ComplaintsforPogo Energy

• Initial Complaint

  02/12/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Customer Service Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  On 2/11 I recharged my account with Pogo for ***** dollars plus the 2-dollar bank fee for the use of the debit card; according to their system the charge was declined, I immediately went to my bank account and checked the balance to find the MC Preauth hold on my account for the funds and an available balance even though the Pogo system had declined the transaction.On today02/12, I chatted with 3 or 4 different agents who said the same thing each one not reading any notes previously put into their system. I spoke with the supervisor at my bank and they emailed me the correct actions for handling the MC Preauth in a pending state to get the charge reversed. I attempted to chat with a different person, but each time I got a different person and no one reads the notes or there were no notes in their system of the chats. This person stated like the others she would have a supervisor to call me back and found no escalation within their system of anything. Finally at 4:55 when I called again after returning home the persons on the telephone texted me a message that I needed to call my bank, NO ONE EVER read the notes regarding what I needed to be done, and maybe a supervisor would call me at some point in time.This is ridiculously to simple to have a 12 dollar charge reversed and no one will follow suit or speak with you regarding the account even. They should know how to handle Mastercard disputes if they collect the information and charge the cards. I want then to contact my bank that issued the card and reverse those charges if in fact the charge was declined I should not have to wait 5 days.

  Customer response

  02/13/2024

  The above conversation happened today 02/13/24 evidently they are having trouble with their system and do not wish to say, today I used a credit card with a different expiration date and since the card was saved to their system I only had to add the security code. 

  These people will not address a problem and she even brought up yesterdays conversation and dilemmas with a different card. The information from the attempted charge was added to this communique.

  Thank you

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

  Customer response

  02/13/2024

  Thank you BBB for your quick response to my complaint.

  The company (POGO Energy) did call me back today with a reasonable resolution and and explanation ******* stated she would have to escalate to a different person after the incident today.

  Respectfully

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

• Initial Complaint

  10/09/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  On September 26 2023 I chatted with a pogo energy agent about moving and I told them to turn off my electricity October 1st 2023. They confirmed via chat that everything is good and that my electricity will be off and transferred to my new apartment . Not only has pogo energy been charging me this entire time unauthorized for both apartments but they have confirmed that I indeed did request that and its no immediate action to credit me. I have not been sent a email confirming they will be investigating. They will keep charging me until further notice until then illegally for two apartments.

  Business response

  10/13/2023

  Please see ****'s response attached.

  Customer response

  10/13/2023

  I have reviewed the business response and accept this resolution. 

• Initial Complaint

  06/26/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  There were several transactions from my bank account to ******************** equaling just over $1500.00. They were in increments of $40, $60 and $120. My debit card information had clearly been stolen and being used to pay someones energy bill. I live in ************* so obviously I wouldnt be paying an energy bill in *****. I reported this to my bank who filed a dispute, however that was on approximately on May 30th of this year and out of that amount, I have only received $87 deposited back into my account and the amounts that were deposited were not even the total amounts that were taken out of my account. The amounts deposited were $13.36, $3.11, $3.82, $60 and $13.82. only one $60 amount was deposited back. So since they have deposited a very small fraction back into my account it shows theyve received the dispute, knows its wrong but still have yet to give me the amount back that was stolen from me. It makes absolutely no sense why I would be given back amounts that do not even equally up to the increments that were taken out. Meaning all of the increments were $40, $60 and $120 so giving me back $3.82 makes no sense at all. Ive uploaded screenshots from my ************ app as proof. I have a newborn baby that was born at *************************** ***** **** in a hospitals NICU so this is extremely devastating as I work very hard for my money.

  Customer response

  06/27/2023

  The added files are proof of the credits that I have received thus far. Its clear theyve acknowledged the issue so why not refund/credit me back the entire amounts. Its also ******* CLEAR that my debit card information was stolen AND the fact that I do not have an account with this ********************** company. 

  Business response

  07/07/2023

  Thank you for the opportunity to address the complaint raised by the complainant regarding the unauthorized debit card transactions. Following are the results of our investigation. 

  The complainant is not a Pogo Energy customer and unfortunately appears to be a victim of fraud as her credit card may have been used to pay on one or multiple Pogo accounts. Pogo is not able to confirm the identity of the accounts or the credit card transactions processed by her banking institution since credit card information was not provided by the complainant. 
  

  There is a process between financial institutions and retailers for handling credit card disputes. Any unauthorized transactions that were processed by a banking institution must be disputed with the banking institution. At that time, if the transactions are found to indeed be fraudulent the banking institution will reverse the charge and provide a charge-back to Pogo on the account(s) that were fraudulently credited. This would result in the banking institution issuing a credit to the card in dispute and the Pogo account would be debited. In the complainants scenario, if the banking institution found the complainants credit card was fraudulently used on a Pogo account, the entire amount of the credit card charge would have been reversed and debited from the Pogo account. 
  

  To explain the varying amounts of credit on varying dates the complainant has received thus far and her statement that this proves we have received the dispute, if an account terminates service with Pogo prior to receiving a dispute or prior to resolution of the dispute, any remaining account balance from the Pogo account will be refunded to the card last used to make the payment(s). Therefore, receiving the varying amounts on various dates does not prove we have received the dispute but instead indicates the account terminated prior to receiving the dispute or resolution of the dispute. 
  

  After receipt of the complaint, we contacted the complainant. **** advised her (via email) she had already taken the best course of action by disputing the charges with her banking institution. We also explained the reason for the varying amounts of credit on varying dates the customer received (mentioned in the above paragraph).  
  

  We are sympathetic to the complainants situation, however, as previously stated, the best course of action for the complainant is to continue with her banking institutions credit card dispute process. Her bank will process accordingly and if fraudulent activity is found they will reverse the charges thereby crediting her credit card.  For this reason, the desired resolution for a refund from Pogo Energy is not possible. The appropriate channels and existing banking institution processes must be followed for her credit card to be credited by her banking institution. 
  
  Sincerely, 
  
  Pogo Energy
  

  
  

  Customer response

  07/13/2023

  I have reviewed the business response. 

• Initial Complaint

  05/30/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I called several times to transfer my services to a new location 3 times. They told me i need 41 dollars in order to do so. When i paid the 41 dollars they then told me it wasnt enough. I have a disabled child who requires electricity! I dont have the extra Money that they did not tell me i needed. When asked to be compensated do to the mistake that 3 of their agents made they told me they could not help me! All this over 10$! After i told them several times that my child is disabled and requires a breathing machine all they could offer me was 5$! They kept hanging up on me telling me a supervisor would call me that was 2 weeks ago and iam still without power! Im truly in disbelief of the lack of compassion! And truly upset at the lack of willingness to do their job! And the current moment as Im writing this iam still on the phone after hours trying to get them to act on rectifying their mistake and they are refusing!

  Business response

  06/12/2023

  Please see attached response from Pogo Energy.

• Initial Complaint

  02/03/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Customer Service Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I have been a customer with them for over two years. This year will be my last and I will be looking forward to seeing lawsuit pressing on the fact that they robbed me and others from their own money to live. This company doesn't check your meter. You will always get a fake number of what kilowatts you use 1 to 2 days late. The say that they are 20 percent lower that others but that's the lie to draw you in. They will raise and drop your rate whenever they want too. When something happens like the Dallas freeze this year 2023. They rose my rate to almost 10cents. January 31 they said I used 100 kilowatts and the next day 110 kilowatts when I wasn't even home. Nothing plugged in or on. They have someone who is falsely putting in the numbers to charge people more money on their electric.

  Business response

  03/23/2023

  Business Response /* (1000, 7, 2023/02/20) */ See Attached response from Pogo Energy.

• Initial Complaint

  12/15/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  Our bank called us and said POGO Energy in Irving, Tx was taking out small increments of money with our debit card over the past 30 days totaling thousands of dollars. We live in Louisiana.They withdrew amounts up to 91 times in 1 day. The bank said they can't get our money back because it's a debit card and POGO Energy told us to call the bank. I am beyond upset and don't know what to do.

  Business response

  03/20/2023

  Business Response /* (1000, 6, 2022/12/22) */ Dear BBB, Thank you for the opportunity to address the complaint raised by ***** ******* regarding the unauthorized debit card transactions. Following are the results of our investigation. ***** ******* is not a Pogo Energy customer and unfortunately appears to be a victim of fraudulent transactions on her bank account. Any unauthorized transactions that were processed by a banking institution must be disputed with the bank. At that time, the banking institution will contact Pogo directly and provide charge-back information on the accounts that were fraudulently credited. Pogo would then debit those accounts accordingly and the financial institution would credit the debit card. We are sympathetic to ***** *******'s dilemma however the best course of action for ***** ******* is to dispute all charges with her bank. Her bank will notify us accordingly. For this reason, the desired resolution for a refund from Pogo Energy is not possible. The appropriate channels and existing financial institution processes must be followed for her bank account to be credited. Upon receipt of the complaint Pogo did reach out to the customer and explained the best course of action to take. As of this writing no further communication has been received. Sincerely, Pogo Energy

• Initial Complaint

  11/22/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  If it's not bad enough that they are charging rates literally double what they did a year ago, they submitted for a disconnect to my TDU provider after I made payment bringing my account in the positive. It's two days before thanksgiving. I may have just taken it for what it was and waited for the reconnection but since the disconnection happened an hour after I made payment I chatted with the csr through the website. Who gave me the run around for 20 min and magically my power was restored while on the chat. I've got groceries going bad and family here for the holidays and you couldn't bother keeping my electricity on given the payment had already been received by the company?! Bad business and **** poor customer service. Csr agent told me not to use "bull****" when speaking to them cause "pogo is not that company". So I guess the bbb should know what company they are as well.

  Business response

  03/06/2023

  Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2022/12/02) */ Thank you for the opportunity to address the complaint raised by our customer regarding her rates and loss of power despite making a payment. Following are the results of our investigation. Regarding the customer's statement about increased rates over this past year, unfortunately, the recent rising costs for natural gas and oil and unusually high summer temperatures since May 2022 and more recent colder temperatures have driven costs and energy usage up. Pogo has had to adjust prices several times since May to keep up with the rising costs. Pogo understands the burden increased rates have on our customers so as our energy costs decrease, we adjust our rates downward. Specifically, effective 8/23, Pogo reduced the complainant's rate plan by 2¢. The complainant states she was disconnected despite having made a payment. Our records reflect the customer's account balance was negative and a payment was not received until after she was disconnected for non-payment. *On 11/20, the customer's balance was $-10.82 therefore a disconnect warning message was sent to her preferred contact method, SMS text message. *On 11/21, the customer's balance was $-23.61. The customer made a $40 payment on this date, of which 20% or $8 of the payment was applied to her DPP balance and the remaining was applied to her negative account balance. This left her account balance positive $8.39. *On 11/22, another day's usage of $10.39 posted to the customer's account for usage consumed on 11/20. Please note Pogo receives meter readings from Oncor two-days in arrears. This left the account balance $-2.00 and the customer was disconnected for nonpayment. The customer made a $40 payment shortly thereafter. Power is normally restored within two hours after reaching a positive balance. As stated in Pogo's Prepaid Disclosure Statement and Terms of Service, Pogo Energy is a Prepaid Electric Company as such a positive account balance must always be maintained or there is a risk of disconnect. For this reason, we do understand prepaid service may not be for everyone. Regarding the customer service experience noted in the complaint, our agents always maintain professionalism when interacting with customers. If a customer uses foul language our agents are trained to ask customers to refrain from this type of behavior. The interaction on 11/22 was reviewed and our Pogo agent followed protocol. In summary, the customer was disconnected because her account balance was negative. Once payment was received and a positive balance reached the power was restored. The customer did not request a desired resolution. Pogo Energy serves thousands of customers in Texas, and we pride ourselves honoring our commitment to 100% satisfaction. We encourage our customer to reach back out to us if there's anything else we can do for her. We're changing the way Texans get their electricity, and that starts by doing right by our customers. Sincerely, Pogo Energy

• Initial Complaint

  11/22/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  Can't even pay my bill cause my bank is blocking it all of a sudden saying fraudulent charges and I've noticed the location has changed doesn't even show up wit pogo logo like it use to turned my lights off right before thanksgiving and I have 2 pay 105.11 to get them back on and I don't get paid til after thanksgiving my son is 5 yrs old wit asthma and freezing

  Business response

  02/23/2023

  Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2022/12/01) */ Thank you for the opportunity to address the complaint raised by our customer regarding her account. Following are the results of our investigation. Regarding the customer's statement that her bank is blocking her Pogo payments, our records indicate payments from the customer have been received throughout the month of November. If there is a problem with her bank, the customer would need to contact the bank directly. Regarding, her loss of power, on 11/19, the customer's balance was $-34.43 so the required disconnect warning was sent to the customer. On 11/21, the customer's balance was $-84.08 therefore the customer was disconnected for non-payment. On 11/23, the customer reached a positive balance and was reconnected shortly thereafter. As stated in Pogo's Prepaid Disclosure Statement and Terms of Service, Pogo is Prepaid Electric Company as such a positive account balance must be maintained or there is a risk of disconnect. The customer's desired resolution was an explanation of charges, therefore a Pogo manager contacted the customer on 12/1 however the customer indicated she was good and had no questions. In summary, the customer had a negative account balance and after receiving a disconnect warning on 11/19, and not reaching a positive account balance by 11/21, the customer was disconnected for non-payment. Pogo Energy is a no strings attached company and customers are free to switch away as long as their DPP balance is $0 if applicable and while we would hate to lose the customer, we do understand prepaid service is not for everyone. Pogo Energy serves thousands of customers in Texas, and we pride ourselves honoring our commitment to 100% satisfaction. We encourage our customer to reach back out to us if there's anything else we can do for her. We're changing the way Texans get their electricity, and that starts by doing right by our customers. Sincerely, Pogo Energy

• Initial Complaint

  11/05/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  Well I have an account with them and we'll where I was living they were stealing my stuff so I moved when that happened my pogo was hacked by the other people living there and they called pogo and pogo helped them change my info. No I can nor get into my account to be able to switch my light to my new place and they used my money on the account and I had money on there but now since they helped the theirs change my account I can't get into ot to get the info I need to be able to get my light back and I had atheist 70 on there now I don't know what if any is on there and now I I am out on streets cuz there's more lights out here then where I was going to move and on top of it u have to have the lights on anyways before I could move in it is there policy so I lost out on there after I paid the non refundable 1st month's rent of 500. And a because they help someone hack my account

  Business response

  02/16/2023

  Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2022/11/14) */ See Pogo's response attached. Consumer Response /* (3000, 7, 2022/11/16) */ (The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.) Because th hey helped steal my account and that's not right. They should be held responsible for there actions as u clearly see that'd my name on on the the account and I need it so I can get into a place since I'm out of pocket for one ace already I want those light off and out of my nam e Business Response /* (4000, 9, 2022/11/25) */ We are disappointed the customer did not accept our response. As mentioned previously, an individual provided the account security pin to access the account and changed pertinent information on the account. Pogo cannot control if the complainant shared their security pin with another individual. Pogo does not store or request Personal Identifiable Information (PII) from customers other than their name. Regarding the customer's desired resolution, while Pogo cannot disconnect the power without a security pin, the main account name is no longer in the complainant's name. Consumer Response /* (4200, 11, 2022/11/30) */ (The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.) What about the money I am out from when this first happened to my account that's missing from it I am very upset that yall help steal Mt money from the original account Business Response /* (4000, 14, 2022/12/02) */ Pogo contacted the customer and although the actions that transpired on the account were outside of Pogo's control, the customer was offered a courtesy credit of $40 to help make things right for her and resolve the complaint. The customer accepted. Sincerely, Pogo Energy Consumer Response /* (2000, 16, 2022/12/06) */ (The consumer indicated he/she ACCEPTED the response from the business.) Thank you . I accepted because they f I ally saw that it was wrong of the company to help these people and glad they tried to make it right.

• Initial Complaint

  09/08/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I TOLD POGO I WAS ONLY USING THEM TILL THE 5TH OF SEPTEMBER THEN I WOULD BE WITH AMBIT ENERGY WELL LO AND BEHOLD THIS COMPANY SOME TRICKED AN 11 YEAR OLD INTO DOING A DPP WITHOUT MY CONSENT OR CHECKING TO MAKE SURE IT WAS ME... (I WAS IN THE HOSPITAL WITH NO PHONE SERVICE) WELL NOW THEY HAVE ILLEGALLY PUT A SWITCH HOLD ONTO MY ELECTRICITY AND SOME HOW THINK IM STUPID ENOUGH TO LET THEM STEAL MORE MONEY FROM ME..IM DYING I HAVE CANCER I DONT HAVE MONEY TO PAY THIEVES LIKE POGO..

  Business response

  11/10/2022

  Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2022/09/22) */ Please see attached response.

*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. ↩