RE: ID # [redacted] Dear Ms [redacted] : Thank you for your letter of October regarding a complaint from a consumer of Valley Rural Electric Cooperative, Inc The consumer in question signed up for electric service on July 30, 2014, A $account processing fee and $security deposit were charged to his accountThese amounts (along with $for one day’s energy use) appeared on the consumer’s bill which was processed on July and mailed thereafter Any applicant for membership who is unable to establish credit worthiness to the cooperative’s satisfaction is required to pay a security depositA consumer typically must pay the account processing fee on the day of application and has seven days to forward the deposit amount or the account is subject to disconnectionIn this case, an error was made and the account was not processed for disconnection when the fee and deposit were not received as required On August 21, the consumer’s account was charged a penalty of $for non-payment of the balance by the due date (August 20)On August 31, the account was charged $for energy use; the bill (totaling $257.16) was processed and mailed thereafter A payment of $was received on September 22, bringing the balance to $That same day, one of our employees spoke to the consumer to explain that he had until October to pay the balance and avoid disconnectionOn September 23, the account was charged a penalty of $for non-payment of the balance by the due date (September 20)On September 30, the account was charged $for energy use; the bill (totaling $191.07) was processed and mailed thereafter On October 14, one of our employees called the consumer to remind him that payment was due or the account would be disconnectedHe requested that we wait until Thursday, October because he would get paid that dayThe employee agreed to give him until a.m, on Thursday, October to pay the balance or the account would be disconnected On Monday, October 20, an employee attempted to reach the consumer by phone and left a voicemail message asking about payment of the account balance and requesting a return callLater, when the employee spoke with the consumer, she explained that he must pay $or the service would be disconnected and that he had received extra time (more than two months) to pay the deposit Later that day, a payment of $ was received, leaving a balance of $The consumer then called in and said he didn’t have the money to pay the balanceHe asked to speak to a manager and requested that his deposit be used to pay the balance on the accountThe supervisor explained that the consumer had paid a total of only $210, which did not cover the deposit and account processing fee (let alone the energy use)She also explained that the deposit cannot be used as an individual savings fund when payments are behindAccording to cooperative policy, a deposit can only be applied to an outstanding balance on a final bill (when a consumer is moving out of a property and disconnecting the service) The consumer then asked to speak to the department head, who reiterated that the account should have been subject to disconnection in AugustShe explained that the deposit is not held on individual accounts to draw from in case of delinquency but is an amount that protects other rate-payers from bearing the cost of past due balancesThe department head encouraged the consumer to contact family, friends or help agencies for assistance; the consumer replied that he didn’t believe in asking for help from organizations or churchesThe consumer stated that he would not have any money to pay the bill until November when he would receive his disability checkHe said he planned to clean out his freezer before we disconnected the account the next day Approximately one hour later, a payment of $was received, leaving a credit of $on the accountNo further communication had been received regarding the account until receipt of your letter Please let me know if you require further details about this account or about cooperative policies regarding security deposits or disconnection of service Cooperatively yours, [redacted] Vice President Consumer Services and Public Relations
RE: ID # [redacted] Dear Ms [redacted] : Thank you for your letter of October regarding a complaint from a consumer of Valley Rural Electric Cooperative, Inc The consumer in question signed up for electric service on July 30, 2014, A $account processing fee and $security deposit were charged to his accountThese amounts (along with $for one day’s energy use) appeared on the consumer’s bill which was processed on July and mailed thereafter Any applicant for membership who is unable to establish credit worthiness to the cooperative’s satisfaction is required to pay a security depositA consumer typically must pay the account processing fee on the day of application and has seven days to forward the deposit amount or the account is subject to disconnectionIn this case, an error was made and the account was not processed for disconnection when the fee and deposit were not received as required On August 21, the consumer’s account was charged a penalty of $for non-payment of the balance by the due date (August 20)On August 31, the account was charged $for energy use; the bill (totaling $257.16) was processed and mailed thereafter A payment of $was received on September 22, bringing the balance to $That same day, one of our employees spoke to the consumer to explain that he had until October to pay the balance and avoid disconnectionOn September 23, the account was charged a penalty of $for non-payment of the balance by the due date (September 20)On September 30, the account was charged $for energy use; the bill (totaling $191.07) was processed and mailed thereafter On October 14, one of our employees called the consumer to remind him that payment was due or the account would be disconnectedHe requested that we wait until Thursday, October because he would get paid that dayThe employee agreed to give him until a.m, on Thursday, October to pay the balance or the account would be disconnected On Monday, October 20, an employee attempted to reach the consumer by phone and left a voicemail message asking about payment of the account balance and requesting a return callLater, when the employee spoke with the consumer, she explained that he must pay $or the service would be disconnected and that he had received extra time (more than two months) to pay the deposit Later that day, a payment of $ was received, leaving a balance of $The consumer then called in and said he didn’t have the money to pay the balanceHe asked to speak to a manager and requested that his deposit be used to pay the balance on the accountThe supervisor explained that the consumer had paid a total of only $210, which did not cover the deposit and account processing fee (let alone the energy use)She also explained that the deposit cannot be used as an individual savings fund when payments are behindAccording to cooperative policy, a deposit can only be applied to an outstanding balance on a final bill (when a consumer is moving out of a property and disconnecting the service) The consumer then asked to speak to the department head, who reiterated that the account should have been subject to disconnection in AugustShe explained that the deposit is not held on individual accounts to draw from in case of delinquency but is an amount that protects other rate-payers from bearing the cost of past due balancesThe department head encouraged the consumer to contact family, friends or help agencies for assistance; the consumer replied that he didn’t believe in asking for help from organizations or churchesThe consumer stated that he would not have any money to pay the bill until November when he would receive his disability checkHe said he planned to clean out his freezer before we disconnected the account the next day Approximately one hour later, a payment of $was received, leaving a credit of $on the accountNo further communication had been received regarding the account until receipt of your letter Please let me know if you require further details about this account or about cooperative policies regarding security deposits or disconnection of service Cooperatively yours, [redacted] Vice President Consumer Services and Public Relations