‘No one wants to see that on their credit report’: Direct Energy customers frustrated after being mistakenly reported to credit bureau

Since moving customer service centres to foreign countries, customer complaints have ballooned.

“I was so stressed out,” said Terri Wattie, a Calgary resident who recently found a derogatory mark on her credit report, courtesy of Direct Energy.

She said she received an email from her credit monitoring app on May 30, alerting her of the mark.

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“It didn’t equal up,” said Wattie, adding that she always pays her bills on time. “No one wants to see that on their credit report. It’s quite humiliating to get an email like that.”

Wattie didn’t know the derogatory mark on her credit report was a mistake until she read CTV News Edmonton’s story about the incident.

“If it wasn’t for that, I honestly would not have had any idea what was going on because Direct Energy did not reach out to me,” said Wattie.

In a statement, Direct Energy confirmed that during a reconciliation with its third-party collections agency, ICE Collections, a “subset” of customers were “inadvertently” reported to the credit bureau.

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CTV News Edmonton reached out to ICE Collections but did not receive a response.

Kristy Kolodychuk also received a notification from her credit monitoring app, alerting her that a Direct Energy bill had gone to collections.

The Fort Saskatchewan resident hasn’t been a Direct Energy customer since February 2024.

“I never got any correspondence from Direct Energy,” said Kolodychuk, adding that the company sent her an email after she had called them and asked for one for her records.

“I’m just very surprised that a company like this has some kind of privacy breach and doesn’t actually individually reach out to their customers or at least send a mass email the moment it happens,” said Kolodychuk.

Direct Energy said the incident was not a breach.

“We want to assure customers that they were not subject to any collections activities,” said Megan Talley of Direct Energy.

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Had she been trying to get a mortgage or a loan, Kolodychuk said she would be in some “serious trouble.”

Wattie and her husband were planning to buy a new car in the coming weeks. The couple was worried the derogatory mark on their credit report would impact their interest rates.

“If we were applying for a mortgage, everything could have gone out the window,” said Wattie. “I don’t think they realize how much of a stressful situation this is for people.”

Since the incident on May 30, both Kolodychuk’s and Wattie’s credit reports were wiped clean of the derogatory mark.

“All erroneous entries have been completely expunged from customers’ credit reports,” said Talley. “It’s as if it was never there.”

Talley said only those who were actively monitoring their credit reports would have noticed. Direct Energy did not make reports of the incident, and said it was made aware by customers contacting the company directly.

Since Kolodychuk hasn’t been a Direct Energy customer for over a year, the utilities company agreed to send her a cheque with the $200 credit.

But she was perplexed as to why they would still have her information on file.

“Our record retention policy is informed by legal and audit obligations,” said Talley. “For former Direct Energy customers, that ranges from three to seven years, depending on the type of record.”

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Wattie was told she would receive a $200 credit to use on her bill as compensation for the incident.

But she doesn’t think it’s enough.

“$200 in this day and age is nothing,” said Wattie. “Half the time, $200 doesn’t even cover half of a month’s bill.”

“For the stress and anguish I went through over the last week, I really don’t think that’s sufficient.”

She said she might consider a different provider after this incident.

Direct Energy said it was sorry for the inconvenience, and if customers still have concerns, to contact its customer service team.

Equifax Canada encourages consumers to request and review their credit reports on a regular basis.

“By doing this, consumers can ensure that their report contains accurate and complete information,” said a statement from Equifax Canada.

Equifax said if a consumer finds information on their credit report that is believed to be inaccurate or incomplete, they can file a dispute with Equifax and/or the company that reported it.