Valerie sent a message to Charles E. Jones Jr. – Chief Executive Officer and President of FirstEnergy Corp. – Email Address that said:
Mr. Jones my name is Valerie and I am a FirstEnergy customer. There are many things that I can say to my dissatisfaction of the FirstEnergy corporation; although, I will just get down to brass tactics.
My daughter, unbeknownst to myself, open an account in my name when she moved in with her boyfriend several years ago and the bill was left to accumulate to an unsatisfactory amount. This resulted in the bill being placed on my account (a perfectly paid account) and leaving she and I to make payment arrangements to pay the outstanding balance.
Now that the balance is down to the last $171.35 and I am awaiting for the bill to arrive so that I can complete the payment, I have not received the bill because the bill is in the process of being "ESTIMATED."
Prior to this account mishap with my daughter, my bill would be "ESTIMAED" approximately eight months out of a year. When the employees paid to read my meter would come out to my home to read my meter, the bill would be SIGNIFICANTLY less than the estimated amount and no monies from the ESTIMATED bills were ever credited to my account.
I understand the schematics of business and the "bottom line" for all business owners, as I have degrees in business and labor relations (MBA MLRHR); although the level of falsification by FirstEnergy when it comes to homeowners and their electrical service is astonishing to me.
During this mishap with my daughter and my bill, the employees came to my home each and every month and read my meter without fail, I am sure because they wanted to ensure that they were going to obtain the maximum amount for the bill. Each and every month, as you will note, my daughter and I paid the bill in excess with the hopes of paying in full this month. To my surprise, I am sure that I am not going to be able to do this because of "ESTIMATION"
When I paid the bill down to the last $171.35, I called when I saw the balance to cancel the payment plan and the representative, not only was excessively rude, she had the nerve to be eating in my ear. She indicated, in an unacceptable tone, "that I could not cancel the payment plan until the bill was paid in full," as to which I indicated "that I paid more than the bill amount all of this time, so why would I not complete the bill, but that is OK, because I will finish the bill once the meter is read next month, so have a nice damn day," and I hung up the phone.
Her behavior toward me as a customer was completely inappropriate and I guess it could have been excused if my bill was never paid, as was the case with the neighbors at 16341 Home Street Maple Heights, OH 44137 who had a bill in excess of $8000.00 and FirstEnergy had to remove the meter off of the house because of non-payment, but that wasnt the case with me. In my case I did nothing wrong and while my daughter was wrong, I have helped her to clear up this mishap, so to be treaded so rudely and disrespectfully was unacceptable.
The representatives behavior, I am sure, is the reason why I have not received my bill. I am also sure that she has indicated that bill was to be "ESTIMATE." My meter is usually read around the 12th of each month and here it is the 15th and I am writing you an email because I know the meter was not read.
My next issue with FirstEnergy is that as FirstEnergy consumers, we are asked to read our meters. We pay excessive prices for electrical service through FirstEnergy and you pay people weekly/bi-weekly wages in order to come to our homes to read our meters and as this is their JOB, your employees should read the meters, not the customer. In my home, as I am a new homeowner, I do not even know where my electric meter is located, nor do I care where it is located. My concern with my meter is that it is in good working condition and that it is read monthly around the 12th of the month as my bill indicates.
If my bill is estimated, which I know that it will be, I am hoping that my email will have reached you in time for you to request that your employee(s) come to my home and read the meter as they are paid to do. I also would like to believe that you will ask that they not "ESTIMATE" bills further for my home (account number listed earlier), as there is NO rectification of charges that take place when the bill is ESTIMATED v an ACTUAL read.
I thank you for your time and hope that the business practices, as it pertains to our bills and meter reading, will change as a result of my concerns.
Have a great day.
Valerie
