TXU Energy Consumer Reviews

HOUSTON, TEXAS -- This is my story: I have been ill and have a lot of medical bills. I called TXU last month to arrange a payment. I paid $250 and only had $77 remaining. I immediately went online to my bank to make an electronic payment of $250. I was not feeling well when I talked to the representative and did not understand about the 24 hour rule of payment. I know my bank pays the next day and transfers the money.

Unfortunately, TXU said they did not receive the payment for 48 hours. I did not know this made the agreement null and void until someone showed up at my house to disconnect my service on the 20th. The man was kind enough to give me more time and did not turn off my service. I called and tried to explain what had happened and asking for understanding and re-instating the agreement but was denied and told it was my fault and it didn't matter if I had been ill. I paid the $77 with my dad's credit card.

Today I went online to pay my bill (I know I am three days late) but I am struggling with medical bills and medicine. I could not pay the bill unless I agreed to pay a $150 REconnection fee on my next bill. I called again and used the online chat. I told them I was never disconnected and asked them to waive the reconnect fee. I was told no and because the order was in the system to reconnect I had to pay it anyway. I asked them to check my usage to see that there was not interruption of service. I was told it did not matter.

I asked for compassion and was told no and to go call social services. Each time I talked to TXU, I ended up crying, shaking and feeling depressed and exhausted. They treat me like I am a child to be scolded and punished. And for what? A lousy $77 remaining balance.

TEXAS -- We have had TXU for several months and didn't have to pay a deposit cause we had good credit. Due to unfortunate circumstances I lost my job and was late twice on payments. NEVER was my services cut off. I recovered my bill this evening and almost passed out. My bill is $992.00 and due on the 22nd. I called and the lady I spoke with said it's a deposit for being late.

I informed her that we were never told of a deposit and in fact didn't have to pay a deposit. She said TXU can pick any amount if you are late 2 times in a year and make you pay it. I have no way of paying this outrageous bill and now have no options. Please someone explain how they can do this when there was nothing said about it upon signing up with them.

DALLAS, TEXAS -- On Friday, Sept. 11, my electric power was either out or was very dim. It was on in part of the home and dim in the other part after going completely out the night before. I was very concerned that there was a loose connection somewhere or that wires were rubbing together so I called an electrician.

He came out and said that one wire coming from the meter (on the outside was normal but the other wire was not receiving enough power but fluctuating between 98 and 112. He told me that he could replace the two wires between the meter and the breaker box. He then told me that he would appreciate if I called TXU and ask them to come out. He would meet them here. I called TXU and a lady with a foreign accent took my call. I tried to explain to her what was needed but she could not understand me and I could not understand her. I asked to speak to her supervisor.

After about 5 minutes on hold, another lady took my call. She had a slight accent but at first I could understand her. After being put on hold by her for 3 times (her accent became heavier) I was told that Oncor would come out within 2 or 3 days. I said that would not be acceptable as my power was fluctuating and at times my freezer, refrigerator and other appliances would not have enough power to operate. At other times, the power was on but so low that it took 50 minutes to make a pot of coffee that usually takes about 15 minutes. I then asked to speak to her manager.

After about 5 minutes on hold, a man came on the phone. He informed me he was the manager and had talked with the lady that had talked to me. He had a very strong accent. He informed me that there was nothing that could be done but wait the 2 or 3 days for service from Oncor. I asked if he was local. He said no. I asked if he could tell me where he was located. He told me Guatemala. He asked me if that made a difference to me. I said only that he was the 3rd person that I had talked to and each one had a very strong accent.

He then told me that he was having a hard time understanding my accent. Then he told me that I could hang up and call again. I said no, I had been on the phone for about 45 minutes and if I called back I would only get someone else with an accent that I could not understand. He then hung up on me! What kind of customer service is that?!

I have had electricity with TXU for 40 years and as soon as I can get out of my contract, I will change my service. I WILL CHECK BEFORE I BUY MY SERVICE TO SEE IF THEY DO HAVE CUSTOMER SERVICE AND IF SO, WHERE IS IT?! I am not prejudiced but I feel that with a recession in progress in the US, with as many people out of jobs, we could and should open Customer Service up to those people here in the USA!

DALLAS, TEXAS -- I have TXU energy for 2 years. I have been fighting with them for a year now regarding a bill. They have been sending me a bill for an apt I have never lived in. I received a $1000.00 dollar bill (for an apt I never lived in) on top of my power bill for where I do live. I called and brought this issue to their attention. I wish I could speak to someone that spoke proper English instead of people from India. I could not understand a word the customer representative was saying and they couldn't understand me cause they obviously don't know English.

I explained the situation and got hung up on a few times in the process. I had to call back several times and each time I had to explain why I was calling and the person on the other end was just so confused and couldn't seem to understand my simple explanation. After I got through to the person on the other line and we seemed to be on the same page I was told that the situation would have to be investigated and could take up to 60 days. Are you kidding me??? Guess what I was also told I would continued to be billed for their billing error. What a joke!

So I asked for the fax number and told them I would fax over a letter for the bill I was disputing along with a copy of my lease to prove I have lived in the same complex for 2 yrs. and not for the address they were billing me for. A month later my power was turned off. I was furious! So I called and asked why my power was shut off because my bill was paid. They proceeded to tell me that I had a balance of over $900.00 dollars and I among late fees. Once again I had to explain that they had made a billing error and asked to look in the computer b/c I had sent a fax with a letter of dispute and proof of residency. Go figure there was no record of it.

So to get my power back on I had to pay a ridiculous reconnection fee. So I then again refaxed them the letter and lease. I thought OK they should get it this time if someone actually decides to do their job. So about a month later my power was shut off again. I called and battled with them for an hour. They turned my power on as a "courtesy." Oh how generous. Two weeks later my power was turned off again. So I called them and Went through the whole process again and had to pay another fee to get my power back on. I have since sent them a certified letter, so this time I will know when they get it.

Let's see if they actually try and help me out. I highly doubt it because they have horrible horrible customer service. I refuse to pay the charges they are saying I owe. I don't feel I need to pay them and won't b/c they made a billing error and want to make a quick buck. Since all of this I have switched power companies. I am very satisfied with stream energy and they are a hell of a lot cheaper than the rip off TXU. If you have TXU and you think you're getting a good deal you're completely wrong!

This company has some very tricky ways of gathering the savings they say they offer you. I missed a scheduled payment, and suddenly there is 300.00 added to my account. I called and was informed that since I received a disconnection notice (though I explained it had been missed because of a sudden spinal fusion I had undergone) that they had a right to put a deposit on my account even though my electric was not disconnected. They claim that in some terms of agreement that we never have seen, if you are late more than twice in a year they have the right to put any amount they so desire as a deposit.

We were signed up by a representative at our door, we never were given anything by him such as a Terms of Agreement. In addition we never received the 250.00 sign on bonus, and were informed we could leave at any time. This all became a lie suddenly when we call their customer service line. There we met with attitude and insulting remarks form not one but two customer service individuals until we finally had to speak with a Supervisor to which we were put on hold for over 30 minutes by the representative who was rude.

As of today they will not remove this deposit and will hold us hostage by this sudden year contract when we had signed on because there was not contractual agreement of a year or more. They inform us that even if we leave they will not only charge us the deposit but also will tact on an early termination charge as well. No matter what is resolved we are leaving this company, because even though Reliant Energy maybe over priced at least we NEVER had this kind of underhandedness from them. Buyer beware of this wolf in sheep's clothing.

DALLAS, TEXAS -- TXU energy cost us hundreds of dollars by refusing to turn off the power to the rental home we moved from. While the house was vacant, the power was being turned on and used excessively by the landlord and his friends. TXU refused to shut off the power! Their customer service is HORRID. We spent over 5 hours total with different reps, who don't speak or understand English well because the customer service department isn't in the USA.

We were disconnected several times and always told power couldn't be turned off for weeks even though they could see our electricity was being stolen because our bill was doubling every few days. Finally when we told them we were calling 911 to report the theft and get city officials to intervene, they sent someone out immediately to shut off the meter. STAY AWAY FROM THIS COMPANY! They are terrible!

RICHMOND, TEXAS -- On November 24 I called to request a transfer of service on December 5, 2008 from my old address to my new address and to disconnect my service on December 16, 2008. On December 5th I went to my new address and there was power so I assumed that TXU activated the power meter and everything was connected. On December 16 I went to my old address to find power was disconnected now today December 22nd I have no power so I called TXU to see what is going on to ensure there is no power outage only to find that the original request to transfer service was not completed and that no one could not complete my service till December 23rd.

I recently paid my bill which reflect my billing address as my new address but I have no service with TXU cause of my request was not completed. Right now I am switching to Reliant energy cause I need a utility company that I can depend on, I actually didn't need service till December 17th but wanted to be sure to TXU had adequate time to complete the service. Today December 22nd the current temperature is now 41 degrees and there is no way I can keep my 8 month old son warm cause a technician can't come out till tomorrow cause of an error TXU has made which is beyond my control.

So I will dedicate my time to send this complaint out to different websites to warn current customers and also people who is shopping around for a new or different energy company about my horrible experience at TXU. DO NOT USE TXU!

HOUSTON, TEXAS -- I have spent nearly six hours trying to get service restored. First, they could not tell me why service was out (on December 3, 2007) but put in an order to restore - priority. An order to restore finally went in on the 4th but they messed it up again and the order was canceled - but no one bothered to follow up - thus - no service. I only found out when I called this afternoon when services had not been restored as promised only to get the run around, put on hold for hours, hung up on repeatedly.

I spoke with no less than ten people today, three supposedly supervisors and none could give me a straight answer and none would ensure my services were restored today (despite their screwed up prior order being overlooked) and I am just supposed to trust them and wait another 24 hours or more for the new service order to be processed. "There is nothing else they can do" I have used their service for years, but "service" has really declined this last year or so.

I am so amazed at how little the "customer service advocates" and the "supervisors" knew about their own system, policy and procedure. I got a different answer from each one and no result so far (over 4 days) whatsoever.

DALLAS, TEXAS -- June 2, 2009, I contacted TXU as I was preparing to switch to a provider with a lower rate of 10.5. At that time TXU offered to lower my rate to 13.9 and waive the cancellation fee. Provided I agreed to extend the length of my contract by two years. I agreed to those terms. They did not honor that agreement. They do NOT dispute the fact that they spoke with me on June 2 and that the representative offered me those terms. **, in the Corporate office of Priority Escalations(?) (would not give me either a last name nor an extension) stated that the representative was not authorized to offer me those terms. ** did locate the recording of the transaction.

BEWARE!!! TXU is using VERY deceptive techniques to LURE their customers into NOT switching then NOT honoring the terms offered simply by stating that the representative was not authorized. There are several neighbors who were made the very same offer the same week and these offers were not honored either!! In the meantime, I am forced to pay the higher rate for the previous month of June and until I am finally able to make the switch. I did switch today and will NEVER go back to TXU. My first and LAST experience with them!

BAYTOWN, TEXAS -- When TXU energy sales person knocked on my door, I was not interested in it at all. But, after she convinced me that I DO have a choice to switch to them even after I sign up. She basically told me that I will get bill before I completely switch from my current provider to TXU and can compare the bill. If I like it, just pay TXU bill and let the other alone. If I don't just cancel before the first bill due date. The truth is, I did NOT have a chance to compare bill from current provider to TXU before I can make up my mind. My service was already switched and I now have to pay penalty fee for breaking contract.

If I do want to go back to my previous provider even before TXU service starts, they told me that service may be interrupted for 2-3 days!! Who can live without power for 2 -3 days unless otherwise I have to? Those sales people mislead you and if you actually have a choice before you make up your mind. But, it's a lie!! I never get bill from them before service is switched. I should've known that their dirty lies are just to get commission from signing up for their service. They don't care! Even rate is better, I hate them for what they do to get customer into their service.