- Report: #728820
Complaint Review: Southside Electric Co-operative - Internet Internet
Reported By:
Reba -
Thaxton, Virginia, United States of America
Submitted:
Updated:
-
Author Not Confirmed
Why?
Southside Electric Co-operative
2000 West Virginia Avenue Internet, 23930 Internet, United States of America
Phone:
800-552-2118
Web:
www.sec.coop
Categories:
Business Rating:
(0)
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Southside Electric Co-operative SEC UNFAIR financial practices, Internet
I moved to a new location a year ago, and because of my credit rating, I was forced to pay SEC a $600 SECURITY DEPOSIT. My previous electric service was with Appalachian Power and they only required a $250 deposit. Prior to that, I had Dominion Electric, and the deposit was only $175. I've always paid my utilities on time, but with SEC requiring so much, I had to get them to split it into 3 monthly payments of $200 each.
That in itself doesn't sound so bad, UNLESS you are a fixed monthly income - which I am. I have been unemployed since Aug. 2009, and my unemployment benefit was cut in half last year. I couldn't get the 2nd installment of the deposit paid on time - so they wanted to cut the electricity off. I am a Senior with diabetes - but it didn't matter to them. They charged service charges and late fees ON THE DEPOSIT. Not the bill - the bill was paid in full and on time! This should not be allowed, especially in today's poor economy.
Also - with my thermostat set on 66 degrees (and having lived in a m.h. before) I knew the heating bill would be high, but with a brand new HVAC unit that the landlord had installed the prior year, I certainly didn't expect a bill of $176 !! So I turned the thermostat down to 62. The NEXT bill was $312 !!
Last complaint - they read the meter at the end of the month, or the first of the month - they print the bills around the 8th of the month - but they don't bother to put them in the mail til just a week before they are due. HUH? What type of shoddy accounting is this? AND it puts a strain on the consumer because since the bill is, of course, based on usage, you don't know how much or how little it will be. I've asked them about "budget billing" but they have yet to put my account on it. I know this - as soon as I can find another place that is NOT in Southside's territory, I will be moving! I've had enough of them!
WHATEVER YOU DO - DON'T LIVE WHERE YOU HAVE SOUTHSIDE ELECTRIC CO-OP FOR YOUR ELECTRIC SERVICE. YOU'LL BE SORRY YOU DID.
That in itself doesn't sound so bad, UNLESS you are a fixed monthly income - which I am. I have been unemployed since Aug. 2009, and my unemployment benefit was cut in half last year. I couldn't get the 2nd installment of the deposit paid on time - so they wanted to cut the electricity off. I am a Senior with diabetes - but it didn't matter to them. They charged service charges and late fees ON THE DEPOSIT. Not the bill - the bill was paid in full and on time! This should not be allowed, especially in today's poor economy.
Also - with my thermostat set on 66 degrees (and having lived in a m.h. before) I knew the heating bill would be high, but with a brand new HVAC unit that the landlord had installed the prior year, I certainly didn't expect a bill of $176 !! So I turned the thermostat down to 62. The NEXT bill was $312 !!
Last complaint - they read the meter at the end of the month, or the first of the month - they print the bills around the 8th of the month - but they don't bother to put them in the mail til just a week before they are due. HUH? What type of shoddy accounting is this? AND it puts a strain on the consumer because since the bill is, of course, based on usage, you don't know how much or how little it will be. I've asked them about "budget billing" but they have yet to put my account on it. I know this - as soon as I can find another place that is NOT in Southside's territory, I will be moving! I've had enough of them!
WHATEVER YOU DO - DON'T LIVE WHERE YOU HAVE SOUTHSIDE ELECTRIC CO-OP FOR YOUR ELECTRIC SERVICE. YOU'LL BE SORRY YOU DID.
1 Updates & Rebuttals
SirBlades
Huddleston,Virginia,
USA
SOUTHSIDE ELECTRIC SCAM OR RIPPOFF
#2Consumer Comment
Thu, August 04, 2016
The South Side Electric consumer mentioned that he had lowered the temp in his home turned down quite a bit only to get an even larger bill. However that month may very well have been even colder than the prvious month, hence the higher bill regardless.
However, there is something fishy going on with South Side Electric that has come to my attention over the last couple of years in regards to unually high elecyric bills whe it should not be. So this year I made some huge changes to test South Side Electric as I felt they are scamming customers into thinking they really used that much electricity. UNless you have your own meter indippenadt of theres but working in tandom, this can get tricky to prove.
So this year (2016) I deceied to go al out to see if South Side Electric is being honest in their charges. I heat and cool 4,200 square feet of home for the last 20 years, so I know all to well about high electric bills. So this is what I did as follows starting April 1, 2016.
(1) Shut down the hotwater heater and turn off breaker. Sponge baths and cold showers are now the norm. (hotwater heaters use an enormous amount of electricity)
(2) Shut down and turn off the three 220 breakers that run the central heating and cooling system for good.
(3) Stop using the washer and dryer. Use laundry matt. Breaker to Washer and Dryer turned off for good.
(4) Stop using electric dishwasher. Turned breaker off for good.
(5) Unplug all unnessary tranformers from wall.
(6) Stop using electric stove and only use gas grill.
(7) Place brown paper bag over meter and use scotch tape to lightly hold it in place. (Bag can easily be ripped off by hand to read the meter)
(8) Keep all lights thorugh out the house turned off with the exception of one 25 watt floressent nightlight in the kitchen over stove.
I managed to do all this and still remain comfortable in my home because I have a large 325 square foot bedroom that uses a new cutting edge heating and cooling system and I keep it set to 80 degrees in the summer (56) during winter. During this test I basically live just in the bedroom which has a TV, my office, a full bathroom and a small sitting area.
Thee purpose for the bag over the meter forces the meter man to tear off the bag to read it should he ever come by. This way I know that an actual person is checking the meter rather than using other means that may not be reliable. Now with all this prep you would think that it would lower my electric bill, right? Think again. Not only did my electric not come down, but I am receiving exceptionally high electric bills now. And by the way, do you remember that paper bag II had put over the electric meter that I told you about? Well, I actually did that back in the fall of 2013 and that same bag is still there “untouched” to this very day. That means that "no one" has ever come to my home to actually read the meter to check to see what my meter actually reads in person since November of 2013. There for, South Side Electric has no idea if the meter is actually working correctly or not. None.
So Obviously Southside is either,
(1) Jacking up my bill in their office,
(2) The electric meter is not working correctly,
(3) The means by which the electric company uses to read the meters from afar is flawed,
(4) Billing is based upon average use this same time last year, or...
(4) Some or all of the above.
After taken extreme measures to get my electric bill way down, only to see some of the highest electric bills I have ever received in 20 years with South Side Electric tells me flat out that something is seriously flawed with South Side’s billing and metering system. I am still building a case against south side and thus we will have too see where all this goes. If you are having usually high electric bills that don’t make sense, maybe now it does for the first time. Knowingly or unknowingly, South Side Electric is over charging and thus ripping their customers off.
By the way, South Side never requersted a deposit from me when I moved in back in 1996, but that was 20 years ago.
I will be filing an official report come September.
