Direct Energy customers plagued with problems

Direct Energy customers plagued with problems Since moving customer service centres to foreign countries, customer complaints have ballooned. Lea Williams-Doherty reports.

Customers of Direct Energy say they’ve experienced hassles and headaches when dealing with the company.

When the company installed new billing software and moved its customer service centres to the Philippines and Guatemala, customer complaints ballooned. Last summer, company executives promised to fix the problems. Yet, a year later, consumers are still complaining about the same problems.

Dan and Claire Girourd's gas was suddenly shut off last week for not paying Direct Energy's bill - even though they've paid their month-to-month gas bills on time for decades via automatic withdrawal. With their son Paul's help, they discovered that, without their consent, someone had signed up their home on a long-term contract.

Paul says when he tried to fix this mess with Direct Energy's representatives in the Philippines, it was a red-tape nightmare.

“In order to get them to cancel the account, we have to prove first that we're not this unknown person,” he said, “and second, that my parents actually own this house that they've owned since the 1950s.”

Melanie Hopkins says, in March, Direct Energy called her and told her to ignore her next bill because a software billing problem had made it five-times larger than it should be. She was directed to pay her next bill, which would correct the balance.

However, when the next bill arrived, it was for an even greater amount. When Hopkins called the company, representatives denied a billing problem ever existed – and they ordered her to pay up.

“They have no idea what's going on and no matter how many times you ask to speak to a manager, you don't get a resolution,” said Hopkins. “It feels like your hands are tied and your options are pay it or risk it going to collections.”

Hopkins says she eventually paid hundreds more than she believes she owed, just to cut ties with the company.

Stephanie McLean, the minister responsible for consumer protection says for years, the province has been dealing with an inordinate number of complaints against Direct Energy. There are almost 2,900 complaints filed already this year.

"These are very clearly unfair practices, and while we've been happy with some of the advancements Direct Energy has been making, there's still a lot of work to do and that's why we're looking at penalties,” said McLean.

Direct Energy's spokesperson, Wendy Tynan, says the company has re-trained its overseas representatives and fixed most of the software problems. Complaints against the company dropped 30 per cent in March and April, but they still have a ways to go.

“There's still little tweaks we need to make to the changes in the system and we're still improving,” said Tynan, “but we have made major strides with respect to that piece.”

The company just created a new Alberta-based complaints-resolution team that they say should improve the situation further.