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Reliant Energy Retail Holdings
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2.6 31 Reviews

Reliant Energy Retail Holdings Complaints Summary

12 Resolved
19 Unresolved
Our verdict: Engaging with Reliant Energy Retail Holdings, which has a below-average resolution rate, demands caution. Thoroughly assess their service reviews and explore how they handle unresolved complaints. If you encounter issues, document your experiences meticulously and be persistent in seeking resolutions.
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Reliant Energy Retail Holdings to connect or not to connect

Applied to join Reliant and was told would need to supply a $530 deposit which would be refunded after 12 months.
Filled out all the necessary forms online, they deducted the $530 from the bank and 7 days later we receive notification by phone and mail that we have been turned down.
I returned the call to find out why only to be told they would only talk to my wife as the account was in her name. She phoned the next day to be told we were turned down but they were not sure why. After some mumbling and checking, we were told we were turned down because of a permit...for what they had no idea. Then was told well maybe they couldn't get in the gate or past your dog...okay, gates are never locked, no dog to get past and i'm home 24/7! They also could not answer why the funds were taken before we were approved or not. We have a home with a mother-in-law residence attached and all run off one meter.All permits required and approved by the City and no problems for both Oncor or our supplier of the past 5 years. We are now having to wait 10 days for a check refund...talk about a half assed operation! We may be paying more with our present supplier but hey, sometimes better the devil you know. We were looking forward to dealing with these guys but all i can say now is...RUN FOR THE HILLS!

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Reliant Energy Retail Holdings fraudulent marketing practices

A telemarketing representative identifying himself as a Reliant Energy representative contacted me concerning using Reliant service claiming huge savings particularly on demand charges. After much debate and calculating bill comparisons with the rep I agreed to to a 3 month trial with them to see if the rates would really save me money. He told me I had 3 months of bills to cancel and that I would recieve a duplicate bill so that I could compare their rate to TXU's rate which I was currently with at the time.

After agreeing to this I was sent over to a phone varification center and they read me 10 minutes of stuff. Of course they count on you glazing over and agreeing to everything, which I did. One discrepancy that I did not question was a 60 day versus 3 month cancellation time that varied from what the phone guy and the scripted agreement said. The next thing that came up was the cancellation terms which were never covered at all, so they had to back up and sell me on this. It was a situtation of convienent omition and leading me to believe something that was not true with out actually making recorded statements that were false.

So, after two months I called in since I was not happy with the rates and figured out that I was basically paying the same thing to them as TXU. The went over everything again and told me I was in a contract and there was nothing I could do as I was past the cancellation time. I told them I had three months and they reminded me that it was in fact 60 days. 3 months stuck with me because the sales guy went over that period so much. In fact it was 3 bills and not three months if you do the math on the situation. Again, a minor discrepancy and an exercise in leading.

I called repeatedly and worked with a supervisor at Reliant who researched the entire situation. He told me that they showed the contract to have come from a door salesman who came to me. I told him this was not the case and that I was not happy with the timing on the cancellation and how it was presented as well as the rate and went through the deceptive verbage used. He told me he understood and appologized for the situation and said he would work on resolving it. The solution was suppose to be cancellation with no cancellation fee. I told him I would pay the usage, but I did not feel the cancellation fee was fair considering the I never heard back, called him several times leaving messages, and again did not hear back. I proceeded to cancel the service as it was costing me $3-500/month over what I could and should have been paying since they promised to save this amount with the rate change. I went with Stream Energy this time and have been very happy as they saved me exactly what they said they would. Reliant sent be a final bill with a $3400 cancellation fee.

A month or two later I was contacted by Reliants internal collection office and went over with them the situation in an effort to pay the past due and to have the cancellation fee removed. The lady I talked with told me she would work to resolve the issue and get back with me. Again, I heard nothing.

I was later contacted by Robinson Law Group, a collection agency for Reliant, and asked to pay the past due balance. I talked with them about the situation and the lady said she would talk with Reliant about the situation and would get back to me. She called back about two to three weeks later and it was as if we had never spoken. She did not recall any details of the situation or discussed resolution or why I was contesting the cancellation charge. I went over it again and she was suppose to talk to Reliant and see what could be done. Two weeks later I get another call and she wants to set up a payment plan with me. Reliant will not remove the cancellation charges at all so I have turned it over to an attorney.

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Reliant Energy Retail Holdings raised rate against 12 mo contract

I signed a contract 4 months ago. It is called "Secure 12" and I was told that I agree to keep Reliant Enegy for 12 months and they agree to give me 11.8 cents per KWH for 12 months. The first three months I was very happy with my 11.8 cents. But this month they raised it to 11.9447 per KWH. That added another $5 bucks to my bill. I called to tell them I was not happy and they told me that it was just too bad but the State of Texas said they had to raise my rate. Can you believe that? They actually blamed this on the State saying they had a mandate. I told them my contract was for 12 months but they said it had some "fine print" that said they could raise rates if they were mandated by the Texas PUC. What a bunch of crap! I told them that must mean I can change providers on the same day they change rates. But of course I forgot to put that in the fine print when I signed up. So Reliant Energy is not Reliant! They are theives!

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Reliant Energy Retail Holdings billing /customer service

Why is it that the consumer must pay for the providers incompetence. And then they want you to feel like its a privaledge that they let you pay. I received a bill for 172.00 as opposed to my previous bill of 7.19. Called to find out what happened, was told, probably bad meter, but if I requested a work order that they (Reliant) will probably try to charge me for back usage. I said it needed to be fixed. Got a re letter 13 days later that they couldn't check meter because it was not accessible. Been in same place for 7 years that I know of along with 12 others. This just keeps getting worse, now I owe them nearly 900.00. And am being virtually forced into accepting there payment, or disconnect.

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Reliant Energy Retail Holdings cheating the customers

Hello,

I took the service from Reliant energy when i was new in the city.Later i wondering why i am i getting so high bills comparative to usage .My friends used the same watt of electricity and even more than i did but always their bills were less than me .After 9 months i collected the bills 2 c whats worng and I was shocked to c they were charging me 18 cents for per watt.Though i selected the month to month variable plan ..they kept me charging the same price .not even once the rate was down inspite the gas prices being low.I checked their website and their add on other websites their they mention the price as 13 cents .when I called them and ask they said its for new customers ..It means for exsisting customers the rate will alwaz go up and u will just keep wandering, ..
I switched over to startex ..in that
Startex charged me for 500 kw -$70
Reliant charged me for 500 kw--130
Do chk out while using reliant...

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gexacase
Dallas, US
Dec 21, 2009 4:05 am EST
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Believe me, this conduct they engaged in is unlawful at so many levels. I am also an attorney who may be suing Reliant on behalf of a friend. If you have any interest in my representing you as well, please email me at reliantcase@yahoo.com. No obligation, contingency fee arrangement.

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Reliant Energy Retail Holdings unauthorized billing

On February 2009 I received a corrected bill from Reliant Energy saying that I owe $468 for that month. This was quite a shock to me because in the past six months I had been paying an avg. of $60; and since I am single, rarely at home, don't even turn on AC or Heater often, probably 3-6hrs/day at the most, I thought this was appropriate.

Looking over my corrected bill I saw that in the previous months they had received “wrong" readings and they are now charging me in full.

ONCOR does their meter readings, so I decided to sign up on their website to see my readings. Turns out that I can (online) check my readings at 15-minute intervals. So how is it that Reliant got wrong readings in a period of 6 months? Actually it probably was more than that, but by State law they cannot charge me beyond 6 months.

Is it right that I have to assume full responsibility for their mistake, and the only way that Reliant Energy holds itself accountable is by saying that they're sorry? Now I have this $468 bill that I did not expect and am not in the best financial position to be able to pay it.

Lesson Learned: I will now be checking the meter myself, to make sure they do not “underbill" me.

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verucalise
, US
Nov 02, 2010 2:39 pm EDT

I agree. They were using "central standard time" when they spoke to me, tipping me off. I immediately cancelled- the gentleman "michael" that I spoke to tried to tell me I was paying at the height of the electrical season (December apparently) 14 cents a KwH. I looked thru all my bills for two years- the highest I ever paid was 7.5 cents thru National Grid in NY. He wanted to lock me in at 7.3 cents an hour, when I currently pay in the 6 cents range. I called immediately to cancel, and they are still calling me. As soon as I cancelled, even before paperwork was sent-- I got a call back from Michael. I didn't answer, he left a message about the recording he made me go thru, how I would have to re-do it in order to send out the paperwork. Apparently, when I called to cancel, it also deleted the recording. I foresee many days on end of Hudson Energy calling me... like they didn't already, we were getting 5 calls a week before I finally answered and decided to listen. What a mistake!

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cancel
Bradenton, US
Oct 11, 2009 4:10 pm EDT

Hudson energy services uses solicitors from Florida and other states
to sell gas and electricity to consummers in Deregulated states.
Most the time your talking to someone who dosn't even know where it comes from. Let alone about somebody that reads your meter. Call the Public Utility Commission and complain to them. Then I suggest you cancel.

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mauschen
Dallas, US
Sep 28, 2009 1:00 pm EDT

Same thing happened to me with Hudson Energy Services. They were apologetic and told me that Oncor representatives often just estimate your usage because they are too lazy to take real readings (I don't even have a fence or gate in the way of my meter) and when they come around to take an actual reading once every six months or so and see that the total is different than what they had been estimating (surprise!) they bill you for the difference in one huge lump sum. It does seem like an Oncor problem but it's infuriating to always get the runaround.

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Reliant Energy Retail Holdings billing

My December bill from Reliant had a meter reading that was 1000kwh higher than it should have been. I didn't notice it until after I paid the bill. When I called and complained they said that it would even out on the next bill. On December 31st we saw the guy reading our meter in the back yard. I went and read the meter after he left. When I received my next bill the meter reading was "estimated". It was also 1200kwh higher than the actual reading. My actual meter reading was still below what they had billed me for the previous month - they owe me money. Well, they billed me for $190! When I asked them how someone could be in my back yard reading the meter and then turn in an "estimated" reading they simply put the blame on Center Point Energy. This company is a joke and just seems to be over charging everybody to make up for the loss of money that the hurricane incurred. How an energy company is allowed to do this and then threaten to turn off your energy if you don't pay what you don't owe is criminal. This product is essential for life and no company should be allowed to do this.

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D.W.
Carrollton, US
Mar 03, 2009 11:59 am EST

I really didn't have any problems with reliant until we sign on for a set rate in November, our bill for December was $609.48! We went from the average around $299.00 - $340.00 to $609.48! This company has lost there minds. I called and they said our usage went up, that's bull, we went to look at our meter but couldn't tell because the numbers on our meter turned over and the numbers were much lower than Novembers readings. I asked to have oncor come out and check the meter and and to this day oncor has not come . Our January bill was $584.00 and we used less heat and even unplugged everything when we left the house. I feel robbed, this is how TXU did us and it's happening again. Looking for another electric company.

D. W. - Carrollton, TX

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Reliant Energy Retail Holdings incompetent billing with no protection

After hurricane Ike I expected a small delay in getting my bill. Instead I waited two months and then fearing a cut off I called in a complaint that I had not received the bills. The previous two months before Ike I had not received bills either and called to find out what I needed to pay and payed the bill including late fees for $407. This time I received a letter stating that they were looking into the problem. Then, just 2 days before Christmas, I received a bill for $1554. The usage history showed a spike charging me $900 one month and $500 the next. Calling a utility repair company I found that contacts in my air conditioner were fused. Sure enough a lot of power was used. If I had been billed properly I could have corrected the problem before the cost mounted so high.

I expected Reliant Energy to provide so sort of accomodation but they just refused to do anything. I immediately paid the bill and am making provisions for a lawsuite.

DO NOT trust this company!

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Reliant Energy Retail Holdings high energy charge

I have been trusting that I was getting a decent price from my electricity billing company. At the time I signed on with them they had one of the best rates around. I am on a month to month plan and I was not diligent in comparing the rates they were charging me each month. I got my electricity bill for the month of November. We did not run the air-conditioner that whole month but the bill was still very high. I looked at the rate they were charging for the energy charge and compared it to the last few bills. I realized they were charging me 18 cents per kWh and had been charging me over 19cent or for at least the last several months. I compared that to other companies on line and it's much higher than anybody else in our area. The real issue is that Reliant Energy is advertising that their current rate is 13.8 cents per kWh for the plan I'm on. Apparently once you get on with them they jack the monthly rate up thinking you will be like I was and not pay attention. I know rates fluctuate some but I went back and looked at the average rates for electricity in our area the last year and the rates have been dropping since mid summer. The cost of energy (gas) has been dropping very rapidly during that same time frame but not from for me. What they advertise is just a teaser rate. Avoid them. I have since found that there is a lot of information about Reliant being one of the worst energy billing companies for price gouging in both Texas and California. I should have done my research earlier.

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cwhit
, US
Aug 18, 2009 1:31 pm EDT

I was disconnected because I underpaid my summertime bill by 11 cents! ELEVEN CENTS!

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ROBERTHATESRELIANT
Richmond, US
Sep 17, 2014 2:28 pm EDT

DECEPTIVE COMPANY ! THE ATTORNEY GENERAL NEEDS TO CLOSE THEM DOWN !

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reliant sucks
, US
Feb 11, 2014 1:38 pm EST

Reliant energy is a scam!, they are thieves. They lie and they steal! They won't be seeing another dime from us and they can shove that early termination fee right up their ### I am suing them for everything they have! Reliant energy y'all are going down!

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Dixieland
Alvin, US
Mar 17, 2011 5:15 pm EDT
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I just finished talking to Reliant about an overcharge on our account. They immediately come out to check our meter and decided to change it. They send me a letter and let me know that nothing was wrong with their charge on our account and that the old meter was fine. Why did they change the meter if it was working fine? Before they had changed it, my husband watched, to see how fast it was moving with the air conditioner and the lights on. And then again, with only the lights on. The meter was running at the exact same speed. It never slowed down. I told the person that I first called about this. That was one of the reasons they decided to check it.
Two weeks ago, (the first time I complained), they asked me to take a reading of my meter, which I did. The guy was shocked and asked me if I was sure I had read it right. That was 2 weeks into the billing cycle. I 'm sure that our next bill, will be outrageous. Our January bill was almost a thousand dollars. It was running during the summer months at around $350. They told me that there is a crossover bill that is billed each month. Ours was an extra $286. This crossover bill is suppose to allow us to use the poles and electrical wires. I'm going to file a complaint against them and change to a better service provider.

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Ghost7049
,
Mar 11, 2010 3:04 pm EST

Yeah and be careful about the average bill pay with reliant. got my lawst bill in the mail and theres an extra $175 charged to my account. I called in and am told that it is because of a deffered payments. They were great when i first go them 2 years ago and the $/kwh was at

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gexacase
Dallas, US
Dec 21, 2009 4:06 am EST
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Believe me, this conduct they engaged in is illegal at so many levels. I am also an attorney who may be suing Reliant on behalf of a friend. If you have any interest in my representing you as well, please email me at reliantcase@yahoo.com. No obligation, contingency fee arrangement.

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Prodaytrader
, US
Dec 10, 2009 3:37 pm EST

Same thing happened to me. I didn't notice the raise in prices for several months as well. My bill shot up shortly around June I think. That's about when they stopped doing their old pricing structure and you defaulted onto their month to month plan. I have always had the month to month plan. This past summer Reliant decided to start screwing people for some reason and anyone that was on month to month was being charged anywhere from 18 to 19 cents per hour when everyone else in town was charging 9 to 10 cents per hour. Go figure. It's not hard to switch but I would recommend that when you do switch that you ask them to rush the order through and pay the 5 dollar fee to do so. You pay 5 bucks up front to save 8 weeks or more of being on the old plan while they wait to switch you. They can do it in a matter of days if you tell them. Texas has some sort of policy that automatically defaults you into the waiting game while switching unless you ask to be rushed then they will be happy to bring you on board. Star Tex Power seems to be a good alternative if price is a concern. I don't often call my electric company, maybe 3 times I called Reliant to complain about the price gouging but that was it. I never lose power and if I do TXU or whoever it is that owns the lines is who comes and fixes the problem anyway. Why anyone would care to put "Customer Service" ahead of pricing when it comes to electricity is beyond me.

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chelle78728
Austin, US
Oct 06, 2009 3:29 am EDT

When I received my bill through email I noticed the KWH had increased. I am on a secure 24month eplan .139 per kwh, and they raised it to .142 without sending me the notice of change 45 days in advance according to my 2 yr contract. When I first called after receiving my bill 9/24/09, I was told it was a computer glitch and would be fixed back down to .139 by next bill. Here it is 10/5 and I received a call from Reliant telling me it was no glitch that an increase mandated by the PUC. The customer service rep tried to tell me a lot of bull, and I called her on it because I was online looking at my contract details. I asked for a supervisor and she said that she would get me one, but then came back on the phone to tell me that they mailed a notice on 9/16/09 about the increase. I advised well that is only 8 days before you applied the increase, and my contract says you have to give me 45 days, and plus I am on everything paperless so nothing would have been mailed to me. I have not received anything in the mail from them. I asked for a supervisor again and was told they were busy, and I told her that was fine I would wait. The supervisor got on the phone and would not let me talk, and said if I wanted my .139 kwh back, I would have to pay the plan cancel fee of $295 and then I would be put on a different plan with that rate.

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Thinkplease
Bonham, US
Jun 07, 2009 7:55 pm EDT

If you guys read your price plan on the monthly flex plan the price per kwh can change without notice month to month, if you guys wanted your rate to not change you should have signed on with a contract. I did and its been working for me.

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layne
Plano, US
May 06, 2009 11:24 am EDT

I absolutely agree Reliant screwed me over by rate jacking me up to 18kwh as well, but i didn't notice for quite a while. now they have sent me some absorbient bill after i have changed providers.
AVIOD RELIANT like the plaque!

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Reliant Energy Retail Holdings bad business practices

Quite frankly, Reliant Energy has lost my business. Their billing system is a broken mess, showing one bill with a lower amount, then correcting their mistake and sticking me with a higher bill. If this was the first time, id chock it up to a error, but its happened a few times since I started using their services. They refuse to assist me in extending my bill pay time, eventhough this was my first time requesting, instead referring me to their imfamous credit department which is not staffed on weekends. Like alot of "real world" bill payers in this "bush" economy, I do have to pay in partal at times due to the rising cost of living. When I spoke to a supervisor, he took an insolate tone with me and gave me the same run-around. I then informed him that I also too do supervisory work and call monitoring as well and I rated his employee and his response as a b- at best, which didnt make him too happy and the call was soon disconnected thereafter. I decided to take a stand as this is not an acceptable business practice and have switched my service to another company who can offer me a lower, locked-in per Kw rate and were absolutely polite and professional.

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Reviewer68626
,
Feb 27, 2016 6:36 pm EST

I have never been witha worse comapny than with reliant, the service they promise to get you to sign up is ridiculous, they do not stand by what they promise and with all the other choices there is now, i would advise anyone not to use or sign up with reliant

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Reliant_SUX
Lewisville, US
Oct 19, 2009 2:36 pm EDT

I signed up in the Obama economy and it still sucked bad! In fact I think it is worse than when I signed up with TXU in the Bush economy. Anyway, Reliant does suck...as well as Obama and Bush.

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chelle78728
Austin, US
Oct 06, 2009 3:28 am EDT

When I received my bill through email I noticed the KWH had increased. I am on a secure 24month eplan .139 per kwh, and they raised it to .142 without sending me the notice of change 45 days in advance according to my 2 yr contract. When I first called after receiving my bill 9/24/09, I was told it was a computer glitch and would be fixed back down to .139 by next bill. Here it is 10/5 and I received a call from Reliant telling me it was no glitch that an increase mandated by the PUC. The customer service rep tried to tell me a lot of bull, and I called her on it because I was online looking at my contract details. I asked for a supervisor and she said that she would get me one, but then came back on the phone to tell me that they mailed a notice on 9/16/09 about the increase. I advised well that is only 8 days before you applied the increase, and my contract says you have to give me 45 days, and plus I am on everything paperless so nothing would have been mailed to me. I have not received anything in the mail from them. I asked for a supervisor again and was told they were busy, and I told her that was fine I would wait. The supervisor got on the phone and would not let me talk, and said if I wanted my .139 kwh back, I would have to pay the plan cancel fee of $295 and then I would be put on a different plan with that rate.

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jody
dalkas, US
Feb 23, 2009 5:03 pm EST

reliant has changed my bill a double times also .. now I have a bill that is double and i know the people that lived in this house for 10 years and they showed me their bills and it always ran about 500 and now when i moved in i got reliant they had txu my bill was about the same for the first four months but the last two it has doubled:"

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Reliant Energy Retail Holdings outrageous bill

Last month my light bill was $87.00.I have switched over to TXU so my last bill with reliant energy came in and it was $248.00. I have no central air so I have not turned on my window units yet. Yet my bill went up from $87.00 to$248.00 without doing anything different. I called them and they had me do a meter reading and give them the nos. over the phone. I did that and they as much as called me a liar. I said isn't there a way that the meter was not read just estimated. She said no. Something needs to be done about reliant energy.

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Rheagl
Seagoville, US
Oct 12, 2023 11:31 pm EDT

Take a double watch when you close with Reliant. In 2016, after they had tripled my charges from the previous year, my bill was over $400. I switched to Just Energy and my next bill was only $120. Everything was fine until 2017. Reliant has filed a $7500 lein on my house. I was on a month-to-month contract and I was current on my payments when I switched.

The key was that my mom died in 2013 and the house was still under probate until the house was deeded to me in 2018. Reliant was counting on the house being sold during probate and they would gain $7500 out of nowhere.

When I took tiltle to the house, I tried to get refinanced into my name and that is when I learned of the lein. I looked up the Dallas County records and found 126 leins from Reliant against properties in probate.

I have tried to get a lawyer to go after them. I have all the proof that I owe them nothing and I am sure there are a LOT more of you who do to. A class action would be VERY workable. Unfortunately, all the lawyers I have talked to so far have said that Reliant is so big that they can tie the lawyers up for years. Since it would cost well beyond the $7500 to try to retain them for years, I am just flat out of luck.

Needless to say, I will never sell my house in my lifetime. The powers that be at Relient are criminals and should face jail time.

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jaime pequeno
, US
Sep 21, 2017 11:31 pm EDT

Reliant energy robs everyone. Your bill always goes up no matter what plan they offer you. STAY AWAY FROM THESE RATS! THEY SUCK!

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Adylenne Enriquez
, US
Oct 15, 2015 10:35 pm EDT

From average of $85 per month it said I had a past due amount of $600 plus $350 in new charges due now. How do you spend $950 dollars worth of electricity in a one bedroom apartment?! I had a deposit of $150 so it was deducted from my debt and now I owe $800. Thanks for ruining my credit and not even giving me a chance to do a payment plan since I had to stop the electricity. I used to recommend this company because it was the only one I knew was good. I'm a single mom and I would rather spend those $800 worth of 2 weeks work on my childs life. I am not paying

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S. Achieng
, US
Jul 16, 2011 4:11 am EDT

Reliant Energy is a HOT mess!
They could not prove how they arrived at my bill which was $336 higher than the previous month! I called them and all they could tell me was the the new digital meters read correctly and the old ones did not. Seriously! After nine years? So I ended my relationship with Reliant immediately and will not look back. No supervisors are available and the agents read from a script. The digital meters are correct! Really! Well I would rather have a watch with a dial that kept the correct time rather that a digital that framed the time! And I did tell her that occasionally even planes do fall from the sky. I think she got the message. Also Reliant Energy will post your billing amount on the internet before you can even access your bill! Greed! Hence their inability to defend their billing. Thank GOD for competition. I will be sleeping tonight.

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chelle78728
Austin, US
Oct 06, 2009 3:26 am EDT

When I received my bill through email I noticed the KWH had increased. I am on a secure 24month eplan .139 per kwh, and they raised it to .142 without sending me the notice of change 45 days in advance according to my 2 yr contract. When I first called after receiving my bill 9/24/09, I was told it was a computer glitch and would be fixed back down to .139 by next bill. Here it is 10/5 and I received a call from Reliant telling me it was no glitch that an increase mandated by the PUC. The customer service rep tried to tell me a lot of bull, and I called her on it because I was online looking at my contract details. I asked for a supervisor and she said that she would get me one, but then came back on the phone to tell me that they mailed a notice on 9/16/09 about the increase. I advised well that is only 8 days before you applied the increase, and my contract says you have to give me 45 days, and plus I am on everything paperless so nothing would have been mailed to me. I have not received anything in the mail from them. I asked for a supervisor again and was told they were busy, and I told her that was fine I would wait. The supervisor got on the phone and would not let me talk, and said if I wanted my .139 kwh back, I would have to pay the plan cancel fee of $295 and then I would be put on a different plan with that rate.

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Ashsamp
Magnolia, US
Feb 28, 2009 1:12 pm EST

I switched to Reliant in Nov of 08 and for Nov and Dec my bill was about 100.00. Then in Jan they said our meter was not accesible and then Feb they sent me a 750.00 bill! They said Feb was 500.00 for usage and they were adding on to Jan bill the rest of what I owed b/c they had to estimate Jan payment due to my meter not being able to be read. Don't ever switch to Reliant.

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jody
dalkas, US
Feb 23, 2009 4:59 pm EST

this same thing is happening to my renters. I had TXU for ten years and now my renters are using reliant. They have been in my home for 7 months and in the past two months their bill has doubled.

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EJC
Houston, US
Jan 06, 2009 7:33 pm EST

The exact thing happened to me. I live in a 1 bedroom apt with an average bill of $50/month. One month I was charged over $400 and called to find out what was going on (especially in the light of not having power for half the month from a hurricane). Most of the telephone operators do not know how to research causes of inflated bills or understand how this might happen, even the supervisor may tell you that you just happened to use 8x the amount of energy and that's the way it goes...

If you're smart and persistent, you can at least get your money credited back to your account (they won't reimburse you even though it was their fault):
1. record the names, date and time of who you spoke to on the phone & take notes of what they said
2. READ YOUR OWN METER! If you're in an apartment, you can find out which meter is yours from the electric company. It's located on the side of your building. You can look up how to read your own meter on the web and calculate your energy usage per kilowatt hours (kWh). For example - 150 kWh at $0.165/kWh = $24.75) Periodically record the number yourself to keep them on track. (Often it is the meter reader's fault - one wrong slip and they could be charging you 2000 more kilowatt hours). Sometimes they may estimate your meter, so it won't be exact, but the next time they come out personally to read the meter, they add or subtract accordingly. Ask them to come out and read your meter if you think it's incorrect. Give them your meter reading or take a picture of the reading if you're really anal like me.
3. Be persistent - keep calling them until they come out to read your meter. They finally agreed they made a mistake after my 5th call and an email (although I'm still $400 in debt from an automatic payment). Remember, you are the customer and you can always choose another company!

Good luck!

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Kia
Euless, US
Jan 06, 2009 12:15 pm EST

My bill went from 215.00 to 465.00 in one month. i live in an apartment and have never had a bill this high. What is going on?

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