There is something that concerns me regarding Direct Energy, their accounting procedures, and their unwarranted rude treatment of good standing customers. I have had the displeasure of being a Direct energy customer since August of 2007 when the building I moved into suggested them as a service provider because they have an agreed upon rate. Not having dealt with this company before, I went along with the rest of the building’s tenants.

Like many people today, I use an online bill pay service. I have for years, and not once have I ever had a problem with a payment not reaching one of my vendors in a timely manner. That is, until I started dealing with Direct Energy. The first instance, I believe happened in April of 2008—I get a phone call wanting to know where my payment was. Not once did they consider the possibility that there was a screw up on their end—it was immediately accusatory in tone and the person on the other end of the line did nothing to apologize. She immediately wanted to arrange payment of a bill I had already paid weeks prior and wanted to charge a late fee. When I finally got a chance to explain to her the payment had been sent, it had been posted to my checking account, and that she was barking up the wrong tree, the only help she offered was that I could either pay the bill again or call my bank, get them to send a copy of the cashed check and wait around for a payment trace. Fine. It’s 30 minutes out of my day, but unlike some people, I work hard to pay all of my bills early (forget on time—I plan for bad things to happen) and keep my payment history on any account I have in excellent standing. When I talk to my bank, the check had indeed been cashed—however it was applied to the wrong account, even though the correct account number had been provided.

The very next month, I get another accusatory call wanting to know where my payment was. I immediately thought she was calling about the past month’s debacle and started to explain it had been taken care of, no thanks to her company, but no. They literally did it again. Only this time, this particular employee was very rude in her approach, so I advised her it wasn’t particularly smart business tactics to accuse people with good payment histories (which she could easily see when looking at my account) that they were somehow deadbeats and terrible customers. Nothing but attitude in her retorts to my concerns about repeated poor accounting. Again I call my bank, to have the matter sorted out. And again the check had been cashed, and again, it had been applied to the wrong account.

Several months go by and things were quiet. No threatening phone calls, no need for me to take time out of my busy day to track down information so they can correct their mistakes, and I start to worry less. Until last week, when I get another phone call—this time from a poor gentleman that barely speaks English. Again, where is my payment? I paid it on January 2nd—it was due January 14th. You would think that would be plenty of time, but you would be wrong. At least this guy seemed remotely concerned that his company may have made the mistake when I frustratedly explain the prior experiences. And of course, he apologetically tells me there’s nothing he can do—that I have to once again go through the payment trace process to get this matter resolved. Again I call my bank—and again the check was cashed on January 12th, only this time my bank has all of the contact information saved and it took slightly less time on the phone. I’m now waiting to receive fax confirmation of my check being sent their way, so that after a few days, I can call Direct Energy back and make sure they find my check and actually apply it to my account instead of someone else’s, and of course, make sure the late fees get reversed on my account.

Since I am a numbers person, I did the math. I’ve had this account with Direct Energy for 17 months, where 3 of those months they’ve screwed up and skirted the line of harassing me for money. That’s a 17.65% error rate, where I and my bank have to do the leg work to fix their mistake. That’s almost a one in five chance that I will get a harassing phone call demanding money I’ve already given them. And that’s almost a one in five chance I’ll have to take time out of my already busy work day to fix a problem that isn’t mine so my account history isn’t tarnished. If the accounting department at my company had that kind of an error rate, they’d get fired. If my company’s customer service team approached our customers with the kind of attitude Direct Energy’s employees do, we’d lost those customers. So I am left in a precarious position. Fortunately for me, I am moving out of this particular building in April, so my headaches will be relieved then. However, how many other people face this same problem? How many others don’t have a choice because the building they live or work in has a contract with Direct Energy? If you play the odds I’ve been given with Direct Energy, they’re not good.
So, I plead with you to run this letter—let the rest of the DFW area know one customer’s plight with Direct Energy. Hopefully, it educates at least a few to avoid them and save the trouble. I know I’ll never do business with Direct Energy ever again. If they ever acquire a company I do business with, I’ll immediately switch. My distaste for their name will never go away. Whenever I talk to friends, customers, even complete strangers—I’ll be sure to let them know how terrible Direct Energy has been to me. I wouldn’t wish this experience on a nemesis… if I had one.