I have been out of a job for a mouth and just got a new job but I was behind on my bill. So I called AEP to set up something and tried to tell them I would not be able to pay my bill until the next week on the 27. They told me that if I did not pay my bill on the 26th that my electric would be shut off and they could not wait 1 day. That's **! AEP don't care about the consumer or they could wait one day. They just want me to pay all the other fees. Plus it's very could outside they just don't care at all.
Consumer Complaints & Reviews
We have had AEP since 1969 and our payments have never been late until the last 6 months. We called them and worked out a budget only they were happy with and then when we got the bill, they added to the bill 78 dollars more, so they can hold our money for 12 months. I told them I did not have money for the 256.00 and then they increase the bill more. Now, I have paid this bill for at least 40 years and that is how they help out a good customer that has fallen on hard times for awhile. This is only because we have no else where to go. This is outrageous.
I was planning to move, so I had power to the house I was moving to put in my name. Since I was still living at my other house and knew it was going to be a while before I moved, I did not have my service disconnected. It was on August when I had the other power for the other house put in my name. This is the 6th of October, and I am still living in my other house. In fact, I have decided not to move and was getting ready to have the power at the other house taken out of my name.
I went home yesterday, and they had turned my electricity off - no warning, no notice, no nothing! I had not told them to turn it off. It was definitely a mistake on AEP's part. I immediately went and paid the new deposit. Since this was their fault, they could have at least made an effort to turn it back on yesterday, but they did not.
This is just another great example of greedy corporate America. These big companies can treat the little people anyway they want because they cannot afford to fight back, but sooner or later, they will come after the big dogs too. In fact, it's already started in many cases. It's time Americans stood up and let these big companies know they can't run over us any longer because we, the people, run this country or are supposed to anyway.
I applied for power at a new place I was going to rent. They told me about a prior bill from another state. I disputed the bill. My power was turned on after paying the required deposit. They told me I would need to provide proof of address for the time of the past due bill. When I gave them the paperwork, they told me it was acceptable. They now told me it was not and I would need to provide additional paperwork. Then, they shut off my power because they told me I was supposed to have the papers in within ten days. While speaking to collections rep named Jacky, she changed her story three different times. When I called her out on it, she got mad and uncooperative. The bill was not mine. And they are extorting me into paying it because through my own investigation, I found out that the guy who stole my identity killed himself. Now I am stuck paying a $400 bill and lost over $250 in food from my freezer because they shut my power off. At no point did they tell me I had ten days to get the paperwork in or they would shut me off. They did not tell me until after they shut it off.
AEP's wires beside my house exploded. It showered sparks down near my nieces and I, causing one appliance inside to smoke and ruining both of my TVs neither of which was on at the time. Their response letter to my claim said that they would honor any claim for damages suffered by our customers for which they are responsible. But they proceeded to deny my claim saying, "Our investigation shows that this incident was caused by equipment failure. This is an incident which could not have been anticipated." Are you kidding me? How is AEP not responsible when their equipment fails?
I called back to appeal the decision and I was told that "a connection fail was the cause of the failure," and "AEP is not responsible for our equipment failure since we determined that the connection had been installed correctly" (even though the connection had blown up and was dangling in pieces.) How can any company get away with that kind of logic, in order to not take responsibility for the damage that their equipment causes? The world would be a scary place if everyone could make such claims to get out of taking responsibility.
My two televisions no longer work. The fire department could not determine whether my VCR or DVD player was smoking; they were both hot. Although I can confirm they both can be turned on, I have no way to determine whether they are damaged since I don't have a working TV to connect them to.
I came home from work one day and my power was off. I was 30 days late in the amount of $125.00. When I called to see if I could get payment arrangements, customer service said it was too late. I told her I had children in the house; she said there was nothing she could do. Not only will they not turn on my power, my bill went from $125 to $374 due to fees and a required deposit. How is an average person supposed to come up with that amount of money? Of course all of the items in my fridge are ruined and I had to send my kids to stay with family members because AEP refused to work with me and is extorting me for additional fees that I can't pay! This company needs to be regulated and sued!
In August of this year, AEP was performing power outages in this area. They were installing a new system. Due to the frequent amount of brown outs, my AC unit and refrigerator were damaged. In Presidio County, temps reach 102 to 115, with lows of 95 to 90 at night. And no AC. Several calls were placed and few returned.
I recently purchased a new house. On September 3rd, I received a notice from AEP saying I needed to contact them within 5 business days to confirm my account and avoid service problems. I called on September 8th (3 business days) at 130 and set it up. At 2 pm, they disconnected my service. I called to see why I was told these things happen and it would be reconnected in 3 days. I have to live in a house without electricity and that makes me mad when I did everything the way I was supposed to. Since I was not able to get home until hours I can get home, I will lose all of the food in the freezer and fridge.
I received a letter today stating that I owed $99.64 which was past due. I have no outstanding bills, my power bill rarely goes over $75.00. My name was spelled wrong and had the wrong address on the envelope. Am I supposed to believe you in a letter from an unknown collection agency with so many errors on it?
They keep increasing our electric bills. It's absolutely ridiculous. I'm so sick of getting $400 and $500 electric bills. Our economy is so bad right now, and they continue to get approved for increases. That just blows my mind. I have bought the energy-saving light bulbs which are not very cheap. I have unplugged everything as soon as I'm done with it, and my bill is still outrageous. And I'm so sick of it that it's causing me not to have other necessities because I need power, because i have a child and they are the only electric company around.
Once again, AEP has raised rates on its Appalachian Power customers. The increase has been temporarily suspended by the VA General Assembly. However, that doesn't address a couple of issues. For one thing, every time AEP increases its rates, it's during the coldest time of the year Dec. and Jan. - when they're going to make the biggest profit. How is this not price gouging? Secondly, Virginia residents (where AEP is not regulated) are paying the most per kwh of any of the AEP customers in other states, where AEP is regulated. Is there no way to legally challenge any of this?
The economically hardest hit area of AEP's coverage is paying the highest price for their actions. In an area where businesses are trying to keep jobs going, they're being beaten to death with power bills. The individuals in this rural area are not rich. They are elderly. Some are farmers, and many are unemployed. AEP is gouging the poorest people in their area, because they can't do the same in other states because of regulation.
