ComplaintsforOmaha Public Power District

• Initial Complaint

  04/09/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  Today I received a disconnect, which I am not disputing. However, the customer service has been lackluster. I have been trying to get funds transferred for a week and a half and OPPD made 1 call to me a week ago that I never saw the voicemail for. They made 0 attempt to contact me since then. Then when the guy came out to disconnect service, he never let me know he was on my property. Aside from the fact that walking onto someone's property without attempting to tell them is highly disrespectful and unprofessional, had he let me know he was there I would have woken up and been able to make the necessary payment saving him time and saving me the reconnect charges that OPPD is now going to happily over-charge me for 60 seconds of work when everything could have been avoided had they attempted to communicate with me. I'm very disappointed in the lack of professionalism.

  

  Business response

  04/11/2024

  We apologize *** ****** that you were disappointed in our lack of professionalism by disconnecting with our further contacts. As we mentioned during our call yesterday for the safety of our field personnel they do not knock on your door when coming to disconnect services. We provided notification by mailing the disconnect notice with the due date and a follow up call two days prior to the potential disconnect. We have made note that you would have liked additional notifications, this will help us in the future. 

  Customer response

  04/11/2024

   
  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********* and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me. I still believe it is in the best interest of everyone to attempt to alert homeowners before accessing their property. It is a matter of respect and there needs to be something in place to maintain employee safety while also respecting a customers property. 
  
  Sincerely,
  
  ***** ******

• Initial Complaint

  04/08/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  Very very simple I have been trying to locate my account number so I can pay a bill online and I probably tried thousand different ways and I cannot get one live person. It’s absolutely the most frustrating deal I’ve dealt with a long long time. All I want is an account number then I can pay my bill online because it’s not recognizing my Phone number online either as another option to look up my account all I wanna do is talk to somebody get my account number and pay my bill. And like I said zero way to get a hold of live person. I can’t simply call to get an account number. Talk to one person then how do I pay my bill so that’s that’s it I want.

  

  Business response

  04/09/2024

  Thank you for reaching out to OPPD, we are sorry that *** ****** had so much trouble finding his account number and trying to reach one of our customer service representatives. Customers can find their account number on their monthly statement and for those customers like *** ****** who are set up for paperless billing will find their account number within their My Account at *************  Which was created when he started service. 

  We do not have a specific option for customers to look up their account number online, however we do offer a one-time payment option where if the customer enters the telephone number and the last four of the social security number that matches their account it will pull up the account balance and also provide their account number. Because *** ****** *s enrolled in automatic payments to waive the required security deposit, manual payments are not allowed and therefore the use of the one-time payment option/form would not have been available to him . This was explained within the terms and conditions when enrolling in auto pay. 

  When calling into customer care our phone system will ask customers to verify their account with their phone number and last four of their social security number, if it matches they will be given an option to speak with a representative by pressing #2, make a payment by pressing #1 or report an outage by pressing #3. If a customer is new to OPPD they will be transferred to a representative right away. We do have the correct information on hand for *** ****** therefore he should have been able to reach a representative. 

  We did reach out to *** ****** this morning (4/9/2024) unable to reach him and left a voicemail with the detail he was looking for and explained he is not able to make a manual payment. 

   

  

  Business response

  04/15/2024

  We have reached out twice to *** ****** - leaving a Vm in the first attempt and not heard back. We did provide his account # and how to find it in the future. 

• Initial Complaint

  05/24/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Customer Service Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  Request a receipt indicating deposit paid, amount, and date when deposit is paid. OPPD requested a deposit of 100 dollars I paid the deposit and requested a receipt documenting a deposit being paid. OPPD refused to provide a deposit receipt and would only provide a payment receipt that does not indicate a deposit has been paid I was returned the payment and told they would not provide such a receipt. I have spoken to two supervisors without success. I would like to have a record of deposit being paid so there is no dispute later on deposit being held

  

  Business response

  06/21/2023

  Mr. ********, Thank you for reaching out. I apologize that we could not provide the type of receipt you are looking for. We are not refusing; we just do not use the type of system that provides a paper receipt like a store does.   Your monthly statement shows any and all charges incurred on your account and then once your payment is made, your account is updated, and your next bill will show the payment made. This is your record and/or receipt of payment. If your bill is paid in full, all charges including any deposit assessed will be paid by that payment. If a partial payment is made, deposits are paid first. During our conversations with you we did offer and did email and mailed you a verification letter stating the amount of deposit on your account at that time for your records and proof of payment. This went out on 5/23/2023. Since this letter went out, we have received another payment to your account, which was applied to the assessed deposit included on your 5/2/23 billing. I have emailed you separately providing an updated deposit balance. I did not include it here for privacy reasons. 

  Customer response

  06/26/2023

   
  Complaint: ********
  
  I am rejecting this response because:  I find it very hard to believe that a multi million dollar corporation cannot print a reciept that.indicates what the  money being collected is for. I also believe that a deposit and a payment are different and should be labeled as such to avoid any disputes that may arise at a later date.  Most computers will print whatever you program them to print
  So I believe a deposit reciept should be obtainable.
  Sincerely,
  ******* ********

  

  Business response

  07/05/2023

  I apologize that we are not able to accommodate your request of providing a specific receipt with the written word "Deposit" on it. We have provided you the invoice showing the charges, provided a  break down of the deposit required, when paid and the full balance on your account. When you paid at ****** *****, you would have been given a paper receipt that showed the tender type (cash or check) the amount, date, your OPPD account number and any change given back. That is the only itemization our system is set up for. This receipt along with your bill would match and provide you the confirmation that the deposit was paid. The verification letter that was given to you also confirms payment of the deposit. These four options are valid and what we have for all customers.  
  

• Initial Complaint

  05/10/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I moved out if my apartment in June of 2021. They are trying to charge me money for services after I moved out and threatening to send this to collections.

  

  Business response

  05/11/2023

  Mr. ****** billing was extended past his move out date because we were not notified that he had moved. We did reach out to his previous landlord for confirmation of his move out date and they have accepted the charges from October 2022 to March 2023, we have updated the balance on his account and will send a new final bill. This information has also been sent by email as the phone number provided did not go through.   

• Initial Complaint

  04/28/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I called to have change of service address back in Nov of 22. When I called they said it would be handled. Great! Well not so great 3 months later they did not have that service changed and we were being billed on the old address. The apartment complex we lived in called to address this. So, I called OPPD to straighten it out. We got the correct service address they then took our auto debit off of our account. We also got an official letter that stated our bill was around *** but it the portal to pay it was reflected it was *** so we did not pay it because we figured they were still straightening out the bill. Then this month we got a notice of shut off because the bill hadn't been paid. When trying to figure out how much we owe their billing does not reflect what was discussed over the phone. It has cost me significant time loss 6+ hours of on hold with different employees trying to figure this out all because the first person did not do their job. Not to mention a most recent employee instead of trying to explain the billing just kept saying "you just don't understand" and was **** ****.

  

  Business response

  05/01/2023

  Good afternoon Mr. *******, 
  I apologize that you had this experience with us while simply transferring your service and getting then getting the billing corrected.  I assure you this is not the experience we want our customers to have. We will take all steps necessary to make sure this does not happen in the future. I did send an email to you at the email on your service account. Please let me know if you have any questions. 

• Initial Complaint

  12/20/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  Why has OPPD placed a Delivery and Distribution Charge of approximately **% of the total billing since their billing statement of 8-16-2022. Thank you Carl

  

  Business response

  01/20/2023

  Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2022/12/27) */ We reached out to Mr. *********** on December 22, 2022 to discuss his concern. Mr. *********** advised us that he meant to reach out to the BBB regarding a different utility, not OPPD.

• Initial Complaint

  04/08/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  Currently my account with OPPD is $*** in the black. I've called them and asked them to move the billing due date back to the last day of the month, rather than in the middle of the month. They told me they can't do anything about that. And despite their unwillingness to move the date back, and a positive balance on the account, they continue to charge me late fees.

  

  Business response

  05/04/2022

  Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2022/04/13) */ Good afternoon, In reviewing this customers account and request we found that Mr. ******* is listed as a roommate on this account and has not been given authority to make changes on their account. We spoke with Mr. ******* back in March 2021 explaining this as well as two week s ago. We've asked that he have the main account holder call us to authorize him and the change in due date - a supervisor has left a voice mail (on 4/11) for the the main account holder asking him to call us, to date we have not heard from him. Until we are able to talk with him, we cannot make changes for Matt. Consumer Response /* (3000, 7, 2022/04/14) */ (The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.) Issue is unresolved, and the response makes no progress to the resolution. Business Response /* (4000, 13, 2022/05/02) */ Good morning, We tried again to follow up with the main account holder, with no reply back. Without this contact we are not able to rectify Mr. ********* situation. Due to privacy laws and the way their account is set up, we are unable to help with his request. If the Main account holder would contact OPPD, we could get this taken care of.

• Initial Complaint

  02/07/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I moved out of ******** Apartments end of October 2021. My apartment has been very helpful in trying to resolve an issue with OPPD (Omaha Public Power District). I have called OPPD to refund me for the months of November, December, and January 2021, since I no longer was living there and I had moved out by November 1st, 2021. I have called OPPD repeatedly to resolve this issue, and they will not take responsibility for those months when I no longer was living in the apartment. I would like to be refunded for those months and can provide more information if needed. Thank you

  

  Business response

  03/02/2022

  Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2022/02/07) */ Good afternoon, After reviewing Ms. ********* account I was unable to find any phone calls or an online web application requesting a stop of service until 1/19/2022. As a courtesy We reached out to her previous landlord ******** Apartments asking if they will accept the electric charges from 10/31/2021, they advised she moved out 9/30/21 but will not accept the charges, making Ms. ******* responsible for them. Without prior request of her moving, we will not be able to back date and refund the charges. Please let me know if you have any questions. Consumer Response /* (3000, 7, 2022/02/09) */ (The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.) I no longer was living at that residence and I want to be refunded for the months November, December, January, and now February. Business Response /* (4000, 9, 2022/02/14) */ Hello. We have reached out to Ms. ******* and explained that our options are limited when it comes to not requesting a stop of service. We did find out from the property that it was recently rented and have refunded her the last payment she made. This was appreciative of Ms. ******* and her account settled.

• Initial Complaint

  12/16/2021

  Complaint Type:

  Customer Service Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  Up until this past 3 years, service from OPPD has been pretty good actually. As of late, however, I'm pulling my hair out in frustration. Weve been out of power for near 24 hours now and im extremely close to losing an entire tank of tropical fish because I have no way to heat the tank. 60*F is well below what most of my fish need to survive. After multiple calls and talks with technicians in person, my neighbors and I have all been told different things have happened, yet theres one service vehicle in the entire neighborhood as of now. They've told some that its a transformer, some that its a tree took down a pole, and some say they were told its just downed lines. Finally, I walked the easement behind my home to find out myself since OPPD has been entirely ******* and unhelpful for the past 21 hours. Turns out, its downed lines at the bottom of our street, 10 houses away from the supposed bad transformer. Again, nobody here to fix anything, just a random service van and no technicians doing any service. Mind you, at 0100hrs the website reported that repairs were completed and only awaiting service to return. 12 hours later, still no service, the outage report now says "equipment failure", and I have animals dying because I cant keep them warm, and have gotten nothing but lies from OPPD. They wont touch our neighborhood until they HAVE TO, because they'll be fined for the time service was gone for x number of customers. So they'll complete the repairs that when fixed, will bring the most people back online. This isnt a utility company, they're like any other business. Money is top priority, not service, as advertised. I can deal power outages, what I cannot deal with is blatantly being lied to from support about what the issue is or an ETA for service to return. Its the middle of December and I quite literally have animals dying because theres zero power or heat. Thank you OPPD. What I want, is for power or a generator so my critter do not die. OPPD will not help.

  

  Business response

  01/03/2022

  Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2021/12/21) */ We reached out to Bryan **** on 12/17/2021 leaving a voicemail for him to call us back regarding his complaint. We have not received a call back as of 12/20/2021. The number listed in the complaint was not accurate, so a voicemail was left on the ****** household number. Service was interrupted due to the wind storm the Midwest received on 12/15. Once the primary lines and transformer were repaired, service was restored the customer as quickly as safely possible.

*Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business. ↩