I've never been one to complain, even when receiving subpar service. I usually make an excuse for the individual/company for providing such below average service; this time is different.
In August of I was involved in a four car accident; I was not at fault. I was sent to the hospital and not able to return to work for several months. I stopped being paid from work on August 31st. As my balance fell further into the negative, I spent my "spare" time, meaning not at one of my many appointments, calling my creditors and informing them of the situation. All of my creditors were understanding and worked with me, except TXU Electric.
I had my electric bill coming directly from my checking account. They attempted to put it through three times; once right after the accident, and two more times a couple of weeks later. Immediately after the accident, I had to pay over $200 in cash to get my car from the impound or would face being charged $15 a day to keep it there; I was also responsible for all of my copays and medication until the insurance company of the man at fault would admit responsibility. Basically, I was completely, flat broke now.
My car insurance company called to inform me that I had PIP (Personal Injury Protection) up to $2,500 for my medical bills and time lost from work. This was quickly devoured by my huge negative balance and food for my daughter and I.
Back to TXU. When I saw that they tried to collect the payment from my account, I immediately called them. The customer service rep, who was extremely professional, told me to go online and put in payment for a lesser amount to be withdrawn to avoid the entire amount being pulled. After hanging up with him, I went online and put in a payment for $100 instead of the $450 they were trying to collect for August and September, plus fees. Well, lo and behold, they not only tried to pull out the $100, but the $450 as well. Both came in on the same day and were rejected because the $450 payment gave me an overdraft charge of $30 at Wells Fargo. Because of this incorrect payment and fee it charged, the $100 wouldn't fly either. So I got charged for BOTH attempts on the same day.
I called them back right away and informed them of what happened. After much confusion, on both of our parts, not just theirs, we finally were on the same page that only $100 was supposed to be withdrawn. But, two days later, both were put through again, costing me another $60 in fees since the first $450 charge pushed me into the negative.
I called them back again. Once we realized what happened, the customer service lady was kind enough to stop the automatic bank draft from occurring again until I started it back up on my own. She told me to make any payment I can, even if $20, so TXU wouldn't think I'm just blowing them off. So, a week later, after finally receiving my first short-term disability check over a month after the accident, I paid TXU $50; this was all I had to spare since my daughter and I were living off of crackers and sandwiches. I was having to sell my belongings for her and I to eat.
Fast forward now to Friday, October 22. It's close to three in the afternoon and my dad is dropping my daughter home after school. The moment she opens the door, the power goes out. I thought, for a moment, that the gloomy weather was the cause until seeing outdoor lights on for other neighbors.
Here begins the turmoil of that Friday. I called TXU to find out what was going on. They state that, for non-payment, they shut off the power. Not only that, but I have to pay almost $200 over my bill because of them pushing a button to turn the power off, a new deposit and turning it back on (pushing a button again). I explained to the first customer service (CS) lady the whole situation. She told me that they have me as a "CASH ONLY" account since three checks were returned. What? My payment was coming directly from my account, not checks I sent. She explained how her hands were tied and I was required to pay, in cash, over $800 to get my power back on; I began to cry. I told her how I was told that if I made an attempt to make payment, I would be okay. She was sympathetic, but didn't know what to do.
I called my EX father-in-law for help; he lives over a thousand miles away. He agreed to call TXU and make a payment on his debit card. I called TXU back and spoke with a new CS rep and explained that my father-in-law was going to call and make a payment with his debit card for me. She took his name and information so that he could call on my account with no problems.
Well, as you guessed, this wasn't the case. My ex FIL was told he wasn't allowed to access my account. So I called TXU back, again, and asked what happened. They saw the mistake and assured me he would have no problems. He called me back again saying they wouldn't let him pay with his debit card since it's a cash-only account. Once again, I call back. The new CS rep informed me that my ex FIL needs to call the automated system to make the payment with any credit or debit cards. Guess what? It wouldn't work.
I call TXU back AGAIN and explain the same story for the sixth time to a completely different CS rep. They review the notes and say I have to pay physically in person with over $800 cash. I began my story again, explaining that I don't have $8 let alone $800. I told her about my accident and the rest of what happened. She simply kept repeating herself over and over again like a script was in front of her. When I asked what I'm supposed to do she repeated the same lines again. I couldn't drive myself anywhere to pick up a Western Union; I couldn't find anyone to take me there either. My ex FIL put his foot down, so to speak. He said he'd put the check in the mail to me and his hands were clean. I don't blame him since they were giving us both the runaround for well over an hour.
I called TXU back AGAIN. This time, I asked to speak to a supervisor. At this point I was pretty irate; it was getting dark and cold in the house. He was explaining everything to me that I just explained to him. I told him how I was told to make any payment I could to avoid having the power turned off. He made a comment how it wasn't "noted" in my account. I don't know why this was such a big surprise considering the first CS rep who told me this was trying to be nice and give friendly advice. Why would I lie about that and send $50 if I knew they would turn off the power anyway? It's obvious that I was misled. At this point, $50 is a lot for me to part with.
I hung up the phone feeling like a total loser and lied to. My daughter and I were sitting in a dark, cold house with 2 candles for light. That's when I thought about the statement of the supervisor about three returned checks for the first time.
"Wait!" I thought. "They think those were checks, not returned drafts from my bank. If they realized how wrong they were, they would take the CASH ONLY stipulation off of my account."
I called back and spoke to CS rep number one million. At this point, TXU probably wished I was dead. I was angry with the supervisor earlier since I felt like I was talking to a wall. I let him know I was going to formally complain and change to a new service. His response?"I'LL NOTE IT ON YOUR ACCOUNT." That's right. He'll NOTE it on my account. Wow. Now that's what I call customer service.
Anyway, the CS rep this time is worse than any of the others. She repeated herself more times than the Lakers won the championship. She even claimed, at one point, that every single rep I talked with told me the same thing. I laughed and asked how she figured that since she wasn't on the phone with us.
She went on and on and on and on about it being a CASH ONLY account and how I'm pretty much out of options. Then, the weirdest thing happened. She asks if she can put me on hold so she could see about, and I quote verbatim, "additional information" for me. After a few minutes she gets back on the phone and immediately says, "Like I stated before, Miss X, this is a cash only account and can only be resolved by you paying the $800 in person at a payment center and faxing us the receipt showing it was paid in cash."
I stopped her and asked, "What was this 'additional information' you were talking about?" I knew she was probably recording the conversation now so it'll look like every single rep told me the same thing and I'm some raging lunatic in need of a complaint fix. She fumbled for an answer. It was something of hilarity to hear her try to recover from the fact that I caught her. Here's the exchange verbatim:
REP: "Can you hold for a few minutes, Miss X, while I get some additional information for you?"
ME: "Yes, thank you."
REP: "Like I stated before, Miss X, this is a cash only account and can only be resolved by you paying the $800 in person at a payment center and faxing us the receipt showing it was paid in cash."
ME: "What was this 'additional information' you were talking about?"
REP: "Uh... I... Uh... I... I was... Seeing if you could pay another way."
ME: "In other words, you started recording this phone call, right?"
REP: "Uh, I was seeing if you could pay another way."
ME: "Uh-huh."
REP: "Is there anything else I can help you with tonight, Miss X?"
ME: "Yeah. You can take my father-in-law's debit card so you'll have your payment right now and I'll have my power."
REP: "Like I stated before, Miss X, this is a cash only account and can only be resolved by you paying the $800 in person at a payment center and faxing us the receipt showing it was paid in cash."
ME: "Are you reading a script? You've said that exact statement more than once in our conversation."
REP: "I'm not. Reading. Script. Thank you for called TXU and have a good night."
So here I am, still without electricity on Tuesday, five days later. I'm anxiously awaiting the check from my ex FIL so my daughter and I can have the use of our home back. Maybe I'm the one completely wrong in this situation, or maybe not. Either way I did what I was told was right. Because of being told misinformation, I'm now paying over $200 more than I originally owed and without the use of my home. I will definitely be changing companies, along with everyone else I've told about this. I know mine isn't the only story with complaint against TXU.
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