Consumers Energy Reviews

I am fighting with them right now over 2 properties that had power turned on illegally at. Even when I provided Consumers with copies of leases & information on my Tenants, they still will not reverse the charges. Right now I have a charge on my bill for about $250 even though the power was cut at the pole for over a year & was not reconnected until I had a Tenant call to get service on. They are still charging me for the usage. I have been charged in the past several times & I don't know who to contact. You can't get service anywhere else in our area...

On March 2012, my wife called me at work and told we received a bill for $870 for the month of February. I was floored and called Consumers Energy from work and stated my concern with customer service. "Why was my bill so high for February???" And they stated it was a catch up bill for the months prior for estimated bills and I replied with, "The bills have always been around $200-$230 on average and noticed they were not estimated." When I got home, I checked the meter and noticed it was spinning really fast so long story short I unplugged everything we owned and noticed it was still spinning fast. This is where the nightmare starts....

After I said ok and paid the bill, the following months we started noticing the bills started to average $300 to $400 between the gas and electric which the gas is also CE. After about 6-7 months of this, we started to fall behind on the CE bills because they were so high... they were higher than my wife's car payment. We were put on a Shut off protection which was set at $400 because the account got too high. Even with the shut off protection, I noticed the forwarding balance getting bigger and when I called them they said that is what I'm using in power. The kilowatts being used and stated on bills reflected that I was using 7000-9000 kilowatts per month which I don't know how. I manage with Best Buy and all my appliances are brand new and had the furnace looked at.

Fast forward to March 2013 where we were finally shut off for breaking the shut off agreement. They, all of a sudden, wanted $3800 all at once to restore power. After getting them to turn the power back on, another shut off protection, and when April arrived we received a bill that stated $1871 credit. Huh, you say??? Exactly!!! I called Consumers Energy and recorded the conversation for filing purposes and that I don't trust CE. ; ) I asked them about the credit on the account and they looked it up and confirmed that indeed there was a credit on the account.

Since I was on the phone with her then and still recording... I tried to put $20 towards the account and the automated service states that $20 is in excess of amount owed. Since they had my account up and heard the recording, they said yes that there was a credit. So after about 5 months not home having a positive amount owed I all of a sudden get a bill for $5102 to be paid ASAP. I called Consumers and they stated there were no credits. The senior representative who was rude as Hell said there was no credit.

I told all of them that CE months prior wouldn't take any money on the account even if I wanted to give them a million dollars. So after I calmed down, I called the MPSC who regulates businesses like CE and filed a complaint. They had put the account on hold for 10 days so CE could respond. CE did respond with a letter stating that no credits were never issued and the kilowatts and bill were correct to the T. I called the MPSC back and stated that I wanted to meet with CE in person so I could show then by bills and the credit video. They responded with that CE don't discuss matters like this on person so after several calls over a 3-week time frame and with MPSC saying they can't make CE see me in person, I called my State Representative's office and explained the situation.

Then about 1 day later... Claudia, Consumers Relations Manager with CE, calls me to set up a time frame to meet her in Lansing. Hmm... coincidence??? I think not!!! I agreed to the location in Lansing and to make a long situation short here. After about 3 hours of debating the account... she started that CE was having billing issues and the story changed from the letter they sent me when they seen the credits on my account and the video. We agreed and settled on $500 on the $5000 owed and to have a CE technician look at our current meter.

So finally the day came when the CE technician came out and long story short he said after he tried to connect his equipment to the meter and would not read because the meter was 50 -60 years old. He came in and told me to unplug everything and he was astonished that how fast the meter was spinning to the point he asked me if I was running a business out of my home and I said no. He replaced it with a new smart meter which the deal was for me not to pay for. He said the old meter was going to be sent to Jackson, MI for testing. Claudia told me she would give me the CE standards and the MPSC standards. When we received the smart meter, the bills seemed to be normal again and the kilowatts seemed normal also.

After 8 months of estimated bills that where estimated off and on from when we had the old meter, the bill is back up to $2100 and about 3 months ago the account went out of my name and a girl named Christine took the account over which locked me out of it. I called CE and stated that that I was done without my consent in which they did nothing to same time on this. I called Claudia and long story short I got a new account with $0 balance until two months ago when the $2100 was forwarded to my new account number and again now has me locked out of my new account.

This was recently scheduled for shut off until I filed another complaint seeking a Formal Hearing with the MPSC. Since I had an Informal hearing already in the past I can now request a Formal Hearing with the MPSC and I put together all the bill statements from the past 3 years, letters from CE, Billing Guidelines from the State of Michigan... which they violated 4 of them after extensive research. After about 8 months of waiting for the meter reads, I finally got those back after constantly requesting them from CE for literally 8 months. But I only received the meter test from the CE standards and was also supposed to get the MPSC meter test???

What's funny from the CE meter test was that the 50-60 year old tested at 100.8% and new smart meter tested at 98.6% accuracy. LMFAO... so I know I left some situations out because I typed this with my phone and getting tired but I was angry on what Consumers Energy is doing to a lot of you. The paperwork and the research I did on my account and old account that I did, plus I had to mail the MPSC and MPSC complaint officer cost me $10.80 at the post office. I tracked the package I sent them and they signed and received it today.

Since my complaint officer that I was assigned to with the MPSC looked at complaint and past complaints with CE said I had a good case to be able to fight them. By the way I'm not wasting money on a lawyer.... I figure I beat Consumers Energy before that maybe I can beat them again. If anyone has questions on my upcoming case or yours with CE don't hesitate to email me. One more thing... all the regulations that Consumers Energy MUST follow are on the MPSC's website. Be patient. There are a lot of them and I would bet that CE doesn't want you to know about them.

Back in April of 2014, the nice lady with the State of Michigan Attorneys General Office don't handle utility companies but after hearing my situation, she told me to contact my State Representative that I voted for. Since they said, your State Reps. oversee MPSC and CE. Which I did and they got me my informal hearing with Claudia at CE in Lansing last year. Also remember it is election year for State Reps. and use it to your advantage. It's time we fight against monopoly companies like Consumers Energy!!! Enough rambling....goodnight everyone and good luck!!!

The first person I spoke to was a woman saying I owed about 950 dollars before they would turn it on. The third person I called the same day said I owed 760.23 before I could turn it on. They said they would not work with me on payment plans since I don't have all the money up front nor would they release my home to Lowell light and power (another electric company) not to mention they now say I only have 5 business days to pay in full. As a monopoly business you would think they would work more with their customers on getting power to homes. I hope some government official takes the time to read all the horrible reviews this company has and can reduce the monopolization this company has over the American population.

This month, we have been extremely busy, attempting to put together a marking plan, that would allow us to stay in business. I was continually busy. I forgot that I hadn't turned in the electric shut-off notice to our Attorney's office. They pay our bills for us. Today, Consumers Energy turned off our electric. I called our Attorney office, and they said they would pay the bill immediately. However Consumers would not let them pay the $323.00. They wanted to talk to me. Yet, prior to the shut off, My Attorney's office had not problem paying the Electric Bill. I called Consumers and took full responsibility for my negligence. I told them we had the $323.00, and would pay it immediately, would they please turn the electric on, so we can operate the Shoppe?

The lady said no. In order for them to turn on the electric, they require a Security Deposit of $1125.00. I told her we don't have it, that we have been struggling. But we have the $323.00. She said she cannot help us, unless we have the approximate $1458.00. I gave them permission to talk to our Attorney, but when our Attorney called them, they wouldn't return her call.

I spent part of the day, looking for a bank that would give me a $10,000.00 line of credit to get the electric on. I still don't have the money. It will be a couple of days before I hear from the bank that took our application. Just so you know, banks have a minimum amount you can borrow regarding commercial loans. Now, we have no business. Which means no money coming in, to help pay other bills. Customers want to know what's going on. I was negligent, But, for Consumers to have the power to shut a business down for $323.00 is nothing short of Organized Crime.

I have filed a complaint with the MPSC, but it will be 5 to 10 days before we hear from them. I doubt that they will correct Consumer's actions. But, there is always a very small chance. Now that we have our 501(c)(3), we deserve to be reimbursed from all of the Utility Companies for some of the taxes we paid, going back to April 2012. I thought maybe Consumers could give me credit, but again, the lady said she wasn't concerned with that.

If there is an attorney that can expose Consumers Energy for this cruelty, I will be willing to talk to you. Also be willing to make it public if you like. As a servant of God, I don't get angry... but I am extremely dissatisfied! If anyone knows of someone who will be willing to make a monetary donation to help us, not only will we be very grateful, we can also give them a receipt as a Tax Deduction. Thank-you for listening, and your time.

I called the 800 number and was told that nothing else was posted since 6 pm the day before. I was told I had to wait until 1030 pm for a Consumer Energy person come to restore my gas. No one makes me wait to cut my gas off but I have to be inconvenience when disconnected as if I am not already paying double for the disconnection. This was 4th of July so it put my schedule in jam with a 2-year-old daughter which I needed item for her. SCARED TO LEAVE THE HOUSE WAITING FOR A WORKER TO RESTORE MY SERVICES. THE PROCESS NEEDS TO CHANGED AND CUSTOMER SERVICES DID NOT GIVE A DARN.

Consumers says they don't have smart meters in my parents area yet, but I have a photo showing that is exactly what they have. Smart meters eliminate the need for meter reader and yet 2 of their bills are estimates. They are now back on the shut off protection plan, at a cost of $460, but still have a huge balance due. Google maps shows 2 different locations for their old and new address. Now I have to make the day-long call to Consumers and try to get them to tell me why they have a "smart" meter where none exist, and inform them that all their ideas about why they are using 4 times the kw, as any normal person, are non-existent (heat-tape, old water heater, etc.).

Something's not right here. Wish me luck..... I have a feeling I'm going to need it.

While still trying to understand why this was happening, a week later, I received another bill for $2,300. I called again, and this customer service representative, after giving me numerous reasons how I could have used this much electricity (more than we normally use in a whole 12 months), transferred me to a level 3 representative, who was supposed to better help me. This lady was very rude to me, when I didn't accept her explanations of how I must have used this much electricity, and told me she refused to even offer me a budget plan. She put in a request to the complaint department and told me I would receive a call in the next 5 days. Three days later, I received the shut off notice. My DHS worker said I needed to fight this. The next day, today, the complaint department called, to once again explain how I must have used this much electricity, and that the most she would do was list on the account that the usage was justified, and she would schedule to have our meter checked, but of the many people choosing this option, none of their meters had ever been incorrect. They will be here in two days to check the meter.

The lady from the complaint department did say that she would call back after the meter had been checked to set up the payment plan, since she is sure that the meter will be fine. I find it interesting that so many people could be experiencing this same issue, yet none of the complaints could possibly be the fault of 30 year old equipment, or a computer error, or even a customer service representative error. I think businesses can make mistakes, and they shouldn't always say it is the customers responsibility, no matter what. They have a monopoly. I cannot switch to another company. I also cannot afford a $2,300 bill from left field, as I don't have that kind of disposable income. I think they need to be better regulated. I am frustrated and already know I will be stuck with this bill.

Consumers refuses to send them to me or at this address. But they charge power for this address. Customer service is very bad. They do in fact appear to be defrauding so many people of "estimated" charges and hassles. Of course when people have such an attitude that they think we desperately need them, and appears they may like to fraud people as they sure seem arrogant. Consumers does not care about their customers. Their business name "consumers", yeah "us", when we all could have had free energy = N.Tesla. Just research and invest in solar or windmill. To buy one is much cheaper and worth it to not have to deal with companies who monopolize and treat their customers like crap - all the while trying to get every red cent you own. Just like they take my money but refuse to send bill or let me handle it or in my name. I never did anything to these people to deserve this kind f treatment. Therefore truth and justice will prevail because the people have had enough.

Thankfully, Consumers cannot shut off people's gas in the winter for non-payment if people follow proper procedures to prevent it. But they are unsympathetic to circumstances if the rules are not followed to the letter - and frankly they use their power to shut off gas as a lever to extract payments from people already suffering from the hardships of a severe winter and a difficult economy. They are unsympathetic because they can be - and their service can be poor because there is no one else to go to to receive gas for heat. What's needed is better regulation - and that is a political problem. Let's hope that our state government can be influence to pressure Consumers Energy to become a better and more socially responsible company. That will only happen if people are willing to get involved and network.

Consumer Electric is domestic terrorism. There is no oversight. They do not follow their own guidelines. Yes, they have a law book they are supposed to follow. The last time I talked to them on the phone, I was like Linda Blair in The Exorcist. It's not worth the chest pain. Michigan has let it get out of hand. I am one more person who is leaving. You cannot be a good person and survive in Michigan. The mafia/consumer/gov't is to corrupt. Sincerely, why bother with something that cannot and does not want to be fixed.

They gave us $150 on a Red Cross client card which our room was supposed to be $75 per night but ended up being $82.12 plus a $25 pet fee. We had to pay and only got to keep the room one night. It resulted in me being stopped by Auburn Hills police because I was walking from the hotel to get food for my family. So I explained what my situation was to the officer. He checked my name and ran my id in the system, then verified I was staying in the Extended Stay hotel room 122 then let me go. I also had to pay an extra $30 for a ride to and from the hotel which was my last money.

Now I'm back home still dealing with this situation, just lost my job. They cut the gas off from the ground to prevent any more explosion. This tech could have blew the gas line underground when he lit my furnace. It blew up in his face and my sister in law she is a cancer patient with leukemia. This happened on March 28, 2014 at about 7:30 p.m. The president of the union came and took pictures and took our statements. The Oakland county sheriff's took an injury report and statements. The Waterford fire dept took pictures when the explosion happened then consumers came out to investigate more and now trying to get out of paying for the furnace pain and suffering the emotional stress. My cat almost died because of the explosion. He went into shock and ran away. Thank God I found him running from the woods being chased by deer. He could have got killed.

I am still running my electric stove to get heat in the home. And my DTE energy bill is rising from the stove and one small space heater. I have no funds period. My wife has a part time job which is not even 50 hours every two weeks. We have a house payment which is 180 a month and a DTE bill 61 a month which is more because of the electric stove in the space heater that's running at the same time and also now that they blew the furnace up we don't have any way to replace it. They are trying to fight so that they don't have to replace it when it was their technician who did it on his own rules. Now we're in need of help with a furnace. I haven't slept or eaten in 3 days because we have no food, no money, no running hot water and no gas. So we are getting a lawyer to fight Consumers Energy for everything they did to us.

Only the revised ones were there. This is crazy. The Electric portion of the bill was the highest and now running over 400.00 per month. My electric bill in the last 2 years has never been more than 230.00. I have a gas stove and a gas dryer, Go figure. Oh yeah, he said I can get on a 400+ shut off protection plan. I am going back to paper statements and will have them show me how to read the meter myself. Also, I'm going to call to see if they can send me my original bills. Any ideas of what else I can do. This is outrageous.

My neighbor lost his TV, stereo, microwave, amplifier. Not sure what the other neighbors lost. I just received my "decline" letter from Consumers, to be reimbursed for all the damage to my house. They are stating they are not at fault. How can they get away with this? There were no trees on the line. The police and fire dept. could not tell why the power surged. The entire integrity of my house has now been compromised due to this issue. Anyone else out there have this problem with Consumers? How do I get them to take responsibility for their negligence?

I was directed to call 1-800-477-5050. I did so and got a hold of a customer service representative named Renee. I asked her why the spike in my bill and was immediately transferred over to Mrs. ** of the billing specialist department. I asked her quite a few questions and to make a long nightmare short was left with either the option of no service, which is not at all an option!! I could also request help from State Aid, but I am told I make too much money for that. So there again not an option. I could put in a request for a meter reader to come out, but upon reading the reports here on this site it seems as though that is a lost cause as well.

So the only option I was given and could possibly take was to sign up for a payment plan. I am instructed to pay the amount of $222.00 by March 27, 2014. This would allow me to keep my service; however not be able to get rid of the outstanding balance of $2, 265.61 This I was told for a 28-day billing cycle. I have filed a report with the Better Business Bureau as well as the one on here and am contacting local news stations to help out with this horrific nightmare!! I know I am not alone that there are other victims out there but that is not a comfort!! Something needs to be done and fast!!

This has been very stressful for me with not knowing if there are going to shut off my gas (heat) and it has been very cold winter. My work is slow and I am unable to find another job to help with amount of money coming into house. If I had known they were going to be such a hassle I would have never started this and it should be such a pain in my **. All I want is help with my bill because my income has dropped over 500.00 a month and I cannot afford to pay my bills!!!!!

I talked to the owner of the property that the tree was located on, and he explained that the tree had not been leaning on the wires at all, and that they did not trim the tree. He couldn't tell what exactly they were doing out there! I walked down the street and viewed the tree and the power lines myself, and you could easily tell the tree had not been trimmed. The condition of the power lines, however, was terrible... The black rubber coating that encases the wires was completely worn and falling off, with pieces hanging from the wires. One neighbor who is an electrician believes there was also a faulty transformer, which I tend to believe as well because I have had issues with power going out on a regular basis, for absolutely no reason that could be related to either weather or trees... so have my neighbors.

This is clearly a case of failure on Consumers Energy's part to maintain their equipment properly (wires, transformers, etc.) Myself, and several others have tried filing a claim with Consumer's Energy, but Consumer's claims they are not responsible for "damage due to trees". They are clearly covering something up to avoid paying for thousands of dollars worth of damage caused to the residents' appliances... which was the direct result of their negligence. I am seriously considering getting the neighborhood together and calling the local news. I hope everyone has the time and energy to go along with me on this... We are all low income, hardworking people who cannot afford to replace all of these damaged appliances! I, myself, am a single mom and a college student and barely making enough to meet basic living expenses, and am stuck with no stove or microwave to cook with, a refrigerator that no longer works properly, along with countless other damages! I really hope that somehow justice is served in this case, for the benefit of all of my neighbors as well as myself and my family!

Last time, they claimed I had never called because there was no note on my account. Plus, I had to pay an additional 140.00 above and beyond what I owed, and then it took almost 18 hours to get it turned back on. We'll see what the story is tomorrow. I know that I will be treated to the same rude, disrespectful, and humiliating service I have come to expect from this company. The irony is that I make too much money to qualify for any assistance program. When reading a few of the reviews here, I realize that my story is just one of many in the long list of ways that this company screws over the sick and disabled customers, as well as the working poor. This could not come at a worst time, right before Christmas, too. Just fed up with Consumers and if I could I would switch tomorrow.

We hired an electrician to come out and do a check on everything. He checked for working order of everything and ran their own meter reading and determined we were at about 800 kwh a month at the most. Called Consumers again and told them our findings and was transferred to a "case worker" who stated they were out in April to check the meter, and it was fine but if I insisted they come out again they will but she knows the meter will check fine again.

I demanded that the meter gets changed no matter if they check it and they say it’s fine or not. I asked who does further checking of the meter after it is removed and she stated "We do". So they came out in October 2013 and checked the meter and replaced the meter. I also filed a complaint with Atty. General's office. I get a call from the "case worker" who states the meter of course checked "fine and in correct working order just as she said it was going to." Of course the Atty. General's office also takes their answer and the complaint is closed. I'm still paying over $700 a month, even though we have called the electrician out again and they are telling us the same thing, "Consumers is over charging you." It’s not like you can get your electric from a different company either. So you are stuck.

How can that be? If their meter (equipment) is out of date, old, and not working properly, then how can they accurately tell me how much energy was actually used? Why is it my responsibility to then pay a huge bill when they did not maintain their equipment? Why am I responsible for their negligence? They informed me that my meter was faulty for over 6 months but they were ONLY billing me for 6 months back. Well, I don't have $1300.00 and I don't think I should have to pay for their negligence. If they were so knowledgeable, then they should have figured out a long time ago that they were not billing me properly. They were estimating my bills for months and even when getting an actual reading if their meter is not working properly, how is it an actual reading?

I have no problem paying for any past due bill that I was billed for before they changed my meter or for any bill after they changed my meter. I am not, as far as I am concerned, responsible for their negligence. They have had newer meters out for years and they should have put a new one on my house a long time ago as far as I am concerned too. How can I fight this and what are my rights concerning this abuse of a huge company against 1 consumer? I now have a $1500 bill and I don't have the money to pay that bill even if it is transferred over months and months. I live on a fixed income and feel that I am being taken advantage of.

Today is August 26th and I came home from work tonight to find that my "energy" had been shut off. Apparently they never received my last two checks. It is too late to do anything about it tonight and I am pissed! I never received a shut off notice or anything since mid July. My bill was just my standard monthly bill with no notice that I had missed a payment. I check my online banking and sure enough they did not cash my checks.... I realize that is not their fault but I should have received some kind of notice that my service was going to be shut off for non-payment... It's just ridiculous... I have two small kids... Thank God it isn't the middle of winter.

I again called Consumers Energy and asked what is this? You told me it is only 70 a month on the shut off protection plan. The operator huffed at me and said "We don't anticipate people moving!" and that is what it is and pay up! I said you never ever told me upon shutting off my electric bill I would be given a HUGE bill! She lied and said oh yes we did. I said NO you didn't I know what I hear. Consumers Energy refuses to work out a payment plan for a bill that I was given unfairly. It might be best to get your own wood burner anything but don't use this company they have no empathy towards others and lie to make themselves right. In today's economy it is amazing how they do not care for their own fellow human. I am a firm believer what goes around comes around.

When I called to cancel my plan, they told me that I would have to wait until it was within 30 days of the renewal date and call back then. After hours of calls and much begging, Consumers finally agreed to pay for the install portion of the repair, if I paid for the parts. When Carmack finally set an appointment, they told me that the repair person would call in the morning to give me a 2-hour window that they would be here. I took the day off work, but because I did not answer their call (I did not recognize the number and was on another call), they told me they could not make it and I would have to reschedule for another day even though I returned their call prior to 10:30 am.

It has been over 2 months without having a functioning dishwasher; thank goodness it wasn't my air conditioning. I called today to cancel my service plan (the actual renewal date) and they are now telling me they cannot because there is still an open work order. I told them to cancel the work order; they responded that they could not. Consumers Energy's plan is an absolute joke and a nightmare to cancel. I would NOT recommend that anyone signs up for this service program or ever use Carmack Appliance. Their customer service is atrocious, and perhaps that's why Consumers Energy uses them.

This is how Consumer Energy treats their customers; they are so to cut off the services but they will never do anything on behalf of the customer. I have talked to most people and I was told that my services will be on the day. Tomorrow is July 4 and my service still has not been restored. I feel that this is totally unfair and Consumer Energy does not under any circumstances care about the client. All Consumer Energy concerns themselves with is collecting the money from the customers. They do not care whether you have gas in your home as long as they get their money and they lie to you on everything every chance they can. They do not under any circumstances try to work with you. These are hard times and everyone is just about out of work and having difficulty staying their utilities. Why they won't work with you and why they want to be so nasty is unbelievable.

DTE Energy on the other hand (electric) also had a credit balance due to the same reasons. I got lazy and let my bank autopay and the amount I estimated was creating a credit balance. DTE was nice enough to call me and say, "Did you know you have a credit balance with us? Do you want us to not bill you for a few months, or issue a check?" It would be one thing if I had a bad payment history with Consumers, but they are still holding on to a security deposit from years ago ($160) and I have had good payment history. Maybe it's because they are inept and technologically challenged.

Every month, a meter reader comes out. DTE was smart enough to estimate and reduce reading costs, then got even smarter with the smart meters. Sure, it might mean less jobs if Consumer Energy had the bright idea of maybe estimating once in a while. But then again, they probably can't because they will over estimate. I guess they forgot the first word of their name. Here's the other interesting thing. I've heated the place less than prior years but somehow, I used more cubic feet of gas. How can that be? The dials are right, so the readings are as they claim, but are they calibrated?

If they had not ticked me off to the point I am now going to switch providers, I'd take the time to hook up a meter downstream from theirs but it is not worth my time. I've reconciled my bill and I'll go with another provider instead. This incident made me look at who else is out there only to discover I was paying too much to begin with. Goodbye, Consumers!

This is a tiny little cottage I bought 6 years ago. It's worth less than half what I paid for it. The pine trees lining the front of the property gave the shack a little character. They could've been pruned. Now it looks barren and shabby. Not to mention these were three mature trees. I guess now that there's sunlight hitting my roof, I can look into solar panels and not give my money to these **.

I spoke to a young black male there and instead of him talking to me about my bill, he talked about racism and race with me and basically told me if I paid my bills like he did, I wouldn't have these problems. So I became very upset. The rudeness! My bill went from 200 bucks to 581 bucks in two weeks. I don't even use a gas stove and I keep my heat on 69 degrees, so where is this money coming from? Also, I had to get assistance from the FIA Department and the bill was taken care of, and out of nowhere, the same amount that had been paid two weeks later was back on my bill again and once again a past due balance. I have realized that if you are low income or are of another race, they will toy with your account and rob you and take, take, take all of your money and lie and say that you owe money that you do not owe.

They talk to you any kind of way and they are very rude as if they own the company but I know there are masterminds behind them that are telling them to rip people such as myself off. There is no way this company should have all of these complaints and nothing is being done about it. These are the same stories so there is truth in it. I want my account investigated ASAP or I am going to file a civil lawsuit, write the president, get the media involved, get petitions signed and start a boycott and Consumers will lose more than they will gain in the long run.

Anyway, when I went on the protection plan, I made it so they took my bill amount directly out of my bank account. I ended up getting caught up and even having them owe me money. Yay, not for long. This year in March of 2013, they suddenly caught a mistake they made in billing and at one point, they owed me over $100. Not anymore. Now I owe them over $300, all while they were taking money out of my bank account each month to pay these bills! Oh, did I forget to mention that the bills they are talking about are no longer available? Only the new bills they have readjusted are available. Oh, one more thing. I got charged a return check fee during one of the months they made a mistake on!

I have never had any problems like this ever before; needless to say, I am pretty upset. Then on top of that, I had to pay $50 reconnection fee and $85.00 service fee. I feel like they could have helped out, but because I am not in a low-income level, not on food stamps or welfare, I didn't qualify. All I wanted them to do was waive the additional fees. I feel like their customer service is awful considering you have no choice but to use Consumers for your gas. I made an honest mistake of enrolling for online billing and not getting my bills. I hope in the future we have other options, because I would definitely not stay with Consumers!

Long story short, my gas did not get turned off that day. Fast forward to today 2/4/2013, Consumers Energy comes out to my house with more rude cops before Consumers Energy even got to my house. Unfortunately, I was not home so my wife had to deal with them. We did not know we were scheduled for shut off so my wife wrote out a check for what we owed them in total which was $400. It's funny how they made the mistake 4-5 years ago and rude as all hell to us and they have the audacity to call the cops to escort Consumers Energy to collect on a $400 bill. That we would have paid with no problem and if I was at fault, why was my gas not shut off 4-5 years ago on that day? I know nothing good will come out of this complaint because Consumers Energy is a juggernaut and they have every right to treat customers like crap. Nobody can touch them because they are perfect. To Consumers Energy, you may get off on bullying around my wife, why don't you try picking on someone your own size. I get home every day after 4pm and home on the weekends. I'm not afraid of you and never will be.

All day I have been contacting Consumers Energy to see if the seller had cancelled his contract already. I was consistently told that he hadn't, but not to worry that my service would not be interrupted until this was done. It turns out that the customer service line was called by the seller to cancel his contract a little before 6pm, which is closing time for the service department at Consumers Energy. My wife is home alone, let alone she is 7 months pregnant; and she calls to me to tell me that the gas was shut off a little after 7pm while she was in mid-shower.

I called the emergency line to complain about this and was told there is nothing that could be done and to call back in the morning. Well as everyone living in this area knows, the weather has hit negative temperatures, and pipes freeze fairly quickly. My wife is now at the house while I am in Chicago with no car and no friends to call. This company has emergency technicians who can come to locations with gas emergencies, but apparently a house with this situation is not an emergency.

I spoke to Jamie (extension **) at the emergency line, and she was not helpful at all. I understand those employees are given a Q&A booklet with limited answers. When questions are asked that aren't in their system such as "There has to be something that your company can do to rectify this situation especially because as requested, I was not made aware of the cancellation and shutoff activity given the extenuating circumstances". Jamie went on to repeat herself over and over again that I need to call in the morning. Pipes can freeze within that time period, let alone how bad this is for my unborn child.

I am extremely upset, and because of the gas company monopoly Consumers Energy has in my neighborhood, I cannot do anything about this. When I asked for a supervisor, I was told by Jamie that Megan was her supervisor, but that she did not have a last name or an extension I could be transferred to. She also told me to go out and buy an electrical heater, which is absolutely ridiculous because she was very clearly not paying attention to the fact that my wife is alone 400+ miles away from me without a car.

This is unbelievable, coming from Chicago where Peoples Gas is the supplier and they treat their customers as if they wanted to keep them customers and happy. I disagree with the monopolization of gas companies and how poorly they could treat their customers, especially because they know that they cannot obtain services elsewhere. If anyone knows anything about what can be done, please let me know.

So he says if I don't want to use the IVR and pay the fee, I can do it online. Again, there is no option under view/pay bill so instead of showing me where it is, he just says, "I'll transfer you to a seasoned agent that can tell you where that is." So what, you couldn't tell me yourself? (Obviously, I didn't even know his lack of knowledge about his own employer's website.) I forgot this rep's name. So he transferred me to Jenn. I told her this is my third call and second person I'm talking to make a simple payment and explain everything I've gone through and she scoffs and with the rudest tone ask me if I'm still on the website. So she walks me threw the 6-8 clicks (completely different section of the website as opposed to pay/view bill) to get to the area of the site you pay your bill with a c/c. Then she tells me I still have to pay the $6.25 fee.

As I was explaining this c/c payment was a one-time thing and asking if they could help me with the fee ($6.25 is IMO quite ridiculous for a processing fee and if you live in Northern MI, you know how tight things are in the winter). She rudely just cuts me right off and starts telling me how it's a third party person that takes the payments (great, so now I'm giving my card information to someone else to pay you?) and that she can't help. I immediately said, "Excuse me, can I finish please?" when she interrupts me and she just continues to talk. Next thing I said was "Can you please not interrupt me and let me finish?” She continued completely unaffected by how rude she was being and how she just cut me right off and started going on about third parties and how it's not their problem that we have to pay $6.25.

When she finally stopped, I paused for a moment to make sure she was done and said, "Okay, so no one can help me then because I can't afford to pay $6.25 to no one just to get my bill paid?” Silence. I said hello once or twice and realized she had hung up on me. I left out the part where she told me to just go get a money order and drive to the nearest pay station. I explained I'm in Mackinaw City and it's 0 degrees outside and everything is solid ice and hardly drivable and the closest pay station is 20 miles to Cheboygan. She responded, "I'm in Cheboygan so I don't know what you’re talking about." I worked customer service for a very long time for multiple companies and if I ever spoke to someone or handled a call as Jenn did with me, I'd have been fired. This is completely unacceptable and the sad thing is I get this same knowledgeably, rude demeanor every time I contact this company, so they obviously don't care or have any intentions to correct their issues. I'd change companies in a heartbeat if there was someone else that could provide me power and there are other options out there.

Anyway, they showed up at our door saying we had to pay or it would be turned off in 5 minutes. Consumers finally said they would look at my W2s and decide if that would be sufficient evidence that I did not live at the other address. They turned the power back on and finally said they would reverse the charges. My state rep's office told me they are going to try to pass legislation to allow Michigan residents to be able to choose another power company. Let's make this happen. Also anyone please email me, I am going to forward these complaints to the state rep's office to try to put an end to this tyranny. Contact your local state rep.

Every time I call them, because I've opened a formal complaint, they keep giving me the runaround saying that they'll contact me. Well it's been 6 days and I'm suffering because I'm paying for someone else's garbage. Consumers Energy has no compassion with you unless you are disabled or have children. Well I'm a working college student so they don't care. Horrible, horrible, horrible service!

Finally, I filed a BBB report on them and all of a sudden, my monthly bill dropped to only $127 electric and $21.00 gas last month. But they still have not credited my bill and are claiming I owe $497 a month on shut off protection. That’s impossible for me to pay when I only get a $697 a month SSI check. I keep my lights off all day and night too but it never changes the bill according to them. I’ve never seen a meter guy out here ever in the 8 years I’ve lived here ever read the meter and I am disabled myself.

Only 8 years ago, when it was me and my 3 sons and my ex living across the street in another mobile home, our bill was never over $150 total a month with 5 of us. But now, it’s just me and my 11 year old in this mobile home, and yet Consumers thinks it’s okay to bill me almost $500 a month in usage when I know full well I am not using that much and have told them so. The only time me and my neighbors have ever seen a Consumers truck in this park is when they are shutting someone off.

I contacted their arborist who advised me that any trees I wanted down would be removed. I talked to a supervisor of Davey who told me he would have to talk to the arborist, although I had already done that. He saw the problem and told me that everything would be completed in a couple of days and said that what I am dealing with has caused their company to get a bad name. Since that was two months ago, I contacted Consumers again and they sent yet another foreman from Davey Tree Company who claimed he didn't see a problem until I pointed out the trees with nearly no limbs left. He was most arrogant but claimed he would talk to the Consumers arborist. I gave him the same story that I had already done that and that the previous supervisor from his (Davey) company had told me the job would be completed.

I seem to be left with choices now. I can cut the trees myself and they will most likely fall on the wires. I can hire a different tree service and either eat the bill or submit it to Consumers or just let the trees die (an unsightly mess along the road) and they will fall on the wires causing power outage. Unlike some on this site, I have never been late paying any kind of bill, including Consumers Energy. Do they really expect a 62-year-old woman to finish the job that caused such a mess? The arborist at Consumers seems to have such messes left by their outsource tree service and I hate to bother him with more phone calls from me. I have sent several emails to Consumers and in reply I am left to deal with their outsource tree service company and their arrogant supervisors.

Then, without any notice at all, they showed up one morning before I had to leave for work and demanded $9,000 or they were shutting it off. So off it went and I had to scramble around to get it back on before work. It was going to be 90 degrees out that day and my children would have no air. My 10-month old baby had already been to Ann Arbor 4 times because he had been having seizures. I called and made a payment arrangement that I told the lady I wouldn't be able to keep. I then had to come up with $1,000 down payment before they would turn it back on. My payments were going to be $800 a month. My rent is $700. How crazy is that? I couldn't pay the monthly payment so we will be shut off in a couple of days. We will probably also have to move to a place with utilities included until I can find a way to pay this bill.

I am going to have a hard time finding a place like that with 5 kids. I probably will have to move into a dump in a bad neighborhood. I really wish there was another option. Meanwhile, my loser ex can get services in his name because they transferred his bill to mine. I'm paying for some other woman's utilities! I never even lived in the town they were living in together. How can they get away with this crap?

In one such instance, we had a tenant move out, whose bill had been grossly overestimated. We notified Consumers Energy and our previous tenant and asked for a correction to be made. Consumers Energy never contacted the previous tenant. They also sent an employee out to our building in the middle of winter to change out the meter. I can only speculate so that they could hide the drastic over billing. They did this without any notification to us as the property owners. Luckily, I happened to be there painting for the new tenants; otherwise, the pilots would not have been re-lit, and the waterlines could have frozen. Since the new tenants moved in before any adjustments were made, Consumers Energy was able to pocket a great deal of the over billed monies that had been collected. This is just one of several similar accounts we have documented against Consumers Energy. Now, multiply this times the hundreds of thousands of customers and you can get the idea of how crooked this company truly is!

I implore everyone to watch their bills closely for this legalized robbery. Since the BBB shows that Consumers Energy has not satisfactorily closed any complaints, I feel that the next step to correct this legalized robbery would be to file a class action lawsuit against them. Hitting them in the pocket book may be the only thing these crooks understand.

After I called the Good Samaritan, I then contacted Consumers back telling them they were emailing them a letter. I was told it was better for them to call them instead, so I called the Good Samaritan back to tell them that and no one answered the phone. They were just there. I left them a message regarding this matter and asked them to call me back. I then called Consumers back again and spoke with someone who was going to contact consumer affairs and figure this out.

Well, my phone died in the meantime and I called back and spoke with a Ryan. He then connected me to someone else who connected me with consumer affairs. I was told that she was not supposed to talk to me, but with the people making the payment. I explained my situation and she immediately directed me to customer service, in which I have gotten nowhere. I then requested they check their meter, for my bill was $236.00 for one month and I feel it is quite high. Anyway, I am fed up with the fact that I have tried on several occasions to tell them that I can only afford $75.00 a month and they refuse to help me so that I don't get shut off. They want the whole $500.00 and I can't afford it.

I have used my resources available to me for Antrim County; there is help in Traverse City, but they can't help me because I don’t live in Grand Traverse County (such as Luv Inc., etc.). The consequence is that I am going to be shut off because they will not accept a $75.00 payment. To avoid shut off, they want the full $539.00 due. Not to mention, I just spent almost $300.00 in food stamps on food that I am going to lose if I am shut off. Who is going to replace that so my kids can eat for the month?

This one professional lady, who helps disabled and retired people, called Consumers for me and asked the person from Consumers Energy to check my meter while explaining that she personally had someone else hooked into her apartment’s energy and she was getting their bill. The person from Consumers Energy again refused to have my meter checked. I then myself went home and called Consumers Energy and requested a meter check and they refused and said, “A meter check was up to my land lord!” I then went and asked my land lord. My land lord said they don’t usually have to do that, Consumers does. But they would, in my behalf, because my father and I are very good renters. My land lord said my meter wasn’t using that much energy. I also requested Consumers Energy to have all the bills I had paid to Consumers printed out and sent to me. And again Consumers Energy refused to do so.

Now, I am very upset and not sure how I am going to pay this outrageous bill. So I called Consumers again and reached a nicer guy out of Grand Rapids Consumers and he said he would send a person to check my meter, but it wouldn’t be for another month on the 23rd! He also said he would send me a print out of my bills. Meanwhile, I still have to worry about paying this $697.10 bill before the first or be shut off! After paying $80 a month and that alone is around $900.00 for the year I paid, and I ask you, how could I have over-used that much and owe this $697.10!?

After 2 days, we still had not received any calls from Consumers Energy regarding the transfer of service to his name. My fiance called Consumers and asked if they in fact received the information and was told by Carol that the information that he faxed was in fact received, but was not good enough! This Carol then stated to my fiance that he needed to fax some additional information. The information she requested this time around was any 3 pieces of mail indicating that he was not living in the house in 2011. My fiance asked this Carol several times if the mail had to be anything specific and she responded with "No sir, it can be any 3 pieces of mail. They do need be faxed though". Another trip to the fax store and another $8.00 was spent to fax 7 pieces of mail to this Carol once again at Consumers Energy. We decided to send 4 extra pieces of mail showing proof that he was not living in the house during that time frame.

A couple of days went by and of course, no call from Consumers Energy! My fiance called once again and was for the second time told the mail that was faxed was not good enough! They would only be able to use one piece of mail because they needed 3 more additional pieces of mail indicating that he was not living in the house from June 2011-March 2012! By this time, my fiance became very irritated with Consumers and called Consumer Services and filed a complaint with them. At that time, the case was handed to yet another Carol. After 3 days of going back and forth over the phone with Consumers Services, they asked my fiance to go ahead and fax the next 3 items of mail that Consumers Energy requested. My fiance was completely mad by this point and stated "Why in the hell should I have to fax more paperwork to them? I have done all they have asked and still have no ** power!"

Carol from Consumer Services reassured my fiance that if he in fact faxed Consumers Energy the additional 3 pieces of mail showing that he was not living in the house during the time frame stated above, that Consumers Energy would have to go ahead and transfer the service into his name. After some hesitation, we went ahead and paid yet another $4.00 to fax 4 additional pieces of mail showing that he was not living in the house between June 2011-March 2012! Of course, 3 more days went by and no phone call still from either place! My fiance called Consumers Energy and asked this Carol once again if she received the faxes. She stated that in fact she had, but she would not be able to turn the power on in his name because the address that was listed on the 4 pieces of mail that he faxed did not have Consumers Energy Services during the time frame listed and because of this, he would not be able to have energy services in his name.

Are you kidding me? What a joke! Basically, what Consumers Energy is saying is that because the address where he currently lives did not have Consumers Energy services and they were not making big bucks on the property every month for energy services, he was not allowed to have services at his current address in his name! How is this okay? Why are they allowed to treat people like this? My fiance works his rear end off and has never had an account with Consumers Energy! They will not help us whatsoever! We are still without power well over a month later! Consumers Energy has conveniently sent me a final bill as they call it for well over $3000. What a crock! They told my fiance that regardless of where he lives or where he moves, if there is an outstanding balance owed at that residence, he will be responsible for paying it regardless of whose bill it is!

Bottom line here, Consumers Energy is a ripoff company and the place that is supposedly designed to help people with cases like this, Consumer services are just as wrong doing! It would sure be nice to have power again. It is quite disgusting that a hardworking, bill-paying citizen cannot get services transferred into his name, yet I guarantee if he had some type of state assistance, Consumers Energy would jump to help!

Case in Point: I came home tonight and hit the thermostat on the boiler (because it was about 50 degrees in the house) and nothing happened. Same for our gas stove. Then we tried to take a shower and the water was cold. No notification, no note left at the house, no phone call, no e-mail. They just decided to come out and shut off the gas. I still don't know why since we were up-to-date with our payments as far as we knew. Of course, they only keep customer service hours until 8 pm. Screw you if your gas has been shut off after-hours. Guess everyone who works there goes home to a nice, warm house after eight.

Try to pay your bill on the phone. You will be treated to a mind-boggling phone tree that ends up sending you off to some third party call center that can't access anything about your account or circumstances. If you try to talk to a Consumers rep about paying your bill, they'll forward you to the same crappy call center. Don't even try to do it online... you can't.

I've never encountered a business that made it so ** hard for someone to pay a bill. Unbelievable. It's almost like they want to come out with that big wrench and crank off your gas just so they can charge you again to hook it up. Someone should initiate an investigation into Consumers Energy. I can't even imagine what people who don't have money (I actually have some) have to deal with from these people. I'm sleeping in a 40 degree house tonight. But hey, at least I have electricity. We'll get by until we figure this out. But not everyone has that luxury.

I am done dealing with your company and its impenitence in trying to provide good customer service. Your company's customer service is a joke and the fact that anyone gives a ** is thrown straight out the window. If you want your money, feel free to call me at the listed number above and I will be gladly to pay it, but that is only if I get the respect I deserve as a human being, with means without getting disconnected, and talked down too.

A few weeks later, we had a change over from our cook stove from electric to gas. We had 24/7 heating and cooling come for the gas connection. Rob (bless you Rob) went to the basement to check on the lines and immediately smelled the gas as he went down the steps. He walked right to it. The shut off connection to our gas dryer was loose and bobbling up and down like a bobble head doll spewing gas fumes. I had heard the spewing from it all along, but thought it must be our boiler heat, since it was all new to us.

The gas was escaping rapidly. Rob went to work and secured the line, replacing the connection. He was upset, because as loyal customers that he cares about, he realized how close we came to being blown up. If we had not had the ventilation of the outside door to the garage, the gas may have pocketed much sooner. Anytime the most minute gas smell is detected, it should be investigated, the customer should be made safe and steps be taken to find the problem and get it fixed.

The gas line was not one of Consumers, but that service man should be held responsible and given better training in how to make sure the customer and the neighborhood is safe and that the customer gets it fixed. If anything, shut down the gas connection till it is fixed. This situation does tell about Consumers safety procedures.

Maybe I wouldn't be so irritated if Consumers cared to resolve the concern instead of justifying it by saying, "If you stayed there even a week, you are responsible for the energy usage just as the person whose name the account is in." I do not know how to proceed. This is the most upsetting and draining event I have had to deal with in my adult life. Why even bother to take someone’s SSN if you are just going to charge any adult that happens to spend the night at someone’s house, as if I said "Hey, before I transfer my mail, I just need to know if you are paying your gas bill." Sounds ridiculous? Yeah, it does to me, too.

We are helping young lady that has 3 kids that lives at that address. We ourselves have limited funds. But the way the economy, we are still helping. She has tried to get work with no success. Maybe, if the big companies wouldn’t be so greedy, they should help people. My son wants to set up payments but they want $400 plus in four payments. Right like that is going to happen making $400 dollars a week at those great paying jobs. Having to pay $700 rent + food + utilities, reduce the amount owed based on income so people can pay up their bills. My wife works for the Michigan school system. They have to keep giving up more of their money so the kids can still get a quality education. I don't see their workers giving up anything so the people that are having problems paying can afford to pay.

At times, call volumes are very high, and Intake assistants are busy with other customers. In this situation, you will be put in a queue, and your call will be taken by the next available person. If the queue is full, you will get a busy signal. Please call again. You can also contact us by submitting your inquiry, or complaint online by clicking on one of the three addresses above, or by writing to us at the following address:

Lansing MI 48909

The paperwork states it is overcharging 1.94% based on your standards, on this document. This is not a resolution of any kind, but a blatant avoidance of the problem. I have been left with no option, due to your lack of cooperation, but to get help from the news media, and an attorney, and file suit. We have tried and tried to have a real mediation about this. We've had you out here many times over the years, regarding the meter. It clearly shows a difference of over 1000 kwh overcharge, based on same month last year. Now, you are shutting off my electricity, our heat source, and we have children. You call this an ethical company? Allowing a family to use your faulty equipment for 15 years and overcharging, you are not willing to come to an agreement?

I have no option but to report this to the government and the media and an attorney. I expect a credit of 1.94% minimum for 180 months. Someone's bill cannot go from $200 to $250, up to $700 in one month. I expect to to hear from someone who has authority to work with us, and not someone who does not, but only answers the phone. Consider these two complaints, the other against Raquel for her unethical disregard for the first complaint filed with the government.

I am amazed at how many problems and complaints are on this site but really will anything ever be done? These big companies get away with all this stuff and we have to bend over and take it up the keester. Well, just to satisfy my anger and dissatisfaction, I will find as many sites to complain about Consumers Energy as I can. Maybe sooner or later someone will listen.

Aside from having a useless website and the worst customer service I've ever experienced, they require you to stay home all day when they need to alter your service. They give you a 12 hour window when they come to visit. Thanks for nothing, Consumers. I wish there was someone else to switch my gas over to. This company is a complete joke.

Fees, not counting the wattage fees, come to $35.19. Now add in "other Surcharges" of 4.23. This adds insult to injury.

Why should we, who pay our bill faithfully, pay for the lameness of others who don't? It's not right to squeeze the hard-working citizens for the actions of those who don't pay their bills. It's hard enough to do the right thing. You want us and others like us to protest and not pay ours as well?

I called the number provided to dispute the claim, and spoke to someone named Dana **. She said that I must provide proof that I did not live there, like my girlfriend's lease from Georgetown or a lease with my name on it from 2008 that proves that I did not live there. Since I lived with my parents at the time and therefore had no lease agreement, I asked her if a bank statement from 2008, with my mailing address listed, would suffice. She said it would. The next day I faxed my bank statement to Dana at Consumers Energy, Fax #: **.

I did not hear back from Dana for several months. Finally, I had my girlfriend call Consumers. She spoke to someone named Dawn, and Dawn told us that our account was in the process of being fixed to remove the charge from Georgetown. Also, she said that our account would be put on hold until it is fixed. We were reluctant to make any payments to our now growing electric bill for fear that they would only apply those payments to the Georgetown balance. Dawn assured us that the matter would be taken care of soon.

Then, in October, someone from Consumers came to shut off our power at our current home in Fenton, MI. I was at school but Brittnay was home at the time. She explained to him that our account should be on hold because of our problems with the Georgetown bill. He said he knew nothing about it, and shut off our power before Brittnay could talk to anyone at Consumers. She finally got a hold of Dawn, who apologized for the misunderstanding and had our power turned back on. She assured us again that this was being taken care of.

Finally, on January 5th, 2012, we received a shutoff notice for 1/9/2012 from Consumers in the amount of about $3000. Any time we attempt to call Dawn's extension, it says that she is unavailable and to call back later (no voice mail). I guess she is on indefinite sick leave. When we spoke to a Consumers representative, they said there is no information about the disputed charges on our account. After speaking to several different people, they said that we must submit a dispute document again to be sent to their legal department and considered. When we asked them about the charges again, they said that a 3rd party collections agency had proven that I lived at Georgetown in 2008. This is simply untrue.

At this point, I am beyond frustrated with Consumers Energy and I don't know what else to do. Any time we attempt to speak to someone, they either don't return our calls or don't know what is going on. I never lived at Georgetown Parkway; I didn't even know her at the time. The only evidence I have at this time is the original bank statement I sent Consumers in May. The amount of money my girlfriend owed them is somewhere around $1800, so my current bill should actually be about $1200. I have no problem paying this; I just want it sorted out. At this point I am beginning to feel the effects of stress and worry about possibly having my electric shut off in the middle of the winter because they are making it impossible for me to pay my electric bill.

My maintenance guy found a lock on my meter, my gas had been turned off! I never received any notice, letter, call or anything indicating there was a problem with my account. I immediately called Consumers to figure out why, I mean this must be a mistake, right? Nope, because I didn't send in a copy of my license they turned my gas off. I begged them turn it on and I would send in the requested info as soon as I went to work that next morning, my answer was a responding no.

The very rude customer service rep then told me, it will be at least 5-10 business days before my gas will be restored. She also informed me that they are not obligated to send notice of shut off because they asked for this information when I turned on services. Are you kidding me? At that time they also indicated they required a copy of Social Security Card and Notarized lease agreement. Is this any of their business? However, I have a two year old and a four year old, willing to do anything pretty much to get some heat in my house. So I faxed in everything the next morning at 7-7:30am. They called me 5 hours later to tell me it was blurry and I had to re-fax. I did this.

I called again twice, only to find out my file will be looked at in the order it was received, "There are 95 other people ahead of you, and you're just going to have to wait". I pleaded with them to just have some one go turn on my gas, I need heat for the kids, it's 30 degrees out. Nope, wait your turn. It's now day 3 with no heat. I haven't heard from anyone, I have called twice again today, only to be told that there are now 3 people in front of me. Not one person has told me why this is happening, I have no idea what is going on, only that I have paid my bill and I don't have gas. Honestly the worst experience I have ever had as a consumer.

I again told her that I don't care. The house was sold in April of 2011. And I asked why the bill is from Nov. 2011 in my name. She said that I had services turned back on in my name. I had to argue this again that I didn't have services turned on in my name and I want them disconnected. She then told me that I had service turned on in 2004, in which I didn't even own the home. But since I had motor vehicles registered to me there at the time, I was liable. I have never heard of such a thing. I asked for a supervisor and was given Mrs. Craig. Now she hasn't called me back all week. I have been calling her twice a day. Can they charge me for a bill just because I had my car registered to that address?

I got a couple shut off notices, and each time I would call in, and they would say that their systems were messed up, and send in the $121.00. So that's what I did. August came, and I got another shut off notice, so of course, I called in, and this time, every one was being rude to me. They told me their computers were finally working right on the budget plan, and I now owe this much money. It was $1,800.00. I was like, holy **! There is no way, because people there don't know how to do their jobs right.

It is not my fault your computers weren't running properly, or the company doesn't know how to add. I was supposed to have this for a year before they did my re-determination, and in 7 months after having it, I got this shut off notice! This is unfair! I have 4 children living at home now. My bill is $2,500. How and why? They should be ashamed of themselves, and I will be doing something to resolve this. I have to figure out how to come up with this kind of money, so my kids don't freeze in the cold. I will go to the local news, and get a lawyer.

I asked for a supervisor, 1 rep hung up on me! After talking to more than one person, the supervisor did talk to me. Let me just say how unprofessional she was working out of Michigan call center. She had no knowledge! She could not give me any information but that It will be a 24 hour window period. I called again a few minutes ago and talked to Loreeta, someone who had actually had took the time to listen and follow through with getting a hold of a dispatch even though I still will have to wait till tomorrow. If the supervisor cared or tried resolving the issue, maybe I would have my service turned on. I am quite upset that I am still waiting when I know that this could of been resolved had I had the right person on the phone instead of getting the run around.

I received service solely in my name for 6 months, and all of the sudden they again, put his bill on mine. Because of the amount of this bill, I was unable to even pay any offered arrangement on the bill, and my service got disconnected, when I have children who are minors. We spent three days without power, before I could afford to get reconnected, and it was really cold.

The kicker was that the bill was due on 10/14/2011 and I was going to pay the $200 on 10/28/2011. It wasn't even a month over and not even 14 days when they sent that out. I contacted Consumers and was told that they automatically generate shut off notices when they are 6 days past due. Really? That's a first for us! I'm not talking even thousands or hundreds; the bill was $200 and they were not giving me 10 days' notice.

I called Consumers Energy and was told that there was a large dog in the yard and they could not read my meter for 6 months and this was make-up pay. Well, I laughed because I do not own a large dog nor do any of my neighbors, but that is what the meter reader put down and now it's set in stone! By the way, the representative was very condescending so I let her have it. I was steaming.

The next day, I had my husband call because I was too upset and he was told to go outside and read the meter, to which he did. Then he was told that my meter isn't working and they haven't been able to read the meter for 12 months. He then told her that yesterday we were told there was a large dog, etc… Her reply was, “Oh, yes and that too.” She said we can put you on a 12-month payment plan. My husband had her on speaker so I heard this and went off on her again. I told her that which is it, a mythical large dog in the yard or my meter doesn't work. Pick one and stick with it.

Now earlier this year, I received a notice in the mail that my meter was not working and I needed to have it replaced so they came out and replaced it. I never heard anything about the meter since. Now a large mythical dog is blocking a meter that hasn't worked in 12 months, even though I have been paying monthly and they told me I haven't paid in 6 months. I decided to call back with a plan on the next day. I was transferred to three different departments after explaining every time why I was calling and being told I will have to transfer you to a different department. Finally, I get to speak with someone to resolve this matter. I was told Consumers Energy is only required to check our meters once a year! So they don't have to check it if they don't want to! Every month is an estimation based on that one reading, which by the way people is taken in the winter months when your gas is at its peak from using your furnace.

I said then why are other people getting a monthly reading? She backtracked and said, “Well, we will read your meter monthly if there are no animals in the yard.” (Mythical dog theory again.) I asked her this, "Lady, I know you pay your gas bill and if you had opened a bill of $582 and it has never been this much since you have owned your home and you were being told these random excuses that are flying out of your mouth right now, you cannot tell me you would not be upset." She had not one thing to say. I said put me on your payment plan and you can speak to my lawyer because you are robbing people and I hung up.

The very next day I get a blue card from Consumers Energy with the meter read dates, one for every month, and a note at the bottom stating that they are only required to check your meter once a year. That all dates are approximate and the reader could come a couple days earlier or not at all. And to have our yards and animals tied up so the reader could get to the meter. Today, I go to pay my bill and when I opened my account online, I find that my 12-month payment plan is 12 weeks! $50 a week on top of the coming months’ bills!

The saddest part of all of this is this state is suffering and struggling day to day with people losing jobs, layoffs, foreclosures, etc.... With the coming winter, not only are they robbing us but they are the only gas company in a lot of areas. Something must be done to stop them. How many families with young children and our elderly going to survive through the winter? How can you go to bed at night with that on your conscience?

Today, they came to turn the power off. I called them and they said that I owe $7,000.00. I said that it can't be right but they said that I have to pay a deposit of $4,500.00 plus what's left. After talking to five people, no one was nice and helpful at all. I was referred to a lady named May (1-866-815-2062). I offered to pay another $1,000.00 on Monday because I have a wedding in there this weekend. She said, "Too bad. I hope the wedding can find another place."

My point is that I have made payments to them but they are not willing to work with us at all. It is no wonder small business cannot make it in Michigan. My heat and electric bill is $2,000.00 a month that is $24,000 a year and my lease is only $1,100.00 a month. I am a very polite guy. I was nice to everyone that I talked to and even said thank you. Why can't I get any help to stay in business over an electric bill? I am a very unhappy business owner in Michigan.

5. I had to take a shower with very cold water, so I eventually developed cold and headache.

Finally, she removed the large amount from my bill. But just a week later, another rep called stating that I need to pay the bill of $4,350. She told me to prove that I didn't live in that address and refused to look at my case. I told her that there is no way I could pay that bill. Apparently, the person on the billing statement was a friend of mine and she got the same bill. She called Consumers Energy and told them that they should remove the large amount from my bill. It was her bill but they told her that they were not going to do that.

About a month later, someone knocked on my door asking me if I had $1,087 or I would be shut off (like I had that kind of money laying around). I had to move and find another place to live where utilities are included because of their mistake!

So, my mom called and she couldn't get through! So then, she emailed them and she got a stupid automated response that didn't help! My mother would like a local number where she can talk to an actual person please! I am furious and I don't want our power turned off!

Well, I wasn't about to ask my brother in-law to camp at our residence with no knowledge of when Consumers would be able to stop by. Keep in mind, we were not sent a notice by mail or contacted by phone to expect a meter replacement or service interruption of any kind. I was told by the first customer representative that the meter reader had noticed the glass cracked on the meter, and thank God, they had replaced the meter the same day. Well, we cut our vacation one day short to come home so we could call Consumers to get our service turned back on -- so we could do needed laundry, dishes etc. The representative told us that they would put a work order in, but couldn't tell us when service would be restored.

Also, this time, I was told the meter was replaced due to a gas leak Obviously, they will tell you anything depending on the representative you get. Now, keep in mind, they supposedly put in a new meter the same day a meter reader noticed some problem with it; but, we have to wait until God-knows-when to get our service restored! I'll leave you with what the first representative told me, 'Sir, it's not like it's cold outside and you are without heat.' No, just every other thing you could imagine. Thanks, Consumers, for ruining a relaxing vacation!

Consumers couldn't care less. They'll open my gate on my side driveway and then leave it open for other trespassers to use. They also have left trash behind when repairing lines. Consumers needs to go.

I sent in 2 payments, but obviously they are sitting on someone's desk because yesterday, my service was shut off. When I got home at 8:30pm from work, I found this out, so I called the "customer service" number on my notice. I spoke with a lady named Terry. She looked into my account, accused me of not making payments since February of 2010 (even though I explained the whole story twice), she made under the breath comments about "if you balance your checkbook, you would see the payments" and then basically accused me of theft stating I had to speak to someone in the "theft" dept!

Again, I was floored. I asked if I should retain a lawyer and of course she said "No, just talk to that dept." I told her that I did not "steal" anything and she said that some people "tamper" with their boxes. I laughed and said that I do not have the time, the want or the knowledge to do something like that! Again, she directed me to the"theft" office and advised me to leave a number where they can reach me. I did leave a message. Remembering back to my conversation with the original lady in February, I recall her asking me if I moved. It looks to me like this is their billing error and I resent being called a thief!

Now, I know when I pay every single other bills online: DTE, AT&T, charge cards, etc. The payment day is the day I make the payment and the charges are processed that day or at the latest, the next day. So, I'm wondering, why does Consumers Energy wait five days to process my payment? Is this a scam of theirs to accumulate late fees? Has anyone looked into this? It seems like Consumers Energy is ripping off the public. Class action suit? Anyone else think this practice is odd? Thank you for your help and concern.

Yet, now, I got a notice in the mail telling me I would be taken off of the "Budget Plan" because I've made two or more late payments! This has got to be a mistake! When I tried to call them on the phone, all I got were irrelevant options which would not apply to my problem, nor was I offered an option to speak with a human voice rep. Who could possibly correct this error? I feel as if I'm being handled like some lazy deadbeat who doesn't deserve to be given any type of a chance to rectify this situation! No one is there for me. It's a mistake. I'm not allowed to correct it, period. Dead line. Nothing. What can I do?

On June 2010, I receive a bill from Consumers with an outrageous amount approx $1800.00. I called and spoke to the rep (did not get her name) and she told me if I can provide proof that I did not live at the home from 12/08 to 5/09 then they will take my ex's charges off of my bill. I faxed over my apartment lease, my divorce papers, my Semco bill and everything they asked for as complete proof that I did not reside in the home. My divorce papers also state that any bills in his name is his responsibility and any bills in my name is my responsibility.

Every month, I had to deal with Consumers trying to shut my gas off, faxing papers and calling them constantly. Then on Dec 10, I spoke with the rep that has been handling this case and she informed me that it doesn't matter if I didn't live in the home. It doesn't matter what the court papers say, she said since I was still legally married even though I filed for divorce and did not reside in the home, then his bill is my responsibility. I explained to her I can not afford that and I have a small child and it's just her and I. I don't get any type of child support or state aid. She said it did not matter. I asked several times to speak to someone higher up and she refused to let me speak to anyone. She told me, she is the Sr. Rep for my account and she is more than capable to handle this situation and would not let me speak to anyone higher up. Every time I call, I get transferred to her or to someone who is taking her calls when she is not there. She then told me to fax her all the info again (this is the 4th or 5th time I had faxed it). She would review it and to call her in a couple of days.

I faxed it to her twice and called over 10 times. She does not have voice mail and even sent her a fax asking her to call me. She never called me back. On Jan 26, 2011, I was home with the flu and Consumer Energy came to my home to shut my heat off. I explained the entire situation and the guy told me he will be back in an hour and I have 1 hour to either pay the amount or to have the issue worked out. I called Joy at Consumers and she did not answer. I called the main # for Consumers and I was transferred to Christy and she tried to reach Joy and was unable to. She then informed me that it doesn't matter who's name the bill was in or what the court papers say that if I don't assume responsibility for my ex-husbands bill then they will shut my gas off that day. I told her I don't have $2000 to pay the bill. She then told me my only option was payment arrangements and I had to pay $175 by Feb 9 and then I had to pay $380 plus my current months bill every month on or before the 9th or they will shut it off.

I can pay my own bill but I can not afford an additional $380 for my ex's bills. On Feb 9th, I paid $200 (even though I was told $175). Today I received a phone call from Consumers saying I was in default and I received a bill stating I owe an additional $58 or they will shut my gas off within the next couple of days. I called Consumers to file a complaint and spoke to a Mrs. ** who was very nice and told me to fax over all the information to her (my apartment lease, my divorce papers, my old gas bill, even the letter my ex wrote stating he is responsible for that bill not me) and she will look it all over.

I don't understand how Consumers can make me pay for a bill that was not in my name, in a home I did not live in during the time the bill was not paid and my ex and I have different last names (I had my last name changed during the divorce). I am a single mom and I struggle every month to pay my bills and I have physical custody of our daughter but I do not receive any type of child support or any state aid. Does Consumers have a right to make me pay for a bill that is not mine? Consumers were the ones who originally told me if I could prove I did not live here during those months, then it is not my responsibility and anyone that did reside in the home during that time and used the services is responsible. Now they are changing their statement. How can this be?

I have never missed a payment and this is still a $55 hike per month over the last winter. Even if I pay if off now, they will make me pay $100 per month until April and I cannot afford this ridiculous, out of line bill. Economically, it dips into my very budgeted lifestyle. Now, I cannot use any type of electric device for heat and my home sits on cement so it is cold. Now, my electric bill is higher than my gas bill. I need help because I cannot afford an attorney.

We fell into the rears with payment for gas. Now we have a $30k bill that is open from last year and we need to have an audit on the bills and an opportunity to pay back the debt while still having gas service. Consumers Energy will do nothing. We have no gas and our company cannot function without gas. This summer they came and removed the old gas meter that was very large and 3 feet x 2 feet and installed a digital unit.

I have never had this problem before and have had Consumers for years. So what's next? I have to put a deposit down and they have sent me a bill for the month that I have not used it. You bet your ** that they want me to pay that. They are ** and need their ** handed to them. It's not my fault that I didn't get the title until today. Everyone there is a bunch of ** monkeys.

I am 80 years old and my husband and I are on a fixed income. It is criminal to charge us this extra amount for this long, and we cannot talk to any person at any of the numbers on the correspondence from Consumers. Please help us, we are at our wits' end!

Anyhow, we lived there for a year and I paid every bill on time every month, and the last month we were living in our newest residents, I receive a bill tacked onto the end of my bill over over 3000.00 dollars. My boyfriend, apparently never shut the service off and consumers never did either. They just kept letting the bill incur charges. I called to ask them why they would put someone else's bill on my bill and their answer was "You benefited from the service at the previous address therefore you are responsible to the charges." Huh?

I ask... "If I buy someone dinner on a credit card and I don't pay the bill, can they bill it to my friends account?" They answer, "We don't know how other companies work." Anyway...so since I was moving in with my mother in her new house, I paid my last bill and shut the service off. Now my mother has service in her name at her address which she never lived at any of my previous address and they have put the 3000.00+ on her bill. She called and told them no, etc..and they took it off. Now we just got another letter that they put the billback on her bill, meanwhile, I am receiving collection notices for collection agencies for the 3000.00+, which isn't my bill, but is on someone else's bill. Now my boyfriend has called and tried to work something out with them and they refused to work with him and rather tack it on someones bill.

I referred them to my ex husband if they'd like to just put it on someones bill, they refused that choice to. Somehow, I don't see this as legal procedure. This company is a bully and has a monopoly and should not be allowed these practices. I am not responsible for other peoples bills as they are not for mine, but this company is burdening people with others' bills. Now for the budget plan they was 924.00 a month? Are you serious?

I'm sorry you gave an individual credit, that's your risk, not mine. So we all now have to check our friends credit history beforehand so we don't get stuck with their bill because we "benefited from the "services." I need help from someone who can bully consumers around.

So after speaking to 2 other customer service reps, and the bankruptcy department because I filed chapter 7 in February, they tell me that my ex's bill is being added to my husband's bill because of me and that it is very legal and that there is nothing that I can do about it and if they want to. They can come after anyone associated with him for payment even my children. I am 11 weeks pregnant, it stressed me out so bad that, I went to the hospital last night because I started bleeding, now I'm on bed rest and threatening a miscarriage. I have a family that is depending on me being able to work, but don't know when or if I can even return to work.

Consumers Energy acknowledges they will be destroying property and killing trees and shrubs, but will not pay for any damage. My husband and I both attempted to reach someone to state that since an existing connection is already in place on the driveway side of the house, put the meter there and be done with it. My husband spoke with an Audrey who supposedly left a message for Kelly **. It is now May 6th and we did not receive a single phone call from Kelly.

I filed a complaint with the MPSC (MI Public Service Commission) who turned the complaint over to Cynthia **. She sent out a letter stating that we had to move the meter to wherever Consumers Energy told us to, pay for all damages created by Consumers Energy out of our own pocket, and if we didn't do it, the gas would be turned off. Also, in mid-April, a man supposedly from Consumers Energy showed up at the house. He is behaving in an intimidating and threatening manner. He said, "You’ve gotta move that meter outside or we'll shut your gas off." He proceeded to say, "We can do whatever we want, the FTC says so." He was wrong about the FTC, but apparently, Consumers Energy doesn't let a thing like accurate knowledge get in their way.

I tracked down the name of a board member and complained about all of the above. I was contacted by Catherine ** who said an investigation would be conducted. I was in turn contacted by Hermell ** who told me that we had to do what Consumers Energy told us to do or they would shut the gas off. When I told her about the person showing up at my house and what ensued, she said, "Our people always wear their badge around their neck. My people would never do anything like that." And refused to do any sort of investigation into who was in the neighborhood or was this individual impersonating a utility employee.

Since John was not wearing a badge around his neck when he was here in March, he in face had it clipped to his clipboard that negates what Hermell ** stated. Also, without conducting any sort of investigation, she cannot accurately make such claims. Also, there are now at least 4 people at Consumers Energy who are aware of the attitude of one of their employees and if this was not an employee of theirs (again, an investigation would need to be conducted to confirm if this was an employee) then someone is impersonating a utility worker. Those 4 people have chosen to do nothing. They have chosen not to alert the local police department, post any notices on their website, or alert the local media.

Now, today on 4/28/10, I talked with them about my rebate. They said there won't be a credit because it is my fault because I didn't call and have it changed when they send out rate letters to their residential customers. While I was not a residential customer, so I did not receive a letter so I had no way of knowing. until I started talking with my mother and her bill was about half of mine.

I believe I should get back what I over paid. I believe they are doing this because this is the only way I can get electric service in my area so I have to use them. It sounds like a monopoly. They can do what they want, when they want and the customers have to deal with it. Struggling to pay bills and support a family of three.

Consumers charged him for his electric bill at his house, and her electric bill at her house, and now they are charging me because we live together and I had to put the electricity in my name until he can figure out how to sue her for her electric bill. I called and tried to get all the paperwork they asked of me, and they said they didn't receive my fax although I have confirmation. This whole time, I thought I was dealing with Consumers Energy and it was LJ Ross Collection Agency all along. They never identified themselves as such. They have transferred the balance to my account, and I am anticipating my $500 electric bill added to the $2997.46. How can they legally do this? This is a lot of stress and running around like a dog chasing its tail. It is extremely dizzying.

All they would could tell me was today. I informed them that I have four children that I need to keep warm. That did no good. I offered to pay my bill over the phone, they will only take a check. The second time I called today, the nice rude man that I talked to asked when I made the appointment to get my gas turned back on. I told him around 9 pm last night. He then told me, "Well then, they will be there before 9 tonight."

I called them at 2pm, and they said someone will be there within 24 hours. So someone finally showed up at about 12 or 1 pm the next day. It was about 30 degrees in my house. And it was 9 degrees outside that night.

Now, today in February, I go online and I owe another $219. They charged me over $130 to come and turn my gas back on. If they would have called prior, I would have paid before they shut my gas off. I thought they had to contact someone who lives in Michigan during the winter prior to shutting off gas. They said part is all that I owed was $107. I can't believe they would shut gas off for that in these times and when it was so cold out! Do I have a case?

So they give me a restore confirmation number and stated that it should be on within 24 hours and someone will need to be at the home. Well, this call took place at 3:00pm. It is now the following day, and no one has arrived. I called like four times, and I got the same "song and dance." Someone will be out soon.

Finally at 3:00pm, I called and asked to talk with a supervisor. The supervisor stated that someone was on their way at 3:00pm. And she refused to give her full first and last names but only her first which she said was Andrea. She was uncaring and downright rude. I just hung up the phone. Well, 4:00pm rolled around and no one showed up.

I called again, and guess what? It was put into the computer that I was not here to receive services. So we all know this is a flat-out lie! It is 22 degrees with a young daughter and pet in the home, and I would walk away from this serious situation. Consumers Energy and their employees just figured they could teach me a lesson by not turning the heat back on. Now, I am still sitting in freezing temperatures with no assistance. This is a common practice with Consumers Energy, and someone needs to sue them for inhumane treatment!

The following day (11-25-2009), we called Consumers again and we were told that my fiancee's identity had been stolen and that we needed to call the police. We did and filed a report. Then, that same day, we went to Consumers to drop off a copy of the report and documents showing that we had not resided in Michigan ever and, in fact, were not in the country when the phantom account accrued the later transferred in charges.

On 12-9-2009, a voice mail left with us stated that our documents were received but they needed the police report. I called back and left a message with the report #. On 12-10-09, the same person (Mrs. **) left a message saying she needed the report (the thing that police have, because it is still open) and she can't "do anything" with a report number. On this same day, another bill arrived with a notice that our power and heat would be shut off on Christmas Day, we are going to owe more charges, and our credit rating will be affected.

Well, it stayed in Chris' name and he had a child so they just sent the regular bill to my address from Jan. to now Oct 1st. The reg. bill of this address had been paid on time and in full. The thing is, Chris moved out because I kicked him out because he could no longer pay his 3rd of the money for rent and bills and then I tried to get my landlord's keeper to get him off my lease and to write a letter of dismissal to Consumers power which is still not done and by mistake, in the beginning she accidentally put Chris for head of household when it was really me because she did a full background check on me and I passed with flying colors.

Well, now as of 09/30/09, I got the bill for this month and it was reg $33.18 plus $718.94 of Chris' old bill on this bill which they told me will never happen because they knew that Chris hadn't lived here since April 2009 and as of Oct. 1st, I finally got Chris to talk to them after I talked to Consumers power. I finally got it in my name but they are still making me pay $240 deposit which I know for a fact that I had two other addresses I had with Consumer Energy in my name before, that I always paid on time as usual but they want their stupid deposit of $240 or they shut my electricity off. That's not fair when I've been unemployed with benefits. They want me to spend on a deposit when I've been paying the bill on time since December 2008 till now and still, I am forced to pay this deposit and my big opinion is that they just want my deposit to invest it and get more rich off my money. And then when they're done, they're going to pay it back if they ever do plus some interest, and at the time they're going to make a lot of money off my deposit which is illegal and that's where it comes down to.

I gave them the proof that Chris hadn't lived here since April 2009 and they still won't go after him for what he owes to them. So I'm just a guy that pays my bills on time and trying to make it while my ex-friend, Chris, is running away from his responsibility and Consumer Energy won't even accept small payment of the deposit so I don't mess up my other bills and now they want the whole deposit. I am so mad at them that I even have a friend that used to work for them as a manager and she told me that what Consumer Energy did to me is wrong and that they shouldn't make me pay a deposit of $240, because I had previous addresses with Consumer Power in my name and never was late. She is 100% sure that they can't charge me that deposit even though I get it back when they decide to with some interest but now I see that all that Consumer wants is my deposit so they can get rich on investing my money for their benefit.

As they told me on the phone that my old addresses that I lived at don't count, their new policy is newcomers to Consumers have to pay a deposit. That's why I know they just want to invest to get richer. That's my complaint and I hope what goes around comes around. They will get punished one day for their illegal actions. Well, I know that they want my deposit so they can get richer.

Today it is September 11 and I did not receive a call yet. So I called them back and today they said that my service has already started on September 6 and that if I do not fax a copy of my SSN, driver’s license and lease agreement by September 14th, my service will be stopped. I really got pissed off when they said that. I asked them that you were supposed to call me which you never did and now you are going to cancel my service if I do not fax my details. How the hell would I know that they already started my service? Not only that, they were being so rude on the phone. When I asked the guy today, he said I don't know. I am not responsible for that. I am just saying what it shows on my account. He said that in a very rude way. I felt like saying to him to go flush himself in a ** pot!

Consumers Energy sucks big time!

I talked to several people and nobody would help us. My husband was called a thief and a liar and was told to pay the bill and they would turn our power back on. I then went to Saginaw on Tuesday to pay the bill only to be informed that I did not have a balance. Imagine my frustration. So, they directed me to a wall full of phones to call yet again and to tell my story for the 20th time. Finally, I find a tech who does a little investigation. She informs me that I have two accounts and my bill is going to the wrong address. After several apologies, she tells me this is their fault and we will have power restored that day. They are going to credit my account for any inconvenience this has caused. I go home and wait all day for my power to be restored and surprise - no one comes. I keep calling and they tell me they have no record of having shut it off. I want to pull my hair by then. So they next day, I call again and again no one knows anything except Tara the tech who helped me on Tuesday. She finally gets my power turned back on at 12:30 on Wednesday.

Besides the inconvenience of having no power for 4 days, I lost food in my fridge because the generator (which cost around $10.00 a night) could not keep it running adequately. We would have to shower and do laundry at our families’ houses. We had to eat out every meal for 4 days. I had to waste gas money and time to drive to Saginaw to pay a bill that I never even paid because they did not have a balance for me. But mostly, it’s the frustration and anguish this has caused my husband and myself. They made us feel like criminals. I have never been so frustrated and angry in my whole life. I want redemption. I know I have to pay my bill and I have no problem with that, but they should have to pay, too. This should have never happened and an apology just does not do it for me.

After we moved out together into my current apartment, she even let a lady with her kid and dogs live there for free using the electric. She never turned off her Consumers Energy account. I felt bad for her because I knew her credit would be bad from the house so I let her move with Nick and me. When we moved into my current apartment, I never knew she didn't pay the Consumers Energy bill. In fact, she was way behind on paying it and Nick and I were never late on paying her the $500 for rent and bills. From May until November of 2008, she only made one payment in July and we moved out a couple days before Oct. 1st.

So Betsy lived in our new apartment at a new address until May of 2009 and is still on the lease because I can't legally take her off of it. She moved out because we got into a fight on vacation, although she's entitled to pay her remaining part of the rent for the rest of the lease until Oct. I'm just glad she's gone so I haven't taken her to court for the rent yet. She never even told us she was moving out. I got home from work and her stuff was gone. She totally ruined the carpet in her room. I know we won't get our deposit back. They may even bill us for new carpet.

A lot of belongings of mine were missing when she moved out including my brand new $170 camera. She has caused me so many problems already. So now, almost a year after being at this new apartment, I just received a bill from Consumers Energy for $771 and some change for the past due bill she never paid, for the condo she let get foreclosed, and the bill there was never in my name. I don't understand how they can legally transfer someone else's account onto mine in this new apartment when I was paying her for the bills at the condo.

When I spoke to customer service, they were very rude and told me that's a problem between her and me now because since we shared the same address at the time that I'm basically the unlucky co-signer for her bill and I get stuck with it. I just turned 20 and I have been living on my own for three years and have never been behind on bills. I am very responsible and I've never been late with Consumers, so why am I stuck with this?

She is 27 and is so irresponsible and back living at home with her parents and pregnant from her ex-boyfriend, so why am I held accountable to pick up her slack for an account I was never aware of until almost a year later? I've won a court case last year for a 14-year old kid with his mom's car who totaled my car parked on the street. They didn't have insurance on the car or any money to give me so I never got my court costs back or any money to replace my car. I was out $3,000+ even after I won the case. There was no legal help in getting me the money I was owed so I hope I don't get put back in the same situation. I just need help. I don't know what to do.

Consumers Energy already sent me a letter that the remaining balance will be added to my account by the next billing cycle. They told me over the phone that they would turn off my electricity if I didn't pay. I have to work even more hours to pay her part of the rent. Betsy stole things from me out of the apartment. She also never left her apartment or mail box key behind so I had to get the locks changed.

In Feb. of 2009, I submitted a complaint with MPSC in which no resolution occurred when having dialogue with the CP billing supervisor and I then requested a hearing. I was never granted that hearing, continued to receive shut offs and therefore did make additional payments which totaled $608 just to prevent shut off. Well, I was unaware that when I obtained the bill with my son's and my name on it, the account number pertaining to the address was changed. Payments exceeding $608 are on the previous account in which Consumers Energy currently refuses to credit my current account, even after providing proof of payment from my bank to Consumers Energy. I did request another hearing with the MPSC and again, neither representative nor MPSC has given me the opportunity to present this case in court.

I have a utility company that put a utility bill in my son's and my name without permission, charges occurring at my current place of residence for another individual's debt, the inability and denied my basic right to present this case in court, refusal to refund or properly credit my current account even with Consumer's Energy being provided proper documentation regarding this matter (the account numbers changing on this address really did a number), denial of any payment arrangement or collaborative effort to resolve this matter with Consumers Energy showing up today to shut off my gas. If there is anyone that can provide me insight on how to obtain relief from this situation, I would be very grateful. This has caused such stress that is unimaginable. I feel that this company is allowed to do whatever they want and have no consequences. In addition, their business is conducted under duress.

So on April 27, 2009, the crew came to move my meter. I started complaining to them so they called their supervisor Marv, reached at the same number I provided. He came out and agreed with the crew stating, "I don’t want to dig by those trees as there is a 50-60% chance we could kill them." Then Marv said, "We will move the meter to the side of your house (right on the driveway).” My driveway is 1 year old plus it’s dangerous if a car would hit it (are they trying to kill my family?), so I said. “Fine, put it there, give me a check for $10,000 so I can have my whole driveway redone.” Plus, I told Marv that Consumers Energy, the police and the fire depts would be at my house every day to fix the smashed meter, as I would hit it with my car daily. Consumers’ solution - “We will move it to the other side of your property but have to charge you $600-$1,000.” I laughed.

Marv said I must do it their way by next summer or I have to pay regardless. Marv said they wouldn’t do anything that day and he would talk to his bosses to see if he could get them not to charge me and the meter moved out. The coordinator will call me in a few days. Last I heard about it till today. May 11 2009, I called the meter move out coordinator to see what’s going on, retold them my stance and she restated, “Consumers Energy policy: Consumers Energy will not pay for the damage to the cedar closet, we know we are damaging it, but we will not pay. As far as your trees, we will not damage them and will only pay if we kill them.” Now, when you dig around a tree, you cut roots and trees die (even Marv and the crew agreed).

There are 3 outcomes to this story: 1) Consumers Energy does the right thing and pays for any damage; 2) I refuse to let them move my meter and they shut off my gas services (am I living in Nazi Germany?); 3) I resolve this my own way and would need a great defense attorney. Any help would be great. Thank you very much.

Btw, I also called MPSC (Michigan Public Safety Commission) at 1-800-292-9555 (they are making consumers move all meters). They said, "We don’t regulate the repair side of it, I can’t help you." Consumers Energy is going to cause thousands of dollars in damage to my home and not have to pay for it. If we caused that much damage to someone’s property, we’d be put in jail. It doesn’t seem like the American way to me.

This seems like a ludicrous way to do business. Even though we have been current on our bills, we were handed a huge bill due to Consumers Energy's bad business practices.

My mom is a Consumers retiree so I had her look at my bills. She told me that what they are doing is double billing and they can't do that. It makes sense it is double bill, as there are no other bills showing cycles like this. On 4/9/09, I spoke with Mandy and she advised the same things I'm seeing in other complaints posted, it was a cold season. Give me a break. When I told her about the double billing, she told me it might look that way, but they didn't really double bill me. I asked her, "Do you think I'm that stupid?" Here we are first of May and I have been trying to reach someone to work with me on this for two months. No luck, much like all the other posts. I call, leave a voicemail, no return call.

So, I called today, determined I wasn't going to hang up without an answer. I was on the phone for 30 + minutes, transferred 4 times and when I reached Mann (that was the name of the lady), I told her I've opened a complaint case and Claudia ** is my caseworker but she refuses to call me back. She started telling me, "Ma'am, it isn't that she doesn't want to call you back, we are busy." What? I said, "Two months, give me a break." She started raising her voice at me, so I requested a supervisor. I was transferred yet again to Monica ** and guess what, I got her voicemail. I left her my home and work number, told her I expected a call back and given I've not received a call back in two months, I was going to file with Consumer Affairs. I will continue to pay my bills but only for what I have used. I refuse to pay for something that appears to be fraudulent at best.

We do not have this onetime payment amount and cannot get anyone to communicate with us so we can make payment arrangements. All we wanted was our bill so we could pay it back in November 2008 and they have made this a nightmare. I have seen the complaints online against this company which are too numerous to mention. This is a horrible company, with horrible employees! It's time for someone to compete for their business!

Two days after receiving the bill for December, we got a shut-off notice for $358. We went to the Consumers Energy today, 1/19/09, and talked to customer service through their phone service there. I talked to a lady named Camron, who told me that they were estimating our bills from the year previously due to problems with a new system. But last year, at this time, we had no electricity. We were running off of the neighbors because we had to save up $3,500.00 to turn the power back on. Also, Ms. Camron asked if we were using any gas. I told her yes and that we still have not gotten a bill whatsoever for that. She said it wasn't in their computers that the gas was even turned on and that we were to go home and write down the reading on the gas meter. She would contact us at 6PM to get the reading.

When she called, my husband spoke to her and gave her the reading. Afterwards he asked her if we were going to get a big bill. She replied, "You're gonna get what's coming." He then again asked her about the light bill. She replied, "What do you think? You are gonna get all summer for free?" That we are going have to pay and that the gas bill we will receive will be a catch up bill. In other words, we are going to be slapped with a giant bill we can't afford due to their mistake in their computers. The lady was very rude to my husband. We were at the end of our ropes. We feel that the whole issue is out of hand and that it isn't our fault that they were not billing us properly.

My husband had spoken on a couple occasions to the meter readers and asked them why we weren't receiving any bill. They said they just read the meters. I've called on numerous occasion and failed to even get the chance to talk to someone. When I finally got through, I'd explain the problem only to get put back on hold and transferred to another department, only to get no answer. After sitting on hold for 20-45 minutes, it gets frustrating. Now that I did speak to someone, I am very upset and frustrated. Nothing got resolved.

In 2001 I had a family of 4. In 12-03-2003 my husband was killed that reduced my family to 3. I would appreciate it if someone would look into this matter. There is an gross adjustment to my bill without sufficient explaination.

I told her there were 2-3 trees that were close to the pole that may have to come down, and I didn't mind this, but we did not want our land scaping cut down to nothing(the area cleared was clearly landscaping). She said she would talk to her supervisor and that either she or her supervisor would be out to look at the situation and to talk to me about it. Yesterday I came home from work and all the trees were cut down completely.

Now a baren burm next to the busy road where our beautiful pines once stood. Property value dropped $50,000. Safety issues now that the busy road is right in our back yard, and the cost to replace such a road buffer is high.