- Report: #412314
Complaint Review: Dominion Virginia Power - Williamsburg Virginia
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Dominion Virginia Power
[email protected] Williamsburg, 23188 Virginia, U.S.A.
Phone:
888-6673000
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Dominion Virginia Power Trust a Monopoly to Act Like a Monopoly Williamsburg Virginia
Similar to the other reports filed on this Utility, VA Dominion Power appears to have carte blanche to require deposits and bill it's customers with no regard for logic or energy history of a specific location.
We moved from a large energy hungry turn of the century non-insulated virtually all electric home with an electric consumption history in the thousands of kilowatt hours to a far smaller, gas heat, gas hotwater condo in the hundreds of kilowatt hour range. Rather than see my power bill go down, it actually went up.
Without informing me, a $390 deposit was attached to my account at the new condo address, ostensibly for 'credit' reasons possibly because it took two months to get a complete closing bill on our previous address. We have been a customer of this utility since 2002 and have never seen a deposit requirement. I was told by the Utility that the deposit requirement was based upon our energy usage history...at our previous address.
Dominion Virginia Power arbitrarily exercises monopolistic billing practices against it's customers. We Virginians need alternatives similar to those available for telecommunications. We have many telephone, wireless, and internet companies. Why do we have 'freedom from choice' when it comes to power?
Ron
Williamsburg, Virginia
U.S.A.
We moved from a large energy hungry turn of the century non-insulated virtually all electric home with an electric consumption history in the thousands of kilowatt hours to a far smaller, gas heat, gas hotwater condo in the hundreds of kilowatt hour range. Rather than see my power bill go down, it actually went up.
Without informing me, a $390 deposit was attached to my account at the new condo address, ostensibly for 'credit' reasons possibly because it took two months to get a complete closing bill on our previous address. We have been a customer of this utility since 2002 and have never seen a deposit requirement. I was told by the Utility that the deposit requirement was based upon our energy usage history...at our previous address.
Dominion Virginia Power arbitrarily exercises monopolistic billing practices against it's customers. We Virginians need alternatives similar to those available for telecommunications. We have many telephone, wireless, and internet companies. Why do we have 'freedom from choice' when it comes to power?
Ron
Williamsburg, Virginia
U.S.A.
2 Updates & Rebuttals
spc3rd
Williamsburg,Virginia,
USA
Notice a trend occuring here...
#2Consumer Comment
Sat, February 20, 2010
My comment here is solely related to the last paragraph in your report regarding we Virginians needing more choices to choose from in obtaining not only electric services, but other services, such as telephone, wireless, cable, Internet, etc.
Remember, for example, back in the late 1970's when the government broke up the monopoly held by the AT&T's Bell telephone system? As a result, numerous other telephone service providers began to emerge over subsequent years thus creating other competitive options for consumers to choose from.
Now, fast forward to present day. Observe how increasing numbers of different service providers, e.g. telephone, cellular phone companies, Internet service providers, banking institutions, etc are now merging with the "big boys", so-to-speak or just being "swallowed-up" by the "business giants."
In my view this is a detrimental & dangerous precendent being allowed to continue unabated. If this trend is permitted to continue unchecked, before long consumers in this country will awaken one morning to discover they no longer have ANY competitive choices! We will find ourselves stuck with having to obtain the various services we need and depend on from only one or perhaps two providers...providers who will simply do whatever they desire to the consumer! (Many are already doing just that right now; if you doubt it...read more reports here on this website!)
Lest anyone think this situation is unique to the business sector...I suggest you also pay close attention to what is occuring in this country at all 3 levels of government...federal, state, & local! When's the last time anyone took a REALISTIC look at how your constitutional right of privacy is being "respected"...or perhaps more appropriately stated...infringed upon?
Missa
Land O Lakes,Florida,
U.S.A.
Hmm!
#3UPDATE Employee
Tue, February 17, 2009
The system automatically requires a deposit in some instances based on your credit report or credit with the company. If you have missed a payment or had a check returned, it can and will damage your credit with the company. They also use equifax to check credit scores to determine need for a deposit. However, if you called with a TRANSFER of service and it was processed as such, there should have been no deposit unless you already received a warning letter and request letter about the deposit. Whoever you spoke with failed at their job if you hadn't received such letters because the employee has to manually enter the dollar amount of the deposit and how many months it will be divided into (a maximum of 3). You either pissed someone off or got someone who was new. FYI You don't speak to a person that actually works for Dominion. It is transferred to a call center in a completely different state! I'm in training for Dominion Power for Virginia and NC and I'm in Texas! It is just a call center following directions given to us by Dominion. I'd recommend physically going to an office and NOT calling any numbers they gave you.
