Complain about a product or service

DTE Energy

Ann Arbor, MI

Laquita of Detroit, MI November 11, 2009

I purchase a home on Burgess in May15, 2009. June 2009 I called to have service turned on in my name, I was told there was a block on the address and I would have to show proof of ownership. I called the company I purchase the house from stating that DTE wanted to see the deed. September I called again requesting that someone come out to have the block removed. I was told that she will send out an inspector.

October I called and Tek Housing called to request the block be removed. November 08, 2009 I called requesting the block to be removed and I was told that It was schedule on Oct 16, 2009, and she will reschedule and send it to a supervisor. I left a message with a Mrs. D. stating that I been calling for service since June of 2009 and It was cold and I have small children in the home ages two-eight and could someone come out.

November 10, 2009 an inspector came out removed all the meter and asked me to call the theif department to see if the block has been removed. I called and spoke to a Mrs. L. and she stated that they removed the meters because of theif from 2007, and I needed to pay a deposit and a pass due bill from 2004,at a previous address. I stated that I 've been calling since June 2009 and I was told that the service was on at the Burgess address since 2007, I stated that I did not feel that I was responsible for a previous customer that they never turned off service at the address and why do my family have to suffer in to cold this could have been resovle in June and she hung up on me.

November 11, 2009 I went into DTE to speak with a supervisor in the theif department a Mrs. R. stated that she would handle the matter. She took my proof of purchase and sent me to the lobby for thirty minutes I went back to the desk to find out what was going on, Mrs.D. called me back and stated that the inspector stated when she came into the property It was warm. she acused me of using hot water and running a furnace. I do not have a furnace and It was nearly 60 degress outside. my hot water tank was never lit because I was unaware that there was gas service.

I only new of electric that when I made the call in June. She also stated that I had to pay 900.00 for the theif and 1669.00 from a 2004 bill before storing service. When I asked about payment arrangement for the 2004 bill she did not answer me but stated that the FIA department won't even help me and she is aware of the children are in the house.

I just replaced pipes throughout the house. my pipes will burst due to this weather. the children will be sick. we can not live in these conditions. I tried to do the right thing by reporting service at the address and requesting service for five months.

christie of wyoming, MI October 24, 2009

I have had an ongoing battle with DTE. Last spring I changed gas suppliers from green works to mx energy. I was assured the change would not affect my bugdet plan. I had been paying my bill as usual and I admit I was late in April but paid the bill a week later and then three weeks later paid my bill for may (on time) and June (ahead of time). In June I received a billing statement that said no payment was due and then in July I received a billing statedment that said I owed 392.61 when my budget plan payment was &128 per a month.

I called to find out and the person I talked to told me I was taken off the budget plan because I changed suppliers. I told the person I was told that my budget plan would not change if I changed suppliers and the person again said that was not the case. I held off on paying until 7/25/08 a payment of 100 until I could resolve this issue. I emailed and left messages and no help. I work third shift so I cant go into the office or stay on the phone ON HOLD for long periods of time when I have to sleep!

again I called in Aug and sent them another payment of 100 until I could get back on the plan or figure this out. The next person I spoke to told me I was off the plan because of non payment or late payments while on the budget plan and that it had nothing to do with switching suppliers. SO now I am upset because I have been told two different stories and winter would be here soon and I would be stuck paying the full price each month until they could figure out a new budgetwise plan for me. I paid the full amount due in order to start over in Sept. Now on my credit report it states that I was late for 90 days in aug and sept of 2008 and ALL my credit cards have increased my rate to almost double and so therefore at this rate I will never pay down any of my cards!

I cant even finance a used car. they have ruined my credit and no one there seems to care when I call again and again to dispute this horrible billing practice they have. Oh and they also had the address to my home screwed up on there file and would not update it unless the city called them to update the address. I own the place and I know my house does not face Rumley but CASE and they had my address as Rumley which is the side of my house. ridiculous!

Amanda of Rochester, MI October 18, 2009

I have not received a statement from DTE energy in the mail since May of 2009. On October 15th of 2009, my electricity was suddenly shut off at about 7-9 in the am. A notice was left stating that I owed over 500 dollars to DTE energy. Now THE NOTICE HAD MY MAIDEN NAME LISTED ON IT, when upon activating my service with DTE, I clearly stated to a representative that my name was now changed because I had married since my last service with them. The representative ASSURED me that the records would be updated. I did not understand why I was not receiving bills from DTE in the mail, nor why they would not contact me by phone, seeing as though they have had my number on file since the day I activated my service. I figured that the reason for your number to be on file, is so that they may contact you in a situation such as this one.

Now back in July, I called DTE to find out where my statements where, and why they hadn't arrived. It turns out, my old last name was still in the system as current. I was again, assured this would be updated. NOW, several months later, upon receiving this 'shut-off' notice, I see that this mistake was NEVER fixed, and now it is threatening my life. Upon filing a complaint with DTE, I was informed by them that it was MY FAULT I hadn't received my mail from them, and that I should have 'kept calling' until they fixed the error they HAD ALREADY STATED THEY WOULD FIX. They told me that they serve over 3.4 million customers, and that the only way for them to inform me of their mistake, was for me to phone-in with them. I THOUGHT IT WAS THEIR JOB TO INFORM ME BY PHONE OF ANY DISPUTES before it reached this point.

Now, I am facing eviction from my apartment complex, and complete loss of my housing and food assistance which my children and I receive. I do not know what to do. I am fearful, for I know corporations usually get their way, being so powerful and all, but I just can't see how they could be so stubborn as to not work with me on a payment plan or anything, when I am not the one who repeatedly mixed up my files! I cannot see how it is my job to inform them when they are not doing theirs! This whole ordeal could have been prevented if they would have just updated the info like they said they would do, and called me to inform me of a late payment. I have no problem with the company they run, but I feel as though they see humans as nothing more than customers these days, and they have terrible customer service. Maybe because nothing is personal.

James of Allen Park, MI March 11, 2009

I have had an on going issue with Dte since 2006. I own 5 houses in Detroit that are rentals. There have been so many problems that have been unresolved. I have talked to several different supervisors, customer service, and workers, no one ever fixes the issues and if they do they return within a month or two and the person you worked with drops off the face of the earth. There are never notes on my file for workers to reference and I have had to start over everytime. I have even filed a small claims lawsuit and they returned it because no one would except the summons!

The problem I have is with billing and they have added these bills, which belong to other people, to my home address and my credit report, the gas and electric has never been in my name! I have proved this over and over with copies of rental agreements and eviction notices. Every time it happens they seem to not have any thing on file and different amounts and dates. I am at my wits end and do not know what to do anymore.

These issues have caused sever stress in my life, it has cause my home gas and electric to be shut off and several hours of time in and out of Dte offices and on the phone.

William of Wixom, MI September 23, 2008

this is the second month in a row i have had billing problems with dte. my normal electric bill for summer is about 45.00 with my thermostat set to 76 and the air running day and night. this past month i am only home about 3 day a week, and i run the air only on very hot days which haven't been many this month. while i'm gone i shut all my electricty off including the air. my bill for this month is 81.00 and some change. customer service claims 32.00 is for another address on my account.

i canceled this account after only a few days on 7/16/08. they didn't transfer it until 7/22/08. customer service claims that it takes time to send a man to shut off service, and that was the reason for the delay. i know for a fact service was not shut off but transfered to woodbridge apt office, service was never interrupted. therefor there was no reason to delay transfer. dte is claiming i am responsible for charges up to 7/22/08. when i paid my part in late july, customer service said i owed 5.00 and some change for my final bill. also it would cost me 3.00 extra to pay it over the phone which i did. now customer service says that was only for one days service. why would i pay extra if i knew i would have to pay more later? this is getting ridiculous, and if i have to i will take it to court simply on principle.

Latrice of Detroit, MI June 17, 2008

My power went out June 6, 2008 I contacted DTE Energy and they told me that someone would be out to restore power within 15 hours. My was out until June 14, 2008 with 2 different service people coming out telling me that there is nothing wrong with the power lines and that it must be something in my house. I called my electrician and he ran a test that confirmed that no power was coming into my house.

I called DTE Energy back on June 14 and explained to them once again that I had no power and that if it was not turned on today, I would be filing a law suit against them. About 1 hour later a service truck showed up and the men showed me that my line going to my house was fried and that they would need to repair it. I dont understand why the first two service guys didn't do this. This is poor customer service!

As a result of my power not being fixed properly, ALL of my food was destroyed and has left a nasty odor in my house.

Vickie of Detroit, MI April 25, 2008

The short version is I lost my home in 4/07, as a result of being on medical leave for 14 months. I had a high gas bill, myself and DHS paid down my gas bill from 5,000 to 2,900. I called DTE to get gas in my name again, because I am able to move into a small apartment now, and to continue paying on my delinquent bill.

Because I am not considered low income, they want me to pay the whole bill. I do not have 2,900 to pay all at one time. I am not asking for a hand out, I just need help. I am a single parent (widowed), what do my daughter and I do heat and lights if no one will help us. Can you direct to someone that is willing to help me

Yvonne of Westland, MI April 15, 2008

they did not bill me for gas for two years. they said my meter read no gas usage but came up with the amount of 4200.00, have disconnected my lights at my new address.. they have changed there story 3 times about the bill and will not budge on this 4200.00

have had to stay with others paying rent for a place i can't use.

Angelita of Highland Park, MI October 4, 2006

On 9/12/2006 I went to DTE Energy to get my gas turned on. I am a woman taking care of 3 girls and pregnant with twins which are due 10/29/2006. The representative looked at the deed and all the other information. The representative told me I would have to leave and call energy theft. I did not understand why, but when I did call energy theft I left several messages in the course of two weeks and never received a call back.

After two weeks when I finally did get through I was told by Ms. Moore of energy theft she told me that DTE was suppose to fax the information to them while I was still in the office so I had to go back to DTE Energy. On 9/19/2006 I returned to DTE Energy and was asked questions concerning the prior tenants to the address 245 Monterey. My grandmother who owns the property gave DTE Energy all the information she had and the deed to the property and then they asked my grandmother and myself some more questions. The representative looked at the deed and then asked for the new lease. I told them my boyfriend had already did all that and the account was opened and paid for. The rep then said that my boyfriend still had to come in and show his identification and the lease agreement. Upon doing so we was told to call on the phone because he did not have his social security card.

The rep over the phone was looking up the account on the computer while setting up the account she found the information which showed that the account was paid and open and she stopped suddenly when something showed up on her screen stating that it was still a hold on the property 245 Monterey and we would have to call corporate security to get it lifted and then we should be able to have service. Me and my grandmother went back to DTE earlier that day and then I returned by myself to show them the rental agreement, yet again for the 4th or 5th time. I called corporate security and they said DTE must have not let the hold off because the landlord just put it in this morning. Thursday 9/21/2006 I called DTE back and I got a rep by the name of Ms. Williams on the phone who asked me did I know how much the bill was. I told her I did not and then she informed me the bill was 15,000.

She said you can fax me the deed and the eviction notice of the woman who resided at the address 245 Monterey before I moved there. There was no eviction notice the lady just got up and left. We gave DTE all the information we had and I have 3 girls and twins on the way. I don't understand why DTE allowed me and my boyfriend to set up an account and pay for it when they knew that this much money was owed on this house.

It is not fair for me to have went through all of this for nothing. I f I had know the gas bill was that outrageous I would have never moved there with my family in the first place. I was misled and an account was opened and paid for and now my girls and myself are currently living with no heat. My twins are due the end of October and with all the other stress I am going through I have tow worry about my daughter's and my unborn twins having heat as the winter approaches. I don't know what else to do and I need some answers as to why DTE is able to take money from me knowing that they were not going to turn the gas on. I would not have moved my family to 245 Monterey if I was told about the outrageous balance on this address when I first went into the DTE Office.

I feel DTE should have known how much was owed on the house before they took my money. If they found what was owed the third time I came to the office they could have found the same information the very first time I came in to open an account and paid in advance before I even received the service (which I never did!) The reps at DTE are either incompetent or deceitful or lazy, I don't know which. I tried talking to someone at Channel 4 news and Channel 2 news to no avail. I am at my wits end. DTE should be held accountable for withholding information or simply being deceitful to consumers trying to make a living for their children. It is immoral and inhumane for me to have to go through all these changes to get treated as if it is no big deal. My family is my life and I am trying to make it the best way I can. DTE took the money and opened the account and then refused me service. I NEED HELP!

Johnny of Oakpark, MI September 17, 2004

On dec 1 2003 my light and gas was turn on by there company,ihad move to another house on jan 30 2004 . The same day that i move i call them to cut the light and gas off, they cut the light off but didn't turn off the gas so from the day i move out to mar 13 2004 the gas stay on . So next thing i know is i get a bill for 1039.74

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