Duke Energy

I have been using my bank's online bill payment to pay Duke Energy for several years, on and off. I also used to work for this particular bank. When customers pay bills online, there is always a possibility for tech error. I sent my payment ($347) to be delivered on time and the payment was not delivered effectively this month. Duke shut off my power and claimed I would have to pay $371 to restore it today. After much deliberation, I was able to explain to the rep that this was no fault of my own, and that I had first-hand experience helping people in this situation when I worked for the bank. There is a simple solution: generate and send a proof of payment from the online banking portal and fax to said payee.

I've been living at my home for over 20 years, never a late payment. Last month I was late on my payment. Had family emergencies in January. So electricity was shut off and I paid it late the same afternoon. Took almost till midnight for them to come out and turn it back on. Now I received a letter saying that "because of my excellent payment reputation I was refunded my deposit many years ago, however they are required to charge me $325 deposit that I'll get back in 23 months if I am not late paying again". Really? So these ** won't give me one break and will take $325 from me and not give it back for almost two years? This company needs to be investigated. All we need is another electric company and maybe this sort of crap won't happen. Basically we are at their mercy for them to do whatever they want.

For several years my billing cycle has been 45 days from meter reading to due date, but suddenly without notifying us, Duke has condensed it to 2 weeks (at the most expensive season of the year) so that two months worth are due all in one month! (Dec. 28th reading due Feb. 15 then the Jan. 30th reading due Feb 22nd!) I spent over an hour on phone with customer service and took forever for them to understand, and claim there is nothing they can do!! Such a shame there is a monopoly on energy companies that you can't change. URG!!

Their website says "free online bill pay" but they charge $1.50 for a convenience charge residential, $8.50 for business. Trying to figure out where the "free" comes in. I can't find anything about it on any of their sites, nor can I get in touch with anyone who can answer the question.

I called in to ask about my FIRST bill that it may be coming due and I have not received a bill. She kept asking me questions about how I want to pay the bill. I kept stating that "I HAVE NOT YET RECEIVED A BILL". I told her I am not calling to pay and that I NEED A BILL SENT to me which is what I thought she would gather from me continuing to tell her that I do not have one. She said, "Well one was mailed out." I said, "I do not have it." She said that I "need to take it up with the post office". I said to her to please send me a bill because I do not have one. She said one will be mailed out and hung up. For some reason, I felt I need to call back. She did not note my account nor was going to mail out a bill because the bill needed to be requested from another department. I wish there was another company I could switch to. Sigh.

Tried a dozen times or more to set up auto draft on their website. I have auto draft for a business account I have with them, and it works, however they put all the accounts together. You have to figure out which ones are or are not on auto draft. And one was not on auto draft so I tried multiple times online to add it over multiple months and it would not work, kept giving an error. Finally called. It took the rep 2 or 3 times to get it on there, or so I thought. She apparently could not get it added either. The bill comes again this month, non-payment even though it was set up on auto draft and more late fees added. I will be getting my late fees back, and reporting them and their crooked way of doing business everywhere I can. They are the worst, if you are considering buying a house and they are your electric company, do not buy the house.

Last month I received my electric bill for $87.42. I was a couple days late sending it and sent them $90. I get my current bill that’s now stating I owe $256 and are threatening to disconnect me. They’re all of a sudden claiming I didn’t make a payment on December 3rd when I in fact did. I have the bill in front of me stating that money was credited to my account and the balance is zero. I used their same day pay on December 3rd and I’m 100% positive my account had sufficient funds. It says it was returned December 13th even though I used their same day pay and I have a bill in my face stating my account at Duke was credited for that amount.

It's not just me. Everyone I know and quite a few people on social media, are making it a point to cut back and try to conserve but the bill just goes up and up and... In my specific case, I cut my breakers off and leave for the day. STILL my bill goes up. So I do without heat, you can see your breath inside my house because I can't afford my energy bill, and STILL my bill goes up. The bill goes up month after month since I moved in. When I am there, it's one light bulb, t.v. and fridge- that's it. It's a very small place. But despite that my bill QUADRUPLED in one month with no signs of slowing down. They are blatantly stealing from me and quite a few others. There is nothing I can do??? From what I gather it's a common problem.

I am trying to pay my bill online. The system won't let me. I follow all the prompts but it still won't work. I have spent the last 45 minutes trying to reach a human being with no success. I even tried to get thru to corporate headquarters in Charlotte. Nothing but recordings. This is absolute **. I guess when you're a monopoly and the consumer has nowhere else to go. It doesnt matter to them. Duke Energy sucks... big time!!!

I have been with Duke for over a year and they randomly decided to charge me a deposit fee of 350.00 on top of my regular bill. They make it hard for you to view your actual bill. They make it difficult for solar panel owners to receive accurate bills. This company does what they want without having to answer to anyone. Horrible service.