I had a 5 year gas contract with Direct Energy which got completed in Aug 2009. I never consented to renew the contract with Direct Energy. Now I have received a bill with Direct Energy rate of 3 times the market rate for the gas. When I called Direct Energy they advised me that they automatically renewed the contract for 1 year at a predetermined high rate. I requested them to cancel the contract immediately, to which I was told that I will still be billed for next 2 billing cycle at such a astronomical rate. By doing a search on internet I noticed that I am not alone in getting cheated like this. Is there any consumer protection against such practices?

Let's say my story with them. On Sep.12th i called in to transfer my bill to a new address on Sep. 26th. Someone there says "Good, it will be done!" I am happy! when Sep.26th i called in . they say call epcor to make sure i can i have power on which is unusual epcor turned off the power in my new address. Lol what i know!? and they say they will make a request for me and let me wait for 1 to 5 days! OK, and i called on following monday. they say wait for it. OK, called in on Thursday. What you know!! ? suprise!!! Someone there say the request send wrong. They gonna send a request now. and let me call epcor next morning to make sure they received it???? LOL, i am sick with there customer service. when i ask them why they would not call me if there's wrong with it! ? they say they always tell the customer to call back next morning to follow up their cases. which i did not get asked! anyway! bad service ! and i will change to another billing company for sure sometimes soon!!

Direct Energy - Incompetent employees. My electric statement arrived on Friday, Aug. 14 (the due date), so I immediately called Direct Energy and told the rep. I wanted to pay a portion of the bill (had never asked to pay only a portion of my bill in my lifetime...was always on time). She said she would waive the $2.95 "pay by phone" and the late charge since I received my bill on the due date. I said I would pay $200.00 toward the Electric bill and the other $78.90 by the Aug. 21. On Monday the $200.00 was taken from my checking acct. We received confirmation that the $200.00 wasn't due until Aug. 21 and the remaining $78.90 was due on Sept. 21. Well, by the time Sept. 21 arrived we had received 4 disconnect notices. They all said that our electricity would be shut off if payment was not received by Sept. 4. Plus, these notices stated I had a past due balance of $81.85. Wrong!!
After talking with a total of 3 people with Direct Energy, I talked with a supervisor who was willing to remove the $2.95 plus the late fee, but said it was all our fault that we broke the Deferred Payment Plan. It was actually the woman I talked to on Aug. 14 who never followed thru with her promises. Anyway this supervisor on Aug. 31 said that there was no way that the $2.95 could have been removed immediately, that it would take 2-3 months. Today I talked with two other people who were not any help and finally talked to another Supervisor who was very helpful (if she follows thru). She stated that the credits could have been done immediately, not in 2-3 months. (This says a lot about the knowledge of the first supervisor's knowledge of company policy, and also about the person I talked with on Aug. 14.) Now the last Supervisor states that she is turning this over to their Investigation Department and I should hear something within 24-48 hours. We shall see...stay tuned! mac

Last summer I had a Direct Energy canvaser come knocking on my door. He told me that if I switched to direct Energy, I would get a lower rate for gas and save money in the winter than if I stuck to Maintoba Hydro. This turned out to not be the case. I am paying a few points higher than my local energy and gas company and I am on a 5 year contract that is supposedly expensive to get out of. I called Direct Energy and they said that I shouldnt've been told that I would be paying a lower rate. Now I'm stuck in 5 year contract paying over $300 for gas a month. Who the hell can afford that on a modest income?

Last summer I had a Direct Energy canvaser come knocking on my door. He told me that if I switched to direct Energy, I would get a lower rate for gas and save money in the winter than if I stuck to Maintoba Hydro. This turned out to not be the case. I am paying a few points higher than my local energy and gas company and I am on a 5 year contract that is supposedly expensive to get out of. I called Direct Energy and they said that I shouldnt've been told that I would be paying a lower rate. Now I'm stuck in 5 year contract paying over $300 for gas a month.