Multiple staff spoke with me about the issue and all agreed that the money was owed to Nana. In January I made it clear that they need to refund her money. All of a sudden I was told that they can’t speak to me. I explained (for the 4th time) that I am her POA. They stated that the account is in my grandfathers name (deceased over 25 years) and my POA was not valid. I explained that they have been speaking to me regarding all aspects of the account including billing, address change and cancellation so I was not sure what had changed. I had faxed the POA to them in October and someone confirmed receipt of same.
I have been told so many things that it has reached the ridiculous status. They finally mailed one check for $129.00 to my address in my deceased grandfathers name. After they received a copy of his death certificate that they had requested.
I have now spoken to 15 individuals at Delmarva Power. Today is what broke me and led me here to vent. The rep was polite and helpful (I think several of the folks I have spoken to realize how ridiculous this process has been) but a supervisor is what I needed.
Supposedly, the Feb 28th phone call activated a “30 day processing” timeline at the end would result in Nana receiving her payment. Well today is March 27th and “the company has 30 days to process this request.” So by my math....I requested this refund on her behalf in October 2017 so it’s been well over 30 days. And even if we start at February 28, 2018.....unless the check gets overnighted tomorrow....we are still out of the 30 day window. I cannot accept or understand the level of incompetence and apathy I have dealt with from the power company for six months now. For the first three months I assumed it just took awhile but I have come to learn that the leadership in these areas of the company must be very disorganized. I ask that you please circulate this for me in hopes someone at Delmarva Power will see this and mail Nana her money.
Luckily Nana has a safety net around her but I am sure there are other vulnerable adults who have given up on receiving any refund from sheer exhaustion and stress overload. I will continue to post/circulate this until Nana receives her refund.
The status now is that “a supervise has 24 hours to contact you. A claim for that to occur has been filed.” When I asked why couldn’t I hold until someone could speak to me I was told “well there are other customers they need to assist today.” I asked her if any of those have waited six months and that I don’t mind holding and could do so until the end of the day. I will probably fall out if someone does return my call today.
Maybe that's 30 working days, which would necessitate the addition of weekend days to the calculation from 28 February.
ReplyDeleteWhatever the case, this sucks.
Delmarva power are a bunch of lowlife criminals they have no intention of refunding the money and have no fear of reprisal because they own state and federal politicians.
ReplyDeletebuy some diesel fuel and fertilizer?
ReplyDeleteWould attempt to get an Attorney or contact AG's, Attorney General, office. Also contact your Politian since it is getting close to elections most would jump right on this. Good luck with the AG's office.
ReplyDeleteWrite them at:
ReplyDeleteDelmarva Power
Attn: Legal Department
500 N Wakefield Dr
Newark, DE 19702
It's the only way I finally got my $400 refund for security deposit.
They have all advanced to their level of incopetency.
ReplyDeleteStandard customer service for corporate America. There are always legally constrained "waiting periods" which "require" them to put off helping you until "someone else" gets involved. Their run-around process is designed to wear you down and make you give up.
ReplyDeleteIf you quit fighting they keep your money. Their legal departments can usually outlast most of us.
Try fighting a health insurance company...
sue them or hire an attorney, otherwise you will never get it back...they make big money from deposits they take but never return
ReplyDeleteWait a minute did they just say delmarva power is a bunch of lowlife criminals HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHA bet there the ones who can't pay the bill or got turned down for a job for being an idiot
ReplyDeleteThey have jacked rates foe years it's ridiculous the amount we pay, in Europe it's way less, some people are paying 4- 500 month crazy..for homes ..solar is squeezing them and they are squeezing us.they will lose eventually.
DeleteI was blown away how coincidental coming across this article right after getting off the phone with D.P. I canceled my service at my old address several months ago and had discovered that I had grossly overpaid. You would think this impossible after the bills we all got from D.P. after that 14 day cold snap at the end of December and beginning of January. I remember clearly because I was moving during it. Apparently they forwarded the credit to my new account. I was wondering why my bill was so low. Sorry about your problems, I've just never had them.
ReplyDeleteThe explanation at the beginning is confusing. If she's on the budget plan with a $1000 balance, why does she get a refund? Just wondering...
ReplyDeleteFile a small claims case.
ReplyDeleteDelmarva Power's crew are thirty-day liars. This includes George Nelson who is from Crisfield, and with whom I grew up with. When George was an employee as with others that company had some character and reliability in what they said. When they were taken over by the succession of buy-outs they went through this morality in business was effectively snuffed out. The scenario this lady described fits a description of what happened to me exactly. I carried a plus balance with them when I had extra money and even after I contacted the Md. PUC they disregarded them to the point punitive action was threatened. Now the evolution that has made them an un-controllable monster is the money they distribute to your elected officials i.e. Mathias,Otto,Anderton,Ekert,Corroza and any other dupe they can sway to get their way. If you think I'm wrong try to get anyone of the Eastern Shore Delegation to take up cause against them on any front. You'll get the heave-ho quick from either one of them because the money comes down the line from Hogan and the two Mikes along with marching orders to committees on addressing Delmarvas' interests on any topic.
ReplyDeleteDon't play around with the subordinates, go to the front and take up political posture and make your vote count for someone with the stones to stand up to the conglomerates like we're talking about.
NOT FOOLED....Bob Aswell
This is the problem with monopolies. Lack of competition usually results in minimal or nonexistent customer service. Xfinity is another example of lack of competition and results in monthly bill increases far exceeding inflation. You are at their mercy.
ReplyDeleteReport them to wicomico adult protective services for elder abuse.
ReplyDeleteThat's why I sold my house and moved to Choptank territory.
ReplyDeleteSure you did. If you think that anyone believes, for one second, that you moved from one house to another simply because of who the power provider is you are delusional. Nobody believes your crap.
DeleteFile a BBB complaint. File a complaint with the Public Service Commission. Go to small claims court and file for $25.00. Request the amount owed plus 1.5% interest per month since you ended service, your lost time from work, etc. etc.
ReplyDeleteAnd 10:24 is referring to the Peter Principle! Nice
Fill out a document for small claims or Complaint/Affidavit in Support of Judgment and have it served.
ReplyDeleteThank you Joe for putting this on your blog for these people. I was desperate last year, and you assisted me and even called a politician for me as he refused to respond to my 3 emails. Within one hour of your phone call I was contacted. This person appears to be in a similar predicament. SBYNEWS and you continue to be our voice. You are a good man Joe. I hope these people get their money back soon with interest and late fees. If they were 6 months late paying their bill their late fees would be ridiculous. Delmarva Power should be held accountable as well.
ReplyDelete12:34
ReplyDeleteThe customer does not owe that amount.....the customer is OWED that from the power company.
12:14
ReplyDeleteShe did not have a new account. Her residence was sold and she did not require a new account. Efforts were made (prior to her electric being cancelled) to have the money refunded directly to the same bank account that was used to direct pay the company. That is not their policy and the family was told that the money would be mailed in check form. This conversation started in Oct 2017 and the end appears “yet to be determined.”
These wads actually put my electric in someone elses name because they were to lazy to do their job and verify anything. I found out when I got a "final" bill on a friday. I called them monday to ask wth are they doing and they were rude and ignorant. the people you are talking to are not local, they are in an office in delaware.
ReplyDeleteEvery interaction I have had with them has been lousy. If their lips are moving the are lying.
I agree with an earlier commentor. contacting the puc is a waste of time. they are as sleazy as the power company. they were of absolutely no help when I had evidence that dp had ripped me off and incorrectly billed me.
And for the rest of you - Never give any utility more than you owe - budget plans are for their benefit - not yours.
The writer has to admit that her NANA had some very unusual circumstances concerning her account with Delmarva Power. Certainly some of the problem was caused by her nNana's negligence in not having the account put in her name when her husband died 25 YEARS AGO. Delmarva Power doesn't still have Nana's money, on the account name, it still has her dead husband's money. Why does everyone try to blame the electric company when the customer doesn't handle their account properly? Technically and legally, the holder of the account is the only one that should get any balance back. That would be her dead husband. The writer is not the POA for the dead husband, just for her Nana. Legally, the dead husband's estate would need to be opened, and the money received into the estate would have to be distributed according to Probate. Real pain in the ass when you don't take care of business properly when an estate is settled.
ReplyDeleteDelmarva power employee... give the lady her money back ... maybe since the account is in her "dead husbands" name you should of billed him for the electric bills and when there was no payment you should of sent HIM a delinquent notice...I mean after all it's his account .. so technically she should of never been charged for HIS bill right?
Delete12:34 PM 1000+ means she has a credit on account because she was on a budget plan and had not used as much as she paid in.
ReplyDeleteWhich means that DLP had been ripping her off the whole time and over inflated her budget plan to get more out of her than she would ever owe.
They tried that with me and wanted to charge me $500 more a year then I ever used. I used $1200 a year in electric and they wanted me to pay $1700 a year on budget. Oil company also tried that trick to.
Anonymous Anonymous said...
ReplyDeleteWait a minute did they just say delmarva power is a bunch of lowlife criminals HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHA bet there the ones who can't pay the bill or got turned down for a job for being an idiot
March 28, 2018 at 12:12 PM
*they're*
Who is the idiot?
It's a shame your parents did not use some type of birth control. There would be one less jerk in the world if they had.
Delmarva Power is as popular as cancer.
ReplyDeleteYou need to contact the MD Public Service commission and ask for their legal services. They will then issue a Writ Of Mandamus (court order) giving them so many days to issue the refund. IMHO - DPL has gone to the dogs. They are no longer a reputatble firm. To many buyouts and mergers.
ReplyDelete3:33
ReplyDeleteBoth names were on the account. And the POA has been operating as such for a year prior to the electric account being closed. The company allowed the POA to manage all business at DP until three months into the effort to have the money refunded. They had all the ppwk they needed to refund the money several months ago. Yes his name should have been removed from the account but it wasn’t....or was an effort made to remove his name and that got bungled up so she gave up trying ? Hard to say but seems that it could be a good possibility. The Nana may have made a mistake but that does not excuse what has happened in the here and now.
I have tried the rebates through them. Every time they never come through. $500 on a Hybrid Water Heater. Never got it.
ReplyDeleteDo not believe it when you see this rebate in the stores. They never deliver. Or plan on spend hours trying to get it.
@ 4:21 Why is that hard to believe ? People buy and sell houses all the time and if you don't consider services like power provider than you are an idiot, Must be still living in Mom's basement.
ReplyDeleteMarch 28, 2018 at 8:10 PM:
ReplyDeleteThe whole point of my comment was "Real pain in the ass when you don't take care of business properly when an estate is settled." It can make things extremely difficult if EVERYTHING is not settled and taken out of the deceased's name before the estate is closed. Not impossible to deal with later, but much more difficult. Happens all the time. Her poor Nana will get they money back, because it is not Delmarva Power's to keep. But her Nana now has to prove it is hers to get, all because the electric account wasn't transferred to her name when her husband died. If there is "blame" for this situation occurring, then it is on Nana. And the POA has to deal with it. Blaming Delmarva Power is not going to make the process, that now has to occur, any easier.
Delmarva Power allowed POA to manage ALL account updates and changes including cancelling electric and changing the address. They spoke with POA for months and never mentioned that the account was in the deceased husband’s name. That became an issue only after POA raised concerns about DP still not refunding the money four months after cancellation of service. They also requested a death certificate for the Nana. Hard to produce since she is not deceased.
DeleteI agree that the lady should have had the husbands name removed from the account ,however, it is also very likely that she tried and gave up due to having to deal with the chaos of this company’s customer service staff.
THEY NEED TO BE INVESTIGATED AS TO THEIR COMPANY POLICIES. I HAD A SIMILAR EXPERIENCE BECAUSE I WAS PUT ON A BUDGET PLAN WITHOUT REQUEST OR NOTICE. THEIR CUSTOMER SERVICE LEAVES A LOT TO BE DESIRED AS WELL AS THEIR Attitude. They need competition.
ReplyDelete9:34 Some of us bought houses in another state to not pay MD state tax. Been using the MD part time for years but MD sucks so bad now, it is time to cut it loose.
ReplyDeleteYou should be happy not to be at Maryland. I was told that Delmarva Power doesn't let you talk to a real person face to face. You only get to call them. because I went to complain about the supply charge. Since I found it ridiculous their so called supply charge was more than the cost of electricity for me.
ReplyDeleteApril 1, 2018 at 9:51 PM:
ReplyDeleteI had absolutely no problem changing my father's account to an estate account during the time it took me to sell his house, and keeping the utilities on until the house sold. And closing the account and refunding of monies due was a breeze using the Letter of Administration issued by the Register of Wills. Delmarva Power can't give refunds to ANYONE but the name on the account. This POA would be raising hell if Delmarva Power had distributed the funds to someone (perhaps another family member claiming to represent her Nana), without the proper authorization. Delmarva power is complying with both law and regulations in the requirements for the settlement of her late GRANDFATHER'S account. Did the POA actually think it would be simple to act as POA for her Nana? It is a great responsibility to act as POA for anyone, and a POA often doesn't know what they are getting into.
March 28, 2018 at 9:31 PM:
ReplyDeleteIf "Nana" had done what you propose, there wouldn't be any problem now. The dead husband wouldn't have paid the bill, and Delmarva power would have cut off poor Nana's electricity for non-payment. Dead husband's account would be closed for non-payment. She paid the bills so she could continue to keep the electricity turned on in her husband's name. Now the POA has to deal with Nana's bad decision. Everybody thinks they're "slick" when they try to get over on the power company. Power companies have to deal with all walks of low life, to get the money they are owed.