Green Mountain Energy
Reviews and Complaints

Green Mountain Energy has the most unfair practices of any electric company I've ever been associated with. Recently, when my family moved from one residence to another, I missed the due date of payments from both residents, the old one and the new. I was charged $20 twice on the bill from the old residence for a disconnect processing fee (according to customer service, that is for sending out a letter to warn you of a future disconnect). Then on top of that, there was a late payment penalty of $7.80. ($47.80 charges so far)! when you are the mother of two children and both parents work full time jobs, bills sometimes fall through the cracks. I mean let's face it, moving is a pain when you take on the challenge without the use of a moving company. The bill for the new residence took no time to arrive and that's exactly what happened...we over-looked it. I had no idea we would be charged a disconnect order charge of $25, a reconnect order processing fee of $15, and a late payment penalty of $9.66. Another $50! Customer service was only willing to remove one of the $20 fees which seemed like a mistake to me in the first place! Thankfully, I am no longer in a contract and can take my business elsewhere!

A Green Mountain Energy Salesman kept coming around trying to switch us. We learned from a previous experience that their prices are significantly higher that other services. This is hard to see the difference at the door because they don't show you the bottom-line rate you will pay. We repeatedly told him we were not interested.

Unfortunately, my mentally disabled brother-in-law was at home and answered the door. My BIL is in his 40's; no bank account; can not count change; he could not manage any financial responsibilities on his own; not to mention he is not on any of the utilities or other bills. Not knowing any better, he showed the salesperson the bill but did not authorize any switch of service. We were used to paying $20-40 and with GME it jumped to over $200! We did complain to the State and the person taking the call stated they receive a lot of similar complaints specifically about GME. I can not imagine all of the people this FRAUD ridden organization is taking advantage of.

The rude lady at GME stated "eventhough" my BIL is mentally disabled, because he is over 18 and lives in the house, he has the right to change any bill he wishes to. My wife used to call our current utility before I added her name but they would not even talk to her because her name was not on the account. The rude GME lady said there was nothing we can do about it . . .; Well, I can tell as many people as possible!

I was at a festival and my niece wanted a baloon from the Green Mountain Energy Booth. The lady told my 4 yr old niece they were only giving them to people who completed their form. So I talked to her a min and she basically told me the form is an enrollment form. I told her I don't know when my contract is up & that the electricity was not in my name. She said I could put a date 2 months in the future and then discuss with my roomate and call her and have the enrollment voided if we didn't want to switch. My roomate said no so I called her back and let her know we would not be swithing. She was very strong with me about switching so I told her I would have my roomate call her. My roomate called and was telling her to void the enrollment and the phone call was conveniently disconnected so my roomate called her back and left a voice mail explicitly advising her to void the enrollment as we would be renewing cith our current carrier. She started a contract under my name anyway and I got a "Welcom Letter" in the mail. So I called and spoke with a supervisor, gave them the CSR's name and explicitly told them to cancel everything. They did so and gave me a confirmation #. Then 6-7 weeks later I get a bill from my carrier with a $150 cancellation fee. I called and they said that I cancelled my contract with them and switched to someone else. I had to called Center Point to find out who and of course, it was Green Mountain Energy! I called them again and asked them to do a "switch recision" as they termed it and asked why this happened. I said, "Don't you have a record that I called?" She said, "Yes it shows here that you called and had your contract cancelled before it began and there are no charges." I asked her why then did I still get an account in my name and now I'm getting a cancellation fee from my current carrier? She said she didn't know. She said we cancelled your contract but somehow you still were enrolled. Wow! These people are insane. I'm still having to get this straightened out b/c my current carrier won't help me with anything as they are stating I'm no longer their customer. What a nightmare! All if this trouble because a Customer Service Rep was trying to get her commission.

This company came to my residence to offer their services, which I accepted at first. But, after going online & seeing how they operate & swindle their customers, I called back the same day and told the guy named "Dalwayne Howard" phone# [protected] an african american who is one of their reps, to cancel it. He Said "OK, fine that's not a problem I haven't even put it through the system yet. Fast forward to 2 months ahead & I get this charge on my bill telling me that my service has been switched. I immediately call "Dalwayne" to tell him that what he did was foul & criticized his deceptive business practices. He got extremely irate & said he had all my information & he was gonna come "f*** Me Up", to which I responded "What?, well do what you gotta do", & then I hung up the phone called the company to fix his problem & file a complaint.
DON'T SWITCH OVER TO THIS COMPANY OR GIVE THEM PERSONAL INFORMATION WHATEVER YOU DO! They are a very shady company & this worker showed that VERY clearly. I have viewed many complaints about them & the hype about them is true. Not a good option for a natural resource alternative energy. The only "Green" they are after is YOUR'S in your pockets & bank account. They'll do or say ANYTHING to get you to sign up & take your money which they get much more of in the long run than your current provider. There is no real savings in the long run. DON'T FALL FOR THEIR ###! Save yourself the extra stress & headaches & stay with your current energy provider. These people ARE NOT who you want to switch over to.

I was approached by Tony with Green Mountain Energy at a local grocery store. He obtained some information from me and gave me his cell phone number so my husband could call him to get more information about the company and possibly switch to their services. I repeatedly asked if our service would be switched and Tony assured me he wouldn't do anything until he spoke with my husband.
Well, guess what? We got a letter about a week later saying our service was changed. I'm not on the current TXU account, but they switched the service to Green Mountain without my husband's consent.
I'm sure they're a great company - glad that there's a more 'green' company out there, but their deception has changed my mind about it.

We received a group of Solicitors at our door marketing Green Mountain Energy. They asked us if we would switch to cleaner Energy company which would save the environment and also save us money per month as well. Their sales representatives said we could lock in a rate of 5.5 cents per KWH, and that we would have no energy delivery fee which is routinely charged by standard oil and gas electric companies out there. On top of saving around 50 dollars per month since we would no longer be charged the conneciton fee, he also stated that our area was also authorized a special promotion allowing a 33% military discount.
We agreed to apply to switch and he called in their main office, gave all our information and confirmed verbally with the sales reps on the phone that we were locking in the 5.5 rate and the military discount. A couple of weeks go by and we get our first bill that covers 7 days. Ofcourse, it shows us paying an average of 10 cents per KWH and were charged 30 dollars for our first bill spanning 6 days. We normally pay 110 per month to a standard electric company which includes their connection/delivery fee that averages 50 dollars.
We call the 1800 number and ofcourse they have no clue what we were told and agree to take down a formal complaint about the salesperson that gave us bad information. They are saying 10 cents is the cheapest rate they can offer, and they have no clue why the sales reps going door to door are flat out lying about the price they can offer. It seems like they offered rock bottom prices just to lure us away from our current electric company in hopes we would stay. I am definitely going to switch back to our previous electric company and hopefully see what deal can be made to cover the current bill.

On January 29, 2013 Green Mountain Energy drafted my bank account twice through the auto pay system due to their "system error". GME failed to notify their consumers. I made contact with the company on January 31, 2013 and informed them of the situation and requested for them to reverse the amount that was drafted incorrectly into my bank account to avoid my bank account to go into a negative status/overdraft, as I had other bills that needed to be paid. I contacted them on January 31, 2013 and every day after that. The response I received from the company was that I needed to contact Bill Matrix- the department that handles the auto pay. I have been transferred back and forth like a ping pong ball from bill matrix to customer service and they both stated that they could not reverse the amount that they "in error" drafted from my bank account. Karon from GME Corporate Office left me a voice mail on 02/07/2013 claiming that she made the reverse, however when I look at the bank account there is not a pending transaction for such reverse payment as of today 02/11/2013 at 2:18 PM. I only see the overdraft fee that was caused due to that double draft. GME has taken more than approximately two weeks and still I have not received my money, which enables me to continue with my other payments and personal expenses for my family. Attached please find the double draft on my bank account on the last page transaction date 01/29/2013.

was approached at my home by a green mountain energy representative I was asked if we wanted to switch to green mountain we said no. next next thing we know we received a letter in the mail stating a change will take place within the following 7 days letter was all in spanish which we don't even speak I called green mountain to file a complaint an assistant was very rude... I had them sent me a copy of our signature which we filed with the police department and our signature had been forged. beware any green mountain energy representatives..

Customer service did not cancel service. I called a month in advance to notify them when I needed to cancel service. Just recently received a bill in the mail. It has been two months since I called Green Mountain and they were very quick to claim that I never called to cancel service. Then I submitted a claim to their corporate office. A week later they call to notify me since they have no proof that I called they cannot help me out. I asked if human error could be the reason for not putting my order through the computer. They told me yes. They are complete idiots. Do not use this service.

Just spent 2 and a half hours on the phone with the company.

Been with them for several years and never really had any problems. Sure, we've had a few "lates" but nothing like the past two years while we have been small on funds (who hasn't been in this economy).

But, in May, due to a clerical error, when I made a payment online, the payment was "returned". I even called to let them know that I'd made the error, and sent in a second payment.

Well, don't make clerical errors with GME! They turn off your ability to pay online if you have any funds returned for any reason. BUT they did not tell me that I had to make any and all further payments to them at an authorized payment center. On top of that, they didn't tell me that I had to make all payments in the form of CASHier's check or CASH order for the next year either!

SO, when I chose to make them "pay monthly" through my bank, I didn't reckon anything about it. UNTIL…

I made the payment, a sum that included past due charges, last night. This morning, I get my mail, and there's a notice from them saying that I had a discconnect notice that had to be answered YESTERDAY! I call to see if they've gotten my payment, which I quickly realized they didn't get.

THAT is when I found out that I HAD to make the payment YESTERDAY before 8 pm, AND IN a CASHIER'S CHECK!

The "customer service executive" should not be making anything more than minimum wage. Their hands are tied so that the only things they can do is tell you why you cannot make a payment on line, that their website is not an "up to the minute" website. They cannot stop a turn off notice, they cannot let you speak with a manager, they cannot note the account that you have tried and are trying to make a payment…

2 and half hours it took before we finally got somewhere. Someone (finally claimed to be a manager – and I have to say she was honestly pleasant) FINALLY said they could and would cancel the disconnection notice, and "flip" the account to accept the payment that my bank had already pulled funds to pay. But, she could not reverse the CASHier's check or CASH order requirement for the next year.

IF I HADN'T JUST signed up for another year with a huge penalty for cancelling the contract, I wouldn't do business with GME any more. Next year, I plot on changing companies, and NEVER giving GME another look back.

Horrible customer service. I called on 8/25/11 to inquire why I was being charged for electricity that we had cancelled on 7/15/11 when we moved. I was told it would be resolved. Then, yesterday on 9/8/11, I see a charge taken out of my bank account AGAIN from Green Mountain. So I called, and after 30 minutes of being on hold, was told that one of the employees made an error. They said that they couldn't credit it back to my bank account, and that a refund in the form of a check would need to be processed which would take two weeks and then it would need to be mailed. Well, if they took the money out of my account with no hesitation, you would think that they could click a button and put it back in like every other company. As fun as it is to pay electricity for two homes, it's not really feasible for us. I find it amazing that they can't help their customers resolve simple billing issues in a timely manner. I will no longer be supporting this company, and I suggest whoever may read this that you do the same.

Hands down the worst billing service ever. I live in a loft apartment and was charged $700 last month for every bill I have already paid. Went through a month of arguing that a 1 bedroom apartment could NEVER use that much electricity until they finally agreed and brought it down to $200 (Still not right, but I was tired of dealing with them). Just now, I tried to log in to the website tonight to pay my most recent bill and magically the whole website was down and wouldn't pull up. Tried to access the website from 2 iPhones and 3 different computers from different servers and it's still not coming up. This energy company is a JOKE and no one should EVER use them.

We went out of town for two weeks prior to the two weeks my husband called the electric company to find out about our bill, ect. We went on vacation and couple days later our service was disconnected, which we were not late. We paid the bill and called them to find out out electric had been some how switched to another electric company. doesnt make sense when we did no such thing. they said that they recieved a letter saying some other company was taking over our energy needs. Which we did no such thing and they did with out confirming with us! Leaving us in 40 degree weather with our two small children all day. Then we tried to get someone t come out the same day to reconnect, since this was something that was NOT our fault and they said there was nothing they could do till the next day! They were rude and told us we should tuff it out! And if we need a warm place to stay we could stay at a shelter! So we had no electric for 24 hours, i couldnt cook dinner for my family and not to mention it was 30 degrees over night. The system the have is bull, the people they have working for them are isiots and they really need to figure out how to run a business!

As of January 01, 2011, my electric meter, along with several others in my neighborhood, had been missing its lock for 4 months. I reported the problem to my rental lease office and Green Mountain Energy back in October 2010. Nothing was done. Nothing, that is until I asked for a meter reread in the month of December 2010 because I received a bill for $285 and the usage was "estimated". I didn't, and don't, think I should pay for power I haven't used seeing how I was in Houston and their tech, Lonnie Griffin, didn't feel like getting out of his truck to do his job that day. After I asked for the meter to be reread they claimed the meter had been tampered with because the outer seal was missing and I was responsible for it. As I mentioned before, I reported that issue to both my rental lease office and Green Mountain Energy back in October 2010 when I noticed it while walking my dog one afternoon. Now I have a bill for $1400 because they estimated all my bills from October of 2010 thru December 2010 based on historical usage since my meter was tampered with which in some way is my fault even though I told the proper agencies about it. I have filed a complaint with Green Mountain, The PUC and The Attorney General's office, but no one is helping because I am just a peon and they can push me around. I certainly hope there is an attorney out there that will be willing to help me and maybe a news station or 2 will pick this story up. They are threatening to turn my power off...I have a child to feed and I make $8/hr at a daycare. No, I don't make very much and I struggle every day to make ends meet. I have lived in Texas for 4 years and have had this electric provider for almost 3 years and have never filed a complaint before because I'm just not that person. I need help now!

Two years ago we ordered our service cancelled and account closed the day we moved from our apartment into our duplex because we decided to switch our service to TXU. When we cancelled our service with GM we had a balance due of about $350 which we were prepared to make payments on. A month after moving to our new place we received a collections notice from Credit Systems International (CSI) for an outstanding balance of over $950! When trying to contact customer service about it I got lost in the voicemail labyrinth and just gave up, willing to take the hit on my credit report. That was until now, when I've just received a phone call from June West at CSI who proceeded to try to scare me into paying this so-called debt, as well as berate me for not taking her repeated calls in the past (they total one a day, at least). I have now constructed a buzz-off letter which is found on Ben Dover's website regarding consumer rights and will make sure everyone I know is aware of the unethical and immoral business practices Green Mountain employs on a daily basis. It is unbelievable to me that this and other large utility companies are allowed to treat people the way they do. When are we as consumers going to yell loud enough to be heard to make a difference? When are we going to finally just get sick of it all and bring companies like these down?!

Just spent 2 and a half hours on the phone with this company.

Been with them for several years and never really had any problems. Sure, we've had a few "lates" but nothing like the past two years while we have been short on funds (who hasn't been in this economy).

But, in May, due to a clerical error, when I made a payment online, the payment was "returned". I even called to let them know that I'd made the error, and sent in a second payment.

Well, don't make clerical errors with GME! They turn off your ability to pay online if you have any funds returned for any reason. BUT they did not tell me that I had to make any and all further payments to them at an authorized payment center. On top of that, they didn't tell me that I had to make all payments in the form of cashier's check or money order for the next year either!

SO, when I decided to make them "pay monthly" through my bank, I didn't think anything about it. UNTIL...

I made the payment, a sum that included past due charges, last night. This morning, I get my mail, and there's a notice from them saying that I had a discconnect notice that had to be answered YESTERDAY! I call to see if they've gotten my payment, which I quickly realized they didn't get.

THAT is when I found out that I HAD to make the payment YESTERDAY before 8 pm, AND IN a CASHIER'S CHECK!

The "customer service representative" should not be making anything more than minimum wage. Their hands are tied so that the only things they can do is tell you why you cannot make a payment on line, that their website is not an "up to the minute" website. They cannot stop a turn off notice, they cannot let you speak with a manager, they cannot note the account that you have tried and are trying to make a payment...

2 and half hours it took before we finally got somewhere. Someone (finally claimed to be a manager - and I have to say she was fairly pleasant) FINALLY said they could and would cancel the disconnection notice, and "flip" the account to accept the payment that my bank had already pulled funds to pay. However, she could not reverse the cashier's check or money order requirement for the next year.

IF I HADN'T JUST signed up for another year with a huge penalty for cancelling the contract, I wouldn't do business with GME any more. Next year, I plan on changing companies, and NEVER giving GME another look back.

i just can not believe it.. we are only 2 adults and 2 babys in a 1 single house, we had direct eneggy for a while and we decided to switch to Green mountain energy since alot of people talk to us about how cheap and good service they had.. that;s bunch of [protected]@$&T.Our first bill was 96dollars and now its 280.00 dollars for 1 freakin month that is so crazy. and we call customer support and all they said am sorry that u are upset but you have to pay the bill.. i mean dam shi t, u guys need to either train your employee to read the meter right or something because that is extremely high as hell.. we are even not in house that much, plus we don';t even use our a/c we use dam fans.. so please a manager or someone please call me so we can take care of this, i have been on the line on HOLD FOR THE PAST 20 MINUTES..

I have been with Green Mountain for the last 4 years and today my bill inexplicably DOUBLED. When I called to get it taken care of they told me that not only have they been "estimating" what my bill is each month, but that there is nothing they can do and that I would have to pay it. When I told them I wanted proof of these charges they told me there was nothing they could do. I told them that I would switch to Reliant if this was not resolved and they could not have cared less. So I switched to reliant today and did some digging, came across this:
http://www.boycottgreenmountain.com/index.html

and found out all sorts of other fun facts about Green Mountain. They are HORRIBLE! RUN AWAY!

I signed up for Green Mountain Energy because I wanted to help the green power movement. This was before I saw all the shady stuff that they do to get most of their power. I got my first bill today and it was for 1192 Kwh. My last bill with Reliant Energy showed an average usage of 12 Kwh/day. So, somehow with the same usage or less I end up with a bill for an average of 54 Kwh/day. What a sham. I will let you know how they resolve it, but I wanted people to know what kind of crockery these guys practice. There is no way my fridge and 4 loads of laundry burned 1200 Kwh in 22 days with the AC off. These guys are crooks.

I was a Reliant Customer for years, but switched about a year ago to Green Mountain Energy soley because it is 100% renewable and I felt I needed to do my part for the environment, even though they were a bit more expensive.

After 9 months with them, I noticed my bill had really increased (in the winter...when my electric bill is usually lower). So I started studying all of my bills. The reason for the increase was that they increased my kw/H charge..really hiked it. But per my contract, they can do that. But what I found that was really disturbing was I was charged late fees on 3 of my 9 bills. I'm never late with bills! I do online banking and my bank guarantees the merchant will have the payment by the due date input by me and I always put the due date or the day before.

So, I called them to see when they had received these 3 "late" payments (they don't put that information on your invoice like most companies) and they kinda hide the fact they you were even assessed a late fee...I think they don't want you to notice...just like I didn't until I studied them. Turns out that they did receive each of these 3 payments on their due dates, but received them after 11 am, so they didn't post until the next day and hence they consider them late.

I questioned how they can be late if they are received ON the due date. It's just how their receiving department works...if they don't make it in the morning "batch" to be posted, then they make it in the evening one which doesn't actually post it in their system until the next day (1-2 am the next day). I told them this wasn't right, that they need to tell their customers that (i.e. tell them that they will be assessed a late fee if it is not received by 11 am on the due date...you know...be honest with them). They refused to change anything even after I told them I'd report these dishonest practices to the BBB.

So, I ended up having to report them to the BBB. The resolution I requested was to have them either change their posting system to not assess late fees if it came in on the due date OR to let customers know that they will be charged a late fee if received after 11 am on the due date. Green Mountain responded simply that they are allowed by law to assess late fees. So basically they didn't address the issue at hand. So I responded (via the BBB process) that they did not address my issue. My issue is not with them assessing late fees, but that they do it when the payment was not late. Green Mountain's response was that their position remains the same (i.e. they are not going to be honest with their customers).

So I wanted to warn consumers out there about this. My feeling is that if you cannot trust a company to be honest, even with the things customers can see, how can you trust them with things that you cannot see (i.e. is their energy really 100% renewable)? We have no way of knowing...and frankly I don't trust them to do the right thing based on my experience with them.

So, I've looked on the internet for other electrical provider options. Turns out there are plenty! People (like me) think that Green Mountain is the only option if you want all green (renewable) energy. But wow, there are many others who offer 100% renewal and most of them are cheaper! There are all sorts of things to compare (locked in rates for 12 months or 18, etc). I found a great deal and have switched. It was so easy. Not only will I be paying less, I can remain green without paying a company who is conciously deciding to partake in dishonest business practices.

If you want to see the other options, there are many websites (google with the words energy company texas). One that is really insightful is http://www.powertochoose.org/ Read all about it and compare companies and their rates. There are programs within most companies that are 100% renewable.

Good luck, and please join me in not giving dishonest companies our business.