Tampa Electric / Teco Energy
Reviews and Complaints

I've been a customer since 2019 my bills always been about $120 until July when they raised it to $184 citing raising gas prices. I was never told about the deferred program properly during the July call about the raise the employee explained it to me that basically I was going in debt and they'd charge or sue me later for the remainder it wasn't really a low income program like I thought so I told her I can't be sued I'm disabled on SSI. She told me about another program to give me longer to pay without penalty and apologized for it not being explained to me.

After paying $180 for merely 2 months my bill raised again to over $300 this time and when I called to ask whynit raised again when gas prices went down and I was using less electric than the years before they cited it was to help pay off the deferred balance. I told them again I'm a disabled mother of 2 on SSI my total monthly income is $841 and my rent is $795 I don't have anything else to give them I'm going in debt despite paying my monthly bills on time. They told me they can help by getting money from charities in my name to pay off my bills and catch me up so I agreed they told me they'd call me back within 48 hours with details about what was paid what's left over and make arrangements for it but nobody called back. I called yesterday only to be hung up on.

They didn't get me any help from charities if they did they pocketed the money and didn't remove the balance but what they did do was removed me from the deferred program and charged me an entire years electric bills due by December $1381.07 again I only make $841 and it was to my understanding that I would be removed if I got approved for charity help which I should have because I never use charity and I'm over 800% below the poverty line! The more they offer me help the more expensive scams they keep handing me. My family is about to be homeless at Christmas thanks to tecos help and all they can say is sorry thanks for being a customer! I told them I was concerned about this very situation happening and they promised it wouldn't happen they would make sure I'd get the help I need.

If my family ends up homeless because of teco we will be moving to a tent on their property with a sign saying ask us how teco ruined our lives and destroyed our family! This is ridiculous I pay my bills every month now I'm facing getting it shut off which will get me kicked out of my home because they want to charge me a years worth of electricity in a scam! It's very clear the company listened to the recorded call in July and targeted me after hearing they wouldn't be able to go after me for more money after I'm not a customer anymore so they set out to get as much as can which only screws us both in the long run. I've been a loyal customer they aren't even treating me like a human being. I'm seeing other people on the program having the same issues they need to be held accountable for taking advantage of their poorest customers during this time with Ians destruction, inflation, holidays and everything else people are tapped out they need to have more respect for the people who have kept them running for 120 years! The bills in pdf form it won't allow me to upload it but I need help. They need to find and explain what happened to the charity money they took out in my name that was never used for my account balance.

Someone has dropped the ball I am afraid. I signed up for budget billing obviously to ease the ups and downs, as was the purpose. Now, apparently due to no fault of mine, I received an email that my new monthly payment will increase almost $170.00 a month to negate my deferred balance.

On March 11, 2022, my budget bill amount was $193.00. Now in less than a year it will increase to $456.00! An increase of $263.00 a month or an increase of almost 140%!

Budget Billing has now had the exact opposite result than was expected or promised by TECO.

This is not to mention the horrible timing as prices soar! I know TECO is not exempt from price increases either, however, a reputable or properly managed company should have the foresight to manage these problems and definitely not pass them on to their customers! I understand a reasonable increase, even though it will be the 4th this year alone, however 140% is very unreasonable and unresponsible.

Account # [protected]. I disconnected my service today 9/12/2022. I was in a budget plan with Teco, where I was paying $113 a month. When I called today to disconnect my service, the customer service representative advised me that I owed a deferred balance of $1,477.58 which she said I was responsible for.

I would like to file a complaint on how Teco electric company reached this balance in my account for a period of one year of service in an apartment unit of about 900 sq. ft.

I do not understand how they are charging electric here. I was hardly never home, and I do not have the money to pay this outrages amount for a service that I do not believe I acquitted during a one year period.

I do not have a job, nor I can afford this payment that Teco is telling me I owe as a deferred amount.

Can you please contact me about this, and advise me about what to do to report this company. My number is [protected].

Xiomara Serafin

My backyard faces Sheldon Rd. I have lived in this house for 25 years. I have a number of trees planted back there.

Davey, in my opinion is overly aggressive when trimming the trees by the powerlines. Today and back in February, they cut half of the crown of my Queen Palms away. Their claim was that the leaves would slap against the power lines in high winds. The leaves on these trees are not long enough to touch the powerlines. They've been there for 25 years and there was never a problem. They been through a number of hurricanes In all that time, this is the first time the cut half the crowns away from these two palms.

The smaller Queen palm in the first picture doesn't even come close to hitting the powerlines. It's not like these leaves will continue growing like an Oak tree.

I take great pride in caring for me plants and trees. I hate to see what they do to them.

In the second picture, the tree that looks like a pine, they left several pieces laying up in it. I was out there and tried to tell them, but all, but one spoke English and they ignored me at that point since I was complaining to them of what they have done.

When they trimmed the trees, the leaves and branches dropped on my plants I have along the inside of my fence. They left some large limbs in my yard.

Account# [protected]

Service out due miss a payment of $268.92. Suervice was out at 10AM of Monday July 18th. I pay online at 10.38 same day, Kubra confirmation [protected].

We spend the rest of the day without power with high temperature and old people in the house. Call a couple of times asking for the time to reinstate the service, answer was always "it will happen anytime". Around 4PM we call again and the representative told there are no payment registered on the account, so WE PAY AGAIN ($775.29) with same debit card we use for the first "frustrated" payment.

Even we call 4 or 5 times, power was reconnected AT 1AM !

So we spend 14 hours with no power, no AC, no fan, ruined food on the fridge, not even cold water to drink.

BUT IS NOT ENOUGH FROM TECO and today I discover the $775.29 was debit TWICE from my debit card.

I call TECO once again, and after long and hard time claiming and asking to talk with a supervisor, I got $500 back in my card today and the rest tomorrow, and in the middle time I have my bank account in negative...

Hope you can feel my frustration.

Alberto Correa

Cell# [protected]

Email: [protected]@hotmail.com

The zap cap unit at 12406 Tocci Lane the light is out and not green and also the unit at the property 12414 Tocci lane is also showing red and they have had their refrigerator has quit and the lightening arrester on the power pole has been destroyed so please send someone to check out both properties and the zap cap systems!

We have been a lifetime TECO customer and are now in poor health in our mid- 70's and on a fixed income and you have arbitrarily increased our billing by 1400.00 yearly. Please tell me if there's some kind of consideration you can give...

I moved from Tampa to St Petersburg, Fl and had my electric shut off the 14th of March of this year 2022. I had $1448 left over from my deposit and LIheap Gov. electric help. I have called TECO Electric 5 time's and I get the excuses and a promise of the return of my deposit. I have not received any thing back from TECO Electric. They just keep my deposit and my LIheap refund. Why do they get away with this? I am almost 75 years old and on low income and disability. My electric still has to be paid each month where I live now which is a low income ofapartment. I need my money to keep my electric service paid. I can't file with LIheap again for help for another 7 months. Please help me solve this problem. I have a downloaded copy of my contract with TECO.

My electric bill went from $150-$300 in one month and I am not home at all I am only home a couple hours at night and my thermostat set at 77 i’m very very very upset about this and I need to figure out what to do can you please help me my name is stephanee biddle my phone number is [protected] please get back with me thank you

So Teco charged me a $160 deposit when I moved in, perfectly fine. Then after six months I got a bill of $450 asking for an additional $250 deposit. Paid the bill and deposit. This month I was 10 days late on the bill and I get a bill for $450, why, because they are asking for another deposit of $250. This will make my total deposits $660. With an average bill around $200,

this even goes against there policy of deposit for 2 months worth of electricity.

When I move in a few months, Ill be going anywhere I dont have to deal with Teco, or will build a home with solar and batteries to not deal with them ever again

Like many others I am being ripped off by TECO. Why isn't TECO being investigated? They are monopolizing the electricity sector in florida and here in tampa/brandon and there is no watch dog for this? Are they lining pockets? I got my bill today (april 9) for March, for 29 days it states it has service fees (fees for teco servicing my home with electric) then energy (electric) and fuel and of course whatever else. BUT A DAILY FEE of $20? For as their site states 'bringing me electric' whether I use any or not? Wth is that? How can teco get away with adding/having a DAILY FEE of $20 for doing what I pay them to do? Whether I use it or not? So basically, I am paying over $1000 a year on a fee for something I may not be using plus all their other fees. This has to be regulated somewhere legally surely? Additionally my jbill was DOUBLE for march when nothing I used has changed like most peoples. Their "customer service" told me to get the energy device installed even though it would not make a difference. Company is a scam and needs shutting down and we need more access to other electricity providers.

We have been consistently having our power go out and then come on again. Unfortunately this causes my business information gets lost as it had not yet been saved. TECO says that they have corrected the issue consistently yet it continues to happen. When I spoke to a TECO representative this morning after another outage he was rude and threatening. As I am having to rehabilitate my wife as she is battling cancer I do not feel like I have to fight with my electric provider weekly.

This year I've been charged 250% increased from last year and have lived in the same apartment for almost a decade. My bill is between $400 to $900 and no one has helped look into why this is happening. It is insane and need help to find somewhere else to live. My electric bill is more expensive than some of my friends rent.

Teco tree trimmers… unnecessarily cut away branches from my birch that were not close to lines. They also cut main branches from the top not even close to electric lines. Unbelievably disrespectful of my property and not
Great for the health of the tree. I do not want teco to trim my trees again. I can take care of it in the future. I would like for Teco to provide a new birch that I can plant further back from the curb.

This is happening everywhere and is not only me or that my analog meter was bad which is the answer I am getting from teco they came out and still did not change the smart robbing meter! I want it replace period I am so done this is an outrage that amount that I am seeing in my monthly bills! Since teco replace the meter on may 2019 all my bills have double or triple my normal consumption even in cold weather where we do not have any heating in our home! I want the meter replace asap

My account number is [protected]. I have been billed $470 dollars for 1 month of service when I was not there. This is absurd. I have called several times and been told it is being investigated and that I will get. Call back. I have not gotten a call or a readjusted bill.

We have a technician come to the house and he not only dint find any gas leaks but he noted that none of our 3 gas appliances were on. He informed my neighbor who let him in that we would be receiving an adjusted bill. Additionally the meter was broken and the battery was dead.

The customer service people are telling me that I am being billed for gas usage that I haven't been billed for before. How can you calculate gas usage if the meter is broken. If you look at my billing history you can see the months where we pay the nominal fee and when we use gas.

Michael McMullen
[protected]

I have been out of work for many months like millions of other citizens. I everything in my power to make high payments to the account. This month there a past due amount of 706.88 of which 347.00 is past due and the current balance is not due until later in the month of December. Teco threatening to turn off the service even paying the past due.

So this company has got to be the biggest crooks I've ever came across. I've been constantly fixing and repairing and changing things in my small mobile home making it more energy sufficient, all lights are off all day till I get home at 5-6pm, Only thing that stays on is the A/C, I recently had it serviced and cleaned and it's working a lot better as it should, yet now my bill shoots up $60-$70 ontop of being charged a $5 late fee the exact day they email my bill, how can I be late when I just got my bill? They've done this numerous times and I catch them every time, I'm not stupid and I won't be taken advantage of, they raise the cost of "energy" and "Fuel" and want to act like they're helping people. When I called and asked what the normal bill was before I moved here they said $100, I've yet to see that, my bill ranges from $180-$250 for a small singlewide mobile home, under trees, windows fully blocked from UV rays and yet my bill is more than my old place which was in the sun all day, had 5 window units and everything else. They say the meter is working as it should yet have hundreds of reviews stating everyone's bills has increased since smart meters. This company needs to be put under investigation or sued so they realize they can't just get away with robbing people.

We are in a pandemic due to Covi19 Teco is doing payment arrangements and not disconnecting the electricity but is not helping the customers because they are charging late fee this doesn't make any sense and is getting worse with people that lost their job.

We the people deserve better is not our fault that this pandemic is a mess we just need someone to take action on this and help us with the Late fee . The pandemic is bad why you people make difficult for us