- Report: #1273941
Complaint Review: Electric District 3 - Maricopa Arizona
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Electric District 3
19756 N John Wayne Pkwy Maricopa, 85139 Arizona, USA
Phone:
(520) 424-9021
Web:
www.ed3online.org
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Electric District 3 ED 3 Numbers Don't Add Up. RIPOFF! Maricopa Arizona
Let's start from the beginning here, I moved to Maricopa from NYC in late July but set up all my utility services to start on July 7th. Just to give a description of the home, it is a 1 story and 1670sq ft to be exact. It's just my wife and I and a dog.
The first bill was already in the mail when I got the key done and it was for $295 and I fugured, maybe everything was on so I was ok with it. While I am at home, the thermostat is ALWAYS set at 85 with the exception of the days that reach 117 degrees and I dropped it down to 80-82. This was comfortable for us as I am used to a sticky, muggy climate in NYC.
My second bill showed up and it was $271 and I started raising eyebrows. The bills are not really easy to understand but it stated that I was using $3.99 per day at $.10 per KW. When you do that math, that bill doesn't add up but I'm getting ahead of myself as I was just paying the bills at this time and not digging deeper.
The next few bills were still in the $270-$245 range even as the temperture went down slightly and due to moving expenses, furniture etc, I paid the bill for October and left a $100 balance. The bill was due on November 4th. On November 2nd, I got home at 5:15 and my power was cut off. Since I do everything online, it was my fault that I didn't read the disconnection notice on the bill set for November 2nd. Was this my fault? Sure but I believe everything happens for a reason and this is where it begins to get interesting.
So I called ED3 and it's all about fees! They "needed" the past due balance of $100 plus a $250 deposit with a $50 administration fee, $50 reconnecting fee and if I wanted the power on that same day, it will be an additional $50. All I know is that the grand total was $531. I told them I wasn't going to pay that and she gave me the option of a "prepaid meter" and I didn't have to pay the deposit but I had to go to my local office to set that up. I went to ED3 the very next morning.
I can't complain about the service in the office, the girl that helped me was nice and explained everything to me. I put down $150 on the pre-paid meter and added my balance which with fees ended up to be $391 to something called "Debt Management". What this means is for every deposit you make on the meter (after the first initial deposit), 30% of it will go to that balance in debt management. It was also explained to me that my rate will go up slightly from $.10 per KW to $.13 per KW. I was also ok with this as 3 cents is not going to kill me. Along with this program, you get daily emails and text on your usage. And from this day on, this is where their scam becomes CLEAR!
We're now in the begining of November and the temperture is still in the 100's and the thermostate is still on 85 degrees as it's always been. My bill from the previous month was $245 as I mentioned before. So here comes the notifications of my usage and it is 7kw, day 2, 9kw, 8kw, 10kw and so on. Eventhou I am a business and economics major and run a business here in Arizona, you don't need to hold a PhD in mathematics to know these numbers don't add up. I averaged out my usage for the month and came up with a usuage of 8.7kw per day but lets raise that to 10kw to use even numbers. At $.13 per KW, that would be $1.30 per day, for 31 days it would come up to $40.30 per month. $40-$65 is what people I know here in Phoenix, Tempe and even Avondale are paying on average per month so why is Maricopa at almost $300?
Here is another interesting fact that is going on while I am on my pre-paid meter. While my usage actually went down from $245 to $65 in just 3 weeks, the prepaid meter charges are STILL OFF. While my usage per day should be $1.30 per day, ED3 is still charging me double and everyday, they take $2.30 per day. It is ALWAYS the same amount regardless of usage and that is FRAUD. They are ripping people off in Maricopa because they can and they can because there is no competition. This is the problem with monopolies.
I learned alot living in Maricopa and I am glad I just have a 1 year lease ending in June 2016. If you think moving to Maricopa in the hopes of saving money, you're in for a RUDE AWAKENING! That's what I thought but as the saying goes, "If it's to good to be true, it probably is". Your rent or housing cost may be a few bucks cheaper but expect to give that back and a whole lot more to utility companies, water, cable and so on. $300 for Electric, $120 for water, $100+ for cable (and that's the introductory rate) and lets not forget puting gas in your car for that 16 mile journey out of Maricopa. I could pay $1400 a month in housing in Phoenix and STILL spend less than I would in Maricopa spending $900 in housing.
Good luck to the people of Maricopa with these monopoly companies, you're going to need it.
