Mobile Specialties

This customer was signed up by a third party telemarketing vendor that no longer works for MPower Energy and has not done so for some time A telemarketing sale would not have involved any signatures, therefore there is no forgery to investigatePhone enrollments require the completion of a Third Party Verification process which is recorded and retained for both the company and the customer's recordsUnfortunately, MPower suffered a major server failure that resulted in the loss of all records that preceded itSince this enrollment dates back to 2012, in this customer's case, we are unable to verify whether the customer completed that process and howOur policy in such cases is to refund the rate differential between what MPower charged and what the utility would have charged had the customer not been switched for all cycles in serviceThis refund will be sent by wire to the utility and applied by them to the accountThe refund will exist as a credit or be applied against any existing balance on the accountAlternately, the customer may claim a check refund directly from [redacted] **ison once we have sent the wireWe are legally unable to process direct refunds to the customerA message was left for [redacted] at the number provided and I requested that she return my call to further address any concerns or questions she may haveWhile we cannot defend the validity of the enrollment without the documentation, it's important to clarify that it is absolutely not our policy to enroll accounts without customers' consent under any circumstancesWhether this was the deliberate doing of a dishonest third party contractor, an honest administrative oversight or a misunderstanding between the customer and sales agent, MPower fully accepts responsibility for its representatives and will take every possible step to make our customer whole and work toward a satisfactory resolutionPlease allow two weeks for the refund to be processed

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 and the matter has been resolved Sincerely, [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 and the matter has been resolvedThere will be another company filed if another call is received after this week Sincerely, [redacted]

Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ***, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me and the matter has been resolved
Sincerely,
*** ***

Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ***, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me and the matter has been resolved
Sincerely,
*** ***

Revdex.com:I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID# ***, and have determined that my complaint has NOT been resolved because:
I have additional charges on both my *** ** and *** *** bills as shown on the attachmentsAt no point am I confused about service that I've had for forty yearsI am however upset and feel taken advantage ofI clearly see a separate and addtitional charge from MPower Energy
In order for the Revdex.com to appropriately process your response, you MUST answer the question above.Sincerely,*** ***

The customer's number has been added to our internal DNC list which should stop the calls immediatelyWe purchase our lists from reputable vendors who scrub their lists against the DNCWe will investigate the circumstances of this violation but MPower regularly does everything in it's power to
ensure that the list we are purchasing are 100% legal and scrubbedRegarding the marketing tactics, our QA department has identified the individuals who were making such claimsThe individuals have been dismissed and the campaign restructuredThis is strictly against our agents' Code of Conduct

This is a case of a few bad agents acting of their own accord and outside the scope of their authorityThis is absolutely not a marketing strategy encouraged, tolerated or condoned by MPower and the individuals who were at this address will be terminated immediatelyOur agents may not enter
buildings with "No Soliciting" signs and are required to clearly identify themselves prior to commencing any sales pitchThey wear uniforms, carry IDs which must be prominently displayed at all times and must provide the customer with a business card at the start of the exchange

It sounds like this may have been a retention callThe request for cancellation was in fact processedThe account will not go into service and no charges will apply We have now added this account to our DNC listThis will ensure that he does not receive any more retention calls going
forward

MPower Energy's policies are in strict compliance with FTC and FCC telemarketing regulationsOur telemarketers are only permitted to call between the hours of 8am and 9pmCold calls to cellphones are prohibitedOur lists are scrubbed against state and federal DNC lists regularly in
accordance with regulations and our leads are purchased from licensed vendors exclusivelyAdditionally, MPower Energy maintains an internal DNC listNumbers on this list are immediately removed from lead lists provided to our in-house sales agents and these numbers are updated and accessible in real-time to all independent contractorsCalls to any number on our internal DNC list are punishable by steep fines and ultimately terminationOur agents are required to report requests for addition to the DNC list immediately and to instruct the potential customer to contact us directly regarding this request as wellIn the case of verified failure to do so, agents are promptly terminatedAs our calls are spot checked, there are times that we only become aware of an agent’s failure to report a request for addition to the DNC list after a complaint has been lodged. MPower Energy has allocated significant resources toward record retention and compliance including numerous Quality Assurance specialists whose sole responsibility is the close monitoring of sales and retention campaigns and who are usually able to locate the recording in question swiftly.If our agents failed to report the request for addition to the DNC, they will be held responsible for not relating the request or advising the customer to contact MPower directly.The number listed in this complaint has now been added to our internal DNC list and the customer will not be contacted again once the change goes into effectPlease be advised that this may take a few days as we must allow for all of our marketers to update their lists

Until this point *** *** has been speaking only to our telemarketersWhile this does not absolve MPower Energy of responsibility in the matter, the choices made by these telemarketers were their own and do not in any way reflect their training or company policiesHad he contacted our
main office directly, our CSRs would have immediately added him to the DNC and reported the matterUnfortunately, in cases of this nature we are often not aware of the telemarketer's behavior until it is reported to us directlyWe do not permit our marketers to contact any number more that a total of times and requests for addition to our DNC list must be reported to the Compliance Department immediatelyWe do not condone or tolerate failure to abide by our regulations and the callers will be identifies and dismissed for disregarding a customer's requests to be added to the DNCThe number will now be added to our internal DNC list which will prevent all future contactMPower Energy purchases contacts from reliable licensed vendors and will be investigating why a federal DNC list number was furnished at allAt times, customers who believe their number to be on the list are unaware of the fact that there is a grace period between the point at which their request for addition was made and the point at which it in fact goes into effectMany are also unaware that their request for inclusion needs to be renewed periodicallyWe do not know if this is the case with *** *** as we were unable to get through to him on the phone, and due to the nature of the complaint, will not attempt to contact him by phone more often than necessaryWe will nonetheless investigate the matter and ensure that our callers desist immediately

I attempted to reach the customer at the number provided in this complaintHe hung up me once and the second time denied that he was *** *** or that he had filed a complaint against our companyAccording to our records the customer has received ONE bill to date totaling $Furthermore,
when customers enroll with MPower they do not receive duplicate chargesOne portion of the bill is charged by the utility and a DIFFERENT portion of the bill (the supply portion) is billed by Mpower, the supplierWhen not enrolled with an alternate supplier, customers receive the same two charges but both are billed by the utilityFurthermore, the very nature of a fixed rate is that some risk is assumedPricing is guaranteed to be locked for a designated period during which market rates could fluctuate in either direction and the benefit to the customer is price certainty

*** ***, I'm unable to locate an account matching your name or address. Could you please provide me with your account number?It goes without saying that these marketing tactics are not encouraged, tolerated or condoned by MPower Energy and if the charges are verified, the penalty is
immediate termination. On a closing note, please be reassured that the account will be dropped, no charges will apply for termination and the difference between our rate and what *** would have charged for the corresponding periods will be refunded by wire to *** (and applied directly to your account) We apologize for the inconvenience these agents may have caused you and remind you that they acted entirely outside the scope of their authorityTheir actions do not reflect our company values or practices. Thank you, ??Yael D***Compliance Manager ###-###-#### Ext* ***

Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ***, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me and the matter has been resolved
Sincerely,
*** *** ***

The customer was sent the following email: *** *** I am writing in response to Revdex.com complaint #11774490 . I'm unable to locate an account matching your name or address. Could you please provide me with your account number and confirm that the sale took place
yesterday (10/18/16)? If that is correct, the account has most likely not yet been submitted for enrollmentI would like to be certain that it has not yet been enrolled and to flag the account for when/ if it is submitted for enrollment This will let our enrollment department know to reject this account and help us to identify the agents that came to your door Identifying the agents will prove more difficult if the account is not submitted. Although we keep logs of the general territories where our agents canvas each day, there are often a few agents at a time in any given areaAny information you could provide (name, description, ID #) would help us to identify them more efficientlyIt goes without saying that these marketing tactics are not encouraged, tolerated or condoned by MPower Energy and if the charges are verified, the penalty is immediate termination. On a closing note, please be reassured that whether or not the account was enrolled (provided the sale did in fact take place yesterday) the account will not go into service, no charges will apply and you will not experience and any interruption in service We apologize for the inconvenience these agents may have caused you and remind you that they acted entirely outside the scope of their authorityTheir actions do not reflect our company values or practices. Lastly, please be aware that a copy of this correspondence will be provided to the Revdex.com to let them know we are addressing your complaint. Thank you, Yael D***Compliance Manager *** *** *** *** We would like to state for the record however that our agents are required to go out into the field wearing MPower Energy uniforms and prominently displayed ID'sThey are also required to provide the customer with a business card containing the company's complete contact informationOur agents undergo inspection prior to going out into the field and always market in teams with managers' supervisionEven if the agents had been able to misrepresent themselves, they are required to connect the customer with a third party verifier who does not stand to gain from misrepresenting him/herselfThe "legalese" has been prescribed verbatim by the Public Service Commission of NY (the regulatory agency that oversees all ESCOs' activities) and is designed to ensure the customer's understanding that he/she is enrolling with a retail supplier (NOT the utility and not inspectors) and that the terms of service were made clearThe verifiers state clearly numerous times that they represent MPower Energy

The agent submitted what appeared to our enrollment department to be a legitimate third party verification recordingWhen a sale is conducted at the door the recording is the only record we have of the exchange, and our verification script is designed to prove that an agent has explained the terms
of the agreement fully and that the customer understands and accepts them In this case, we believe the agent impersonated the customer and our quality assurance specialists would not have flagged this account for closer inspection since they would have had no way of knowing that the voice was not the customer'sThe account never went into service and no charges applyWe have confirmed this with the customer. The agent acted outside the scope of her authority and entirely of her own accordMPower Energy does not encourage, tolerate or condone any illicit marketing tactics and the penalty is immediate termination. The customer was satisfied with the resolution

The account has been added to our DNC list and the customer will not be contacted againThe agent's who neglected to respect the customer's request acted on their own accord and against MPower's marketing policies

Desired outcome/resolution is to stop this company from contacting me.?

This account has not, and will not go into serviceThe enrollment has been cancelled and no charges will be issuedThe customer went through a live third party verification in which she was asked to state her understanding of the services for which she was enrollingOur services are 100% optional
and telling a customer that they are required to elect MPower as their supplier would be grounds for immediate terminationWe do not encourage, tolerate or condone deceptive marketing tactics of any kindThat being said, the customer is filing a complaint because the agent made a factual claim (that MPower Energy could offer lower rates) and did not explain how this was possibleIf the agent failed to answer the customer's questions to her satisfaction, it was her responsibility to push for further clarificationBy agreeing to undergo TPV the customer instead indicated both her understanding and her acceptance of the terms of service for the recordFurthermore, the customer alleges that the agent "implied" that she had to accept the servicesAn implication is by definition subjectiveOur agents are rigorously trained to ensure that they are familiar with the industry, the product they are selling and the compliance regulations that govern its saleWe cannot responsibly dismiss an agent based on a customer's perception of what was "implied" and her failure to press for clarification if she had doubtsWe have not found evidence of any deliberate deceit or bad business practices

I left a message for the customer and sent the following email:***, I just left you a message requesting that you get in touch with me to provide your account numberI was actually able to locate your account using your addressYou mention that our company is a scam, but we have a signed
contract and complete third party verification recording on file for this account. This indicates that at some point you requested our services. I regret that you found them lacking. At your earliest convenience, kindly give me a call to discuss your grievance and we will do everything possible to ensure your complete satisfaction. Best regards, Yael D*** Compliance Manager *** *** *** ***I am unclear as to why the customer is claiming our services are a scam and am thus far, unable to take steps to resolve the matter to his satisfactionI will update the Revdex.com once we get in touch with the customer