Complaint Review: Direct Energy - Fort Worth Texas

 I have never had an issue with any other service provider that has affected me in such a negative way as with Direct Energy. I signed up with them in early October to begin my services on October 8, 2013. However, yesterday around 4:15, my fiancé went to my apartment and informed me that there was no power. I called Direct Energy immediately. I was notified that when they went to switch my services over, the order somehow was cancelled and never took place. At that time, it was around 4:30 pm when she advised that she would submit what was called a “safety net” request. She said this is an emergency order to connect my services with Oncor. She advised me that the time frame on this could take up to 24 hours.

 After this, I contacted Oncor. They advised that once they actually receive the request, they would have my services connected within 2-3 hours. However, they said that they didn’t see my order had been sent to them, but advised that that could take up to an hour. So, I waited until 6:15 to contact Oncor. They advised that they still had not received my request. I contacted Direct Energy again. They advised that the order had been submitted and that Oncor was at fault in not receiving it. So, I again called Oncor. The representative advised me that they receive these requests in an email format. She was checking that email and had not received it. She advised that I again contact Direct Energy, but request that they conference Oncor in so that we can get this handled correctly and promptly.

 I followed the instructions of the Oncor. I asked the DE representative to conference me in with Oncor. Due to her not having the ability to make outbound calls, she transferred me to a supervisor named Michelle. It was at that point, around 7:30 pm, that I was advised of their procedure. When a safety net request is submitted, they do not send it to Oncor directly, but rather to their back office. She advised if the order is not submitted by the time that dept closes at 5pm, it would not be sent to Oncor until the morning. This particular department only sends these requests twice a day. Considering that my request had been sent at 4:30, I do not see why my request had not been received. I asked that she send this request directly to Oncor. She refused to do so and said she would not because it is against their policy. This is completely ludicrous as it is their fault I am without power. Maybe I am making assumptions, but when you wrong your customer, most companies are willing to go against their normal policy to fix their error. Apparently, not Direct Energy. Policy and Procedure is more important that their Customers.

 My electricity being out was of no fault of my own. The blame, as admitted by each DE representative I spoke with, was entirely on their company. I feel as though I was treated very poorly. I understand there are certain procedures that Customer Service must follow. However, is it your normal procedure to forget to connect your customer’s service? It should not be; therefore I believe an extra effort should have been made to ensure I was not without power. Rather, I was forced to go without. This is more than an inconvenience. I have also been put out financially. I could not cook dinner, so had to take my family out instead. In addition to that, I had just purchased $200 worth of groceries the day before. At least $100-150 worth was in the refrigerator and freezer. It has now gone bad. As you know, chicken and such does not keep and it was not like I could cook it, because I had no power to work my stove. I will have to purchase groceries all over again spending double my normal grocery budget. I also had no hot water. I had to take a cold shower and go to work with wet hair because I couldn’t use my hair dryer causing me to look entirely unprofessional.

 This experience with DE has been horrible. And what is worse, is that I haven’t even received services yet. But, I am in a contract that I cannot cancel without a penalty. I am not looking to have my contract cancelled yet, I just want to live a normal life with electricity like everyone else. It would be one thing if my power had been turned off due to nonpayment. At that point, I could understand a lack of urgency to help me. However, I have not even accrued a bill to fall behind on yet. This experience was entirely unacceptable.