Pioneer Energy Management, Inc

In response to the complaint as entered by Mr. [redacted] there are a number of facts that will be identified below. PEM charges the AEP regulated rates as approved by the PUCO for the electric in the complex in which he resides. The allegation that the charges are higher than the regulated rates as...

permitted and established by the PUCO is patently false. The electric in the complex in which Mr. [redacted] resides is privately owned by the owner of the property. This is proper and right due to the deregulation of utilities in the State of Ohio. If he does not agree with these practices, he has the freedom and choice to reside in a different location. Please find attached a copy of the PEM utility bill as issued to Mr. [redacted] in February 2018. It clearly states that his account is in danger of disconnection. Page 2 of this bill states the PEM policy if an account does become disconnected for non-payment. This notification was issued and mailed 2/15/18. This account has been issued 6 separate disconnection notices since his move in on 7/31/17. Each notification states clearly and plainly what actions need to be taken to avoid disconnection of utility for non-payment. For each month that Mr. [redacted] was past due on his utility bill, he was notified 3 times of this. He was notified once on the utility bill, once on the disconnection notice, and once via phone call from customer service. PEM makes courtesy phone calls in the week PRIOR to disconnections to give the residents EVERY opportunity to make a payment to avoid disconnection. In the months that Mr. [redacted] has lived in this apartment, he has received 8 bills - a total amount of $1,106.47. As of 4/10/18, the date of the disconnection, he had made 2 payments totaling $575.66. It is noted that Mr. [redacted] only made these 2 payments after receiving the courtesy disconnection phone calls as made by PEM. It is further noted that Mr. [redacted] was left a voicemail on 4/3/18 regarding his past due amount and payment due date to avoid disconnection of service. Customers of PEM can call during office hours and make their payment over the phone free of charge during the office hours of 8:00 AM – 4:30 PM AND can make payments on-line 24/7. There is also an afterhours outage line for emergency calls. Mr. [redacted] had ample opportunity and notification to avoid the disconnection of his utility. Once his payment was made, PEM reconnected his utility that same day. If there is negligence in regards to this process, it is not on the part of PEM.

In response to the rejection of PEM’s response as entered by Mr. [redacted], it seems that he maintains there are still two points that need clarified. The first point is the policy of accepting payment and same day utility restoration. PEM’s office hours are from 8:00 AM – 4:30 PM Monday through Friday (with the exception of holidays). The PEM office accepts payments from open to close. The PEM website is available to take payments 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. We accept payments all day, every day. Mr [redacted] is specifically referring to making a payment and being reconnected the same day. PEM’s policy states that PEM accepts payments until 4:00 PM for SAME DAY reconnection. That policy is printed on a variety of documents that he received and was also voiced by the customer service team several times. This is a policy that does not change. It has been established and maintained for longer than Mr. [redacted] has been a resident in this location and PEM will not be modifying this policy any time soon. Mr. [redacted] was well aware of this policy when he made the decision not to make a payment prior to 4:00 PM for his past due payments. Residents are given multiple and ample notification to make payment arrangements. The lack of planning on a resident’s part does not constitute a valid reason to change this company policy. The second point of clarification is in relation to the electric and water rates as charged on the billing. As I stated in my previous response, PEM charges the AEP regulated rates as approved by the PUCO for the electric in the complex in which he resides. The allegation that the charges are higher than the regulated rates as permitted and established by the PUCO is simply false. This can be proven by taking his electric bill and entering the information such as service period and kwh of usage into the spreadsheet provided on the AEP Ohio website that was created for such comparisons. If he entered his information into this AEP provided spreadsheet, he will find that his billing would be identical. The water rates are equal to the published rates of the City of Columbus (the actual water source). These rates can be confirmed and verified on the City of Columbus’ website as well.

Pioneer Energy Management has done everything that is available to remedy the complaints for the resident at [redacted] at this time. PEM expediently made an appointment per her request, changed the equipment free of charge, and is sending the old equipment back to the factory for verification also free of charge. There is no further action that can be done until the results return and some new history is recorded onto the new meter. Once there is more information available for analysis, then this account will be reviewed for any credits due to the resident.

This is a follow-up to the above complaint number. On February 19, 2018 a representative from pioneer energy management Sarah Davis reached out to me to inform me that they were able to review my account after receiving three months bill from the new water meter that was installed in November 2017 and that they were able to evaluate and generate a report based on the outcome of the new meter water usage. Sarah informed me that they were able to determine that the account was overcharged based on the report that she received from the new meter reading/usage & the old meter and that they were going to reimburse my account for the past 24 months in the amount of $2,194.37. On February 20, 2018 pioneer energy management send me a check for $2,057.10 and credit my account the remaining balance of $137.27 on March 08, 2018. I told Sarah that I was pleased that they were going to reimburse my account and that I greatly appreciated her for taking the time to work with me on my account and evaluate the situation for me. I am very satisfied of the outcome! And now I hope and pray that my new water meter will function properly and not cause me or P.E.M. any more.

The water meter at [redacted] had to be replaced two years ago on 10/25/2015 because the equipment was not operating correctly. This water meter was replaced with a brand new, fully functional unit. Since then, the water bill has much higher. She set up another appointment with PEM on...

1/28/2016 because she felt the bills were too high. At this time, the technicians went on-site and completed the field tests in order to verify the water meter’s accuracy. The results of the field test were that the water meter was performing accurately. This water meter has continued to perform consistently since the time of the field tests as performed by the technicians. This can only mean one of three things –1) the water meter is not measuring accurately - which was proven false during the field testing; 2) the customer is using a large amount of water and does not realize it; OR 3) there is water going through the meter that the home owner is not aware of (i.e. a leak). I have attached a chart of water usage from the past 24 months for this home. The usage is fairly consistent monthly, but high as compared to the national average of 2,000 gallons of water used per person per month. In looking at the most recent months usages, the amount recorded per month has started to creep higher. The reads that are being provided by this meter are actual, not estimated. The data is showing what I believe to indicate a leak somewhere in this home. The term “leak” has a variety of meanings. There could be a drip in a sink, a toilet that is running too often, a toilet that has a flapper stuck open intermittently, a break in an interior pipe that is releasing water, or various other reasons. None of these issues can be identified by PEM as we only read the water meter and create a bill for the usage. PEM is a billing entity for this Home Owner’s Association and NOT a plumbing company. In an effort to assist the customer, PEM has scheduled an appointment to field test the meter once more on Thursday (11/2/17). If the flow indicator on the water meter indicates there is water flowing through the meter when the homeowner doesn’t believe anything is running, that proves there is a leak in the home and will require a plumber to make any necessary repairs. Should the water meter fail the field tests, the meter will be replaced.

I met in person with ceo of the company who agreed to help me with this matter personally I had already placed a call the Revdex.com to inform them that the matter had been settled yet I am getting a completely different response from PEM now?

The General Manager at PEM has contacted this customer and resolved the issue directly. With the customer's consent, PEM asks that this complaint be closed.

PEM and this customer have come to an agreement as to how to close this complaint in a satisfactory manner. PEM has offer to credit back the sewer portion of the water bill and customer has agreed to pay all other charges.

The customer has stated in his rejection response that the balance outstanding has been transferred from one collection agency to another. That is not accurate. The balance has been removed from his account at PEM and the Home Owner's Association has been made aware of the customer's refusal to pay the outstanding balance. This debt is and has always been between the customer and the HOA to which the customer belongs. PEM's job is to make the customer aware and request payment for any previously owed balances. PEM does not have the right to lien a property in this HOA, but the HOA does; therefore the HOA has been notified of the balance outstanding for this property. It is a legal matter that does not involve PEM. If the HOA determines that future action needs to be taken, PEM has no leverage or responsibility in that decision - only the HOA can make that decision. The only action that PEM can take, and HAS TAKEN, is to remove the disputed balance from our records. That is ALL that PEM is responsible for and all that PEM has the ability to effect. Since this complaint as filed is directly associated with PEM while this customer's real issue lies with his Home Owner's Association (NOT PEM), I request yet again that this complaint be closed.