Our Analysis of APG&E

Beware when an "agent" comes to you claiming to be from your existing energy company. APG&E hires scam artist that LIE to you and trick you into signing an agreement. You then end up with a contract that obligates you to this company; which was through unethical and criminal means. I will be filing a complaint with BBB about their work ethics. I have very disappointed and angry. Please save yourself the hassle and stay away from this company.

I always sign up for a fixed rate and have been with many different providers under different contracts in Texas. This has been by far the worst experience. Their online interface is powered by a 3rd party company. It (the signup interface) was broken when I tried to sign up. I spent 30 minutes on the phone signing up (I should have ran the other direction). I finally got my first bill in the mail, so I went to sign up online for online account access. Unlike any other normal company, where you can input your info (ESID, meter ID, account #, etc) and create an account, you are unable to do this. You must call them, so they can create your account internally, then you are able to create an online account. Of course this isn't explained online. The entire process is a joke. Nothing on their site works as it should. I just got a new debit card, and of course their website won't let you update the auto pay! Every interaction with this company ends up in a phone call because their site sucks. I am astounded.

Have been unable to get anyone to answer my phone calls. I've been calling all week to cancel service. I have also sent emails but recd no response.

1. Who threatens disconnect for $35 without a 1st billing?
2. Who charges for a deposit over 1 month after contract start without notice or agreement whatsoever?
3. What website takes the full amount when the payee changes the debit amount?

HERE IS WHO! APG&E AKA www.apge.com

1) Never received an enrollment confirmation via email or postmarked mail
2) Never received EFL, Terms, or Rights documents
3) Never received notice to review and rescind the terms of service within 3 days for a switch
4) Never received a bill
5) Received a disconnection notice
6) Incurred late fees even though no bill was received
7) After several request of all pertinent documents with a customer care rep (and told within 24-48 hours), still no sign of the docs.

Avoid this company. They never answer their telephone. Their website is not user friendly. They don't send out invoices either online or mail them and you never know the total amount until it gets auto-charged. Their website never recognizes your password and never sends a password restore when you click the link. Then you have to register again, with the same password, every time with all those long numbers, just to view your monthly bill that they never send you. Right now, I have been on hold for customer service for 40 minutes with nobody coming on during business hours.

Was never able to access my account online so I was force to call every month to pay my bill. Hold times would run way pass 30 minutes. Finally had to disconnect service as I was moving to a condo that already has electrical service. I pay my bill I the 1st of each month only to get a voicemail from a rep advising that my account will be sent to collections and it's the 5th of the month. I only owe $50 and the disconnection fee of $150. As I attempt to get a hold of this rep all day - I finally get a hold of her. When she asks if I am ready to make payment on my account I let her know that I am, but would like to speak to someone else. As she denies me that possibility - I now request that she forward my call to a supervisor which she again refuses to do - when I ask a 2nd time - DISCONNECTED!!!!! Horrible customer service!!!!! AVOID!!!!!!

I called customer service when my contract was up. We worked out a price and contract length. After that she started talking very fast for a contract recording. I fell for it and agreed. I now have a higher rate, and my contract expired at 6 months instead of 12. I should have recorded her!

First - the bill arrives and before it can be mailed and them receive and FINALLY post it, it is past due -
Second - the customer service is AWFUL - the rudest people i have EVER dealt with. Nothing works - the automated service is always down - paying online is a joke - the only other option is taking it to a CASH store to pay there and they charge a fee. Cannot wait for this contract to be up! I have a business account with 4 meters/bills and this has been the longest 3 years dealing with these people.

Some guy knocked the door, he said for checking bill,, and made my wife sign contract for apg&e without telling anything. my wife who was new to this country unkowingly signed it,and stuck in this crap... This is the worst thing. Never fall in this trap..

Someone came to my door looking very official. I already knew what this was about since I already signed up with someone else 2 weeks ago to North American Power. They offer a $50 Visa card after the first month and another $50 after 6 months. However they charge 12 cents for the first 3 months and 14 cents for the remaining 9 months, so since I'm using around 500 Kwh a month, I would be paying like $9 more a month for 9 months (PSE&G is generally around 12.2 cents) which would mean around $81 more, so the $100 should cover that! Luckily the gas didn't go through since the agent transposed 2 digits on the bill. Lucky because they actually charge 73 cents per therm, while PSE&G is only like 37 cents!!! WTF?!

Anyway when this guy from APG&E came he had this story how he's going to make sure my bill is equalized and fixed or whatever bull**** they are making up. I told him I know exactly what the story is. I showed him my bill and he was trying to tell me that the way PSE&G breaks down the 500 Kwh into parts, like you pay 12.23 cents for the first 340 Kwh, then you pay say 12.41 cents for the next 160 Kwh, and finally 12.39 for the last 55 Kwh is a big problem and he's going to make it all go away by having me pay a fixed 13 cents all year round. He was saying prices go up in the summer. Yeah but the variable rate based on usage isn't a bad thing, it varies by how much you're using which seems pretty fair to me. Anyway at 13 cents I'd be paying like $5 more a month, and someone who owns a house would be paying at least $10 to $20 more a month!

Anyway beware of these pushy salesmen trying to make you switch because very often your usual utility is giving you a damn good deal that you can't really beat with anybody else! So much for "energy choice" If you really wanna save a BUNDLE just put some solar panels on the roof, it tends to cut your bill to like half!

Some really unprofessional looking guy came to our door and was really pushy while asking about our electric bill. My boyfriend is the one in charge of handling it so he was the one talking to the guy. The guy had some city accent I had difficulty understanding but it sounded as if he was telling my boyfriend something to the effect of our electric supplier was changing something and my boyfriend needed to sign something and make a call.

This whole ordeal was screaming, "SCAM," to me and I outright asked if it was a scam after reading reviews for APG&E online. The guy insisted it wasn't, which is a load of crap. Unfortunately my boyfriend allowed the guy to leave with the paper he signed so now we're just trying to fix things. One of the papers the guy left said we had 3 business days to cancel the transaction. My boyfriend called the number immediately after the guy left to cancel it once I was able to convince him it was indeed a scam. So hopefully that will help resolve this quickly.

A word to the wise...don't sign anything for pretty much anyone who randomly comes to your door unless it's the mail person asking you to sign for a package.

They will charge you triple the price after contract will expire, make sure you know when you need to shop again! Better go with another offer, you will regret dealing with them.

A salesperson came to my house. When I told him I wasn't interested he just continued his sales pitch. I asked him to leave. He continued but started getting really mean. I told him to get off my property and never return. He started yelling and cursing at me, calling me names and saying that he will keep coming back every f*ing day and there's nothing I can do about it.

The customer service is the poorest I have experienced yet. They will shut your service off when you don't owe and will respond like an idiot when you request to go over the bill with them. Now I get a bill showing over payment of more than $600. The company has not contacted me to apologize or to return my money and with hat aid, the bill is still incorrect. I would never recommend anyone to use this company for utility service.

Beware! Company has predatory Variable Rate pricing when a contract price expires. Variable Rate pricing is 2X to 3X the contact rate prices, and they will begin billing you at this rate the day your contract expires.

Keep a sharp eye on your contract end date, they triple your rate as soon as your contract ends. Any other provider I have used raises the rates at the end but by a few cents not 300%. Avoid this company.

I had a fixed price contract for $.0475/kw-h with apg&e that was expiring. the contract carried an early termination fee of $150. I decided at the time to switch to another supplier. since my electric company could not be certain of the exact date of the switch they suggested that I wait until after the contract had expired to make the switch in order to avoid the termination fee. for the month after my contract expired apg&e raised the rate to $.1275, a 270% increase over the contract price. when I called them about it I told them that I could not find this rate anywhere on their website. they informed me that they were free to charge me anything they wanted since I was no longer under contract. I did expect the price to be higher after my contract, but almost a 300% increase. c'mon, they simply decided to screw me to the wall. and the PUCO said there was nothing they could do about it. where is the protection of the consumer in all of this. I would have been much better off paying the termination fee. unethical practices that turn consumers against power companies.

They did not cancel my electric service as requested and price-gouged me for an extra month. Avoid at all costs!