Reviews for Reliant Energy

0 of 0 people found this review helpful

I have been with reliant for 9 yrs & they continually estimate reading my meter even after my requests for notice it had been read. My bills jumped with no explanation -impossible to talk to a supervisor and would not adjust my exhorbidant rate even after excellent payment schedule and request new service rates. They offer new service competitively while charging long standing customers ridiculously high rates. I would NEVER recommend this company of inept capabilities and deceitful practices.

0 of 0 people found this review helpful

I've been with Reliant in Houston since the beginning before dereg. I've
always thought of changing companies, but every time I do and begin
to research the others, I always find serious complaints about others'
customer service and especially overbilling or cramming new plans onto
existing customers. Reliant has never done any of this to me, and while
I pay a penny or even 2 above some "cheaper" advertised rates by the
newbies, I trust Reliant to give me the bill I deserve. I have a new digital
meter, so it's pretty hard for anyone to overbill me now that I can see
the numbers. Reliant Energy has a good enough Web site that shows
billing and usage history. I am on average billing, so get the same $ bill
each month. I'm happy enough to stay with Reliant. I give them a 4/5
stars. I don't give a 5 to any one because I am mad at general rates for
energy, but this is not really Reliants fault.

0 of 0 people found this review helpful

Reliant always blamed AEP for their billing mistakes. Example, I was overcharged 5 out of 12 months. I had to sit on the phone and told that if the meter was re-read, I would be charged a,I think $10 fee. My question to them was if they were wrong, were they willing to give me a $10 credit. They were wrong 5 times out of 12, but of course, they declined my offer. I know this much. Reliant doesn't offer competitive rates and "nickel and dime you to death" with all sorts of fees.

Do not recommend them at all.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Reliant is a horrible company with zero customer focus. They deceptively move customers to higher rate plans when the customer's contract expires. They do nothing to retain their customers when issues arrise. When I finally had enough of Reliant, I moved to another provider, only to find out we had been moved to a high rate contract. We were charged a $295 termination charge. Tried for a week and a half to talk to a manager. Was told by their imcompetent "customer support" that I could only escalate to a supervisor "coach", as they do not have managers at at Reliate Energy. I am certain I was only passed from one pathetically trained front line help desk clerk to another. No one I reached could comprehend elemental cutomer service or expand the conversation beyond segments of a rehersed script.

I would expand further, but looking at the postings that I have seen on complaint sites, my experience is like most of what I am seeing.

Stay away from Reliant Energy!

0 of 0 people found this review helpful

Never had an issues. That is all you can ask for.

0 of 0 people found this review helpful

They don't have the best deals in town but are
easy to work with. I have used them for several
years now and have had no issues billing wise.

0 of 0 people found this review helpful

Horrible company. They lie to you, raise the rates on the 'secure' plans, refuse to assist when you have totally unreasonable bills. Refuse to assist senior citizens with checking the 'new' meters, that consistantly are wrong. When you have a meter checked, Reliant is always correct. Highest bills I have ever had in my 64 years of life. Stay away from Reliant Energy.

1 of 2 people found this review helpful

Worst experience I have ever had with any company. They lie and cheat and change the contract without notice and then say that was the contract that we signed up for ..... If you have money to blow and don't care what it cost or what kind of customer service you get... then this is a company for you!!! But for me ... I am out of here and switching to one that has much better ratings then Reliant Energy... You can Rely on getting ripped off with Reliant Energy.

0 of 0 people found this review helpful

Make sure to look at your bill. Reliant makes mistakes in their favor on your bill. They will correct it but will tell you it takes a minimum of 21 days to correct. They charged us twice for a new meter and ended up putting our old one back in because they just forgot to turn it on. Never did get the second charge of $89.00 back for a meter they never installed. They make you call Oncor direct and Oncor tells you to call Reliant. Since we pay Reliant direct, they should handle Oncor's mistakes instead of making the customer do it.

1 of 3 people found this review helpful

I have been with them going on a decade.
(Prior to moving back to Houston, I had them
and in 2000 I again signed up).

While, in theory "it's all the same when you
flip the switch" the issue is more about WHOM
you select and HOW long they have been around.
I would thus prefer to be with the people who
have been in my area since day 1 as opposed to
some fly by night company. Yes, I pay about 6%
more than a fly-by-night ma-and-pa electrical
company started in someone's basement in
Waxahachie, TX - but I prefer the safety net of
the people who know the grid the best. Their
customer service has been always above measure,
and my history with them lends me the afforded
measure of getting prompter responses.

Just because it's cheaper somewhere else, ask
yourself why.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

I think their service is good, the lights come on but the pricing is not very competative and I don't have an incentive to stay with them and they don't seem to care.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

To be fair, I don't really have a basis for comparision. My contract is up soon so I've looking at other providers and 90% of them are cheaper than Reliant, but I worry if it's one of those "you get what you pay for" deals. I think I may switch just to try something new.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Went with them 2 yrs ago-no problems with billing or plan. Few plans, no incentive to stay since they lowest rate only goes to new customers not loyal customers-had a high cancellation fee.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

Our service was scheduled to be terminated to today with Reliant. This
was the last straw, we broke our union with Reliant before they could
extinguish our account. A service manager with reliant told my spouse
that our service would have to be closed and reopened with the
addition of fees and other charges we had no idea were being tacked
onto our bill. Our bill always stays current and paid, but due to some
unforeseen, undocumented regulations that Reliant seems to be
having an issue with on their side of the spectrum, we were being
forced to lose power today.
I was livid, my spouse was angry and we kindly and politely parted
ways with reliant. Not to mention past events with them where our
service was terminated for being .01 short of paying a past bill.... .01!
Can you believe that? Good riddance Reliant. And for those of you
who are thinking of switching to Reliant, Don't. Save yourself the
headaches, poor service response times and snail-paced customer
service. Not worth it!!!

0 of 0 people found this review helpful

I've been with Reliant for 3 years. I first
signed up on a 24 month plan to keep my rate
fixed. The rate at the time was less than TXU.
1 year into the contract I moved. I was forced
to keep Reliant or pay a huge fee to break the
contract. After the move, I got a huge bill.
Apparently they didn't keep me on the contract
and rate I was on before the move. They then
put me on another 2 yr contract with a rate of
almost 15. My electric bill was higher after
the move. I went from a $150 bill in a 3
bedroom house to a $200 bill in a 1 bedroom
apartment. My contract is now up and I am
switching ASAP.

0 of 0 people found this review helpful

I was qouted 11 cents a kw. By the end of the contract it was almost 14 cents a kw. I called customer service and they gave me the run around basically saying "That's the way it is and I would have to pay the penalty for leaving early."

0 of 0 people found this review helpful

Our current bill was TRIPLE what it was the previous bill!

Spent hours on the phone with rude "customer service" reps. They just said "Well, you must have used 3 times as much power!" We averaged 1000 KWH per month and our record in the last 2 yrs. was 1200 KWH per month, and now they said we used 2400? Nothing changed in our apartment, and the weather was warmer, so we used less electric heat.

Now they say "Well we may have underbilled you last month so we had to average it out." I asked if this was the case for sure or just a theory and they could not give me a straight answer. Completely dishonest company, they just make numbers up out of thin air and then expect you to pay them. And they are extremely rude on the phone; I would almost rather have some clueless customer service rep from India, at least they are usually nice!

STAY AWAY!

3 of 3 people found this review helpful

I was on Reliant's Monthly Flex Plan. They were charging by $0.14/kwh. Online, they were advertizing the Monthly Flex Plan at only $0.09/kwh. Their customer service rep couldn't explain the difference in rates. Her supervisor informed me that I was on a different "Monthly Flex Plan" and couldn't articulate the differences, but suggested I go back to some pamphlet they supposedly sent me nine months ago explaining the plan details. At best, they've got lousy customer service. At worst, they've been ripping me off for months. Bye, bye Reliant.

2 of 3 people found this review helpful

We have had reliant for about a year and now we are going to switch because of the flex plan being extremly expensive. We live in a small two bedroom apartment and our power bill has hit 400 dollars three times!!! We couldn't make a full payment one month because it had been 400 dollars two months in a row, so we payed what we could and they shut off our power without giving us a notice or email or clall or anything!

1 of 2 people found this review helpful

Reliant is horrible. We recieved two disconnect
notices within a week of each other AFTER we had
payed the first one. GREEDY.

0 of 0 people found this review helpful

Switched to them from Gexa and TXU before that. Prices were reasonable on 6 month fixed plan. Online bill pay was simple and easy. No complaints

0 of 0 people found this review helpful

I really love their customer service any time of day or night. The rate with their Power Tracker plan is really low, and the automatic debit card payment method at no extra charge is simple. I like to view my account online, and they let me go paperless to do that.

2 of 4 people found this review helpful

Reliant changes my rate monthly and will frequently invoice for two months because they weren't able to read meters in time. Their rates are the highest around and I can't see any good reason to remain with them. Rather the money be in my pocket, not Reliants.

0 of 0 people found this review helpful

Not only are they making up numbers as far as our usage, they are completely incompetent in fixing it and we are having to take to small claims court. TERRIBLE!!!!!!

0 of 0 people found this review helpful

Reliant is a company that will lock you into a long term rate that looks good at the time but if electricity goes down they will not adjust your rate for 2 years. I have called them and confronted them with this but they are not "The New Reliant" as they advertised they are the same old company.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

I have been with relient for 5 years now and every year the cost goes up . thats why i am swtiching. My bill when from 150 to 375 in one year with no change in use.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

They quote one rate and charge another. No help for their loyal customers - no incentive to stay with their company. Difficult to get to talk to a real person to discuss money-saving opportunities.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

I too was lied to by Reliant. I was told the cancellation fee was 200. The service was so bad and waiting time to get to them was 45 minutes only to be put on hold again. I finally cancelled anyway despite the $200. They charged me $295.

3 of 3 people found this review helpful

I signed up for the Summer Heat Relief program in June 2008. It was a great deal with a cheaper rate "during summer months". Well, this summer my rate did not drop back to the lower rate. When I called to ask why, they said it was only for that first summer. That was not at all how it was explained to me. Now my option is to pay $295 to get out of it or suck it up until next June. On top of that Maria, their customer rep, is the poster child for worst service ever. At least the other customer reps were pleasant in telling me I was SOL. Reliant sucks killowatts!

0 of 0 people found this review helpful

This company has the worst customer service and all of the employees
are completely incompetent. I signed up for automatic bill pay to have
my bill drafted from my husband's account. Everything was fine, until
I received a bill for $400 telling me that I had not paid the bill for the
past 3 months and that my electricity was going to be shut off. We
never knew about this, because we assumed the bill had been taken
out each month. Each bill they sent me by email failed to mention that
I had a past due balance. After HOURS on the phone with these
people, it was concluded that one of the "customer service" employees
had taken down the card expiration date wrong, causing the payments
not to process. I wasn't given so much as an apology and I was
expected to pay up within the month. DO NOT sign a contract with
them. You will regret it!

0 of 0 people found this review helpful

This has been a nightmare! Only once was I able to pay my bill on line and that must of been a fluke, because now there is no way it will let me pay my bill! To call customer service is an extreme bad experience as they are rude and will argue with you and when you can speak to a supervisor they treat you as bad as the cs rep. When I signed up in Feb. 2009 with a gentleman who came to our home, my adult daughter was there, I asked him as well as my daughter every which why we could ask the question "will our rate go up in the next 12 months" he always answered no, then when he called the order in and I spoke to him manager to confirm the order I also asked him if the rate will go up in the next 12 months he said no. It has gone up 2 times and this is only Aug. 2009. We called Reliant and they stated the reason the rate went up is bcause the coal rate went up, this is so contradictory to what we were told in Feb. when nothing to that effect was mentioned. this is switch & bait.

0 of 0 people found this review helpful

I know reliant is the top company in this area and I'm not sure if that is a good thing. They have these rules and their people have no flexibility to work with you. I will give an example. I paid last months bill which I will admit was late. I had gotten a shutoff notice. I got an extension of a few dys and paid with a check online as I always do. My bill was 563.38 and the next bill was 645.00 which I paid with a debit card. Well, my quarterly homeowners insurance payment was taken out of my account and caused my payment to reliant to be returned nsf. They are still going to turn off my power even though I am only late for one month

0 of 0 people found this review helpful

they said we would get it but .01 reductions does not compare to the competition. I was still paying $100 per month more

0 of 0 people found this review helpful

I was told I would be able to have a plan rate which could lower my bill Due to new infastructre/wind/solar ex.. So I chose a plan and was told my bill wouldn't change but should help keep it down! I lowered my hot water heater and changed new bulbs an thought I would help as well when I did this my bills increased 10% I still get "well its your comsumption rate sir." But they never read my meter its locked up in my basement I ask them why they dont read them they stated its Oncor's responsibality! Ok so see the screw around starting here! Well just beware!!

2 of 3 people found this review helpful

I was with Reliant for a few years relatively incident-free. Then last summer, I somehow found myself locked into a 2 year contract with them at a price of 15.5 cents/kwh (extremely high). I've called several times and gotten nowhere. Service is rude and clueless. They claim I signed up for the contract online on a day that I was on vacation in the Mayan Riviera. I couldn't have gotten online to do that even if I wanted to!

Outright fraud, but I don't know what I can do. I'm afraid taking legal action would cost me more than just bearing it.

DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES!

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Reliant has no customer service, especially if you are a current reliant customer and want to get a rate quote or switch plans to get a lower rate. I called customer service and was on hold for over 30 minutes and finally gave up. I tried to get a quote on their website, but it continually refused to accept my reliant account number. I emailed them and asked for quotes on other plans. Instead of sending me quote information, they emailed back and gave me the customer service number that I had already tried before with no success. As soon a I get a better quote, Adios Reliant!

0 of 0 people found this review helpful

I'm in property mgmt. and when I have to have service turned on for a short time to do repairs, maint., etc. I feel that I am overcharged for this service as compared to my residential service that I have with you.Price per kw. I give this company a lot of new business when I suggest Reliant to my new customers. I have decided to check out your competition and if I find better pricing chances are I'll be switching, not just business but my home as well.

0 of 0 people found this review helpful

Rates too high, very poor customer service. Took getting our state rep involved to get a billing error fixed. Took 4 months!

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

I have been with reliant energy for over 3 years and everytime I get ready to change over, they give me another plan. The last plan was average billing. The representive did not say if you get a termination letter during this time the average billing would be canceled. My bill is suppose to be around $250. I just found out that my bill is over $400. I would not recommend anybody to sign up with reliant energy.

0 of 0 people found this review helpful

This rating is based on the last few years of their service.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

I have just found out that by staying with Reliant month to month but unsigned that I have been gouged! A customer rep now tells me that by remaining unsigned they were allowed to charge me $0.165/kwh (in a $0.113 market by their own monthly price Flex Plan) even though I am one of their lowest cost type customers since they have no forward price risk in serving me. He kindly offered to move me to a plan that would get me true market cost based service but it is too late...I will be going to the competitiion over the abuse of their abuse discretionary pricing.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

What else really needs to be said. I am paying too much!!! I think they are a good company but I am about to switch becasue the prices just dont compete.

4 of 4 people found this review helpful

how can an individual be taken for granted when the prices of service had not changed but was a factor in a decision to get someone else to service you with energy, and now it has increased in triplicate from $ 250 to $950 per month. Why is it happening? I have lived in the same location for about nine years and never had a service bill of this sort during that period. I have had all the same appliances during the period indicated. I would liuke to kno0w Why! The exclamation that I received was that my usage tripiled, which was not so or accurate, knowing my household. I would not or will not recommend any person(s) to this agency and if possible I would put same into a newpaper articule for others to view, because it is like being stuck up without a weapon revealed.

3 of 3 people found this review helpful

I was talked into a 2 year contract despite my initial concerns by an eager salesman that either lied or didn't know what he was talking about. i am paying the price...literally! The contract was at 14.5 cents per KWH for 2 years. At the time it was the best deal you could get, but you had to sign up with Reliant for 2 years. I hesitated, but was told that as long as I stay with Reliant, I could switch plans if and when the rates went down. Now, the rates are down a considerable amount. When I called to switch, I was told I'd have to pay $300 to switch rates, and that I was never lied to. Also, that there was nobody he could transfer me to talk about it! Poor service if you ask me!

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

Because my old electric company went under last summer Reliant became my default company. I signed a 2 year contract with them out of desperation. The rate I was paying was outrageous compared to rates offered in 2009 so I tried to get them to renegotiate. They refused. Same old Reliant. That's why I left them in the first place

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

had reliant here in Dallas, TX when they first started up to get away from TXU and they have been going , up an up an up in price ever since to where I,m changing again. They are way to high now along with montly fees to top it off.

3 of 3 people found this review helpful

I called Reliant to check my contract status, and was informed that I was free to switch at any time. When I did switch providers, I got a final bill with a $100 cancellation fee! When I called, they said they had no record of my call, and they can look back for years. When I showed them my cell phone records, they said that I had called, but I didn't speak about rates or my contract. They flat out lied to me. I'm still being charged. I would not reccomend dealing with these chumps.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

After Hurricane Ike, they naturally raised the price on my electricity without any kind of notice. When I switched providers after moving, I called and canceled my account. When I called to verify a week later, they hadn't canceled it, and they claimed they wouldnt be able to cut off service for another week, and I was stuck with the bill.

3 of 3 people found this review helpful

I'm on a fixed price, 2 year plan and am 1 year into it. By changing and paying the $295 fee, I can save 38% on a new contract with several REPs. I called NRG / Reliant and asked if there was anything they could do to keep me as a customer. I got a short "nothing we can do" and I told them I'd be changing and it would be doubtful I'd return as a customer. I changed to Gexa Energy yesterday. I had a pleasant experience signing up and will be a Gexa customer in 2 weeks. I'll save the $295 Reliant cancellation fee in 2 months.

0 of 0 people found this review helpful

I grew up in Houston & was an HL&P/Reliant customer for almost 10 years. When the market deregulated, I stayed with Reliant to see how things would work out.

I remained a happy Reliant customer for a while. It wasn't until a few years ago that I realized that it was time to switch. Reliant's prices were so much higher than almost everyone else's in the market that I realized that I was probably losing over $200/year by sticking with them. I think they charge more & are able to maintain a high customer base because of their brand & individual customer laziness.

I still check & compare prices regularly between providers & I am still amazed when I look at Reliant's prices. They remain much higher than almost anyone else.

The other thing that irritates me about Reliant is that they charge customers more that live in apartments. If you go to their site, you'll see that if you enter an address with an apartment number, the prices are different than if you enter one without a number.

0 of 0 people found this review helpful

Eh. If you have to have electricity, this guy will do.

1 of 2 people found this review helpful

Reliant plans were a bit overpriced, and the only way to get a competitive rate is to sign a long term contract with a cancellation fee. For someone with good credit, I found this to be a bit cumbersome. Their ordering wasn't difficult, and they have a decent ability to manage my account online, however.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

Good service - good rate