Consumer Complaints & Reviews
William of Orlando writes:
My complaint is with the arrogance of a power company who knows you do not have the option to leave them for a competitor. I have had Florida power for 8 yrs now in the same residence. I had never missed a payment until December of 1999 because my father had to have open heart surgery and he lives in Michigan. I went up there for what was to be a couple weeks, but ended up to be almost 8 weeks due to complications.
After being up there for about 5 weeks I figured I better call my power company and make arrangements for payment. I spoke with a lady at the Winter Park office and explained my situation, she told me not to worry about it because of my history with them and at the time I called I was only about 12 days late and it was only $91.00. About 4 to 5 days later my neighbor call me to tell me they just shut my power off.
So now I'm in Michigan and my house is setting with a freezer of food, salt water fish tanks with electric feeders and pumps and an alarm system with no power. I lost about $200.00 in food, not to mention the smell, over $1,000.00 in fish. Now to make matter worse I get back and call the power company only to find out no one made any kind of note on my account, and now they were going to charge me a $25.00 reconnect fee. So now I lost over $1200, not to mention the stress of what I was going to find when I got home over $91.00 that was about 18 days late.
Now the real kicker came when I got my next bill they attached a demand for a $250.00 deposit. I again called to get the deposit removed and they refused. I told them I would not pay it, they said they would just shut the power off again. Since I don't have a choice of power companies I was at their mercy right or wrong.
The reason I am writing now is because apparently my December 2000 payment was lost in the mail. I checked with the bank and it had not cleared. So on Jan. 27th they shut off my power again. This time the bill was $122.61, but remember they have a $250 deposit, so as far as I'm concerned they do not have the right to shut my power off until my bill exceeds $250, wouldn't you agree? Now again I lost about $100 in food. I think its time I be reimbursed for my loses. I am fed up with how these utilities can get away this this kind of service.
I own a company myself and if I treated my clients the way I have been treated they would have left me a long time ago. I know writing to you will most likely be a waste of time like talking to them but I wanted to let someone know I think its wrong that we do not have a choice in power companies and they are allowed to get away this kind of treatment.
Hang on, William, competition is coming. It may make things worse but at least you'll have a choice. Until then, William should complain to the Florida Public Service Commission.
My complaint is with the arrogance of a power company who knows you do not have the option to leave them for a competitor. I have had Florida power for 8 yrs now in the same residence. I had never missed a payment until December of 1999 because my father had to have open heart surgery and he lives in Michigan. I went up there for what was to be a couple weeks, but ended up to be almost 8 weeks due to complications.
After being up there for about 5 weeks I figured I better call my power company and make arrangements for payment. I spoke with a lady at the Winter Park office and explained my situation, she told me not to worry about it because of my history with them and at the time I called I was only about 12 days late and it was only $91.00. About 4 to 5 days later my neighbor call me to tell me they just shut my power off.
So now I'm in Michigan and my house is setting with a freezer of food, salt water fish tanks with electric feeders and pumps and an alarm system with no power. I lost about $200.00 in food, not to mention the smell, over $1,000.00 in fish. Now to make matter worse I get back and call the power company only to find out no one made any kind of note on my account, and now they were going to charge me a $25.00 reconnect fee. So now I lost over $1200, not to mention the stress of what I was going to find when I got home over $91.00 that was about 18 days late.
Now the real kicker came when I got my next bill they attached a demand for a $250.00 deposit. I again called to get the deposit removed and they refused. I told them I would not pay it, they said they would just shut the power off again. Since I don't have a choice of power companies I was at their mercy right or wrong.
The reason I am writing now is because apparently my December 2000 payment was lost in the mail. I checked with the bank and it had not cleared. So on Jan. 27th they shut off my power again. This time the bill was $122.61, but remember they have a $250 deposit, so as far as I'm concerned they do not have the right to shut my power off until my bill exceeds $250, wouldn't you agree? Now again I lost about $100 in food. I think its time I be reimbursed for my loses. I am fed up with how these utilities can get away this this kind of service.
I own a company myself and if I treated my clients the way I have been treated they would have left me a long time ago. I know writing to you will most likely be a waste of time like talking to them but I wanted to let someone know I think its wrong that we do not have a choice in power companies and they are allowed to get away this kind of treatment.
Hang on, William, competition is coming. It may make things worse but at least you'll have a choice. Until then, William should complain to the Florida Public Service Commission.
