ComplaintsforEPCOR Utilities Inc.

• Initial Complaint

  17/01/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I recently moved here in this apartment and after my third bill I realized Epcor is charging me so high and saying that it is all our fault, I called customer service and the lady was really mean to us and repeatedly saying the same thing 1000 times. I got charged for around $ 150.00 (oct2- oct 21) which I paid and also called them with a concern that why is it So high but they neglected. Also the second and third bill was $370.00 (oct 22-nov 22) and $266.31 (nov 23-dec 21) And this is not the first time we are paying an electricity bill so we know how much it should be approximately. They are charging us way too much. They also said that if a person comes to check the meter it will cost us $160-$1000. I cannot believe that. I just called to understand the issue here but she was just cutting us over and over and not listening us. And later on claim that I am trying to cut her in the middle. I also explained that we recently moved here and we do not have to many appliances she didn’t wanted to listen to us. No information has been given expect for the thing that “we are charging you on your usage”. I called to apply for the billing dispute but they choose not to give a damn about it. I think it is our electrical meter which has issues.

  Business response

  23/01/2023

  At EPCOR, we take all concerns about billing or customer service seriously, and we are always willing to discuss any aspect of a customer’s account or bill with them. In this situation, the customer contacted EPCOR multiple times in regards to their high electrical consumption.
  
  On each occasion, the customer compared their consumption for their site, to their friends and family members’ consumption. They also stated their belief there was an issue with the meter on site. Each Customer Service Representative clarified that each site is billed based off of the inhabitant’s actual usage, which is in turn dependent on individual habits, and therefore could not be compared to their own actual consumption. They also provided information regarding a meter test and clarified they could send through a request, but if the meter on site was working as intended, the customer would be charged for the actual cost incurred for testing the meter, which varies from $300 to over $1000 due to many different elements of testing. The Customer Service Representatives then continued to provide alternative options which the customer could utilize on their end, to investigate the high electrical consumption on site.
  
  These alternatives included:
  
  A breaker test.
  *This can assist with identifying where the electrical is being used at the site.
  *This will also confirm is the customer is billing for the correct meter.
  The customer taking their own meter read.
  *The customer would then compare the read to what is reflected on their statement, to ensure the reads are in line with the billing statement.
  
  These alternatives were presented to the customer, as an attempt to assist in identifying the cause of their consumption and to also prevent unnecessary, additional charges from being applied to the account.
  
  EPCOR is currently waiting for the customer to confirm if they would like to proceed with a meter test, as that option is available to them. They can reach out to Customer Care team at 310-4300 (a toll-free call in Alberta), or 1-800-667-2345 (Toll free in North America) Monday – Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m., Saturday 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

• Initial Complaint

  04/01/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Unresolved

  More info

  On the last two bills for electric energy I have been billed with excess and epcor has made no explanation or help to resolve the issue currentlythere is no residence on the property and no major use of energy there is a couple lights and small stock de icers but they are saying we have used over two thousand kilowatt hours which make now sense and in talking with neighbors is an outrageous charge I would like for them to correct the bill there is no thesable way it should be 700 a month for electricity on a property with no residence I would also like if possible to have someone come out to look and see what is going on trying to complete such a resolution over phone doesn't seem to we working no one with give any help

  Business response

  09/01/2023

  We have obtained consent to release to provide the following response:

  The meter readings confirm high electricity consumption.

  High consumption could be due to one or more factors which can include but not limited to, additions to the amount of people living in the home, appliances, renovations, construction, improvements requiring power tools and or portable heaters or air conditioners in use at the premises

  The customer confirmed the use of electrical heaters during the high consumption period. The customer has stopped using portable heaters and as after doing so, they've seen a drop in consumption. 

   

   

   

  Customer response

  09/01/2023

   
  Complaint: 18686836
  
  I am rejecting this response because: they have not made any effort to resolve the issue only to deflect the blame and say that anything they could do to help would cost me more there was 1 heater used but does not account for the change they have said I used I sent an email with an option to resolve the issue and am waiting for their further communication  
  
  Sincerely,
  **** *****
  

• Initial Complaint

  02/01/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  October 2022 I sold a property on Account *** ****** ***** on Sept 1st And informed Epcore on the sale that month and requested that they remove my name from the account. They agreed. The Last Payment I made was to: Epcore ****** ***** ********** Last payment: $273.24 - November 9, 2022 Epcore continued to bill me and has collectors harassing me after that date. This is a demand to have Epcore remove the false bills and reinstate my account in good order as well as return all ove rpayments past Sept 1st 2022. Epcore the same to another account at Property Country Club and I request this to be fixed as well. Epcor Edmonton Utilities **********

  Business response

  11/01/2023

  Gaps in service occur when charges for both consumption and Distribution & Transmission are incurred during a time period when there is no Customer actively billing at a site. EPCOR, as a default retailer, is responsible for charges during these times periods.
  
  EPCOR’s process is to pull the Land Title for the property and determine who is listed as the owner of the for the vacant time period.
  
  With Mr. ********’s assistance we were provided additional documentation supporting the sale of the property and have credited the charges for the time period in question.

• Initial Complaint

  08/12/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  Epcor electricity and water bill for Sept 27 to Oct 26 (statement date Nov 15) was $1424.28. Water usage had been estimated too high earlier this year and in June 2022 I received a credit to my account when an actual meter reading was submitted. Since June Epcor has been estimating my water usage at 0.6 m^3 per month. In October an actual reading was submitted. Epcor has charged me for 230 m^3 of water for the November statement. Actual usage is closer to 190 m^3 total since June. Most of this water is then billed at a higher rate (tiered rates for how much water per month is used) and estimated high for the month based on an actual reading part way through the billing cycle and extrapolating extremely high usage for the rest of the billing cycle. I contacted Epcor and they said they will not adjust the bill to reflect actual usage of 30 to 40 m^3 per month over the past six months. The only thing they could offer was to split the bill over multiple months but my bill had already been paid through an automated withdrawal. They also gave me contact info for submitting directions for the meter person to read my meter (I have a dog and sometimes a locked gate which prevents them from accessing my meter but my wife is almost always at home and never have they rang the door bell, they just leave a note to self submit the reading after a few months of not getting a reading). ***** ******* **********

  Business response

  19/12/2022

  EPCOR has reached out to Mr. ***** to obtain consent to release account information and to discuss their concerns. EPCOR has not received a call back yet.

• Initial Complaint

  02/11/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I just got a $670 bill for water, called the company to ask why. There was a problem with my water meter a year ago, the meter readers could not get readings for it. Instead of getting it fixed properly they began to estimate my water readings for an entire year and then gave me a notice a whole year later to call to arrange someone to come to fix my meter. The guy showed up and it was a minute fix because a wire was unplugged. Then three months later I get a bill for $670, because they were under charging me. This is shady business practice by the monopoly we call Epcor. I called to make a dispute on the bill they won't give me any bill credit and only thing they can do is split up the payments into 12 months. Which means more hassle for me because I have to cancel my automatic payments, and then add an extra $57 on to each bill every month and make manual payments. Their negligence to get the meter fixed on time resulted in me getting over a year worth of water charges onto one single bill. This is something I have no control over or have any understanding of water bill charges or how meters read, and now I'm paying for the company's negligence. This is a shady business practice and they should be the ones paying for it, because it was all their fault to begin with.

  Business response

  04/11/2022

  We have spoken with the customer today and resolved the issue with him. 

• Initial Complaint

  27/10/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  A look back at my Epcor bills I magically have one month a year that costs between 600.00-1000.00. The customer service rep called before I’ve even received the actual monetary amount owning to tell me my bill as going to be 1000% higher than my normal rate. “A running toilet perhaps…” 1000 cubic metres of water when I usually use between 1 & 7. This is extortion plan and simple. They don’t allow for assistance or admit they read it wrong they just want their pound of flesh. Worst part is I’m paid in full as of right now and I cannot even look up my bill as it isn’t ready yet… so they’ve called to tell me I’m about to get screwed but cannot tell me the amount… here’s an idea Epcor tell the person there may be an issue in the home prior to extorting this amount of money from them just prior to the holidays. Billion dollar industries continually ripping off good hard working people makes me sick.

  Business response

  07/11/2022

  We have obtained consent to release from Mr. ******, during our conversation we were able to come to a resolution.

• Initial Complaint

  23/09/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I’ve been a customer of Epcor for a while now, i’ve had multiple issues when it comes to billing but my most recent encounter has to be the worst. i’ve gone through multiple channels trying to find a resolution to my problem , unfortunately all the representatives I spoke to had no real answers/results to my concerns. My usual utility bill ranges from $350-400 a month. my recent bill came out stating I owe $953 for that month! From the information i gathered by going through multiple channels, they estimated my usage in june which then a month or two later an employee came to check my meter, realized they messed up and underestimated my usage for the month prior. now i’m expected to pay a $600 difference for an error Epcor has made. No one i spoke to even offered me a rebate! when in my billing history it clearly shows i’ve NEVER had a bill so high. It feels like they want to take advantage of young adults trying to get started in the housing/utility industry. Due to my inexperience with this industry i wasn’t made aware of the inaccuracy of estimations on utility bills, no where in my bill does it say i should double check their estimation and if there’s a conflict with the usage, if so we could’ve addressed it right then and there. it’s truly disappointing to see a multimillion dollar company taking advantage of todays youth! hopefully by sharing my story it may help another young individual going through the same thing.

  Business response

  17/10/2022

  EPCOR Water Service Inc. strives to read meters monthly, but at times, this is not possible due to weather or emergencies. When a reading is not taken an estimate is provided based on previous consumption. Customers are encouraged to regularly review their utility bills and monitor their consumption to proactively catch high consumption.

   

  Often customers can catch high consumption before EPCOR can. Toilets are a common source of water leaks. Sometimes, you'll hear running water or a trickle, but often, a toilet leak can be silent and easily overlooked. Explained typically high water events are the cause of a leaky toilet and that Faulty gaskets, flappers that do not close or a high water level in the tank can cause toilet leaks. In fact a medium size leak can increase a bill to approx. $1,800.00.

   

  EPCOR is not able to provide credits for all customers for unintended consumption, as those costs would eventually have to be passed on to all customers in the form of higher rates.

   

  For more information regarding High Water Usage, please visit the EPCOR website.

• Initial Complaint

  23/09/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  On our home Epcor bill we had a rental Condo attached. When it was empty we would pay the bill through our house account. We sold this condo in April of 2022 and advised them of this on Feb 12, 2022 at 10:30 am. So we did our due diligence. Thought it was all good April comes along still getting billed call again May 21, 2022 at 8:35 they informed a credit will take place on next bill. No such luck! They informed me the new owner applied for services on May 19, 2022 which shouldn't of even been told to us not our business. So again then said they will have credit applied on our June 8th bills. NOPE. June 10, 2022 spoke with them again correct will be made on June 17th. Finally seen it on the July bill which was almost impossible for senior to even determine if this is correct would need an accountant to figure out. So we thought finally this is done. NOPE. September receive our bill now they are billing us again! THIS IS NOW FRAUD if you ask me! Past the point of trying to figure this out but they are taking these payments out of my account! Please Help!

  Business response

  07/10/2022

  EPCOR received consent to release account information from Mr. ***** on September 28, 2022.

  Mr. ***** is correct that he requested to end billing for his rental condo effective April 1, 2022. Additionally, he had also requested to end the landlord agreement he had on file. A landlord agreement is a program EPCOR offers to automatically enroll customers into billing for electricity when there is a gap in service at a property they own. Unfortunately, EPCOR did not end the landlord agreement for Mr. *****’ condo in a timely manner. When Mr. *****’ billing ended per his request on April 1, 2022, our billing system automatically enrolled him back into service starting April 2, 2022.

  Mr. ***** contacted EPCOR on May 21, 2022 to advise of the enrollment error and EPCOR removed Mr. ***** from billing and corrected his account to remove the charges after April 1, 2022.

  However, in doing so, EPCOR omitted to consider that unclaimed charges are applied to an account in the name of the owner (as determined by land title). The charges starting April 2, 2022 were applied back to Mr. *****’ account as he was still the owner on title.  When Mr. ***** contacted EPCOR about the billing for his rental condo again on September 23, 2022, EPCOR requested documentation of sale to help confirm he was not responsible for services after he sold the property and that the land title had not been updated in a timely manner.
  
  With the additional documents, EPCOR is able to remove again the charges after April 1, 2022. EPCOR sincerely apologizes for our missed opportunity in asking for documentation of sale back in May 2022. EPCOR does not expect this error to recur for Mr. ***** as there are no charges waiting for investigation to determine responsibility.
  
  We thank you for bringing this to our attention so we could investigate further and identify a gap in the service we provide to our valued customers. EPCOR is following up with a process review on our end.

  Customer response

  11/10/2022

  
  ****** ******** *******
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID 18118932, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me. There are parts missing as to how many times I contacted EPCORm which was 5x before we had ***** on the file to finally put it to rest.  Thank you for responding it was immediately fixed once I filed.
  
  Sincerely,
  
  ***** *****

  Customer response

  21/10/2022

  
  Complaint: 18118932
  
  I am rejecting this response because:

  We filed a complain and through it was all resolved with no avail! Complaint number 18118932 got our new bill now they are say they took $253.58 as a payment and they took $518.27 out of my account. What am I to do, seriously went to the *** they call us thought all was good and they keep billing incorrectly. Now this bill does not have our condo we sold on it but the amounts are totally wrong and they are taking more money out of account that they even specified on the bill twice as much they took. I don't know what else to do! Sick of talking to EPCOR ***** guaranteed this would and look here we go again! This all starting in February I don't think it will every be resolved!
  
  Sincerely,
  
  ***** *****

  Business response

  28/10/2022

  The customer’s October 19, 2022 invoice was missing their October payment. We have since corrected this by reversing their October 19, 2022 invoice and have replaced it with a new invoice dated October 25, 2022 showing payment received.  

• Initial Complaint

  16/08/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  For the last 7months EPCOR has been providing half power service to the stated address. Calls were made to EPCOR stating there was a problem for the last 7 months finally after 7 months and one more call the problem was fixed. Asked for a 100 credit for each month of the hassle (please note power bill was paid in full for the last 7months while EPCOR only provided half service) and EPCOR refuses.

  Business response

  26/08/2022

  EPCOR’s first priority is to provide safe and reliable utility services to our customers. Although EPCOR implements strict maintenance practices and operational procedures of the highest standards, incidents do occur as a result of acts of nature or equipment failure. Overhead power lines, transformers, and other electrical equipment are susceptible to damage from major weather events, accidental contacts, and other incidents. We do not guarantee uninterrupted service.

  
  As indicated in the consumer complaint, there was an issue with intermittent service at the noted address.  Our operational records indicate that the Power Trouble crew remedied a service issue at this address within an hour of it being reported to them.  EPCOR can release further details regarding this matter once it has received the account holder’s consent to do so. 

  
  In the meantime, we can advise that when customers call to report an issue related to interrupted service or a power outage, they are advised that the best course of action is to call our EPCOR emergency trouble line. As soon as these issues are reported to the emergency trouble line, we can dispatch our Power Trouble crews to fix it. Dispatch operators will ask a series of questions and can give direction to occupants before our crews arrive.  This is our standard practice.    

  
  We understand that the complainant is not satisfied with the outcome of this service issue and we truly empathize with the frustration and inconvenience of having intermittent service.  However, under its terms and conditions of service, EPCOR is not liable to customers for equipment failures or outages.   

  
  Insurance against all events that occur to the distribution system is not a normal standard in the utility industry.  EPCOR is accountable to our rate payers, and if we provide compensation for equipment failure or outages in all instances, the cost would eventually be passed on to all rate payers. Protection from any losses would require a claim with the customer’s personal home insurance.

  Customer response

  26/09/2022

  
  ********** ********
  
  I am rejecting this response because:

  In response to EPCOR’s standard deception of hiding behind the city of Edmonton and an umbrella of terms and conditions that can be challenged. The company does not provide safe and reliable customer service which in turn effects the term “SAFE AND RELIABLE. “Employees use deceptive language and practices to cover their gross negligence to rate payers and their rate payers are paying the price for their incompetent. EPCOR was contacted on numerous occasions and they did not recommend having the issue checked by EPCOR itself only when the rate payer called and requested a call-out by the trouble team  did EPCOR act.  EPCOR is trying to prove customer negligence by covering their incompetence and using a call tracing system that is flawed and inaccurate.

  ****** 

   

  Business response

  27/09/2022

  We understand that this is not the outcome Ms. ******** had hoped for. EPCOR has thoroughly reviewed this matter and we are confident that we followed our established processes.  As an added measure, we have spoken to members of the EPCOR leadership team who have reviewed the details of the case and support the decision. Therefore, this matter has reached the end of its course within EPCOR’s customer relations avenues and we have nothing further to add to our initial submission regarding this consumer complaint.

  Customer response

  27/09/2022

  
  ********** ********
  
  I am rejecting this response because:
  
  Sincerely,
  
  ****** ********

• Initial Complaint

  12/07/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  Our power was turned off on the hottest day of the year. My husband paid in full and called with confirmation. We have been informed that it could take up to 48 hours..... we have kids, animals and a freezer full of food that is melting.

  Business response

  19/07/2022

  Good Afternoon,

   

  I would like to confirm that we were unable to contact ******** ******** and obtain their consent to release any account information.

   

  Thank you,

   

  **** ****

  ******** ******** *********

  EPCOR Energy Alberta Inc.

  **** ************

   

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