ComplaintsforEdisto Electric Cooperative, Inc.

• Initial Complaint

  01/26/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  My rating really is no star for manager Katey/ Katie at the St George location. She is the most insensitive manager I have ever encountered at a utility company. I am so sick of this place.. hiring people that can't even fake empathy. I have had service for over 4 years and like any one had to get an extension ??. Had a program pending payment but yet they still wanted the arrangement amount regardless. I tried every way to explain or bargain being I am 9 months pregnant and have been laid off with dependents in my care. They wanted document directly from 3rd party or payment from me last day to pay by 5m today that was only option..this woman said we already gave you 2 weeks, we don't have anything to do with their process of paying, and sorry it's a inconvenience to you but we still need our payment for the service by 5 pm we run a business. I thought she was a debt collector reading a mini miranda. All I could do is cry ?? ?? hang up break my unborn baby piggy bank and deposit the bill in my account. This was not a little bill if you catch my drift. I want to be clear this piece of crap utility service is by far the worse I have ever had to voice a review not once but twice. BTW I noticed summer kw was regular winter doubled in kw usage. Even during the pandemic this company was heartless to the real world. With everything going up and assistance company in process of helping you still wanted to shut me off and have my family in the dark. SHOULD COME UP WITH BETTER PROCESS FOR TIMES LIKE THIS. I am more heart broken that I spent my unborn baby money to pay something that will be funded in less than 10 days. Wouldn't even let me get another extension.. She acted like my account was flagged as a liar.

  Business response

  02/06/2023

  Good morning,

  Mrs. ****'s electric account in question was due to be disconnected on January 11, 2023, for a past due payment of $225.35. This bill was for her electric service from October 10,2022 through November 9, 2022, Edisto Electric allows members to go 60 days before we disconnect service. Most utilities run on a 30-day cycle. On January 9th, Mrs. **** spoke with our district manager Katie E**** and asked if she could get an extension for this bill. Mrs. E**** granted Mrs. **** an extension for two additional weeks which would make the arrears amount of $225.35 due on January 25th. Mrs. E**** explained to Mrs. **** that the bill would need to be paid by 5p.m. on the 25th of January.

  On January 24th Mrs. **** called back to see if we could extend her extension. Mrs. E**** explained that we could not. Mrs. ****. at this point has been given 74 days to pay her bill. She then told Katie E**** that an agency was paying for her bill. Mrs. E**** explained to Mrs. **** that we would need an email from the agency stating that they would be paying her bill. We would accept that email as proof, because they have sent them in the past. Mrs. **** said she tried calling them and our office manager asked her to call them again to send over an email. Mrs. **** told our office manager Katie E**** that we were inconveniencing her.

  The screenshots that Mrs. **** provided in the complaint were not shown to any of our employees in the St. George office. Mrs. **** paid her bill at 3:55 pm on January 25th to avoid disconnection. We received the requested email at 4:07 p.m. on the 25th of January from the SC Stay Plus Program and payment was made on the account by them on January 30th. 

  By the time we received payment from the SC Stay Plus program on January 30th, Mrs. **** had two more bills come due in addition to the original bill from November. The payment for the SC Stay Plus program was applied to all three bills which gave her a credit that will hopefully, help her out. 

  Thank you,

  Brian H*****

  VP Member Services 

  Edisto Electric Cooperative 

  Customer response

  02/06/2023

  
  Complaint: ********
  
  I am rejecting this response because:
  She would not allow me to send the notification I received by email and I specified I had proof. She rejected it and made her unempathetic remarks. She wanted a ledger directly from SC Stay plus. I dif all I could do to prevent this action. I only filed the complaint because it was truly an inconvenience I had to break into my unborn piggy bank or be in the dark. She knew they were ro pay and she stated they needed document directly from them or I needed to pay the bill they have a  business to run. I don't feel this should be down played or overlooked. If there was a recording please listen nothing I said was untruthful. Clearly they got their payment from us both..I want a refund of what I paid to avoid disconnect back. They need to come up with an implementation plan for future cases. Also the EFT processed in 1 day not 5 to 7 like most places it was processed even faster to assure a payment or disconnect.  In my case the funds was really there.  I would not go to this extent if this was a simple problem.. Edisto Electric Cooperative goes into collection mode they really don't help when people in a bind. The manager told me the same thing a regular representative did so this tells me they follow concrete guidelines they can't bend, stretch, or wiggle any strings outside of their guidelines like most utility companies. In a case like mine their should have been another extension or something granted until those funds came. Why did I feel the need to report them to BBB? It wasn't because I didn't pay it was because I was forced too along with tears on how the manager treated me during.a difficult time. I was eligible for another but she stated that the first one needed to have been met. I do have a credit because the program paid them over $1,133.91 dollars on a $753.32 bill. There is a credit because I paid on top of them. I would like my payment reversed for the EFT on the 26th of January for $226.00

  Sincerely,
  
  ******** ****

  Business response

  02/09/2023

   I am sorry that Mrs. **** feels that we did not work with her. We try to help our members as much as possible. Mrs. ****'s bill from November was not due for disconnection until January 11th. Plus, we gave her an additional two weeks to try and work with her and give her additional time to make the payment which moved the disconnect date from January 11th to January 26th on a bill from November. 

  I did verify that our district office manager told Mrs. **** that she would need the information directly from SC Stay Plus stating that she was approved. Mrs. **** has stated that she has received text from them stating she was approved and she has provided them as well in this complaint. At Edisto Electric, we receive notification directly from SC Stay Plus anytime that someone is approved for funds and that was what our office manager was relying on when decisions were being made. We did not receive the approval from them until after Mrs. **** had paid the $226.00 on a bill that was in arrears. Mrs. **** is correct that we wanted verification directly from SC Stay Plus and not from her.

  We do not generally know how much SC Stay Plus is going to pay until they send us an email. Mrs. **** paid the amount that was in arrears, and it is not our practice to reimburse a member for a bill that they paid for and was actually due. SC Stay plus sent a check for $1133.91. that has given Mrs. **** a credit, like it has done for many of our members that have received assistance from The SC Stay Plus Program. With the credit, Mrs. **** will not receive a bill until that credit runs out.

  Our members expect Edisto Electric Cooperative to provide power on a 24 hour/7 day a week basis and we strive to make that happen. This requires manpower, material and equipment all of which have a cost. In order to meet those cost and to provide the service that is expected, we have to collect revenue to cover those costs. 

• Initial Complaint

  07/23/2021

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  On July 23 2021 Electricity to my home was disconnected over a 16¢ overage on my prepaid lights I am on disability and the $50 minimum to restore service causes hardship., Also the heat this time of year is deadly. Acct #XXXXXXXXX

  Business response

  08/10/2021

  Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2021/07/27) */ Mr. **** signed up for our pre-paid service on July 2, 2021. Pre-Pay is designed to help members who cannot or do not want to put up a required deposit for electric service who have bad credit. The deposit amount for someone with bad credit for normal billing is $300.00. To get on prepay is $80.00. Once a member signs up for pre-pay, they purchase a certain amount of electricity up front. Much like a pre-paid phone. Members are responsible for keeping enough money on their account to cover their daily usage. If a member goes over the amount that they have purchased they will get disconnected on the following day at 10 am unless they add more money to their account to cover the overage. In this situation, the member was over the amount he purchased by 16 cents. He had until before 10am on the day after he went over his credit to purchase more electricity. Unfortunately, Mr. **** did not and was disconnected by the system automatically. We do not keep track of prepay because it is the members responsibility, just like it would be for a prepaid cellphone. When a member is disconnected we do make them cover the overage ( In this case it was 16 cents), a $10.00 penalty for being disconnected and we make the member purchase $50.00 worth of electricity. The $50 amount is so that members pay enough to keep them from being right back in the same situation. It gives them a little time before their balance runs low. Prepay was done to help the members form paying high deposits if they could not afford it. It also helps the member keep track of their usage, which in turn helps them cut back when they know they are using a lot of electricity. Consumer Response /* (3000, 7, 2021/07/28) */ (The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.) Other electric companies like Aiken co-op do not require is 50 dollar reconnection fee or whatever they want to call it I think it's just a big excuse for them to do dirty to their customers $0.16 is ridiculous amount to be cut off over there should be a minimum amount like $20 maybe they should value their prepaid customer as much as they value their non-prepaid customers if they value any at all seems like this business is not very client friendly more money oriented Business Response /* (4000, 9, 2021/07/30) */ Members on Pre-pay that are disconnected for using more than what they have purchased are required to pay $50.00 towards purchasing power to get reconnected. The $50.00 payment is meant to help the member from being disconnected again. For instance, If we did not have a minimum requirement for disconnections, a member could put down $5.00 The next day when they are billed, they are going to have to put down more money or get disconnected again. The $50.00 payment is required so that does not happen and gives the member at least a couple of days worth of usage. If a member has not been disconnected, they can purchase a minimum of $20.00 worth of power. WE do value our members, that is why we have these requirements so they can go a few days at least without the possibility of being disconnected, that is unless they use a large amount of electricity in a short amount of time. Mr. **** has the option to stay on pre-pay or he can go back to regular billing. If he goes back on regular billing a deposit may be required depending on his utility credit score. We are here to help Mr. **** and will work with him regarding which direction he would like to go.

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