Direct Energy Services
Reviews and Complaints

I too was promised lower rates and signed a contract for my previous house. Low and behold the rates from hydro one were much cheaper actually half the cost! We recently moved houses and I decided to go back to hydro one. No where was I told that the contract followed me. As far as I was concerned it is null and void when I changed homes. I was hit with a $700 fee for apparently "breaking the contract". They never had cheaper rates from the very beginning so the sales people lied from the very start. Do not get mixed up with this company. They are the ultimate rip off artists.

My wife and I have been put through the ringer by Direct Energy. A few months ago we noticed on our Enbridge Bill that we had charges from Direct Energy for a Water Heater. We have never signed a contract with Direct Energy and already have a water heater from another company. We decided to contact Enbridge to rectify the problem but were redirected to Direct Energy. What ensued was a series of phone calls in which we were kept on hold for hours or were told that we would receive a call back but none came. Finally after 5 hours of wasted time we agreed to have one of their ‘techs’ come in to actually see that we don’t have one of their water heaters. He came to our house and verified this. We thought that it would be over after this but the next month we got another bill from Enbridge with charges from Direct Energy. We contacted Direct Energy again and after several calls and after being put on hold for several hours we were told that since the original tech forgot to put in notes that the water heater was not from Direct Energy we would have to have yet another tech come into our home (wait 4 hours for this) to verify again. At this point I realized that they were giving us the run-around. I decided to contact the Police and they told me that there have been a lot of complaints but that there was nothing they could do since this was a Civil matter. They basically said to ignore the Bills from Direct Energy and if they go into collections and they start harassing us then we could call the Police. The problem is that Enbridge has the power to turn off our gas if we don’t pay ... Could you please help?

There seems to be something very wrong if a company like this is allowed to continue doing ‘business’. I think what is needed is a class action lawsuit large enough to put them completely out of business. If there are any lawyers out there that would like to get involved I can set up a website and we can start signing people up for a class action lawsuit. Please contact me at [protected]@gmail.com.

I had a contract with Direct Energy Essential Sevices that expired June 30. Direct Energy Regulated Services sent me a bill for June 28/29 saying that they automatically assumed my service since my contract expired. I had switched to anoter supplier that begat July 1.
I would bet that they do this to many unsuspecting cusomers just to obtain extra charges. This is outright fraud.

They say that they are two different companies but I see a direct link.

Bad Customer Service on the phone and billing us even we don’t even have any service from them anymore.

I called in Direct Energy On March 3 times about the Remove the Water Heater tank from my house. The representatives mentioned the Billing will stop as soon as we drop off the Water Heater tank in the Drop off Stations. So we did on March 29th, 2010 and we received the Removal number.
I still received the Billing from Direct Energy in April. I called and the representative told me it will take 2 or 3 billing cycles. I should still pay the bills, which I did until August Bill.

I called in August 20, 2010 3:30PM, the representative; “Kennel” answered my call. But I was on hold for 20 minutes. He said he was trying to call other department for this issue. At the end, he said he will call me back and I gave him my contact number. I NEVER HEAR FROM HIM.

I called back on August, 23, 2010 11:35 PM, the representative; “John” answered my call. He confirmed that I should get the refunded back. I was happy about that. But I forgot to check the refunded amount.

I called back on same day at 12:19 PM, the representative; “Ashley” answered my call. She gave me the total amount $95.03. But it was not the right amount. I asked her to give me the break down and she refused to do so. She said it was the system calculated and she couldn’t give me the break down but just the period – April 16, 2010 to August 23, 2010. Even I paid August bill in full.

I mentioned it should start from March 29th, 2010. She said they got the Water Heater tank from the Drop off station until April 16th, 2010. It was not my problem when your internal transfer the tank. It was in your company place and I got the confirmation on March 29th, 2010, you had the tank. I asked for the Supervisor and I got the run-around statement – “No Supervisor right now, he/she will call back you in 72 hours”. (NEVER HEAR FROM ANYONE!). I asked that what happen if no one calls back. She said call back here again! I bet Ashley never put my request for Supervisor, just like the first time – no one call me back.

I asked what about my last Friday’s call. She said no one record any call back from last Friday and no one called “Kennel” in the term.
I paid $22.99 + GST in past April/May/June and HST on July and August. I don’t get all my money back. It is crazy. Don’t ever trust them when they ask you to pay first and they will pay you back - WITH LESS THEN YOU PAID THEM for no service at all.

This complaint pertains to dealings with Direct Energy and their contract renewal process. I was surprised when I received a higher than normal natural gas bill from Enbridge recently. I was then appalled to learn that the price Direct Energy was charging to supply the gas was 3 times the actual cost. What really got me though...was that this sleazy practice is perfectly legal.

I understand that it is my responsibility as a consumer to read the contract before I sign, but 5 years ago the price was right and didn't feel it was necessary. It should not be legal for them to renew a contract this way. When people think of a contract they think they have to sign to get into it not sign to get out. I cannot fathom how a company that is supposed to be regulated by the Ontario Energy Board can get away with this. They are so quick to accuse their competitors of shody practices that they have been fined for doing themselves. I am at my wits end trying to get out of not one...but 4 contracts. How can they renew a contract without a contract. I have had negative experiences on 4 separate accounts with Direct Energy (2 residential and 2 commercial). I am a small business owner who has been badly hit by the collapse of the US economy ( were exporters) and now I have to pay thousands of dollars to get out of contracts I didn't want into.

Honestly...I don't know who is worse Direct Energy for their practices or the Ontario Energy Board for allowing them to do business this way.

My husband and I moved 2 years ago to a home that we built. My husband changed our service provider to Direct Energy. We started getting bills for Direct Energy and Direct Energy Regulated. They would give us a bill for $149.00, we would pay it. Next thing I knew we received a bill for over $800.00 for Direct Energy and then another bill for Regulated. We attempted many times to recify this issue but continued to get the "run-around". It has been very frustrated. We received yet another bill from them for over $800.00 in January. We cancelled them as our service provider and resigned with Enmax. We now have a bill of $1200.00 for Enmax and a $800.00 bill for Direct Energy despite making payments to our existing bills. I don't claim to be a highly intelligent person. I am a RN so I feel as though I should be able to 'figure' this out. I am frustrated to tears and each phone call I make ends up confusing me further. I feel (and know) that I am being taken advantage of. My husband and I are going to go broke. Because of our bills through Direct Energy we are unable to pay our others. I am seriously afraid of going bankrupt! Someone help, I don't know what to do. I work three jobs and make decent money---what is the problem?

Do not sign up with Direct Energy Heating or Cooling Protection Plan.
They have doubled billed me in my annual plan.
Charging me twice $229.
On top of that the next year after in 2009 someone called at home tricking us to sign up for cooling, they said that we will get something in the mail for more information, but all of a sudden when I saw our bill they charge us extra $39.98 for the cooling plan they were calling for withour our authorization.
They are scam artist. DO NOT SIGN UP!

They're up to their filthy tricks again.

Direct Energy hires International credit Experts Incorporated, from Ontario, to harass people at 7:00 am, on a Saturday, when the collections company is closed. Clearly, they do not want to contact the people, but to harass the people.

I've called the police to report International Credit Experts Incorporated, and I will also report Direct Energy, of Edmonton.

Harassment is a criminal offense. Even though the company can not be charged with harassment, they are still breaking the law.

Direct Energy stinks. Badly.

Enbridge is billing me, even though I moved from that location 8 months ago.

I
Rented an apartment in toronto, from 2008 until the end of may 2009. I
Have being paying around 20 dollars a month on gas (Bachelor apartemnt),
A month before I moved I called enbridge telling them that I wanted my
Service cancelled by the end of may 2009, I gave them my new address
Because they need it on file.
I moved by the end of may from that
Apartment. However, 8 months later, I received a letter from enbridge
Stating that I owe them 239. Dollars.
The first time I called, it was
Three months ago, the enbridge customer service guy said it was a
Mistake, (Clearly they had my new address on file and there was where they
Sent the invoice) and he said he would cancel the account, however, he
Was saying that the system would not let him close the account, he said he
Would fix the problem.

I call them a month later, and nothing had been
Fixed. The woman on the phone said they will start and investigation. She
Transferred my call to the enbridge investigation department, the woman
That answered the phone had a very bad attitude, and made it sounds as if
Everything was my fault.
She said that she was going to freeze my
Account.
And that they need a proof that I moved by the end of may,
(Right now I am working in alberta), which makes it difficult to deal with
This matter.
Now is may the 8 (Almost a year later), and this week I got a
New invoice stating that I owe them 260 dollars.

Credit score: the last
Month I applied for two credit cards, they were denied. I have been always
Paying my bills on time, however, for an enbridge negligence and
Malpractice I have to pay the consequences.

I am posting this message so
You do not fall on this. It is a waste of time, money and it brings bad
Consequences.

House previously owned by now deceased father is vacant so I requested heat be turned off/disconnected...Direct Energy advised they need to have me complete and sign their cancellation form. This was done on March 24/10 upon getting signatures from my 2 siblings who own the home with me now. March 25/10 I faxed completed form to Direct Energy and presumed my request was dealt with. Nothing further was received from them--no call, no letter, etc.

On April 9/10 by sheer chance I called Direct Energy and was told 'the request is unclear' so nothing was done...heat remains on in the vacant home (which is a tear-down and not liveable)...no explanation by alleged supervisor Don Carter in Edmonton as to why...he instructed me to refax cancellation request form - which I then did. I then was unable whatsoever to reach him again at his so-called extension 3519 to confirm receipt or anything else (tho my fax machine on both occasions said it was successfully sent)...contact/call centre is located in the Phillipines and when I phone there I get nothing but overkill profuse apologies from people trained to apologize for non-existing service. Meantime they continue to bill me for services not wanted and properly cancelled weeks ago...unfair trade practice to say the least and extremely poor customer service if it can even be called that.

I had been talked into signing one of these fixed rate contracts for hydro and Gas in the summer of 2008 by a Direct Energy rep that came to my door. He said my rates would increase unless I signed a contract. The rep misrepresented about everything that came out of his filthy mouth.

1 year later I am paying double what was before. I am lining the pockets of the ### at Direct Energy.

I recently received a letter from Direct Energy, saying that if I was cancelling my services I would be charged an admin fee, early cancel fee and GST?, $5200 total fees.
Not once did he mention anything about a cancellation or exit fee. I can’t afford paying for false ### fees Direct Energy makes up. I just want out.

A salesman for direct energy came to my home and talked me in to trying direct energy. He said I would hace the cheapest bills ever, and that I could cancel if I wasn't happy. After the first half month I couldn't tell but then when I got my full bill, it was $130 dollars higher than any electric bill I have had at my home for the 20 years I've been there. I immediately called TXU asked to come back.

Upon getting my final bill I found they added a $300 EARLY CANCELLATION FEE. On their website it reads no cancellation fees. Go figure. I paid all but the cancellation fee immediately, and the found that they turned me in to a collection agency. I will file a complaint with the PUC and the BBB. Also I will have my lawyer send them a letter, and possibly file on them. We all could file a CLASS ACTION suit and this would go very public about their deceptive ways. Whatever anyone does, do not use direct energy for anything. This is an awful company.

Direct Energy and Enbridge both claim that St. Nektarios Greek Orthodox Church has entered into a contract with Direct Energy to supply gas to the Church and yet no such contract exists. A representative of Direct Energy informed me that a contract was made in 2003 for five years. They unilaterally renewed it in 2008 since the Church failed to not authorize Direct Energy and Enbridge to renew the supposed contract.
The Church has an account with Enbridge, not with Direct Energy. A reason audit has revealed that the Church is charged approximately three times the going rate for natural gas. These funds were fraudulently obtained and we are demanding that restitution be made.

Direct Energy = Vicious bully
Corporations tend to put a lot of money into goodwill, advertising their services and creating a positive image in the eyes of the public. All this goes for naught when the same company's policies are written to screw their customers.

In 1998, while living in a house in Richmond Hill, I signed an agreement with Direct Energy to supply my natural gas. Every few years they would contact me for renewal of this agreement; I was always offered to opt out for double or triple gas price. Of course I renewed; it didn't really matter to me who supplied gas to my house. Finally, last September I sold my house and moved into an apartment in downtown Toronto.

This week I was served with a collection notice for $727.63. When I contacted the collection agency I was told that they represented Direct Energy and were charging me a fee for breaking my gas contract. Apparently there are 4.5 years left on my current 'renewal'; the fact that I have been a customer for 12 years is irrelevant.

The situation was resolved when I faxed in a copy of my current lease proving that I was no longer paying for gas services. Of course, the fax was at my cost (direct energy, you owe me $6.30). If I did not send in this fax, the bullying would continue; I was warned by the collection agency that they would keep calling until this was resolved.

So the bottom line, Direct Energy uses contract lawyers and collection agencies to setup their customers for intimidation and bullying. So much for goodwill.

The best rate and fastest services that i have seen in my life. A++ company. There is always a good article abou them.

Scam scam scam! Owner writes bad cheques all over gta. Owes money to all their suppliers so they need a down paymnet. You pay and never see them again. They send out bad cheques for refunds and to pay for advertising. They owe the toronto star, toronto sun, national post, globe and mail, revenue canada, money saver, active temp control, ontario energy group, etc etc.
Frank p the loooza should be in jail where his cell mate will teach him to pay his bills.

I had 670 kwatss on November, winter weather has been bad north, but Texas has been mild, and now 2 month in a row had had reading over 2500 kwatts, the highest ever on a bad winter 3 years ago was 1490, so this company is ripping off a disabled/ill person, I am now writing from Starbucks and I wonder If I am gonna survive the freeze tonight, these type of companies put the name of capitalism at the bottom as all executive being paid our ripped off money don not do a heck about customers, this company ripps poor people they are worst than HITLER...what a corporate shame to see so many scam complaints over the internet...even the call system is not employees and a hired answering services, this company direct energy is criminal and criminal are those polititians they donate money to...

I wrote this letter after sitting on the phone with their customer service people for 4 hrs last night and got no where. I feel that they need to be stopped but also add my name to the very long list of complaints about this company.

When I moved into my previous residence in 2002 I was immediately bombarded with sales people from this company. It got so bad that they were leap frogging each other and I ended speaking to 3 different sales people in one day sometimes.

Well in 2008 times were tough for my young family and we needed to save money and these sales people told me that I would save alot of money by signing with them.

Then I moved in June 2009 and now my hyro bills are in access of 400.00 a month when they were previously 120.00 a month max.
I was told by direct energy that my fixed rate is higher now and can't be lowered unless I sign a new contract. I wasn't going to do that because I was already 2 yrs in on this one.
When I wanted to cancel they said they could once they received the 1600.00 needed to pay for the full amount of the contract it would take 2 billing cycles to confirm it.
For some reason I feel that this is a bunch of crap. I said to cancel my contract and bill me, they say no they can't cancell until they receive this payment.
Am I wrong to believe that this is entrapment.
As stated below, after some research I found out that the whole thing was a lie from the get go.

Here is the complaint:

I am writing to inform you that my contract with you for my gas and hydro are null and void and I want my money.

1. At the time of signing in 2008, I was told that should your rate become higher you would give me the lower of the two rates.
Well, after some research, even if he was telling the truth he was still lying because the Government of Canada states that ONLY the power companies and gas companies them selves can charge the lowest rate. YOU JERKS AREN"T EVEN ALLOWED TO CHARGE ME THE LOWER RATE, YOU ###!

2. I WAS NOT told of a penalty charge that would consist of the full amount of the contract.

3. How dare you entrap me and extort money from me by telling me that you won't cancell my contracts until I give you 1600.00.

4. Your customer service people are a waste of space. They are rude, arrogant, extremely unhelpful. When I asked to speak with a supervisor they did everything in there power to stop me. Is this how you are treating your customers. You need to be shut down.

I want my contract voided due to fraud and misrepresentation.

This letter is being forwarded to the energy board, maybe you will be fined again, Our MPP, the MP of ontario and the federal government. I will help in any way to get the bill to protect us from you dirtbags gfet passed through its second reading. To become LAW.

I have the customer service reps name, the supervisors name, and the floor managers name so far and ID #s. I am goig up the ladder and having each and every one charged with accessory to fraud, false advertising, and misrepresentation. The police will get this letter, our LAWYERS will get this letter, and we have full intention of taking each and everyone of you PERSONALLY and the company as a whole to the Supreme Court to make sure you don't do business in this town again.

This letter is being forwarded to all our newspapers to coincide with the nice little Marketplace article where employees won't even sell this to their families. Nice. Your own CEO says we NEED to pay high prices in order to stop regulation. Nice make us pay for your beef with the government.

Do you tell your sales people to mention all this stuff. I assume not. Does this information influence my decision on signing a 5 yr contract, yes it certainly does.

I was tricked and every single one of you knew it.

Void my contract now or face jail time.

Mandy Fairbairn

I was in agreement with Direct Energy Electricity provider for my area starting November last year 09 As per the agreement they were suppose to notify me 1 billing cycle or 30 days before the contract expires They never notified me and also they charged me the rate which is 15 Cents per KWH for November 2009 and Jan 2010 2 billing cycles Current market rate is 9 to 11 Cents avg in the area even for customers who are not on long term contracts There is no clause in the contract that will authorize direct energy to charge the rates even though contract expires I did'nt feel fair when company is not accepting their mistake of not notifying me and using the contract rates which to me is not usable by them as it is expired. Do I have a ground to fight for the differential cost I was forced to paid which is around 350USD Please advice

Suresh Bapanapalli
2908 W Royal lane 1033
Irving TX 75063

PRESS RELEASE DECEMBER 2009

The Energy Scam Why are we paying triple the going rate for our energy?

I recently discover the secret to my soaring energy bills, It wasn’t that I had the thermostat turned up to high, it wasn’t that I was leaving lights on over the house, it wasn’t that I ran the A/C all summer long even when I was at work, no it was much more serious than I thought, the more I tried to conserve the higher my bills seemed to be and there was nothing I could do to control it.

I had to go back in time to unravel this mystery all the way back to 1997, to the lure of saving money on my energy bills, to the lure of a badge wearing, clipboard carrying sales rep standing on my front stair explaining how I can save a bundle, just sign here! What a scam.

Oh sure if I could find a copy of a bill from 1997 they may of saved me a penny or two on my energy cost you know at that amazing introductory rate but that time has long since pasted. Today they have jumped their rates to more than triple the rate charged by the Gas and Electricity Companies that they had warned me about, with their surcharges and this and that charges that they can’t even keep strait and my favorite “if you want to get out of this it’s going to cost you a bundle” charge, they have managed to send my energy cost sky high.

I was talking to a friend who is in the bankruptcy industry and they have actually had clients filing for bankruptcies this year and the main cause listed for their bankruptcy was The Energy Scam. It seems that third party billing companies are running up bills so high they are becoming unmanageable for some and a real strain for most people to the point of total economical stress.

I think it’s time we speak up and that these companies be held accountable, that controls be put in place to regulate them and protect individuals and business from energy scams.

ENERGY SCAM CONTINUED…………………..

It all started to come to light when my friend in the Bankruptcy Business had mentioned that clients had listed the cause of bankruptcy as “The Energy Scam” I thought I better have a closer look at my energy cost, because for a while now they have seemed a little high and I’d done all the conservation checks to make sure I wasn’t wasting energy, you know check the water meter to make sure I didn’t have any leaks at a toilet or tap, installed a programmable thermostat, trained my teenager to turn lights of when he wasn’t using them anymore, put a timer on the swimming pool so the pump only runs when the solar heater is being cascaded with sun. We put in a high efficiency furnace, replaced the hot water tank, increased the insulation in the walls and ceiling I thought we would save even more but oh no are energy bills kept going up.

We started to look at the bills and went back comparing our usage, we were down from last year but the bills kept getting higher. First I contacted the electric company Horizon Utilities; I wanted to know what their rates are and what it would cost me if I was being bill directly from them instead of Direct Energy.

After talking with Horizon Utilities I knew I was being ripped off. Let’s see if I was to pay for my electricity directly from Horizon Utilities my electricity bill would have been $112.02 plus GST instead of what Direct Energy charged me which was $334.78 plus GST. Now I think it’s time I have a little talk with Direct Energy, If you think I was upset when I realized I have been getting scammed you would be right but that was nothing compared to how angry I became after I had to deal with a double talking customer service rep. at Direct Energy. Amongst all the double talk from the Direct Energy Rep. I was able to decipher a few things, first being if I want to get out of the contract it’s going to cost me over $300 they base it on how much time is left on your contract it could be more or less then what they want to charge me. That on my bill and yours you will see a charge for Provincial Benefit which in my case was $74.75 this a fee Direct Energy say’s that the electricity company applies to the bill, I checked with the electricity company and was told that the Provincial Government applies this charge to third party billing not the electric company, the electric company is just passing it on as they are required to do so. So why would I or anyone else want to pay additional charges that only apply to third party billing when we could by direct from the electrical company and why was this detail never mentioned by the badge wearing clipboard carrying sales rep who stood on my door step telling me how I could save money if I signed up with them. I don’t see any savings just Direct Energy dipping into my savings.

Hang on I’m not done yet, now I want to look at my gas bill, seeing how my third party supplier is Direct Energy as well. As I mentioned we have reduced our gas consumption by replacing our furnace and hot water tank but my equal billing has shot up from around $125.00 per month to $196.00 I don’t understand this if my prices are locked in with Direct Energy and my consumption is down the how did my gas bill go up, I better contact Union Gas and check into this. If I can find out what it would cost me to by my gas from Union Gas compared to Direct Energy’s rates I might be able to make some sense of it. When I contacted Union Gas the helpful customer service rep was able to provide me with a breakdown of their pricing. The facts are clear, if I bought my gas from Union Gas I would be paying 11.33 cents per cubic metre rather than the 37.90 cents per cubic metre that Direct Energy charges me, more then triple the price “but you’re going to save money if you sign with us” Ok, how’s that working out for me. There’s more, Union Gas Transportation Fee, Union Gas price 4.07 cents per cubic metre Direct Energy 6.968 cents per cubic metre, Storage, Union Gas price 0.99 cents per cubic metre Direct Energy 1.99 cents per cubic metre.

I thought I better cancel this contract as well; Direct Energy wants over $700 as a cancellation fee.

In both cases I asked to speak with a supervisor they wouldn’t connect me, only when I told them I was going to go public with this they put my call to accelerated priority and a representative would contact me within 2-4 business hours, that was December 17, 2009 haven’t heard from them and chances are I won’t.