Complaints

• Initial Complaint

  08/04/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  Over the last 4 months we have a noticed an increase in energy consumption. We bought smart meters to see what appliance was possibly pulling that much energy. After contacting the apartment complex they advised that it could be the *** we had them check and everything is running perfectly and we keep it at decent temperature all day. After plugging in the fridge to the smart plug we noticed the fridge uses 140 kWh everyday which accounts for 90 percent of our bill. After contacting the complex, ***** then stated there was nothing they could do and that we should contact charities to help with the $1000 bill.

  Business response

  08/22/2023

  We were contacted by the complainant on 6/18/23 that they were experiencing high utility bills. The apartment unit was inspected along with the air conditioner receiving a service for good measure.  We also provided tips for conserving power. No issues were found to be wrong in the unit to cause excessive power usage.
  We were then contacted by the resident on 7/20/23 requesting a service request be done for the water heater and that their utility bill was still high.  We inspected the unit again and found no reason for a high utility bill.  On 8/4/23 the resident contacted us again stating that the fridge was constantly running and that there was condensation inside the fridge.  The fridge was pulling the average amount of amps that it should, but we replaced the fridge to make the resident feel better.  We were notified by the resident that they were still experiencing high utility bills and we suggested they contact Oncor to check their meter as everything was pointing to a meter issue.  They stated they had been in contact with Oncor and their meter was reported okay. Myself the manager has also tried contacting *****, ***** stated with someone living in the apartment they would have to call and report the issue themselves.
  We have spent many hours trying to help the resident and replaced items at our expense that did not need to be replaced.  We sent our head maintenance tech last week on two different days to inspect every aspect of the unit.  His findings were the same no issues caused from any of our equipment.  To be certain of this, we had an electrician with ***************** come out on 8/22/23.  He inspected everything in the unit, concluding that nothing is malfunction inside the unit and the issue is with the meter.  We are not responsible for a malfunctioning meter, that would be on Oncor.
  We also have a lot of money in labor, parts, appliances and now an electrical service charge with this situation. We would like for the issue to be solved for the resident as well, but a refund is not due from our company, they would need to contact Oncor again.

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