PNM

we have so far found 2 instances of double billing. the chat service for the most part useless as plain logic fails if trying to solve problem. their data on my account completely wrong, yet the chat support fails to accept the correct information. I have to spend much time to fix what PNM had feduciary duty to keep correct records on my case for example.

Initial Business Response / [redacted] (1000, 6, 2015/11/06) */ Pursuant to NM State Statute, PNM is restricted from giving out any customer information without the customers express permission 62-8-Consumer information; disclosure prohibited AA public utility, as defined pursuant to Section 62-3-NMSA 1978, or its employees or agents shall not sell or disclose consumers' nonpublic personal information without the customer's permission or unless it is in accordance with standardized credit reporting practices, pursuant to the provisions of Chapter 56, Article NMSA or the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act or other reporting requirements imposed on the public utility BExempted from the provisions of this section are: (1) the public regulation commission pursuant to the Public Utility Act 62-13-NMSA and the Public Regulation Commission Act 8-8-NMSA and rules adopted pursuant to those acts; or (2) an action by a government agency or an officer, employee or agent of an agency acting on behalf of the agency to obtain telephone records in connection with the performance of the official duties of the agency Unfortunately we are unable to discuss the customer's account information due to the above New Mexico State StatuteWe would highly recommend that the customer contact our customer service for further information regarding his complaint The following information describes our process regarding the disconnection of a electrical service for non-payment of past due balancesThe process begins when an account becomes delinquent with unpaid chargesPNM will send a reminder notice on the following month's bill the first time an amount becomes past dueIf the amount remains unpaid through the next billing cycle, another reminder notice is sent on the next month's billIf the balances continue to be unpaid, we will send a warning notice on the next month's bill that the electric service is in danger of being disconnected for non-payment, if that payment for the past due balance is not received soonIf the balance continues to go unpaid through the next month, PNM will issue a day disconnect notice in accordance with the New Mexico Public Regulation Commission (NMPRC) Rule This day disconnect notice is sent on the customer's bill, giving an exact date that there electric service will be disconnected unless the customer contacts us to setup a payment arrangement or pay the past due balance PNM is also required by the NMPRC to serve a final notice at least two days before the pay no later than date listed on the day disconnect noticeThis notice is usually delivered via automated phone call to the primary phone number the customer gives us for their accountOur automated system will begin calling days out from the pay no later than date, and if after the second day of calling we are unable to reach the customer or leave a message on an answering system, we will produce a physical final notice and hang this at the property where service could be disconnected no later than two days before the pay no later than dateOur automated phone system can detect whether a person or machine answers the call, or if the call goes completely unanswered If there continues to be no payment made or payment arrangement setup on the account by the pay no later than date, then the account in question becomes eligible for disconnectionPNM then has business days to disconnect the service, or we must serve a new day notice before the customer will become eligible for disconnection againThe NMPRC requires that PNM disconnect within five business days of the pay no later than date, and that we cannot disconnect electric service the day before a weekend or holiday If a customer is disconnected for non-payment, then the customer must pay a new deposit as well as the entire past due balance in order to get the electric service reconnectedThis deposit requirement is approved by the NMPRC for all electric utility companies in the State of New MexicoThe deposit is assessed based on 1/6th of the last months total bills at that particular propertyThis deposit is then kept on file for a period of monthsAs long as the customer pays their electric bill by the due date every month then the deposit will be returned either as a credit to their account, or if requested, we will send a check with the refund amountAlso the deposit earns interest while on file, as required by the NMPRC PNM makes every reasonable effort to contact our customers before their service is disconnected for non-payment, or for any other possible reason, like a planned outageHowever, our customers also have a very reasonable responsibility in providing us with the means to effectively contact them; we need accurate mailing addresses and phone contact information in order for us to be able to advise them if their account is danger of being disconnected, if there is going to a planned outage in their area, and for various other possibilities Please let us know if we can provide any other non-specific account information regarding this customer's complaint PNM Customer Service Initial Consumer Rebuttal / [redacted] (3000, 8, 2015/11/09) */ (The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.) Its a BS responseThey didn't follow through with their own practicesI received none of the notices they supposedly sent outI guess legal action is next Final Business Response / [redacted] (4000, 14, 2015/11/17) */ The customer has filed a complaint with the New Mexico Public Regulation Commission as stated in his rebuttalThere doesn't appear to be any way for PNM to be able to further address the customer's concerns through his complaint with the Revdex.comPlease let me know if you need any further information Final Consumer Response / [redacted] (4200, 16, 2015/11/18) */ (The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.) Waste of time

Complaint: [redacted] I am rejecting this response because:I think that it is unfortunate that a business such as PNM can so easily dismiss a complaint from a year customer Their very vague and generalized reasoning as to why they could not refund my account makes it sound like this is MY responsibility to fix when in fact this is not a situation that is "beyond PNM's control" So let's clear up what PNM does have control of:-Accepting a $payment to take my account to current and to reconnect my service-Continuing to withdraw an additional $payment from my account, days after I had called to cancel payment and make different arrangements.-Using the unauthorized additional $to pay towards any current fees and hold any additional credits for any future fees.-Blaming the customer for mismanagement of their bank account -Using a NM State Statute to avoid any liability for presenting any of my account details that may have actually assisted in resolving this issue.I believe that I have followed through with my responsibilities:-I called PNM to cancel payment from an account I knew would not have the funds available on 9/30/14.-I called PNM to make different payment arrangements and paid my bill on 9/30/in the amount of $to restore my service.-I called my bank on 10/07/14, the same day PNM attempted to take the additional $out of my account(Which not only put my bank account in overdraft but also added a $overdraft fee) and was told that it was PNM that had reattempted to push the payment through, not the bank.-I called PNM customer service on 10/7/14, as soon as I noticed this discrepancy and was told that I needed to "just wait for it to be processed" which I was told would take about days I was under the understanding that this meant I would be receiving a credit withing days I would not have resorted to making a complaint through the Revdex.com if PNM customer service had "made every effort" to help me with this issue If refunded, I, the customer, would of at least had the option to make a payment arrangement for the remainder of my bill Instead, PNM had the authority to make that decision for me This is not only bad business, it's unethical Regards, [redacted] [To assist us in bringing this matter to a close, the consumer must give a reason why they are rejecting the responseIf the consumer does not provide a reason if he complaint will be closed Administratively Resolved]

I can certainly understand Ms***’s concerns about our response to her Revdex.com complaint. The statute referenced is not an attempt to avoid responding to her concern’s, it was referenced because PNM is forbidden by New Mexico State Law to provide our customer’s account details in a public forum.
At this point I would highly recommend that Ms*** contact our customer service center to further address her concerns regarding the payments made on her account Please call us at *** or 1-888-so that we can resolve your concerns as quickly as possible

Pursuant to NM State Statute, PNM is restricted from giving out any customer information without the customers express permission.
62-8-Consumer information; disclosure prohibited
A. A public utility, as defined pursuant to Section 62-3-NMSA 1978, or its
employees or agents shall not sell or disclose consumers' nonpublic personal information without the customer's permission or unless it is in accordance with standardized credit reporting practices, pursuant to the provisions of Chapter 56, Article NMSA or the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act or other reporting requirements imposed on the public utility.
B. Exempted from the provisions of this section are:
(1) the public regulation commission pursuant to the Public Utility Act [62-13-NMSA 1978] and the Public Regulation Commission Act [8-8-NMSA 1978] and rules adopted pursuant to those acts; or
(2) an action by a government agency or an officer, employee or agent of an agency acting on behalf of the agency to obtain telephone records in connection with the performance of the official duties of the agency
PNM offers a program for landlords called the Landlord Standby Program. The purpose of this program is to allow landlords to keep electrical service active at a property they are renting while the property is not occupied by a tenant. When a tenant calls to take over service at a property that has this program active, the active landlords account goes into a “standby” state; it is not billed any charges while the account is active in a tenants name. However once a tenant calls to end their service at that property, the landlord’s account is brought out of the “standby” state and is automatically activated at the property once the tenants service ends. This ensures that power remains active at the property regardless of whose account is currently active. This is also done at no cost to the landlord; the connection fee is waived when the service is transferred back into the landlords account and there is no cost for the being enrolled in the program.
If a property is sold that is on Landlord Standby then the landlord selling the property needs to send a termination form to PNM stating that the agreement needs to be terminated at that property under their account. If this form is not received then PNM will have no way of knowing that a house has been sold to another party and that the agreement needs to be terminated. This requirement is listed on every agreement signed by the landlord at the time they enroll in the program. Since we cannot deny service to anyone per NMPRC Rule we would have no way of knowing that a property has been sold and that the party calling is the new owner. It would only appear that the new party is a new tenant, thus placing the landlords account back into StandbyIt is also highly unlikely that the new property owner would know that the previous property owner had their account listed under this program and would not be able to terminate the agreement anyway, as they are not the party that started the agreement to begin with. Since some tenants will lease a property from a landlord for several years there is no time limit to the amount of time a landlord’s account will be on Standby.
PNM keeps every form it receives from our customers on the landlord standby program and stores them indefinitely. We also notate the landlords account and clearly state what specific types of forms were received and when, and any actions taken on the account or agreement based on the contents of those forms. We will also send confirmation to the landlord that their forms were received, and when they were received, and that any requested actions have been completed. We will then archive the forms received as well as any correspondence between PNM and the landlord.
While I am limited to what I can discuss regarding the customers complaint, I will say with all confidence that there was no PNM error that occurred which caused the situation described by the customer. The program worked exactly as it should.
*** ***
PNM Customer Service Specialist
***

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 6, 2015/11/06) */
Pursuant to NM State Statute, PNM is restricted from giving out any customer information without the customers express permission.
62-8-11. Consumer information; disclosure prohibited.
A. A public utility, as defined pursuant to...

Section 62-3-3 NMSA 1978, or its employees or agents shall not sell or disclose consumers' nonpublic personal information without the customer's permission or unless it is in accordance with standardized credit reporting practices, pursuant to the provisions of Chapter 56, Article 3 NMSA 1978 or the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act or other reporting requirements imposed on the public utility.
B. Exempted from the provisions of this section are:
(1) the public regulation commission pursuant to the Public Utility Act 62-13-1 NMSA 1978 and the Public Regulation Commission Act 8-8-1 NMSA 1978 and rules adopted pursuant to those acts; or
(2) an action by a government agency or an officer, employee or agent of an agency acting on behalf of the agency to obtain telephone records in connection with the performance of the official duties of the agency.
Unfortunately we are unable to discuss the customer's account information due to the above New Mexico State Statute. We would highly recommend that the customer contact our customer service for further information regarding his complaint.
The following information describes our process regarding the disconnection of a electrical service for non-payment of past due balances. The process begins when an account becomes delinquent with unpaid charges. PNM will send a reminder notice on the following month's bill the first time an amount becomes past due. If the amount remains unpaid through the next billing cycle, another reminder notice is sent on the next month's bill. If the balances continue to be unpaid, we will send a warning notice on the next month's bill that the electric service is in danger of being disconnected for non-payment, if that payment for the past due balance is not received soon. If the balance continues to go unpaid through the next month, PNM will issue a 15 day disconnect notice in accordance with the New Mexico Public Regulation Commission (NMPRC) Rule 410. This 15 day disconnect notice is sent on the customer's bill, giving an exact date that there electric service will be disconnected unless the customer contacts us to setup a payment arrangement or pay the past due balance.
PNM is also required by the NMPRC to serve a final notice at least two days before the pay no later than date listed on the 15 day disconnect notice. This notice is usually delivered via automated phone call to the primary phone number the customer gives us for their account. Our automated system will begin calling 5 days out from the pay no later than date, and if after the second day of calling we are unable to reach the customer or leave a message on an answering system, we will produce a physical final notice and hang this at the property where service could be disconnected no later than two days before the pay no later than date. Our automated phone system can detect whether a person or machine answers the call, or if the call goes completely unanswered.
If there continues to be no payment made or payment arrangement setup on the account by the pay no later than date, then the account in question becomes eligible for disconnection. PNM then has 5 business days to disconnect the service, or we must serve a new 15 day notice before the customer will become eligible for disconnection again. The NMPRC requires that PNM disconnect within five business days of the pay no later than date, and that we cannot disconnect electric service the day before a weekend or holiday.
If a customer is disconnected for non-payment, then the customer must pay a new deposit as well as the entire past due balance in order to get the electric service reconnected. This deposit requirement is approved by the NMPRC for all electric utility companies in the State of New Mexico. The deposit is assessed based on 1/6th of the last 12 months total bills at that particular property. This deposit is then kept on file for a period of 12 months. As long as the customer pays their electric bill by the due date every month then the deposit will be returned either as a credit to their account, or if requested, we will send a check with the refund amount. Also the deposit earns interest while on file, as required by the NMPRC.
PNM makes every reasonable effort to contact our customers before their service is disconnected for non-payment, or for any other possible reason, like a planned outage. However, our customers also have a very reasonable responsibility in providing us with the means to effectively contact them; we need accurate mailing addresses and phone contact information in order for us to be able to advise them if their account is danger of being disconnected, if there is going to a planned outage in their area, and for various other possibilities.
Please let us know if we can provide any other non-specific account information regarding this customer's complaint.
PNM Customer Service
Initial Consumer Rebuttal /* (3000, 8, 2015/11/09) */
(The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)
Its a BS response. They didn't follow through with their own practices. I received none of the notices they supposedly sent out. I guess legal action is next.
Final Business Response /* (4000, 14, 2015/11/17) */
The customer has filed a complaint with the New Mexico Public Regulation Commission as stated in his rebuttal. There doesn't appear to be any way for PNM to be able to further address the customer's concerns through his complaint with the Revdex.com. Please let me know if you need any further information.
Final Consumer Response /* (4200, 16, 2015/11/18) */
(The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)
Waste of time.

I can only provide basic information regarding this customer’s complaint since PNM cannot share customer account specific information per New Mexico Public Regulation Commission Rule 410 concerning residential customers. 
I can say that the customer did call us to dispute the usage...

charges on his account. PNM placed a meter re-read order for him, and when the order was worked we confirmed that reading and usage billed to the customer was accurate.   If he has further questions regarding account specific information I would highly recommend that he contact us at [redacted].  Please let me know if you need any further information. 
Thank you,
[redacted]

Complaint: [redacted]
I am rejecting this response because:I think that it is unfortunate that a business such as PNM can so easily dismiss a complaint from a 17 year customer.  Their very vague and generalized reasoning as to why they could not refund my account makes it sound like this is MY responsibility to fix when in fact this is not a situation that is "beyond PNM's control".  So let's clear up what PNM does have control of:-Accepting a $515 payment to take my account to current and to reconnect my service. -Continuing to withdraw an additional $515 payment from my account, 5 days after I had called to cancel payment and make different arrangements.-Using the unauthorized additional $515 to pay towards any current fees and hold any additional credits for any future fees.-Blaming the customer for mismanagement of their bank account -Using a NM State Statute to avoid any liability for presenting any of my account details that may have actually assisted in resolving this issue.I believe that I have followed through with my responsibilities:-I called PNM to cancel payment from an account I knew would not have the funds available on 9/30/14.-I called PNM to make different payment arrangements and paid my bill on 9/30/14 in the amount of $515 to restore my service.-I called my bank on 10/07/14, the same day PNM attempted to take the additional $515 out of my account. (Which not only put my bank account in overdraft but also added a $29 overdraft fee) and was told that it was PNM that had reattempted to push the payment through, not the bank.-I called PNM customer service on 10/7/14, as soon as I noticed this discrepancy and was told that I needed to "just wait for it to be processed" which I was told would take about 5 days.  I was under the understanding that this meant I would be receiving a credit withing 5 days.  I would not have resorted to making a complaint through the Revdex.com if PNM customer service had "made every effort" to help me with this issue.  If refunded, I, the customer, would of at least had the option to make a payment arrangement for the remainder of my bill.  Instead, PNM had the authority to make that decision for me.  This is not only bad business, it's unethical.
Regards,
[redacted][To assist us in bringing this matter to a close, the consumer must give a reason why they are rejecting the response. If the consumer does not provide a reason if he complaint will be closed Administratively Resolved]

I can only provide basic information regarding this customer’s complaint since PNM cannot share customer account specific information per New Mexico Public Regulation Commission Rule 410 concerning residential customers. 
I can say that PNM can stop a payment if we are notified within...

the first 24 hours that the payment has been made.  After that point PNM cannot stop the process for the payment.  If it is after this 24 hour period that a customer contacts us, we have to advise those customers that they would need to stop the payment through their financial institution. 
If the payment is not stopped by the financial institution then PNM can issue a refund check for the overpayment.  This is usually mailed to the service address unless otherwise directed by the customer.   However before the refund check can be issued PNM must be sure that the funds transfer has actually cleared and that there is not a pending stop payment or insufficient fund return payment that is going to be sent to us from the financial institution.  This can take several days, and all depends on how quickly said financial institution approves the payment or notifies us to stop or return the payment.  PNM cannot send a refund check to a customer on funds that may not be received by PNM. 
When these types of mistakes happen PNM does everything it can to stop the payment, but there is a time limit factor that is beyond PNM’s control.  If PNM is not made aware of the mistake within the first 24 hours that the over payment is made we will tell our customer’s to contact their financial institution as quickly as possible to stop the payment from going through to us.  This would be the fastest way for a customer to get their funds returned.   If a stop payment cannot be done we will set a time frame expectation with the customer that it could take up to two and a half weeks to issue a refund check for the reasons outlined above.  Sometimes the refund check is issued much sooner than that time frame, however that all depends on how fast we received the funds for the overpayment from the customer’s financial institution.  Please let me know if you have any further questions. 
Thank you,
[redacted]