- Report: #941100
Complaint Review: Tampa Electric - Tampa Florida
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Tampa Electric
702 North Franklin Street Tampa, Florida, United States of America
Phone:
813-223-0800
Web:
www.tampaelectric.com
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Tampa Electric TECO TECO doesn't care about their customer's - pay them or else! Tampa, Florida
We have been TECO customers for 20+ years and honestly we've not had a problem until 2 1/2 years ago. We were leasing a 3,500 sq.ft. two-story home with 2 HVAC systems; 1 for upstairs and 1 for downstairs, The home was built in 1987. We lived there for 2 years with power bills during the summer months of $250 and high of $380. In 2011 we decided it was time to get out of this energy hog house and find something to lease much smaller. I should mention here we are in our 60s with limited income. (All you young whippersnappers need to read this!)
We found a nice 2,000 sq. ft. home in SunCityCenter, one 3-1/2 ton HVAC, and the property manager assured us the HVAC was 6-years old and had been completely serviced. So we moved in last March. Our first month's TECO bill was over $200. Now keep in mind, March in Florida is not that warm, temperatures are mild. We notified the property manager and an electrician was called as well as an HVAC repairman. They couldn't find anything wrong. Second power bill came in over $200 again and again in the following months. Our billing for August-September came in at $340! I called TECO.
In July 2012 we had TECO Home Energy Audit to come in and advise us what we needed to do to get our power bills down. We had already placed a 3M product window insulating film in all 3 large single-pane windows across the back of the house. And additionally keep all the vertical blinds closed. We keep all the blinds in the house closed during the day. We lowered the water heater thermostat. We replaced all the light fixture bulbs (most used fixtures) to the TECO recommended energy efficient bulbs. We keep the HVAC filter changed every 4 weeks. We raised the HVAC thermostat to 80 degrees during the day. We've done everything to try and get our bills down!
TECO advised me this morning (after speaking with 3 representatives) maybe it is the HVAC needs cleaning! I asked to have our billing due date changed to the 15th of the month. Nope, wouldn't do that. But they offered, that is if I paid my balance to zero, to set payments up on the 20th through automatic bank draft. My question was, how can I pay to zero when the billing is running so high plus charging us a $5.00 late fee for paying on the 14th of the month? TECO management has gone from superior to into the dirt over the last few years. I could go on, on but I'm running out of room. Hope someone can stop TECO's request for a rate hike!
We found a nice 2,000 sq. ft. home in SunCityCenter, one 3-1/2 ton HVAC, and the property manager assured us the HVAC was 6-years old and had been completely serviced. So we moved in last March. Our first month's TECO bill was over $200. Now keep in mind, March in Florida is not that warm, temperatures are mild. We notified the property manager and an electrician was called as well as an HVAC repairman. They couldn't find anything wrong. Second power bill came in over $200 again and again in the following months. Our billing for August-September came in at $340! I called TECO.
In July 2012 we had TECO Home Energy Audit to come in and advise us what we needed to do to get our power bills down. We had already placed a 3M product window insulating film in all 3 large single-pane windows across the back of the house. And additionally keep all the vertical blinds closed. We keep all the blinds in the house closed during the day. We lowered the water heater thermostat. We replaced all the light fixture bulbs (most used fixtures) to the TECO recommended energy efficient bulbs. We keep the HVAC filter changed every 4 weeks. We raised the HVAC thermostat to 80 degrees during the day. We've done everything to try and get our bills down!
TECO advised me this morning (after speaking with 3 representatives) maybe it is the HVAC needs cleaning! I asked to have our billing due date changed to the 15th of the month. Nope, wouldn't do that. But they offered, that is if I paid my balance to zero, to set payments up on the 20th through automatic bank draft. My question was, how can I pay to zero when the billing is running so high plus charging us a $5.00 late fee for paying on the 14th of the month? TECO management has gone from superior to into the dirt over the last few years. I could go on, on but I'm running out of room. Hope someone can stop TECO's request for a rate hike!
3 Updates & Rebuttals
Tampa Electric Sucks
Tampa,Florida,
United States
Tampa Electric - TECO - very very poor customer service - idiots minding the phones when you trouble to trouble shoot problems.
#2General Comment
Mon, July 16, 2018
I just want to say that when I called Tampa Electric serveral times to report a low voltage problem..... I spoke to idiots who were clueless. They put me on hold for 20 minutes hoping I would hang up. When I didn't the idiot kid in a cubicle came back on the line and said "there is nothing we can do". Jack a*s! Low Voltage will burn out your A/C motors and other larger appliance. They don't care! Idiots. Idiot employees that probably couldn't pass the FCATS so Tampa Electric hired them. Dumb as a box of rocks.
Ken
Colorado,USA
Like Robert, I'm a little confused....
#3Consumer Comment
Fri, September 14, 2012
"Tampa Electric TECO TECO doesn't care about their customer's - pay them or else! Tampa, Florida"
What would you expect them to do....not require you to pay for the service you're using?
That way, your neighbors could pay a little more to keep you from having to pay so much.
"TECO management has gone from superior to into the dirt over the last few years."
What, exactly, are they doing that has changed them "into dirt?"
You said you lowered the water heater thermostat...is it electric?
If so, there's a MAJOR electricity user. If it's gas, it won't make any difference on your power bill, and I'd wonder why, you then mentioned it.
I don't see any Ripoff here, your usage is most likely pretty standard.
We just replaced a 36 year old 2 ton A/C with a new high efficiency 2-1/2 ton A/c and it uses less than HALF the power of the old one and keeps us cooler.
BTW 3-1/2 ton air conditioners DO use a fair amount of power.
"I should mention here we are in our 60s with limited income." Yet you previously lived in a 3500 sq ft home with 2 A/C...the income can't be TOO limited.
No, I don't work for TECO and never have, I'm 72 and retired on limited income.
Robert
Irvine,California,
U.S.A.
Confused..
#4Consumer Comment
Fri, September 14, 2012
Interesting how you moved because you say the previous house was an energy hog, only to find out you still have high bills. Perhaps it isn't the house that is a hog..perhaps it is the inhabitants.
Your lowest summer bill was $250 and you had a Spring bill of $200, yet you are complaining. Your highest Summer bill was $380, yet you are complaining about a smaller summer bill of $340 which based on what you wrote seems to be the highest at this place. You are also complaining that you are having trouble paying your bill because it is so high..yet it is lower than you had at the other place.
What did you expect your new bill to be? Did you think it was going to be half the amount because you have 1 AC and a little more than 1/2 the space? Well the AC is only a portion of your bill, you have everything else that doesn't really change based on the size. That is you still have a refrigerator, you still have lights on when you are in the room, you still have your TV and other appliances.
Not only that but you have no information on the energy usage of the 3 A/C units in question. Even ones manufactured 6 years ago could vary greatly in their energy usage. And if this house has been a rental for years, you often(but not always) find that landlords in order to save costs will not get the most efficient top of the line items because those are often the most expensive.
