Video Transcript
Saving on your power bill could be as easy as switching provider, but when one local business owner switched power companies. She said the bills GOT BIGGER.
Three times bigger and the problem got worst when she tried to cancel the service. Action 13 Consumer reporter Jeff Ehling has more on the $30,000 cancellation fee.
For two years, Danielle Michael’s car repair shop saw power bills that were fairly consistent.
An average bill, anywhere from $700 to $800 a month.
Looking to save money, Michael switched from TXU to U.S. Energy Savings (now operating as Just Energy) after a customer working for the power company said U.S. Energy Savings could lower her costs.
Michael signed a five years contract, but when the first bill came the costs were not LOWER.
First month bill went from a normal bill of approximately $750 up to $2300.
Michael’s old bills show she uses about 3,000 kWh per month but the U.S. Energy Savings bill show the car repair shop use 21,000 kWh (per month).
So Michael contacted the company service representative who said the big bill would be adjusted and then the second bill came in and again the charge was for more than $2,000.
At that point we did a reread with them, they still wouldn’t adjust my bill.
By this time U.S. Energy Savings changed name to Just Energy.
Michael decided to make a change too by cancelling her service and going back to TXU, but that was not the end of her power problems.
Somehow her company got switched back to Just Energy. Michael says her previous Just Energy bills were eventually lowered, even so she switched back to TXU again and that’s when the small business was hit with a BIG cancellation fee.
Somehow they gave me cancellation fee of my contract of $30,000.
Our calls to Just Energy have not been returned, but the complaint of one small business has been echo by others, to the Houston Better Business Bureau.
They’re promising them rates that weren’t rates that they were actually getting when they got their bill. We also saw cancellation fee problems.
The Houston Better Business Bureau is now removing (revoked) Just Energy’s membership because of the complaints. They called the parent company in Canada and still haven’t heard back from the company. Now Just Energy did lower the bills, but again we haven’t heard anything about that big cancellation fee. Guys.
Unbelievable story Jeff. Thank you.
