DTE Energy

I have been paying my energy bill for several months since I moved into a new house. Apparently, that money was routed to my former address/account. DTE had been happily accepting this money. Recently I was getting phone calls threatening to disconnect my service because I hadn't been paying my bill. When I called to correct this and ask why DTE was taking money against an account in good standing, I was told that it was my responsibility to make sure my bills were going to the right location. I completely agree, however; When I kept asking why DTE was taking my money against an account in good standing for months and not contacting me, I was accosted by two customer service reps. I don't think they could have been ruder to a customer. This is another reason why DTE is often used as a case study for poor customer service.

Shut off for $163.90 and told to restart service I would have to pay entire amount which was $382.90 plus reconnect fee plus $400. deposit. That was the first person I spoke. No negotiations. That was on Friday, which meant if I didn’t pay I would go the whole weekend without service. The $163. was due on the 9th, they disconnected my service on the 11th. I asked to speak with supervisor. The 2nd person listened to my explanation. I simply forgot the date and ask them to check my payment history and they would see there were no problems in my pay history so if they would reconsider the deposit because I have custody of my 4 grandkids and it would be a stress maker to try to pay a total of $800 plus. I ask if the $400 could be waived because of my payment history and was told NO.

OMG, over the years they keep getting worse. Lack of internal communication, a terrible website that is often not functioning, and unclear external communication. Today, 30-Nov-2018, I was disconnected twice. I spent 45 minutes on the last call (well over half of that was on hold and getting shuffled around) and ended up speaking with SEVEN! different people trying to make a payment. After connecting with a supervisor, A.H., he went to transfer me to person No. 8 to take my payment info (for the 4th time today), and I got pushed to an unidentified voicemail box! This is the worst experience I've had, but I've had several one- or two-star experiences. I've never had any interaction with DTE that wasn't painful.

My bill is set to autopay. I received my latest bill Nov 7th for 84$ and then a week later a bill for 394$. They say it's from usage dated back to July that wasn't billed and won't do anything about it or even tell me why or how. They monopolized the industry, so easily get away with this kind of scam. They need to be investigated and regulated. Unbelievable.

I was charged twice upon relocation, I spent 2 hours on the phone trying to resolve this, only to be told that it would take 48 more hours. I ACTUALLY HAD TO PAY THE BILL TWICE, and I still cannot get justice. The company sends emails from a no reply account, this doesn’t let the customer communicate with them. This is a awful way to do business, we all need the service, the company knows this and simply does not have any customer services. The worse company!!!

Our bill went up almost 200 bucks a month!!! We are in a world of hurt. It’s unaffordable. They say it’s based on actual readings and refuse to come out and physically read the meters. These new meters are read remotely! No one has ever come here though they claim they been read. There is no way we have used this much energy! They are a horrible company in that they are gouging their customers. They used to be really great. This monopoly is no longer trustworthy.

I contracted for new service for my home and when the first bill came I decided to pay it online. The bill was $113.95. DTE debited my account $11,395.00! This was three weeks ago and I still don't have the refund! I called them and asked them to put the money back into my account. They said that they could not do that and would have to send me a check. This happened on September 24th - it is October 12th and I still have not received a check. I have been on the phone every single day trying to get this taken care of. The first person who answers the phone is so shocked! Then, I get passed to another person who gives me some ** story of why I don't have the check. I called yesterday and they said I would get the check "some time" next week. I asked if I could pick the check up and got "NO".

This company does not charge you by how much energy you actually use. They charge by estimations especially when there is a heat wave. They know that people will be using the air conditioners more often so they raise the true amount of your bill because they know you can't prove that you did not use the amount of energy that they claimed you did and they love to use the lie that it was a hot month or few weeks so the amount of your energy usage went up which is a total lie. I monitored my usage when it is extra hot and not I even suffer through the hot days just not to have a high energy bill but I get them any way even when I am not using the air conditioner at all. They get away with cheating people on these guesstimation bills because they have the lies on their side. I will be looking for another company that don't pull these stunts like DTE Energy.

Just a terrible terrible terrible company... I received notice from them today warning me of a shut off and that I owe not only for this month, but the previous one as well... WHICH I PAID JUST OVER A WEEK AGO!!! I am so sick of them. They double charge you for electricity (check your bills!), shut off your electricity when it's a heatwave, and can't be bothered during the weekend. Even BANKS offer better customer support than these jokers. Honestly about to switch providers to those guys that go door to door.

One star is way too many. After DTE forced us into an easement (under threats taking our land via eminent domain), we entered into a detailed contract. Once the project was done, at least 75 percent of our contract was broken by DTE. We tried during the project to get them to honor the contract but we were just lead on that they would make it right. We will be suing. Oh, by the way, we have photos, emails, video, and audio.

My family suffered sweltering heat as result of Home Protection Plus® appliance protection support personnel, lack of professional integrity. They did not have to lie and pass me from one phone to another. All they had to do is to call me and say, "We screwed up, Your service is Not going to happen today. We know it is hot, so do not stay home waiting for our service guy. We will provide service next day..." And yes, perhaps some cheap apology and other empty words of sympathy that they offer as regular routine.

Second time in two months my power has gone out with no ETA in sight. Last time it took 4 DAYS to come back on. This time it was apparently a little rain that caused the outage. If DTE wasn't a monopoly they'd have to get their thumbs out of their butts or lose my business to another, better company. I only wish I could give them 0 stars instead of 1.

So far (July 24), 3 times since June, with NO adverse weather or temperatures, our 30-home subdivision has suddenly lost power in the middle of the day. There were no "warnings" like flickering lights, at which we RUN to fill our bathtub - so we can flush toilets (we're on a well) and pots so we can wash ourselves and dishes. The recorded DTE message invariably says "cause unknown," and "it will be restored" in some 2 to 4 hours. Just before that time comes around, the estimate is extended by another many hours. This cycle happens at least 3 times before the power eventually comes back on.

My husband and I have a new build up north and we had the gas line discontinued last Fall and it took over 3 months this summer to get them to finally re-hook up the line. Customer service is TERRIBLE. Something needs to be done.

When my inside air temp climbed to 83F, I paid $80 for a service inspection of my 2 year old high efficiency air conditioning (and heating) unit. Found out the problem was not the unit but an air conditioning service interrupter installed by DTE at the request of the previous owner. Called DTE via its purposeful, electronic gauntlet on 10 JUL to have it removed. Not given the option of a service window, was told that DTE would remove it on 11 JUL 2018 and that I would have to be home so that air conditioning could be wired back into main electric box. At 3:30 PM, with an appointment for 5:30 PM, called DTE to find out where service crew was. After 45 MINUTES of mostly a series of holds, was told they would be out there and THAT I DID NOT HAVE TO BE HOME. Upon returning home, found nothing had been done.

DTE Energy is a monopoly and we are being exploited by this company with their increasingly high bills. Looking over the bill they have so many add ons. It is incredible. Why doesn't our Attorney General do something about this? The "distribution" charge on the bill is more than the "supply charge" of which there are two: "capacity charge" and "non capacity charge" whatever that means. Pretty soon no one will be able to afford to turn on a light bulb. And if you are a senior citizen on a fixed income, you are really in trouble. ATTORNEY GENERAL, DO SOMETHING ABOUT THIS MONOPOLY! I THOUGHT MONOPOLIES WERE ILLEGAL!

DTE compares (gas) energy usage each month for individual homes to other "similar" homes and deems the 20% of homes whose gas usage is the least as "efficient". I called the 866 796 0512 help number to get more information about the methodology used as my home was shown to be using some 48% more gas than similar homes. When I questioned the approach used for the unoccupied homes in my area, I was informed that the homes that are unoccupied during the winter are not excluded from the calculations. In my condominium complex, some 75% of the units are unoccupied for some part of the winter, some for five full months. Of course this makes the reporting totally misleading, and identifies those homes that are unoccupied as being efficient, and those that are occupied during the winter as being inefficient.

I have spend in excess of 24 hours altogether on the phone with DTE customer care department dealing with mistakes they have made with billing. I pay my bills early every month and always have. I have moved now for the third time in five years and every time I have moved, there is somehow the discovery that they have been putting the payments I have been making on my current addresses onto the address that was previous. How that even happened... Three times now... I don't even know. And how it is I went 24 months, 12 months, and now 4 months into a new place paying bills and they have never noticed that the bills were going onto the wrong account, I do not know either. I am typing this while I am on hold, yet again, with DTE because my online account is now showing that I have a $509 past due amount on my old address and a new bill for my new address of $183.

We have attempted to update our automatic payment (credit card expiration date) and found that the DTE website would not allow us to do so. When we contacted the customer service department we were shuffled to several other departments only to be told that we had to contact someone else. Each new contact referral required that we wait for an extended period during which we were forced to listen to many many many obnoxious advertisements. DTE has a monopoly and, in our minds, abuse their customers.

We have never, ever had an issue with DTE, surprisingly, I have never heard a bad word about this company. DTE, is a good community partner, always working to improve the lives of its customers.

This company is the absolute worst. They have let people freeze to death in the past, and they will shut off your services no matter your financial stance. I understand the need to pay your bills, but if nothing in the home changes, yet each month your bill goes up $50, $100, even $150, they have no remorse and can only give you excuses, and you must pay what they tell you, no matter how many lights you turn off or how many degrees you go down. If your normal bill is $120 and this month it's $355, but nothing changed in your home, that's it, pay up or live in the dark. Terrible. If there were just one other electric company to give them a run for their money, they would lower their ridiculous price hikes for fear of losing business.

Their customer service is fantastic, and DTE has a plan to help people who can’t afford their bills so they don’t get their services shut off; i.e. people aren’t going without heat in the middle of winter. Their app is so easy to use, and payments I make online are usually withdrawn the same or next day. DTE is the easiest company to work with that I pay bills to each month, and I’m shocked by these reviews. I’d hate to move somewhere where I’d have to use anyone else.

After perusing the reviews here and elsewhere, I have to say the only relief I feel is that DTE’s response (or lack thereof) to my issue is not personal. They screw everyone. Won’t go into all the details but… My mom passed two years ago and had a credit of 200+ on her bill. Since I was the “legal” executor of her estate, I forwarded (per DTE’s request) the documentation required to have my mom's balance transferred to my own account. I figured this should be no problem since DTE is not losing a dime. Wrong!

I have been having so many problems with DTE. Bills changed and charges escalated. I have made numerous attempts to resolve the issue and now it's going on 4 months. Did some research. I will be contacting the Michigan Public Service Commission (MPSC) staff for help and possibly filing a formal complaint process.

DTE billing has to have the worst billing department I have ever encountered. They make the cable company look like rainbows and unicorns. My bill has been incorrect since June 2017. Suddenly I started receiving bills around $200/mo. I have a 900 sq/ft apartment. My bills up until then, the previous 5 years I have lived at this residence, had been anywhere from $75-90. When I called to question the bills - of course no one could tell me why. I gave up after months of trying and just kept paying the balances. I didn't want to risk shut off, since DTE couldn't figure their stuff out...

I have been calling regarding increasing charges and inaccurate readings for three months now. I am part of an income group that struggles check to check already. Now, on top of that I have to be robbed & feel very much violated by a company I am forced to use for my utility services. It's one thing to pay what I owe for services used but it's quite a different beasts to have to pay for something you know you don't owe and you have nowhere else to go. Where's the help for people like me from companies like this? Where's the protection for consumers?? What is going on in this world that this is allowed? How much money do they need to take from the little guy to feel big.?! You Big!!! You win!!! Now may I please just start paying what I owe from now on? I would appreciate that... Thank you.

DTE has sent my account to collections. I am not going into specifics as to how it got there, needless to say it was not completely accurate. After 6 years in collections, they wrote it off, so it should have soon been deleted from my credit history. However just before it was deleted from my credit history, they sold it to a new collection service, which in turn started the 7 year on credit history process over. And somehow, they tracked down a home phone number of my father, where I just happen to be staying temporarily, a number I have never given to anyone, ever. And called me wanting me to verify who I am with address and last 4 of social. Never have I ever dealt with a company like this. I feel as though I am being watched.

I don't even know what to say - worst billing system in the world. They just sent me a new bill for the month of October - services that were previously billed and paid. Where's the consumer protection agency? The public shouldn't have to deal with this level of incompetence.

Let me speak some dirty word first: "** DTE Energy billing apartment and DTE energy customer service". My case is straightforward: DTE energy put my neighbor's address billing ON me. I called the customer service (CS) and they agreed to remove the erroneous. After 1 month, nothing has been changed. I called again, the CS said it would take three months to remove that erroneous. After another 2 months, DTE billing department sent my case to a third party debt collection company meaning they still thought I should pay the error bill. I responded immediately to the third party company and DTE energy. This time they asked me to provide my lease agreement to ensure I am living in the right address, which they never asked in the first two calls. I did and asked DTE energy confirmation of the resolution of my case, but I never got.

DTE switched my account to ebilling without my knowledge or consent. When they sent a bill to my email it promptly went to my junk mail without my awareness. I then missed that month's bill payment. When I found the ebill I promptly called DTE to end the ebilling service, and reinstate my paper billing, which they said they would do. I made sure to ask if I would receive the next bill in time for on time payment. They said yes. This was on December 3rd. By December 14th still no bill. I called them again and they said they had stopped my ebill but hadn't sent out a paper bill. When I asked why they said they didn't know and weren't sure why the last representative hadn't done what she said. Truly pathetic.