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“  still find the ability to understand the rate structures and compare them across providers to be very difficult. ideally I would like to plug into a table my monthly usage and have the providers spit out their charges ”

“  Have had no problem, like the weekly report they provide. have not had any issues was a customer in the past and just became a customer again at my new residence.
USe referral code - Nshah11648 for $25 off your 1st months bill. ”

“  I have been with Champion for years. Last month my bill was $116, this month $189. I called customer service and all I got was rates are higher and so is your usage. I have recommended Champion to many people, sister, brother, and friends. I was shocked that the customer service representative could have cared less. I get that my usage is up, but this is a huge difference. My contract is about up and how can I renew my contract with this type of service. ”

“  We were with First Choice Power for 7 years. They started out great but then were bought out or merged with another company (from what we heard) and their customer service became awful. We are changing to Champion because of their awards for customer service for the last 3 years. So far so good. Making the switch was easy. The service representative was nice and also helpful. There were slightly cheaper electric
plans with other companies, but the reviews for those companies were not as consistent as Champion's. We will see if giving up about .5 cents/KW is worth Champion's claims of being the best choice. We will update as we go along. ”

“  I've been with Champion for two years now, and am about to sign up for a third. When I first signed up for them, I was looking for the following company characteristics:
1) Decent rates
2) A 24-month 100% renewable plan
3) A solid track record
After a lot of research,I did not find any companies meeting all three criteria, but Champion came closest. Switching from TXU to Champion was smooth, and in the first three months I saved enough to cover TXU's excessive cancellation fee. Online payments are simple to set up, and their website makes it easy to look at current and past bills and track usage. I haven't talked to customer service because I haven't needed to. And really, that's the point. An electricity provider isn't something I want to have to monitor every month, but I don't want to pay over the odds for what is just honest business practice. For me, Champion hits that sweet spot on price versus security. ”

“  I found champion on Texas Providers of electricity. There rating was good and took a chance. I had reliant and was fine until contract expired.1st month off contract 16cents/kilo, 2nd month jumped to 21 cents/kilo, what a ripoff. I called them 4 times to see what offers i could get. The cheapest over the phone was 16cents/kilo, I told them I was not happy and I would leave the company. They directed me to the company website and the best there was 14 cents/kilo. Goodbye Reliant and hello Champion at 10.4cents/kilo. No problems with billing, bit of a long wait to get a live person to pay over phone, but overall very happy. ”

“  I've been with Champion for a number of years, and I have always been impressed. But this year my contract expired, and to my discredit, I did not put the expiration date on my calendar b/c Champion has always notified me as the date approached. Not so this year. As a result one month's rate shot up so that my bill was about $55 higher than normal b/c the contract expired and I didn't know. I contacted Champion (which was very easy), and I was told that I had been notified several times. But I wasn't. I save EVERYTHING from Champion, and I never got the notices. I asked for them to renegotiate my bill for the one month I was out of contract, but all they would do is give me a $25 discount. So I will see how things go. Up to this point Champion has been a very good company, and assuming things continue to go well---that is, up front rates clear to understand, no hidden tricks on fees and such, good communication when I try to contact them---I will stay with them. I want to be fair, and maybe this one experience was just a fluke; I hope so. But I have my eye on www.powertochoose.com just in case I need to jump ship. As much money as these companies make, I don't understand why they don't give good customers the benefit of doubt when problems arise. How much money are we talking about here anyway? But maybe they need the money more than we do. Overall, I think you would probably be safe to go with Champion. Just keep your eyes open. ”

“  I contacted Jose at Champion about my renewal (3 year customer) to see if he could match or be competive with my bona fide 10% lower offer from another company. He could not or would not.
Adios, I am an ex customer now. ”

“  Never had any issues with them in 2 years, rates are not the lowest but customer service and billing is very simple. ”

“  I have no issues with Champion Energy services. I do not expect any. ”

“  I have been bragging on my electric bill. it's been great, great service, great prices then this month, it's over double! looking closer, I got slammed with the same "Delivery charge" that many people have complained about. ”

“  I have had Champion Energy for over two years with no issues whatsoever. Even recommended them to friends. However after renewing for the third time I see my bill go up by more than 30%. This increase in bill was attributed to Delivery charges. I called the customer support to inquire about this charge and was told that it was always in my bill but now it shows up a a new line item. What I fail to understand is my usage for the same month previous years were significantly less. I will continue to watch for my next month bill and if things don't improve.....I'll look into other options. ”

“  My wife and I have been with Champion Energy for years, and have always been pretty happy with their service. In the past, before renewing, we'd check the rates on PTC just to see where their renewal offering was relative to their competition and they were always fairly competitive. Not always the cheapest, but they always had a plan that was competitive that we could feel good about choosing.

This last renewal period, however, it seems that you have to scroll WAAAY down the PTC list to find the first Champion plan. Electricity is a commodity and I can't justify paying 12% more for my electricity for no good reason when there are 46 other plans (I just checked) that I can choose from that are less
expensive. We called their service department and asked them if they could do anything with their renewal rate (given what other options are out there) are were told that they couldn't.

It's more expensive to find a new customer than it is to keep an existing customer, but it seems like nobody has told that to Champion. I will be switching to Gexa (8.54 cents vs Champions 9.50 cents) in a few days when my contract is up. I personally think they are experimenting with how many existing customers will stay when they raise their price by a penny.

As a side note, and this seems to apply to all of the providers out there, it seems a bit shady to get charged for using too little electricity and also for using too much electricity. Last month, we went over 2,000 kWh for the first time ever and got hit with a $60+ charge...we called Champion and were told that was a charge from Oncor. I don't ever remember reading anywhere that there was a penalty for using too much electricity in any plan we signed up under. But it seems that "gotcha billing" is the new norm in the Texas deregulated energy market. I can't wait to be a part of the class action lawsuit that will inevitably arise from this unscrupulous practice. ”

“  We are seniors who were taught to conserve natural resources as children and, consequently, are very careful with our electicity usage. Since we rarely go over 500 kWh per month, we had to pay the $4.95 base charge at least 9 months of the year and now they have raised both the minimum usage and the base charge. Really. People who conserve are punished? That just does not make sense whatsoever. In a logical world, people should be charged more for wasting it. Fortunately, I have found a company that charges everyone the same amount per kWh and NO base charge. I can live with that. Since my account is drafted each month, it is not as if I cost them any more than anyone else. ”

“  Overall, I would say I'm satisfied with the rates and the friendliness of their customer service. However, I got really hosed by their "balance billing" program. Most balanced billing programs adjust the monthly average as you go in a 6 month cycle (based on actual to-date usage) to make sure that at the end of the balanced billing cycle you are not left with a huge true up amount. It's of course based on the last year average but if anything significant has changed (in my case, a new pool), that can really throw things off. Bottom line is I ended up owing $1,000 at the end of my balanced billing 6 month cycle because of it. In fairness, Champion was willing to work with me so I could pay that over a period of 3 months and I even signed a contract stating those terms. However, I continued to get disconnection notices by mail and email. The agent - who was apologetic about the situation and very professional by the way - promised my service would not be disconnected. However, it's unnerving when you continue to get disconnect notices. Well, when I finally got the pink disconnect notice stating my power would be off in 1 week, well, I just went ahead and paid in full. The good: Competitive rates, friendly customer service. The bad: Balanced Billing does not adjust monthly based on actual usage to-date to ensure you are not stuck with a huge true up bill. Contract to pay true up amount over 3 months did not prevent disconnection notices from coming my way. Would recommend Champion Energy Services for their competitive rates and friendly customer service but RUN - DON'T WALK AWAY FROM "BALANCED BILLING" PLAN! :) ”

“  I have several times tried to use their automatic credit card billing, but have had all kinds of problems. Their customer service people are polite and helpful, but they just don't seem to have the bugs worked out. The web site allows you to log on and check your bills, but almost anyting that you do kicks you out to start all over. I just tried to renew my service contract while logged on to my account. I was taken to a new page asking for my zip code and account number. I had the same experience trying to change payment details. It is like they don't think this whole internet thing is really a good idea, or expect anyone to actually use their web site. ”

“  I switched to Champion over two years ago and have been extremely well satisfied. There has never been a problem and the one time I called customer service my question was taken care of immediately. But, I have to leave Champion next month when my contract is up. Why? Their rates. I was offered via email about three weeks ago a renewal rate a little less than what I was paying. I intended to accept the rate but didn't get around to renewing at that time. Then last week I got another renewal offer that was much higher than what I am currently paying. I was told their initial offer was no longer valid and the higher rate is now their current offer. Nope. Bye, bye Champion. ”

“  I switched to Champoin two years ago based on relatively low costs, good reviews and JD Powers ratings. Have had a good experieince with them but based on what I believe are uncompetitive rates, I am looking hard at switching. With some companies offering 12 month rates at $.085/kw and Champion not able to offer me anything better than $.097/kw, why would I stay? As a 1780 kw/month customer, one would think you'd be a more flexible/competitive for my business. ”

“  I switched to Champion in late September 2012. I received my first invoice in seven days. I pay all my bills on-line or by automatic payment. I signed up for their Recurring Credit Card payment plan. I received an email on October 10, 2012 indicating that I had successfully enrolled in the Recurring Credit Card Payment Plan, but that I needed to pay the first invoice in another manner because the credit card payment would not be effective until the next invoice. So I paid using my bank's bill pay process. On November 26th I received a "Friendly Reminder" that my second invoice had not been paid. Since I had received the October 10th email I assumed it would have been paid already. I called and was told they had no record of me signing up for recurring credit card payment. To top it off I received a disconnect notice two days after the friendly reminder! Who did JD Power query to award this company with anything? ”

“  We've been with Champion Energy for just over a year now. They have great customer service, I think every REP should provide online live chat functionality. When we went to renew the price was hirer than most Texas REP's, and I think they will be busted bigtime for using BillMatrix to process online card transactions as BillMatrix charges $3.95 for using your card which is a violation of Texas law. I reported this violation multiple times to the CSR's but Champion shows no interest in forcing its provider to comply with the law. Though it couldn't be that hard for Champion to operate its own billing system. ”

“  Although we have been pleased with the service we have received with Champion Energy Services the past two years, it is unlikely that we will renew our contract that expires soon due to the higher rates and fees. There is now a $6.95 penalty for using less than 800 kwh hours. (In the past the penalty was for less than 500 kwh which was reasonable for our family and we rarely had to pay.) We try to conserve energy as well as water. Now it appears that if we try to be responsible, we will be penalized nearly every month. ”

“  I switched to Champion Energy two years ago because my previous electricity provider was hiking prices up too high. I signed up for a 12-month fixed-rate contract with Champion Energy. My first year with Champion was great and I did save compared to my previous provider. Then when my contract was up my renewal offer from Champion Energy was even LESS than the previous year! I was very happy to sign up for my second 12-month fixed-rate contract. My second contract expires this month and I have to say I'm VERY DISAPPOINTED in the renewal "offers" coming in from Champion Energy. They are WAY TOO HIGH....so high in fact that I'm DROPPING Champion Energy and switching to a more reasonably priced provider. I hate to leave but they aren't even in the ballpark on their pricing this year. ”

“  In a deregulated environment the only difference between the services is the website interface and customer service. Champion really falls short on the web interface for the management of your account. The billing and web environments are not actually linked and I constantly get billing notifications through email which I cannot find within the web environment. Automatic payments are limited and has to be configured only at the time before a bill is paid and not at anytime. Even the links within the PDF bill don't properly redirect to the correct webpage for automated billing. I can't wait for my year to be up so I can move to a company that has a web interface from at least this decade. I do have to admit that customer service is prompt, courteous and helpful. ”

“  I am a first time apartment renter / bill payer and I chose Champion based on the several good reviews I saw on the company. So far I have been satisfied with the service and communication. After signing up, I have had to make several calls to verify online account information, and the customer service was great! They answered all of my questions and responded positively to any concerns. Their online web client is slightly clunky when trying to change info, but a quick chat with their reps fixed all issues I had and the account changes were immediately viewable. I have signed up for ACH transfer payments, and that went as smooth as possible, being deducted from my account next day! As far as rates go, The company seemed to have some of the lowest in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area I would definitely recommend Champion! ”

“  Had Champion for six months. Rate was very competitive, but online
payments were not possible due to a dysfunctional website which never
worked. Consequently I switched providers.
Additionally Champion only uses 3% renuable energy, and I have
switched to a provider using 100% renuable energy. ”