Public Service Electric & Gas [PSEG] review: total goons! 20

PSE&G customer services are rude!
I had an overpaid final-bill as a result of their "estimated" meter reading. I called them to ask for refund or credit into my new account. guess what they say? they told me that I am making a big deal on it, it's only an issue of pennies (the difference is about $30). I said money is money, no matter how big it is; I cannot just give it out for nothing. then guess what happened, he hang up on me!
Why PSE&G is the only Electricity and Gas provider in this area?! If I have a choice, I will definitely change the service to other company.

I had a bill estimated for over 3 years. The rep would hardly ever knock at the door to read the inside meter. So after 3 years I got a bill for over 3, 000 dollars . I had even paid about that much in estimated bills over that 3 year period. And now they wanted the money all 3, 000 or disconnect. I called the better business and they set up a plan that I pay 100.00 over my current bill until its paid. But I have to pay the full amount by a certain day and 100.00 or they will be out to disconnect. I am a single mom with 4 kids and sometimes that bill is more than half my pay. but that is what I get for them not doing their job!

OH MY GOD get me away from PSE&G before I flip out completely.

PSE&G is a real reason to move out of this state. They sent me my first gas bill on a 3-room apartment, get this: $714.00.

They claim I have an outstanding bill from 1998, but I paid the bill a long time ago. PSE&G's own collections department says I paid it. But the billing department insists I didn't pay it.

Not only are they trying to extort large amounts of money out of me, but they are probably screwing up my credit over a bill I paid a long time ago.

They hire people trained by the Nazis in their customer service department.

PSE&G is a joke. They overestimate your bill ALL the time, and when you give them the actual reading, they say "Ok, we will credit your account for the next month", then when the bill arrives, you see a nice fat reduction of nada. Then when you call to inquire about the bill, they put you on hold for a prolonged period of time only to ask you for your reading again. Why is PSEG the only choice in Northern NJ is beyond me.

CHECK YOUR ELECTRIC METERS EVERYONE! MINE STILL SPINS WHEN MAIN IS SHUT DOWN!

I called PSE&G 3 weeks ago to report that my electric meter is still spinning when the main to my house is shut off. It doesn't spin fast - but it's still spinning and thats a problem..
They said that someone would contact me in a few days to schedule an appointment to come look at it. I haven't heard from them as of yet and my next phone call will NOT be to PSE&G, but will be to the media and the NJ Public Utilities Commission.

Im going solar - Completely off grid - PSE&G can go pound salt...

In regards to the person who said the meter still runs when the main is off; that happened to me too. I live in a two family house and started noticing, less hot water, less pressure from the tub and kitchen sink and a very high bill. I complained to the landlord who said he would raise my hot water tank. Still very little hot water. My PSE&G bill was $1150, something I've never seen in my life. I contacted PSE&G and they said my apartment was paying the hot water for the entire house. Furiously, I asked them to come by and fix the problom they said "NO". I explained to the billing dept the situation and they too said they couldn't help me. A week later the shut off my power and I have two children with chronic asthma.

Nat- i hear ya! They suck! They finally changed my meter and I have since made my house more "Green" and alot more energy efficient by adding 2 wind turbines, low wattage bulbs, and the whole house is on a timer now so only the fridge runds during the day. This months bill said I used more power than may of last year. I guess the only way to really win is to pull the meter out all together..

Last summer they replaced the gas line for everyone on my street - that's the main and the feeds to the houses...my gas bill has more then quadrupled Explain that one...average therm of may 2008 - 1 ...it is now - 7.50 based on the graph they are showing. I can not afford much more of this.

attached photo

Yeah- Thats a bunch of BS! Your basically paying for the new lines that were installed and they adjusted the bill to look like you used all that gas! They are thieves! Check with all your neighbors to see if they got bent over as well and then all of you should call them and give them the third degree!
Best of luck!
-sEkToR

i have never seen a company that robs people legaliey like pse&g does, they are thievessssssss. look at your bill you will see A lot of unnecessary charges, such as Social benefits, securitization transition fee, summer demand, someone has to do something about this. They are stealing people’s money. PSE&G shame on you.

PSE&G is an arrogant bureaucracy that is UNSUPERVISED.

1. If you complain to BPU, the entity that is supposed to protect consumers against abuses of Utlity companies, BPU gives you the runaround and you quickly realize that they are just a rubber stamp to whatever PSE&G does INCLUDING overinflated bills, wrong meter readings and you, as a consumer, MUST pay whatever PSE&G desires to charge you... and if you do not, PSE&G will cut your power off (except in winter).

2. The USF Fresh Start program is designed by NJ DCA to help low income people get a "fresh" start by forgiving them their pre-USF progran outstanding balance. What PSE&G does is misrepresent the program and "go around" it by forcing the poor people to pay their FULL current charges WITHOUT takinginto account the monthly USF credit, and applying the monthly USF credit to the "outstanding balance" that is supposed to be forgiven.

To better explain, say you have an outstanding balance of $300 pre-USF program. Say you get a USF credit of $150 per month and say your monthly consumption is $200 per month.

USF says: Pay your current charges MINUS USF credit on time every month for 12 months and you will be forgiven your pre-USF program outstanding balance.

That means, pay $200-$150= $50 every month for 12 months and the $300 pre-USF program will be forgiven.

What PSE&G does is screw the poor by forcing them to pay the FULL current charges WITHOUT deducting the USF credit and simply applying the monthly USF credit to the outstanding balance.

That means, they ask the poor to pay the FULL $200 current charges, and then apply the $150 to the outstanding balance. So after two months, the outstanding balance is paid in FULL by the poor consumer who is probably borrowing that money and NOT foriven.

The worse is that PSE&G, under the auspices of USF Fresh Start Program, continues to charge the poor the FULL current charges for 10 more months and keeps the monthly USF credit for themselves.

I have spoken to PSE&G and they said that it was not their problem... and that the monthly USF Fresh Start Program "amount" that the poor consumer must pay comes from USF (?)

I spoke to USF and they said that the monthly USF Fresh Start Program "amount" that the poor consumer must pay is calculated by the Utility Company. (?)

What is going on here?

Am I missing something in all this? I hope that someone knowledgeable from USF or PSE&G can respond HONESTLY to this thread and hold PSE&G accountable for their misrepresenations.

Oh my GOD is that's what happening? I had USF until I moved PSEG was supposed to xfr my USF to my new address, it has been 6 mos and I call every month and customer service keeps sayin that the state is slow wit funds...I don't believe that [censor]! Who can I call? They cut my electric off without applying my USF to my new account!

Hi folks. My name is Johnathan I am an authorized agent / energy service provider. I can assist you with lowering your PSEG residentail and or comercial gas and electric bills. Be advised that even with my program you will only have to pay one bill per month, not 2.

I look forward to hearing from you and Thank you for giving me the opportunity to service you and GOD Bless you and yours.

You may email me at (telefriend@verizon.net)

It's awful to hear stories like these, but because it's PSE&G it means you're in New Jersey and New Jersey happens to be the best state in the country for assisting individuals with adopting solar. So, if PSE&G are causing you grief then you owe it to yourself to give solar a thought.

You may have heard about solar before, but what you may not have heard is that solar can offset you bills to practically nothing and it is far more affordable than you might think:
a) If one has the means they can purchase it for cash, It pays for itself in about 6 to 7 years. No more bills plus it earns you an income. Enough said.
b) One can also take out a loan and finance it that way. Immediate savings can still be achieved from day one even with a loan however the payback term is slightly lengthened to account for the loan interest payments. You still get the income through selling your energy credits and when the loan is paid off you have full energy savings and the income combined; or
c) the third option that one can take is to lease a solar system. In this case the leasee is able to lower their electricity bills today and continue to pay that same low amount each month for the entire lease term of eight years - and with no upfront cost to the leasee.
For example, if you are paying an average electricity bill of $120/month (1, 400/year) you will only have to pay about $96/month (or $1, 152/year) for the next eight years -- even if electricity rates are sky-rocketing. At worst you save $288 in the first year for doing nothing, and as rates rise you save more. The best part is you don't have to pay anything to have it installed: The financier takes care of that.

If any of you have interest in finding out more, please do not hesitate to contact me at patrick@civitasenergy.com, or, visit our website at www.civitasenergy.com.

Best Regards,

Patrick Gallagher

Waiting to speak with customer service is ridiculous I was on hold for one hour and half than they just hanged up.. wtf it should not take me over an hr to just give my bank information to do auto payment. Ughhh I'm a new customer and already looking to leave

We encountered the same issue. the building was vacant for 3 years, all of our bills were estimated. They made 7 appointments and no one ever showed up to take actual reading. Fraud and misappropriation of funds.

At 8am, I dropped a friend off for orientation at the Edison train center. While I was driving off I realized that that their phone was still in my car, so I quickly turned around and went inside in hopes that the orientation didn't start yet. As I enter looking around a lady by the name of Marge Wallwork questioned my presence, and asked if she could help me. Great I thought, maybe she could help. So I said yes, and told her the situation. She then told me to leave the phone with her so that she could give it to them. I knew that was a bad idea because what if he leaves thinking I still have the phone, and getting back there would have been a hassle, so I said no thank you, I'll just hold on to it. Wallwork then got so upset, and questioned why wouldn't I just leave the phone with her, me explaining made her even more angry till where she told me, "well if you're not going to leave the phone you can just get out now". It was very strange and embarrassing. Then she proceeds, "why are you still standing here? Leave! I mean I don't understand why you just won't leave the phone with me". It was as if I was in the twilight zone. I could not believe that a receptionist, that is supposed to show patience and be helpful, will think that they have the right to talk to anyone in that tone. I did nothing to her. It gives me the impression that that type behavior happens all the time, and is expected, because why else would she think it’s okay. I work in the same field of job as Mrs Wallwork, and I know better than to ever talk to a customer, or anyone that needs help. She was very rude to me, and that type of behavior is unacceptable.

my bill is too high and as per calculations numbers don't match.
please investigate usage ad amounts of charges for the address above.

thank you
erica Delgado

I have lived in my home fro 5yrs. 6 months after I Moved in my bill was $5000. I have 5 children and one is asthmatic
(seasonal Allergies) and uses a nebulizer. I am expected to pay $700 a month and they told me to beg for help. Ask churches and other organizations who tell me they ran out of funding. Customer service in billing is very rude and the help no one. They just stall progress. They offer no alternatives. I call the Newark board of utilities every month because every month PSEG threatens me and shuts me off even if I pay the minimum. My landlord fixes nothing and doesn't care. And my electricity is outdated and constantly shutting off. If I move I would not be able to get my electricity turned on because I would still owe thousands of dollars.
Rule no.2 of the PSE&G customer agreement states:
You shall not be asked to pay unreasonably high deposits as a condition of service, nor to make unreasonable payments on past-due bills.
Unreasonable according to the board of utilities means more than 25% of your bill. Meaning they want me to pay $1250. Is that a reasonable amount when you barely make that much money a month? People and their stupid percentages. One of the so called supervisors at the board is a jerk and the others can do nothing, although she tried and was nice, but, spew rhetoric about how it's not unreasonable from PSE&G to ask for hundreds of dollars or for you to spend all your free time looking for organizations and standing on long lines to beg for money. How am I supposed to pay for food, rent, school cost, car insurance and gas? I guess I should sell my car, become homeless, with 5 kids, let them run the street while I work 2 and 3 jobs to pay PSE&G. Maybe I should become a stripper. I guess I should live in a homeless shelter or my car and work at the same time under these conditions. I am so confused as to why this is acceptable.

Called for repair on fridge/freezer. Guy came said it was not covered and told husband to check with Kitchen Aid and left. Did not offer a price for repair. I have had contract on all my appliances for years and have not used recently. I called customer service and was told she would have to refer it to the repair dept. I would get a call back within 24 hours. Meanwhile all my food has spoiled and I cannot use the freezer. What am I paying for? I am willing to pay for any parts that are not covered. If I do not get any satisfaction I will look elsewhere for coverage.