Verde Energy USA Inc.

Our customer support staff emailed Mr. Mcclain again yesterday.  As explained in our first response his actual usage was above his budget plan level of usage and that generated the reconciliation amount due when he left service with Verde.  In yesterday's email we indicated that we would reduce his outstanding balance by $88.76 as a good will gesture.

Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and find that this resolution is only somewhat satisfactory to me. However this rebate only helps to some degree this customer.  I am concerned with the overall business practices of Verde.  They need to set up a good business practice of letting their customers know when rates are about to change.  I am sure they gain new customers with low six month fixed rate (as they did me) and they then leave it up to the customer to follow the rates monthly. Then in the sixth or seventh month shift the customer to a variable rate which may be a lot higher than the fixed rate.  Letting the customer know it is their responsibility to contact Verde in six months after opening an account to assure a low rate continues, only leaves the window of significant rate increase open if the customer does not remember to call as their is no second warning sent to the customer that his rate is about to change.  I believe that good business practices call for rate change notification be sent to the customer 30 days before the change takes place with the current and future rates, with options being explained to the customer.  I would like to see a new policy of putting the customer's best interests first be adopted by Verde.  This would mean notifying customers 30 days before any rate change takes place.  I can not help be concerned for the many customers of Verde that have had their six month low rates be automatically shifted to a higher veritable rate without notification near the time of change and that, had these customers been properly notified, would not have selected the much higher veritable rate.  Like myself it took several months to realize my rate had shifted to the much higher rate and it was costing me hundreds of dollars more each month.  Once a customer realizes the change in rate, it is Verde's policy is only to reimburse the customer for the difference in rate for only one month!
Sincerely,
[redacted]

Dear 
0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">[redacted],
This email is in response to the comment you filed with the Revdex.com. For your reference, Verde utilizes a third party service provider to comply with all Federal and state telemarketing DNC regulations.  All phone lists are scrubbed against the Federal DNC list and any state DNC list every 30 days. We also maintain an internal DNC list which contains the phone number of any person who asks to not be called again.  I have added your phone number to this list.
 
Master DNC List Search Results
Add DNC Record DNC Bulk Upload Download Master DNC List
Phone Number
Date Added
[redacted]
12/21/2015
 
All my best to you, and thank you for taking the time to give us this feedback.
 
 
Karen M[redacted]
Customer Support |Verde Energy USA
[redacted] [redacted] [redacted]

responded via email to customer 4/16/15Dear [redacted]This email is in response to the rejection of our response through the Revdex.com. Our records indicate you applied/signed up with Verde Energy USA on 01/09/2015 and your account became active on 1/26/15. As you know, enrollments/cancellations are not immediately active, nor are rate changes. It doesn't happen instantly, the utility makes the adjustments and does all of our billing for us, and they do not make any changes in the middle of a billing cycle. I have calculated a refund for the difference in rate from the .1299 rate in which you agreed to at the time of your enrollment, to the .1149 rate in which you called to ask for later. We are issuing you a $37.39 refund check.I have processed the $75 rebate that was available for you to take advantage of at the time of your activation with Verde. You should receive that check in the mail any day now. I see that your account has been put in for cancellation and [redacted] has set 4/24/2015 as the service end date. Your final bill will show the fixed rate of .1149/kwh.
[redacted]Customer Support | Verde Energy USA[redacted] [redacted] [redacted]

Replied directly to customer via e-mail dated 5-12-15Dear [redacted],This e-mail is in response to your calls to our customer service center as well as the compliant you filed with the Revdex.com.  Your actual drop date with Verde Energy is April 28th. The request to change to another...

supplier came to us on March 27th. The date to end your account with Verde and start with another supplier was actually April 27th and is controlled solely by [redacted].  The corrected refund amount represents a credit based on our current fixed rate. We are not able to refund your bill in full as the electricity must be paid for.  We apologize for the calculation error but we are not required to refund in any scenario, and we do as a courtesy to our customers. The $350 was an error and we have previously followed up with you and have refunded you the the actual difference vs. variable & fixed (as a courtesy).Best,[redacted]Customer Support | Verde Energy USA[redacted]

Complaint: 10057161
I am rejecting this response because:
 
I was over charged to a total of over $2000.00 in the last year and they are only offering me a credit for 2 of the 13 months.
Sincerely,
Daniel Mcelaney

replied via email 3/20/15:Dear [redacted],This email is in response to your email and to the complaint you filed with the Revdex.com. When you enrolled with Verde Energy USA, you enrolled into a 3-MONTH FIXED rate. On 1/15/15, your fixed rate expired, per your terms of service, and your account was...

automatically switched to a VARIABLE rate. The state of ** requires that we mail you a reminder letter, letting you know that your 3-month fixed rate of $0.0699/kwh was about to expire and that if you wanted to continue with another FIXED rate, you would need to call us. Otherwise, your rate would automatically switch to our variable rate.As a one time courtesy, I have issued you a $170.31 refund check for the difference in rate from the variable you paid, to our current fixed rate of $0.0899/kwh.You should receive this check in the mail within 10-15 business days. I have also adjusted your account to our fixed rate of $0.0899/kwh. That rate is FIXED for 6 months and is for 100% green energy, such as solar, wind, hydro, biomass, landfill gas and other renewable power sources. I am having a new Terms of Service mailed to you. We still have no contract to sign and no cancellation fees. Once again, we will send you a reminder letter before this new rate expires. Please be sure to respond to the letter to avoid switching back to the variable rate.[redacted]Customer Support | Verde Energy USA[redacted] [redacted] [redacted]

copy of email sent on 2/4/15:
Dear[redacted],
This email is in response to your dispute filed with the Revdex.com. In March of 2013, all [redacted] customers were switched to Verde Energy USA. This happened because [redacted] sold their customer list to Verde Energy and we began to provide you...

with electricity instead of [redacted]. You were notified by U.S. Mail in a letter from [redacted] explaining the change. 
Your official service start date was 4/16/2013, and any electricity you used after that date was purchased for you by Verde Energy USA. You will see us listed as your provider starting with your bill dated around 5/13/2013.
We have been informed by your utility company that your account will no longer utilize Verde Energy USA for the supply portion of your electric service. Your service will be returned to your utility on 1/16/2015. 
We are processing a $189.98 refund. That refund was calculated using your most recent billing from us and multiplying your usage (2,533kwh) by our current fixed rate (.0849) and giving you the difference from what you were originally charged. You should receive that check in the mail within 10-15 business days.
[redacted]
Customer Support | Verde Energy USA
[redacted]
&nbsp

Replied directly to customer via e-mail dated 5-12-15
Dear [redacted],
This e-mail is in response to your calls to our customer service center as well as the compliant you filed with the Revdex.com.  
Verde is not required to ask...

customers at the time of enrollment if they are on a PIPP plan or any other assistance plans.  However, if we are made aware by the customer at the time of enrollment that they are on a plan such as PIPP we may not be able to provide a discount to them. In this case we would most definitely make them aware of this situation. 
We also understand in some cases the utility will reject a customers enrollment with Verde if PIPP will be severely affected. We are not able to refund any additional charges from your past bills as the electricity must be paid for.
Your account was dropped on May 4th. Additionally, we processed your $ 75. cash back rebate on May 6th. Please allow 7-10 business days to receive via [redacted]
Best,
[redacted]
Customer Support | Verde Energy USA
[redacted]

Emailed customer directly on 6/21/16:Dear [redacted] This email is in response to the complaint you filed with the Revdex.com. I have looked up your account and see that you originally enrolled the account with Verde Energy for a 4-month fixed rate of $0.1149/kwh. You received that rate for...

4 billing cycles. After your fixed rate expired, per the Terms of Service mailed to your address, the account switched automatically to our VARIABLE rate. There was a call made in August of 2015 where you requested to be put on the new 6-month fixed rate of $0.0999/kwh. At that time, we also issued you a refund check for the difference in rate from your June/July bill ($32.90) as well as a check for $25 thanking you for remaining with Verde Energy. We also processed your $75 rebate. We adjusted your rate and you received the agreed upon .0999/kwh rate for 6 months. Per your Terms of Service, after the 6 months, your rate automatically switched to our VARIABLE rate at the time: $0.1899/kwh and continued on the variable rate. I see that your account has been scheduled for cancellation from Verde on 7/12/16. I have adjusted your rate to our current fixed rate of $0.0949/kwh for the final bill with Verde. We are processing a $39.05 refund for the difference in rate from your highest billing. Verde Energy is not required to offer any refunds on the variable rate pricing and we do so only as a courtesy. You should receive the check in the mail within 10-15 business days.If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to reply to this email.   Karen M[redacted] Customer Support |Verde Energy USA101 Merritt 7 | Second Floor | Norwalk, CT 06851

We sent the customer the following email todayDear [redacted]
 
Apologies
for any confusion regarding your account and recent charges.  I was
able to locate your account & I have successfully cancelled and...


refunded your most recent transaction of $13.95.  Please let me know if I
can help further. 
Kind Regards,
 [redacted]Customer Support | Verde Energy USA[redacted]

We sent the following email to the customer today
Ms. [redacted],
I received your
recent inquiry.  I researched our records and saw that you called in
February but did not request that your service be...

cancelled.  You were
offered a $25 cash bonus on the call and you cashed the check which was
sent to you at that time.
I also saw that [redacted] helped
you with a billing issue several weeks ago and we have submitted a
request to the utility to leave service with Verde.  Even though you
have cancelled, as a good will gesture we will send you a check for
$107.17 to lower the effective rate on your August and July bills to the [redacted] rate of $0.1025/KWH.  You will receive this check in
approximately 2 weeks.
Regards,
[redacted]
Verde Energy USA

emailed customer on 3/9/15:
Dear [redacted] ,
This email is in response to the complaint you filed with the Revdex.com. I have issued you a refund check for the difference in rate from our .0849 rate to your .054 rate. You should recieve that $139.20 check in the mail within...

15 business days. I have put in a cancel request to [redacted] to drop Verde as your supplier. I am waiting to hear back from them with the final date you will be with Verde. If we are on your bill again, we will issue an additional refund. I apologize for any inconvenience.
[redacted]
Customer Support | Verde Energy USA
[redacted]%3

Several unsolicited calls to my cell phone, the number for which they got from a purchased list (with a name other than mine attached to it). My number is on the National Do-Not-Call registry.
When I told them that they had the wrong number, they proceeded to ask for my personal details. When told that I wasn't interested and wished to be removed from their mailing list, they flatly refused.

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.
Ms. [redacted]:   Thank you for your prompt reply to my complaint to the **. Revdex.com (ID [redacted]).Upon the receipt of the check for $3.95 and the credit of $19.95 applied to my credit card this matter will be considered to be resolved. Regards, [redacted]
Sincerely,
[redacted]

We sent the customer the following email today:
[redacted]I received a copy of your inquiry.   
Your account
was assigned to Verde Energy by [redacted] Energy as provided for in [redacted] customer...

agreement.  All [redacted] customers
received notice of this assignment in a first class letter dated 2/5/13 and as
part of the assignment Verde lowered the supply rate that was previously
charged by [redacted].  A copy of this letter
and the related Terms of Service (the initial variable rate of $0.1074/KWH for
this account replaced the “0.xxxx”/KWH in the sample TOS) are attached for your
reference.  This account began to receive
Verde’s supply rate as of 4/12/13 and the rate was not changed until the fall of 2013
when it began to increase because of rising energy supply costs.   
Even though your account has dropped, as a goodwill gesture we will provide a $64.25 billing adjustment
for the July bill to make the effective rate $0.1199/KWH and will also use this
lower rate on the final bill in August.  You should receive this check in approximately two weeks.
Regards,
[redacted]

Responded to customer complaint:
Dear [redacted],
 
Apologies for any inconveniences regarding your subscription
with our ESS service.  I show that your
account...

was cancelled on March 17th. 
I have refunded both the 3.95 & 19.95, please expect to see the $19.95
credited back to your credit card and the $3.95 will be sent via check (please
allow up to 10 business days to receive). 
Please let me know if I can assist further.

responded via email 4/10/15
letter-spacing: normal; word-spacing: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: normal; widows: 1; background-color: rgb(250, 250, 250); -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px;" rel="tempredactor">Dear Mr. [redacted],
This email is in response to the complaint you filed with the Revdex.com. Our records indicate you applied/signed up with Verde Energy USA on 01/09/2015 via lowcostpower.com at the 4-month fixed rate of $.1299/kwh. Your account was then approved on 1/13/2015 and created on 1/13/2015 with an assigned start date of 1/26/2015 at that 4-month fixed rate. 
I see your first bill with Verde Energy was billed at the correct rate of .1299:
2,949.00KH @ $0.1299 (1/26/2015-2/22/2015)
02/25/2015
01/26/2015
02/22/2015
$383.08
You requested a rate change on February 21, 2015 and Verde contacted [redacted] to have them adjust your rate to the current fixed rate of .1149. Rate changes are not immediate and are completely determined by when [redacted] reads your meter. We have heard back from [redacted] and they have accepted the rate change and have scheduled it to begin 3/25/15. We have no control over the date your utility starts a new rate.
You will continue to see the fixed rate you enrolled with (.1299/kwh) until the new fixed rate of .1149 begins. Once that rate begins, you will have it for the promised 6 months. Verde Energy is not required to issue refunds for the difference in fixed rates.
I see that your account has been put in for cancellation and I have also been advised that Mr. [redacted] has verbally abused our call center/customer service employees several times. We await response from [redacted] for the service end date.
[redacted]
Customer Support | Verde Energy USA
[redacted]

We sent the customer the following email today
Mr. [redacted]
I received your inquiry and also saw your contact with our customer support group.
In
February 2013 you received via [redacted] a letter which
indicated that your account was being assigned by [redacted] Energy to...

Verde
Energy and that Verde was lowering the rate previously charged to you
by [redacted].  A copy of this letter and the related terms of service are
attached for your records.
Your account was canceled per your
request (tracking number is below) and will leave service with Verde on
12/16/14.  Even though
you cancelled, as a good will gesture we will send you a billing
adjustment check for $52.12 which effectively lowers your rate to
$0.1149/KWH for your last 2 bill cycles.  You should receive this check
in approximately 2 weeks.  We will also use this rate for your December
bill.
Regards,
[redacted]
Verde Energy USA
[redacted]

We sent the customer the following emailMs. [redacted],I saw your recent inquiry.  Your phone number, [redacted],
will be added to our DNC list.  I apologize for you receiving calls,
our system screens out area codes outside of our state coverage but I do
not know why it did not screen...

out your number.Regards,[redacted]