Ambit Energy Holdings review: Billing scam 25

Since Hurricane Ike, Ambit Energy has billed me for AVERAGE use (exceeding > 1, 000 KWh) and has charged me $9.99 for failure to use the minimum KWh. Given the nature of this disaster, there was NO POWER to use, but I was billed for an estimated average and then charged a penalty for FAILURE to use minimum KWH. From Sept-Oct 2008, I used 318 KWH and was charged $179.09. From Oct-Nov 5, 2008, I used 802 KWH and was charged $169.34. When I called, I was told that I was on average billing, so I wouldn't be able to tell that I had been credited. Now, I have been advised that for 926 KWH, I have a bill for $188.86. I don't think the customer should be penalized for not using electricity, particularly when there is NO POWER due to a national disaster. They are refusing to let me out of my contract - please, please help me with this scam!

I am an Ambit customer I am on the same contract you are. These "back dated charges" are outrageous. No notification or anything. Don't bother contacting the PUC, they are useless. I filed a complaint with them about another company that stole over $200.00 of my money in overcharges. I had bills clearly showing that they owed me as well as a printout of my account from the website showing my acount with a negative balance when I ended service. The PUC did nothing. I am furious about this increase and will be contacting my rep!

same here. contact [protected] ext 11249 for more "Customer No service"
Hard to believe PUCT let this happen.

they charged the bill more...
I think i should change the Electricity provider now.

I have a small business in Cleburne Tx. Until last summer i had both my house and business electric service with ambit energy. I renewed my contract for my business account for another year and was told ambit would contact me when it was time to renew the account for my house and that if i didnt renew it would automatically go to the month to month rate. In July my bill at my house doubled and i guess i should have checked it a little closer but figured i needed to watch my usage a little closer. When i received the next bill it was even higher and i had my ac set on 80 degrees. I checked the bill more closely and sure enough the contract had expired but ambit didnt notify me or switch my rates to the month to month rate - they increased the rate to 18 cents a kwh. I switched providers as fast as i could get to the power to choose website to find someone else. I figured ambit was the one losing - they may have screwed me out of what amounted to a couple of months worth of bills but they would no longer have me as a customer and as soon as the contract on on my business ended i would switch it too--I figured i better start looking at my bills pretty closely about May or so. Well wrong again--in December my bill almost tripled - then i receive another bill a few weeks later for 60 dollars and some change. I assumed(i know-what were u thinking)they over read in December and it had caught back up so that was why this bill was so low. I paid 100 dollars thinking it would put me 40 dollars to the good on the next months billing. I get to work a couple of weeks ago and the electricity is off. Customers are waiting - I call oncor because i dont have ambits number. Oncor tells me to call ambit. I get their number from oncor and call and ambit says they had the service disconnected for a 60 dollar past due balance. I told the girl that i didnt realize that it was a past due balance but that the 60 dollars had been paid - and actually i had over paid by 40 dollars. She said they had not received the payment. Now mind you this is a business account --- been there 16 years --- 60 dollars --- even if it hadnt been paid - which it had - anyway---heres where it really gets good-----------------I ask the girl what do i need to do to get the power back on i have customers waiting. She says i can pay over the phone by credit card or debit card. I dont have a credit or debit card cant i do check by phone. They dont do check by phone. I have to go to ace check cashing and pay. I said fine but i dont have a bill with me what information do i need to give them--she gives me my account number and says it will be 1285 dollars to have the service reconnected. Yes u read that right twelve HUNDRED and eighty five dollars. I said u are ### me and she said no and once its paid it could be up to 2 business days before the service is back on but that the order would go in as soon as it was paid. Well come to find out aparently i was on a month to month -not sure what happened to the year contract i was supposed to have -and i told her then that i could already see that they had no intention of giving back any of the deposit. She said it would be refunded minus the final months bill. I said yall better get your grubby little fingers on as much of it as fast as u can because this will be my last month with yall and i will tell everyone i get a chance to to stay away from ambit energy. Got my last bill today and it looks like i was right---763.00 ---the highest bill ive ever had in 16 years running tanning beds and air conditioning in 100+ was 471.00(also from ambit) so here i am on my soap box----- STAY CLEAR OF AMBIT ENERGY---you cant afford them------oh and by the way the day the electric was disconnected i checked my account when i got home from work and sure enough the check for 100.00 had been cashed --- they shut my electricity off and they owed me money--- go figure---i wonder if they are going to file bankruptcy so they can get out of paying their debts---wouldnt suprise me

ok you ignite people stop ###ing leng this is rediculous...i know facts and this is a ###ing lie...and deal with oncore you ###s

I'm sending a copy of this complaint to Jere Thompson, CEO of Ambit Energy. The people of Texas had a lot of problems during the storm without having MLM energy companies treat their customers like this.

You guys are all full of crap. I am an Ambit Energy consultant in NY...Ambit has NO contracts, nothing to sign, and they do not guarantee any set price on kilowatts or therms. These rates fluctuate for ALL companies on a daily basis. Ambit Energy has an A rating with the BBB. If you're bill has gone up, check your usage and your DELIVERY CHARGES from your incumbent provider who DELIVERS your energy. You will find that the delivery charges have gone through the roof because of derregulation. This is how the incumbent provider (ie;, con-ed, national grid, nyseg, and all the other companies we were STUCK with for supply before derregulation). You people need to get educated and stop throwing allegations around before you know what the hell you're talking about. Ambit does NOT DELIVER YOUR GAS/ELECTRIC. They only SUPPLY it!

That may be true in NY but I live in Texas...It is true here. Do your homework.

Ambit Energy makes every honest attempt to bring our customers’ complaints and issues to an equitable resolution. Please contact our customer Care team at [protected] and we'll do our best to investigate and resolve this issue.

Ambit Energy is a great opportunity for people looking save on their energy cost and at the same time help others save on their energy costs. Currently Ambit is the #1 Top earning company as per INC 500 Magazine. Do I need to say any more?

We just made a major announcement of expanding markets and we are now able to offer the same savings opportunity to small businesses in TX.

I can go on and on about how great Ambit Energy is. Three thumbs up .. oops sorry I only have two thumbs. :)

Find out Why does Ambit Energy Work? http://bit.ly/9F7KwR
Save money and Join Ambit Now http://bit.ly/9Vn3kR

I am sorry to see so many people are upset with Ambit Energy - but some facts need to be set straight. Ambit Energy is a retailer of energy - not the maker or the delivery company. That is what deregulation is all about, no company can do more than one part, they can be a maker or delivery company or a retailer but can do only one thing. Before deregulation they could do all three parts and you had no choice but to use that company or do without. Ambit buys there energy from the maker - another company does the delivery and physical works (lines/meters/repairs/etc (these are the service trucks you see on the street}... the delivery company depends on your location ...Ambit & ALL other energy providers use the same delivery company for that area ... Ambit Energy and ALL other energy providers collect the monthly charges for the delivery companies with a seperate line on your energy bill including the name of the company and the monthly charge. NO energy retailer sets this charge or makes any money billing for it - it is a direct charge from the delivery company and effects everyone no matter who the energy retailer or maker is, it will be the same charge.
As to the original complaint from the lady in Cleburne, I find it hard to give it any credence as Ambit energy did not even offer small business service until September 2010 and did not have service for small business when this compalint was written.
Ambit Energy prides itself on it's honesty & integrity in dealing with it customers. If you still feel that your energy bill is wrong, please contact customer service again and have them go over your bill with you line by line. They will be happy to provide an explanation for any and all charges and if you feel the customer support person does not provide the help you want, then ask for a supervisor or manager.

Ambit energy is a scam, I made a payment of $85 saturday on the automatic system and I have been charged $8500. The system asked me to enter in dollars and cents. I entered 85.00 the system did not ask me to confirm the amount entered and did not repeat the amount I entered. As soon as I entered the amount the system said thank you your payment of $8500 have been approve. I call them immediately they said it was a mistake and the money will be back in my bank account monday. Today is tuesday the money is not there and the bank charged me overdraft fees. I called them they said it will take 5 more business day to have the money back in my account. And they also ask me to make another payment or my electricity will be disconnected. How I'm gonna make a payment if all the money in my account is gone? I don't event have money to eat. They also said they won't pay for the over draft fees and said that I entered the amount in the system. I have been a customer for 4 years and alway paid with the automated system, and I know when something is wrong with the system. What can I do?

Take responsibility for your own actions and quit trying to blame someone else. You should have called your bank immediately and canceled the bill pay amount and then redid it for the correct amount. If you have bills in your name then you know that companies cannot refund money immediately - have you every returned anything to a store for a refund? It can take up to four weeks to get a refund on a credit card. Unless you have a history of missed payments or are always late payments Ambit Energy would not threaten cutting off your electricity, nor would any retail company! There is no scam - only someone who is unwilling to take the blame for their own actions. You do have a valid point if you were right about the system not asking you to confirm the amount, but if you have been using the system for four years as you stated. then you should have called customer support a long time ago and let them have the chance to improve their system. Complaint board are a great way to let the general population know if you have a legitimate complaint but there is NO SCAM here - you are 100 % responsible for your own actions.

I too was fooled by Ambit energy. It is who the complex I live in was using at the time; they have since changed to a new provider as have I. I was in a large 2 bedroom and downsized to a smaller 2 br unit in the complex. For 3 months after I vacated the other unit I was still receiving bills at both addresses. I called numerous times and hold time is atrocious; early in the morning - noone is there, in the afternoon you'll hold 2 or more hours. My breaking point was after hurricane IKE... I was on the last power grid in Houston to be turned back on, so there was NO power in my apartment for 28 days. After all was said and done I received a larger bill than I ever had before. $429 & change... When I called to inquire why & how was I being charged when there had been NO power in the apartment AT ALL I got transferred to 3 different people; each who made me hold over an hour and finally after investigating my account they found that they actually owed me $800(and some change) for overcharging me on this bill and previous bills. Needless to say, I NEVER received a check, but also did not send them another cent! I have read through the comments and there are only 2 giving Kudos (I'm sure they probably work for Ambit and fell for the pyramid scheme). They'll see soon enough, just like all of us have... I wish I had done my research before activating anything with them.

I was asked to join Ambit, so I began researching. Over and over I see Pro-Ambit posts calling other people names...I have run across quite a few calling people '###s', even on this very thread. If those are the sort of desperate low-lifes who defend Ambit, that alone is enough to make me shy away. If you weed out the people who are in it to get others to sign up, and focus SOLELY on those only USING the service, I am finding that nearly 90% of the reviews are bad. If you see a red flag, don't ignore it.

I am an Ambit consultant in New York. I do not routinely dismiss the complaints I have seen on this page and think theyh are worth further investigation. Ambit attracts all types. I do not defend all comments posted. I am confident what has been described in Texas could not happen in New York, and that people have been saving money. Fortunately in New York, ambit has only one option which will save anyone money: The incumbent monopoly delivery company bills all customers on behalf of Ambit or any other ESCOs (Energy Supply Companies). Only the incumbent delivery utility can turn power off. I and partners I know well and trust have examined a lot of utility bills.

Most ESCOs jack rates up dramatically after the first two months which are subsidized by the state to encourage people not to have their supply come from their delivery company. Ambit guarantees at least 1% savings every year with an aniversary letter that will include a check if that savings has not been realized. I know of no cases where such a check was necessary, and have heard of many cases where the savings amount on the anniversary letter was around 14%. The greatest savings are for those who refer 15 or more customers and get free energy. For some, this is easy, for others quite difficult. I think the greatest untapped source of money is for non-profit affiliates that get much higher residual income for customers they sign up, especially if they stack the customers for free energy for their offices and houses of worship. More still could be had by stacking even more customers under trusted donors who could then donate the free energy amounts back to the organizations for a tax deduction. This is tricky and requires trust as Ambit will not be involved in any guarantees or obligations by individuals to give away their free energy savings.

I am an Energy Consultant licensed and bonded in all 14 deregulated states. I work with 30 different Retail Energy Providers and price behind 42 utilities. Recently, a NJ client of mine asked me to look into an offer received from an Ambit representative. The rate was lower however, the rate Ambit quoted did not include; PJM transmission charges, capacity, congestion and ISO losses, ancillary services, reliability must run, transmission & distribution losses, or the 7 % NJ sales & use tax. These items are components of supply not delivery. When I called Ambit's customer service line, I quickly realized that the rep I spoke with knew nothing of these things and insisted they were utility delivery charges. Truth is, if these components are not included in the supply rate, the utility will bill them as "Pass Though Charges" and unfortunately, most ratepayers will never actually see the savings promised.
The difference between a "Net Rate" and an "All Inclusive Rate" is substantial...Buyer Beware!

I canceled my service back on 4/25/12. My deposit was supposed to be refunded, via check, within the following 45 days at max. Today is 7/14/12, and I have still not received the deposit despite several calls into customer service and supervisors. Do I have any other options I can pursue? I keep getting the run-around on this. If roles were reversed, I wonder if they would be as patient?

Signed up with Ambit to "supply" my energy at a lower rate but I saw zero savings...in fact I got hit with a bill that was close to three hundred dollars for a two bedroom apartment because Ambit wasn't submitting their information to NYSEG on time and hadn't for three months straight. Then when I asked the Ambit customer service rep (who had no idea why they weren't able to get information to NYSEG on time) where my "savings" was by using them, she stated I wouldn't see any savings for another two years. Either she wasn't trained on how to answer questions about Ambit or...? I didn't want to deal with the obvious "not it" game when it came to why I, the consumer, was receiving giant energy bills for such a small apartment, between NYSEG and Ambit, and no...we dont use that much gas to begin with. I'm not sure if I would have ever been satisfied with Ambit as the supplier but I didn't want to go through the headache of dealing with their inability to get billing information to NYSEG on time and NYSEG having fun watching me freak out because Ambit was screwing up my bills. Switching to them as my supplier didn't save me a single dime...in fact I noticed when I stopped using them, my bill went down by $30 dollars a month. I dont think Ambit is a scam...but they certainly arent any better than NYSEG.

I can tell the low caliber of people representing Ambit Energy thorugh the use of poor netiquette, use of all caps wording to fiercely defend their service, and belligerant use of condenscending language to get points across. Do you really think that people are going to do business with your company and take you seriously when you pitch to them? Please be advised that there is a difference from choosing to go with the wholesale supplier to the utilities compared to signing up with third party retail suppliers such as Ambit. In response to some comments made in above postings regarding misinformation about suppliers, the wholesale supplier does actually source, generate, store, and transmit energy to supply the local utilities, which thus deliver the commodity to the customer, may the entity be business or residential. The wholesale supplier can also be chosen to be the supplier to such entities through offering price protection, giving those customers greater control over their energy bills and cost projections. In addition, the wholesale supplier's fixed rates includes all applicable sales taxes and transmission charges, something that third retail suppliers fail to include. These facts can be found on www.directenergy.com website. *Note: Gateway Energy is owned by Direct Energy and is no longer recognized as a third party retail supplier. Be fully informed before choosing a supplier.

I agree with Blanchard23, I'm being recruited by my niece to switch to ambit, with all the complaints I'm very wary to switch, I currently have solar for my electricity and would only be using ambit for my gas, but after reading so many complaints and the crass rebuttals by self proclaimed ambit consultants, I have decided to pass on ambit

To all the Ambit fans who comment with their snipes - stay classy. Your comments just prove how little Ambit thinks of their customers. You are trying to preach to the unconverted, and we are not buying your line of BS. Try talking to the company, upline, or whomever about these issues, instead of slamming current or former customers. BTW - did you learn your customer service skills at the DMV?

With the recent drop in oil / energy prices, I decided to find out why my electric bill has been steadily rising instead of dropping. Turns out Ambit Energy has been charging me up to 200% more than the market price. I don't know if this is true of all ESCOs, but Ambit is definitely one to stay away from.

I MARY WELLS would like end my energy with ambit I do not wont my lights with you I don't want a independent consultant with STAN NULL I DO NOT WONT ANYONE TO CALL ME OR SENT ME LETTERS TO MY ASSDRESS THIS IS JUST SOME ONE THAT WIL SPAM YOU JANUARY 4/ 2016 THANK YOU MARY WELLS