PPL Electric review: Utility/electric

8/11/22

Every site I've gone to for reviews about PPL Electric (to see if people have been treated similarly) have the lowest ratings imaginable. PPL is unfazed by this as any monopoly tends to be. For over a decade, I've been exposed to how little this company cares about their customers. They even have a scam that starts from the moment you call to speak with an agent. A recording (of course) asks you whether you'd like to fill out a survey at the end. I always say yes. And at the end, the agent always says they're transferring me. Then I always get the same recording: "We're sorry. An application error has occurred." Then it just hangs up. This is every time.

I've been with them for years. I'm a single mom with two daughters and one very modest income, which is barely survivable as it is. With a 9% inflation rate, I'm not even living paycheck to paycheck anymore. It's unsustainable. I live in a 135-year-old house that I'm always taping up and spackling and putting plastic on all the windows. I can't afford to replace one window, much less 10. I don't have A/C (I do have one window unit) and I use oil heat. Between January and July, I've given PPL over $7K, which means nearly half of my take home salary every month. And we still have to sit in one room to use an a/c unit in the summer and a space heater in the winter. I can't afford to update my home. I will never be able to.

They'll tell you to try all their programs for people like me, and you'll put great effort into applying for them only to be rejected by each. The agent with whom I spoke today, I'll call her Sab (not her name), had a nasty tone from the get-go. I knew this would be an important discussion, and I wanted to write down anything important she could tell me. I asked her if I could get her name as she didn't tell me when she answered. This clearly offended her, even though I was very polite and not accusatory in any way (we hadn't even started the call.) She curtly said her name and added, "Now tell me YOUR name, because I want to know who I'M talking to." As if I weren't going to tell her my name. It was an unsettling start.

She could tell I was panicked by yet another turn-off notice. Every month I'm paying at least $1000, and they have absolutely no mercy. I have a small home that's as old as dirt. She explained that I couldn't make another payment online (I do this twice a month) because something automatic kicked in when I was late. She gave me insulting advice like, "Ma'am. [crickets] Ma'am. [crickets] Your house is old. You need to update all your appliances and windows. The air is going in and out around your windows." Thanks, Sab. I had no idea, though I've just told you I've spent years using sealants, plastic wrap, foam, rubber piping, etc. around every possible opening in my home.

She "let" me pay half today and I have to pay the other half at the end of next week. After that miserable customer service experience, I found this site, because you can't complain to PPL themselves. Of course. Sab knew this and had zero concern I might take that survey at the end, because she knew exactly what that recording would say. The first site I came across for reviews, this woman was talking about how merciless they had been to her. An agent for PPL responded by completely dissecting this woman's electric bill and her customer service calls, trying to humiliate her. I bet she doesn't even know. To say PPL Electric is merciless and a complete disgrace is being kind.