint MR.
[redacted]...

filed with the Delaware Public Service Commission (DEPSC) on 11/12 and
our position remains the same. I called customer on 11/12 and left several messages to return my
call on the phone numbers he provided in his complaint.  Mr. [redacted]
returned my call later in the day and left a voice mail message to return his
call. I spoke with Mr. [redacted] on 11/13, customer has an initial deposit
of $620 is on hand from February 2012, I explained to customer that the additional
deposit  assessed on August 18 of $2800 is warranted due to the
delinquency of the account and cannot be waived. Customer's increased deposit amount is based on 2
months of the customer’s average bill of $1700 per month, which is how the
deposit is calculated.  The calculation and assessment of the deposit is
in accordance with DPL's tariff which is approved by our state regulator the
DEPSC.  The account has had 4 disconnect notices from June to October
2015.   Our records indicate that on July 1, [redacted] called in to Customer
Service regarding the disconnect notice received with a disconnect date of on
or after July 2. Customer was offered a 3 month payment arrangement with an
initial payment of $3377 by July 9 and installments of $1136 in addition to the
current bill to avoid any further collection activity to start with is next
bill. Customer accepted the offer and paid $3385.40 on July 8. Customer was
advised his next meter read for the new bill was on July 9. Customer's payment
arrangement had broken by August due to lack of payment.  DPL did not
receive another payment until September 21 for $5136.70.  Mr. [redacted] is
stated he was the new owner of the restaurant and stated the previous owners
did not pay.  DPL records indicate Mr [redacted] is listed as an Associate to
this account as far back as 2/2013.  If there is new ownership of the
restaurant, the new owner is required to request to activate a new account.I advised Mr. [redacted] that DPL is willing accept a payment of
$4000 by 11/18 to avoid any further collection activity, the amount of $2800
will be applied to his outstanding deposit and $1200 will be applied to his
$4848.05 balance, then the remaining balance can be set on an extended 6 month
payment arrangement of $808  .  Mr. [redacted]
stated DPL must accept his terms or else he will be going to the media.  I advised Mr. [redacted], I would submit his claim for reimbursement
for his loss of business to our Claims Department for review.  The Claims department has opened a claim, an
adjuster will investigate his claim and contact customer.

The documentation submitted by Ms. [redacted] has been located and reviewed.  The deposit of $640.00 has been refunded back on the account.

The previous increase of the deposit took place on 10/14/15. This made the total deposit on file 360.00. Another review of the account took place on 11/23/16, and the deposit was increased by another 210.00. This increase was in error, as the usage did not justify the amount of the increase....

Delmarva Power has waived the deposit increase of 210.00, leaving the deposit on file at 360.00, which is a 2 month average of usage at the property. The deposit will be refunded once the customer achieves an excellent payment rating with Delmarva Power, which requires payment of the bill on time and in full for 12 consecutive months.

I have reviewed customers account, our records indicate customers $84.16 credit was transferred to their new account on 10/14/2015 and the account currently has a credit of $24.24.  Customer spoke with Customer Service on 10/28 and was advised the same.  DPL apologizes for the delay. [redacted]...

[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.In August my services were not turned off for 10days it was turns off for a couple of hours so how did that cause another account to be issued.  Her response to the commission. Is totally different from what she is writing to Revdex.com she stated I requested service when I never requested service only to know my balance. Yet again she seems to rely on the fact billing notices which has charged us deposits for new accounts, that we didn'  ask for and then they merge accounts so not only are we be9ng charge deposits for services we already have . Then merging the accounts together that' not fair. I am tired of Mrs. [redacted] continuing to review a piece of paper and stating they are right instead of reviewing all 3 accounts and going line by line to try and understand what I am saying as a customer. She has continuously cut and paste the same email after I have given her documents after documents regarding the discrepancy she has never answered those statement. The advocates have send me everything she has written and it clearly shows a bias. She also stated my husband and I try to commit fraud? When we gave our exact name and our social security  numbers.  This a just numerous bias things that were said about us. She has no empathy nor does she care. Her company cut off our services after receiving a medical certification that is suppose to last 120 day. So I am rejecting this!  She should  answer the question from my original email I sent to her on November 6,2017 detailing the discrepancies I had. She has yet to comment or answer any of these questions. When will she decide to respond to that!   it has charged us

Customers are billed once a month. If they have an outstanding balance a customer may be required to make an initial payment to establish an installment plan on their delinquent balance. If a bill generates shortly after the initial payment and the establishment of an...

installment plan the due date may fall within the same month. Bills have a due date of 21 days after the invoice has generated. Our records show a payment arrangement was established on the customers utility balance on 07/09. Records show that arrangement was cancelled on 08/14 due to representative error. Another arrangement was established on 08- 14 on both the utility and deposit account. The September bill generated September 1st and should have been due on September 22nd. The bill was mailed late extending the due date until October 5th. The September payment posted October 6th. The next meter reading was October 1st and the bill generated October 6th and giving a due date of October 26th. We have not received a payment for the October bill. v

Our records indicate that there have been seven disconnection notices generated for Ms. [redacted]'s account within the past 12 months.  I have attached a copy of the most recent disconnection notice that states, in the event there is a deposit on file it may be increased.  Deposits are...

based on the usage at the property for the past 12 months.  When the system reviewed the usage and the deposit, the deposit was increased to be more in line with the usage history.  Ms. [redacted] was advised on October 11, 2016 that if the account was paid in full less the deposit increase of $395.00 that the $395.00 increase could be waived as a one time courtesy.  Ms. [redacted] advised that she was unable to pay the outstanding charges in full so the account was placed on a 12 month payment arrangement.

Our office first received this inquiry on October 14, 2014.  An investigation into [redacted]'s concerns have been conducted.  Please accept this as Delmarva Power's response to his concerns.
 
On August 19, 2014, [redacted] contacted our Customer Service Department...

and advised that two payments had been withdrawn from his account.  He advised that he did not authorize a payment of $100.00 only one payment of $106.72.  He was advised at that time to provide a copy of his bank statement and that a review of his account would be conducted. 
 
The investigation revealed that the $100.00 payment was made to Delmarva Power from his online banking website.  [redacted] was advised the same on August 20, 2014.  Per his request a refund adjustment in the amount of $100.00 was processed on August 21, 2014.  Our records indicate that the check was mailed to [redacted] on August 25, 2014. 
 
The internal investigation found no internal errors made on behalf of Delmarva Power so no additional credit adjustments will be made to the account. 
 
[redacted]

Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me. 
Regards,
[redacted]

I reviewed Ms [redacted]'s account, due to a defect in our billing system customer received adjusted billing from June to Dec Bill, as Ms [redacted] stated she received the adjusted bills that did not show her payments.  The bill mailed on 1/27 showed all payments that were credited...

to her account. This matter has been resolved, customers current bill was sent 2/25 with her current charges of $145.68 balance due.  I called customer to apologize for any inconvenience she may have experienced, left a voice mail for a return call to my direct # if she has any concerns regarding this issue.[redacted]

Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me. 
Check was received on June 5, 2014.

Left voicemail message for Mr. [redacted].  Final disconnection notice was sent on April 20 advising of the past due amount of $271.22 on account and advising that his service was subject to termination on or after May 5.  Due to late payment, services were disconnected on...

5/10.  Payment of $221.22 was made on 5/10 and services were restored.  As a one-time courtesy, Delmarva Power will waive the $30 reconnect fee.

Please see attachments. I was unable to reach the customer. I never had a response to my email 2-2-16

I have completed a review of the account. The total outstanding balance on the account is currently $848.41. Of this amount, $465.00 is the outstanding security deposit thatwas assessed on the account on February 4, 2016. The deposit was assessed on the account due to delinquency. There have been...

three prior disconnection notices generatedon the account prior to the deposit being assessed (5/25/15, 12/9/15, and 2/4/16). The last time the account was paid in full by the due date was in February 2015. Thewaiver of the deposit is not warranted. Mr. [redacted] has been set up on a 3 month payment arrangement for the deposit amount of $465.00 (3 installments of $155.00).

According to Delmarva Claims Dept, claim has been closed and reimbursement has taken place at this time.

Customer [redacted] originally had his bills being mailed to the service location address, which was incorrect. Delmarva Power corrected the mailing address in October yet the account continued to not be paid in a timely fashion. There were two returned payments and no proof was given that this...

was a fraud situation so the account remained Cash Only. Payment arrangements were broken and the service was disconnected in May. Delmarva Power would require payment in full to reconnect service. While the account started with an incorrect mailing address, the customer had ample opportunity to comply with payment arrangements subsequently granted but failed to make necessary payments. During the course of investigating the customer's current complaint, it was discovered the prior account holder at this property, Alison Howton, is currently living at the property. This would mean the full balance under [redacted] as well as the balance under Alison Howton would be required in full before service is reconnected. I left a voice message for the customer on 7/25 with my contact information.

Deposit of $510.00 was assessed to due delinquency.  Mr. [redacted] has made 12 late payments in the past 12 months.  After two disconnect notices in a 12-month period our system automatically assesses a deposit based on a two-month average bill in accordance with our Tariff's Rules and...

Regulations, which can be found on our website.  Notice of a possible deposit assessment is also printed on the disconnect notices.  The $510.00 deposit was waived as a one-time courtesy; however, any further late payments can result in a future deposit assessment, which will not be waived.

I have completed a review of Ms. [redacted]' account.  An investigative order was competed on March 2, 2016 confirming that meter [redacted] was located at [redacted] and meter [redacted] was located at [redacted].  This confirmed that the customers at these two addresses...

were being billed for the incorrect consumption.  The meters were corrected and the proper usage was billed to each customer for the periods covering June 2014 through June 2016.  Per Delaware Tariff Section IX- Adjustment of Charges (E) Adjust for Incorrect Billings - Incorrect billings for Delivery Service and for combined Electric Supply & Delivery Service resulting from clerical error, incorrect meter installation or reading, incorrect application of the rate schedule, or other similar reasons shall be corrected immediately upon discovery, and corrected bills rendered to the Customer. However, in no case may additional charges due from the Customer under the application of this paragraph be collected for more than three (3) years prior to the month of discovery. If the Customer has been overcharged, the Company shall refund the amount due by credit to the Customer's account or the Customer may submit a request in writing for a refund by check, to the date the error was made, not to exceed three (3) years prior to discovery. In the absence of a written election by the Customer for a refund by check, the Company shall credit the Customer's account. In the event additional charges are due the Company, installment payments shall be offered for not less than the number of months the account was billed in error. An installment payment charge shall not be applied to such installment payments.Based on the tariff regulation stated above, Delmarva Power does have the right to bill Ms. [redacted] for her actual usage consumed once the meter mix up was discovered.  The usage from the correct meter servicing Ms. [redacted]' property was getting actual readings from June through April 2015.  The readings were estimated from May 2015 through June 2016 when the meter were corrected.  An actual reading was obtained when the meters were corrected, however Ms. [redacted] was billed on the original estimated readings as this was actually less than what the true usage should have been based on the actual reading obtained from the meter.  Delmarva Power is willing to provide an extended payment arrangement, equal to or greater than 25 months, for the outstanding balance of $1,637.05.  Ms. [redacted] was offered payment arrangements previously and declined.  A hold would remain on the account for 30 days to allow her to contact our Customer Service Department to set up payment arrangement.  After that time normal collection procedures would resume on the account.

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.

 
roblem:
Since May of 2016, I have been asking Delmarva to put my account on a payment plan, and each time the rep claimed that they had and it was taken care of. I have spoken to several reps about this, and each time my request was ignored. I have been cut off, hung up on, and ignored in this matter for 6 months now. Now Delmarva claims that my account is past due, due to their error. The second I received a notice that the power was going to be disconnected, I called Delmarva and they refused to speak to me about my account. They hung up on me. I continued to pay my bill for the month. Soon after, I received a notice on the door that the power was going to be shut off unless a payment was made, even though I had just made one. The notice said in order to prevent disconnection, to call the number listed. I called the number as instructed, made arrangements, and about an hour later my power was still disconnected. Now Delmarva claims they cannot reconnect my power with out another $300 payment that I cannot afford, even though their mistake put me in this situation. If Delmarva had listened to me when I requested a payment plan, this would have never happened. They have the most horrendous customer service I have ever had to deal with. I have never spoken to a company that had so little interest in helping or keeping their customers.
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Desired Resolution / Outcome
Desired Resolution:
Refund
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Desired Outcome:
I would like a refund of the $45 reconnection fee and an apology from Delmarva regarding the terrible customer service and lack of customer support.

Deposit refund check for $140.91 was mailed out 5/2/14 to final bill address of [redacted] and was returned to DPL for insufficient address.  On 5/13 we left a message for [redacted] advising him the refund check was returned and to please call us.  on...

6/3 he called and we corrected the mailing address ([redacted] [redacted]) and the check was remailed.  [redacted] hasn't contact DPL since that time.