Inland Power and Light Company

I agree with one ticked off grandma.
Go with another power company--if possible.
My bill came up late b/c account # was incorrect (switched to bill pay)
But sadly, the "meter reader" who was going to turn off the power--which they are QUICK to do--even eager I would say!
gave me the yellow card with a note (to call company) AND they even had recorded the same membership# I had placed on my ebill pay!!--that they "couldn't" find..,
So the messy business of logistics of a power co. Leaves me unsettled and monopolized.
All this time my bank did have my back and I called to verify the payment went thru-- (the power co rep. Had a hard time understanding bill pay vs. check) and SURPRISE! They had no record of the transaction!!!???
Please be careful with this company---membership # vs. account #

Review: Since we bought a woodstove for our home we have not used electric heat.We had received an unusually high bill in the mail and we called Inland power about it.There response '' our machines have been down for a few months and we just billed you the same amounts as last year" this is unacceptable, we pay our bill on [redacted]e every month and have not used our electric heat.We feel taken advantage of (expect more complaints from other customers)Desired Settlement: I would like proof of metor reading every month and a credit for the difference for all of the monthes they did not read our metor and said they did .

Business

Response:

Attn: Christian KingTo: [redacted] and Michelle [redacted]RE: 132507-001 electric billI have reviewed your account; last months bill dated November 25th was es[redacted]ated due to failure of our meter reading equipment. We had read all the meters on your route and the hand held device failed and we lost all the meter reads. The December bill is accurate and all other month's bills are to actual meter reads, we only had one month where the computer [redacted]rated the es[redacted]ate bill. I have attached a copy of the past year's bills and usages. Under the "Read Type" the "0" is an es[redacted]ated read, the "2's" are actual meter reads. The electric bills are lower than last year but to assure no electric heat is being used I would flip to OFF any breakers in your panel that serve any electric heaters or furnace. I would do this today as we are in another cold spell and to assure no inadvertent heaters are running the breakers in the electric panel should be turned off. Please let me know if I can be of further help.[redacted]Member Services ManagerInland Power & Light Co

Consumer

Response:

[To assist us in bringing this matter to a close, you must give us a reason why you are rejecting the response. If no reason is received, your complaint will be closed Administratively Resolved]

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.]

I have reviewed Mr. [redacted]s response and it still does not answer the question nor the outcome of how this will be fixed. Turning off my breakers has nothing to do with their broken hand held meter reading device. I would like ACTUAL meter readings every month, as that is what I pay for. And a credit to my account in the amount of $100.00 for the 2 months that I was overcharged.

Regards,

Business

Response:

We have not billed Mr [redacted] for any energy he has not used. An electric meter is like the odometer on your car. If you are recording your daily mileage and you es[redacted]ate it one day, when you read the odometer at the end of the next day it is all trued up. An electric meter is the same, we es[redacted]ated one bill out of fifteen and did not over bill Mr [redacted]. This type of electric billing has been approved by the UTC for the investor owned utilities and meets our policies. There is no refund to for Mr [redacted] as we did not over charge, or bill him for any unused energy. [redacted]

Consumer

Response:

[To assist us in bringing this matter to a close, you must give us a reason why you are rejecting the response. If no reason is received, your complaint will be closed Administratively Resolved]

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.]

Regards,

We experienced an extreme windstorm in the Spokane, WA area on 11/17/2015. Inland Power & Light brought in linemen to help restore power to customers. The power to our neighborhood was restored on 11/19/2015, except for four houses. No trees were down anywhere in our neighborhood. The reason for these continued outage to these four houses, is because the disconnect to a transformer at a pole in front of our neighbor's house was pulled & not reconnected. We have two houses without power with elderly couples with failing health.
We have been calling & reporting this oversight every hour all day & only receive the same mundane, heartless responses about how they are doing all they can do. This is a lie. If they truely were doing everything they could, a crew would be quickly dispatched to correct the failure to complete their work. If something happens to one of these customers, who are without heat and suffering, it will be soley the responsibility Inland Power.

Review: I was contacted by mail by the inland power and light company in 2014 about a solar power program that could be invested in to help reduce future electrical cost. I returned by mail my request to purchaser 10 units at a cost of 300 dollars each. The program used a lottery system and I was selected for the second phase to be availalbe in the spring of 2015. The first week of Jan. 2015 I was sent a e-mail to return doucments and payment by Jan 30,2015 to be included in the program. I read the e-mail on Feb. 09,2015. Upon contacking inland power I was informed I was e-mailed and phoned. The phone number used was over 20 years old and no longer in service. I have lost a major investment because a company I been with for over 40 years could not seen me a simple letter by mail, when e-mail and a phone call did not work. Inland power had my desire to be involed with this program in writing. I will not be included in the program and no date for such a program is in the planning.Desired Settlement: This statement to be available to other inland power customers about this program pracitice and future offerings handled differently so this does not happen again. I have lost a good amount of money this investment would have returned and feel I should be compansated for my loss for not being included in this project.

Business

Response:

We are sorry Mr. [redacted] missed this opportunity. We announced in the notification we would be using email communication for this event. We had continued using the lottery system to find members who wanted to participate and had filled the second phase of our community solar. We have hit the maximum limit for community solar under the current Washington law. We will announce to our membership if and when any further community solar becomes available. [redacted]Member Services Manager

Review: Inland Power and Light was the company providing power to the property that I was renting on from June 1st 2013-October 31st 2013. I had called Inland Power and Light on the last date that I was there and had moved everything out and had the bill taken out of my name, I also payed the bill off on that date. After I moved I started receiving collection calls from ON LINE Collections and I had no idea what it was for since I had not received a bill from Inland Power. I was billed for three more months of power I was not residing nor any of my property there. I called Inland Power and Light on June 11th 2013 I spoke with a female customer service agent. The agent explained to me that they "Inland Power and Light" reactivated the power in my name and social security number. She stated my ex-landlord made a call to them and stated that I was still residing at the residence and told them he had court papers to prove it and that was the reason that they reactivated the account. The customer service agent told me that they don't have those documents but they reopened the account anyways on my ex-landlord's word. The female agent told me that I needed to provide court papers to prove I had moved out. They didn't have any proof that I was still in the residence. They billed me even after I had called and made them aware I no longer resided at the residence nor was any of my property there. They "Inland Power and Light" sent the bill in the amount of $196.00 straight to the collection company. I had an Anti-Harassment Order in place in Lincoln County against my ex landlord Raymond C Schmitt . He has been harassing us which was the reason for leaving the residence in such a rush because he wouldn't stop.Desired Settlement: I have disputed the amount owed on the account because I was not residing in the residence and they had no right to turn it back on, bill me and then send the bill straight to collections after I called and explained that I had moved out on October 31st 2013. I want the bill taken out of collections, off of my credit and I dispute the full amount of the bill and I won't pay it because I am not responsible for this bill.

Business

Response:

I have reviewed the account and Inland Power & Light will be the loser in this transaction. [redacted]'s final bill as of the original move out date 10/31/12 was $2.11. I verified they took service from Avista at their current location as of 11/05/12. Whether they ever removed all their belongings and who was responsible for the electric usage for the next 30 days or so I have no idea. I can verify that the final bill showing $196.13 was processed on 12/20/12 and mailed the Nigell's current address in Davenport. That bill was followed up with three collection letters to the Davenport address also. The account was turned over to the colleciton agency on Approximately March 21, 2013. It is my believe that this is more than enough one way correspondence to Nigell that this could of been cleared up over half a year ago.

Inland Power & Light will write off to our expense the $196.13 due to lack of communication and/or false information from [redacted], [redacted]t and his POA [redacted] while he was in Jail during portions of dispute. Online Collections will be notified to cease collections.

Member Services Manager