ComplaintsforAES Indiana

• Initial Complaint

  04/02/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Customer Service Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  I contacted AES on 2/23 to initiate service for our new house. The customer service representative assured me that she would arrange everything and call me back to confirm the details. However, it's been over a month now, and my meter still hasn't been added to their system. Consequently, I can't access my billing or account information until this is resolved.Despite sending multiple emails to the customer service team, I've only received responses after more than three business days, and they haven't been helpful in addressing the situation. Today, a supervisor called me, only to provide the same information and admit they don't have a definite date for when the meter will be added.I was advised to call back on Fridays to check the status of the "task" in their system. Frankly, I've dealt with many utility companies, but AES is the worst by far. How can they not provide a concrete date for setting up my service? Excuses about slow system updates since November are not acceptable.

  

  Business response

  04/16/2024

  I've reviewed the customer's concerns and can certainly understand her frustration with not receiving her bills. Im so sorry this customer has been impacted by the issues that we are having with our new systems.  We recently upgraded two of our systems and unfortunately, there have been some issues, both with each separate system and with the interaction between the two. We experienced a glitch with meter information uploading into our billing system, which has impacted some of our customers and delayed their billing account being created. While we have been working diligently to resolve this issue, we don't have a timeframe for this to be resolved 100%, which makes it difficult for our reps or supervisors to provide estimated timeframe to the customer. This is definitely not the experience we want for our customers or our employees.
  
  The customer's meter information has now uploaded into our billing system and two bills have been generated. The customer should have received a 4/4/24 bill for usage from the move-in date of 2/23 through 3/8. Additionally, a 4/10/24 bill reflects usage from 3/9 - 4/8. Going forward, the customer should be on a normal billing cycle. Additionally, the customer's online account has been set up and she should have received a call from our customer care center to advise. However, if she has any issues accessing her online information, she may call ************ for assistance.
  
  Again, our apologies for any inconvenience this may have caused. Our hope is that we will soon be back to providing the quality of service that our customers are used to experiencing from AES Indiana.  

  AES Customer Care

  Customer response

  04/16/2024

  Better Business Bureau:

  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and find that this response/resolution is satisfactory to me. 
  
  
  

  Regards,

  Steffi

• Initial Complaint

  03/27/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I have been on a electric budget with AES Indiana and prior with Indianapolis ************************************************ My monthly payment has never been more than $145/mos. I live in an 800 square foot, one bedroom apartment. I live alone.Last month, my budget went up to $406/mos. I called to find out why and the *** representative said I would be issued a check for $645 dollars. I have not received the check. I attempted to cancel my budge account online and was unable to do so. The *** rep could not help me either.

  

  Business response

  04/08/2024

  Hello,
  
  
  Ive read the customers concerns.  We recently went through a system change to replace a 20+ year old system that was no longer going to be supported.  While we anticipated some glitches, there have unfortunately found more than we had hoped to find.  Im sorry to see that this customer was impacted by the issues we are seeing.
  
  The budget plan is a voluntary program that we offer to our customers to help even out utility payments over a 12-month period.  Our system calculates a budget amount by looking at the last 12 months of usage and dividing it by 11.  Budget customers typically pay the same amount for 11 months, and then the 12th month is considered the settle up month.
  
  Although our system calculates the amount every month, we dont change the amount every month as that would defeat the purpose of allowing customers to pay a certain rate each month for their own budgeting purposes.  However, we do evaluate budgets on a quarterly basis.  We do this to prevent customers from having either a large balance or a large credit at settle up as usage can vary year to year based on a variety of things including weather and family changes within a home. 
  
  The quarterly budget review is one of the issues we have with our new system.  There is a defect in the coding of the calculating for quarterly reviews that has led to some customers being given incorrect budget amount changes. 
  
  For this customer, we have changed her budget back to the $145 and issued a payment for $261, which is the difference between $406 and $145.  And email would have gone out to the customer asking how she would like her refund dispersed. If, for some reason, she did not see the email, the system is set to issue a physical check at day 15 of not receiving a response.  Our records indicate the $406 was paid just once, so the $261 is the correct refund amount. 
  
  
  The nature of the budget means that there will be times the customer has an actual credit balance with us and times that the customer will owe an actual amount to us.  Either way, they pay the actual budget amount regardless unless it is the settle-up month. 
  
  I see a note on the account from March that says the customer wants to remain on the budget. This case says otherwise.  Not sure which the customer has decided for sure. Their actual settle-up month is ****** so she has almost completed the budget cycle.  If she would like to end the budget still, we can do that.  Im not sure why the contact center would have a problem with ending it, but we can do that for her if she likes.  If there is a credit at that time, we can either issue an additional refund or leave the credit on the account to pay for future invoices. 
  
  
  Thank you,
  
  AES Customer Services
  
  

• Initial Complaint

  03/27/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  My bill with AES (account #:************* is still inaccurate. This has been an ongoing problem and is my second complaint about this to BBB. I need someone at the company to call me ASAP so we can finally get this straightened out. As I said before, I think my billing information was not carried forward when they upgraded their website. I will not be satisfied until that is resolved and I can pay what I actually owe AES!

  Customer response

  04/02/2024

  The matter with AT&T has been resolved so please close my request.

• Initial Complaint

  03/26/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  AES has updated their billing system and it has placed Erroneous past due bills on old accounts. I have been placed in collection for an account on my old account that is closed since I moved I. August 2020. Closed I. November 2020. They say I owe for November 2023?? Not Possible. I called the line they say is for billing errors attached to this accounting software upgrade and they said they show 11/2023 balance ???? She said file a. Dispute! I have and they show this amount. This is fraud lies and not fair ruing my credit. I want this removed from collection, removed from My credit report. IC Systems is the collection agency.

  Customer response

  03/26/2024

  Emails for proof of payment arrangements. AES WAS IPL PRIOR

  collection agency info

  

  Business response

  04/08/2024

  Hello,
  
  
  Our records indicate that this customer ended service with us in November 2020.  She has an unpaid balance of $668.79 for electric service that we provided to her up to November 25, 2020.  We show no record of service or new charges past that point.
  
  Her account was written off and sent to a collection agency in 2021. The customer can still choose to pay the balance if she chooses. 
  
  We did upgrade our system in November 2023.  Active customers and inactive customers with unpaid balances within a certain number of years received new account numbers in our system.  Her account was converted to our new system at that time.  We also moved from one collection agency to a different one. 
  
  It is quite possible that the notification to the collection agency revived the collection proceedings, but this is not a new debt. It is one from 2020. 
  
  The customers last bill for service was originally up to 12/03/2020 and was for $99.84 for that cycle. We canceled those charges when the customer reached out to us 12/22/2020 and changed the end date to 11/25/2020, which reduced the charge for that cycle to $77.77.  After applying the deposit and interest, that left her with a total balance of $666.40.   A late fee of $2.39 was assessed when payment wasnt made, bringing her final past due balance with us to $668.79.  These are valid chargs the customer still owes.  
  
  But again, these arent new charges.  She was just given a new account number when our new system went into effect in November 2023.
  
  I am providing screenshots of the customers account.  Although I understand that you do not post attachments,I have converted our screenshots to .pdf files and deleted the street number and complete last name for confidentiality. I didnt want to post the new acct number though. If the customer would like her new account number, we can provide that, or she can call us toll free at ************.  

• Initial Complaint

  03/24/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  AES ( Indianapolis power and light company) had there underground contractor install a new power line to my address listed above and during the install they hit my water line and never told us and fixed it with faulty materials and clamps that failed over time and caused the water line pipe to open up and pour out water resulting in a ******** water bill and then the cost to dig up the broken pipe and fix it another ********. This was reported to *************************** the electrical engineer at aes and he came out to our property and visually saw the damage but no one has followed up to pay for the damages!

  

  Business response

  03/25/2024

  Hello, I am sorry to hear of this.  AES has a Damage Claim process that can be initiated for review and remedy.  Instructions on how to file a claim may be found at ********************************************************;The Damage *********** can also be reached via telephone by calling ************.

  Thank you,
  
  AES Customer Services

  Customer response

  04/05/2024

  I previously copied you with the formal complaint form that *** requested I submit. I have not heard back from AES since submitting the formal complaint form.

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

• Initial Complaint

  03/20/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  We have been using AES Indiana for almost two years, when we started we had to pay an extra 90 dollars a month for the first 6 months, and we were told after nine months of on time payments we would see that money credited back to us on our account. that was supposed to happen in November of 2023, its now the end of march 2024, and we call every month and they add another ticket to have someone look at it, no one ever gets back to us, the money never is credited to our account.

  

  Business response

  03/25/2024

  Hello, I have read the customer's concern and apologize for the delay in getting this matter addressed. We upgraded to a new billing system in November and have been working through some system glitches. Unfortunately, this may have impacted the processing time for the customer's request. We have applied the security deposit, plus interest, back to the customer's account as of 3/22/24. This has resulted in a credit balance for the customer, so nothing is owed at this time. This should appear on their next billing cycle. 

  Again, our apologies for the delay and any inconvenience this may have caused.

  AES Customer Experience Office

  Customer response

  03/25/2024

  Better Business Bureau:

  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and find that this response/resolution is satisfactory to me. 
  
  
  

  Regards,

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

• Initial Complaint

  03/17/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  Dec 11th 2023 i contacted AES to have an electric meter installed, their excuse was the have a new system that they are migrated into and things might might a bit longer, three months later i still dint have service and I'm bounced from department to another with no solution and i still dint have service as of today 3/12/2024.please help get the meter installed at this property, i pulled the required permit and everything has been done professionally but I'm not getting anywhere with AES, every phone ends with we will at least 10 business days.... at the end of 10 busniess days nothing happens

  

  Business response

  03/20/2024

  Hello,Ive reviewed the customers concern and want to apologize for the delay and frustration he has experienced in getting this matter resolved. We recently upgraded to a new system and as a result have had some challenges in getting service requests completed. We escalated this to our field team, and they have confirmed his meter installation was completed on 3/19/2024.

  Again,our apologies for the delay in getting your service connected and any inconvenience we may have caused. 

  AES Customer Experience Office

• Initial Complaint

  03/08/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  To whom this may concern, This complain is with AES Indiana and the lack of customer service, this goes back to December 2023 where I received a bill for $57.38, I paid it online and then on the next month in Jan 2024 I received a bill for $51.53 plus the $57.38. It appears AES is having issues, yes, they did change my account number and I have made sure that my payment is put against the correct account number. So I have made two payments online that AES isnt recording . I have placed three calls on this to AES and sent three emails to ******************************************* to get this corrected and still nothing is getting done about it. BTW when I call, ** told to send an email with information showing I made the payment, and someone will contact me. Well here we are, Im still getting bills from AES Indiana saying I havent made my payment, I need some help address this problem as Im not getting anywhere with AES and its lack of customer support. Account # ******

  

  Business response

  03/20/2024

  Hello, we have read the customer's concerns and are so sorry for the delay and frustration he experienced in trying to get his matter resolved. We apologize for any confusion caused by the recent upgrade to our billing system, resulting in customer account numbers changing. We understand that change can be challenging, and we regret any inconvenience this may have caused.

  We have noticed that some customers continued to submit payments using the old account numbers, which led to payments being applied to incorrect accounts. We are truly sorry for any frustration and inconvenience this has caused. We have found the customer's two payments and have applied them to his account as of today. He should see these two payments reflected on his next bill cycle.

  Thank you for your understanding.

  Customer response

  03/21/2024

  Better Business Bureau:

  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and find that this response/resolution is satisfactory to me. 
  
  Btw i did use my new account numbers and fir some reason aes indiana wasnt entering the payment correctly. Bad service i guess they have 

  Regards,

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

• Initial Complaint

  03/08/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  Yesterday, I received the bill due on 3/22/2024 for my account ************** for the amount of $171.87. This bill incorrectly stated that a previous balance of $90.62 was included for a total of $171.87.My bank account clearly shows that *** received and withdrew $90.62 (see billing due on 2/22/2024) from my account on 2/12/2024.

  

  Business response

  03/20/2024

  We have read the customer's concern and apologize for the confusion caused by his bill. The customer is correct that his bill did not reflect his payment of $92.62. We did receive his payment, however it did not post to his account until 3/8/24, so it missed the printing of his new bill. We appreciate his bringing this to our attention and have reported it to our system experts for review.
  
  Again, our apologies for any inconvenience this may have caused.

  AES Customer Experience Office

  Customer response

  03/20/2024

  Better Business Bureau:

  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and find that this response/resolution is satisfactory to me. 
  
  
  

  Regards,

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

• Initial Complaint

  03/05/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  I have attemtped to call AES numerous times.. spent over an hour on hold, and still can't get ahold of anyone. I'm trying to get a new service connected, and this is unacceptable business practice. I can't move in until I have power, and my old lease is almost up. My life is on hold until these jackals answer the phone.

  

  Business response

  03/07/2024

  Hi, we have read the customer's concern and apologize for the long hold times he experienced and that he was unable to get his matter addressed. We reached out to the customer on March 6 and he indicated he had been able to speak to an agent first thing and his service request had been addressed. His account has been set up and his service is scheduled to be connected on March 8.

  Again, our apologies for any inconvenience he may have experienced.

  AES Customer Experience Office

  Customer response

  03/07/2024

  Better Business Bureau:

  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and find that this response/resolution is satisfactory to me. 
  
  
  

  Regards,

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

*Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business. ↩