ComplaintsforJacksonville Electric Authority

• Initial Complaint

  02/14/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  On Jan 24, 2024 I called JEA to start new services. I gave them my personal information and they stated they couldn’t not verify me. I called a few times to get different reps and it was the same result. They informed me that I will need to come into the office and verify my identity that was the only way. I informed them that I do not live in Jacksonville and that would be impossible. I called again and same results on Jan 25,2024. This resulted in cancelling my move to Jacksonville and getting a storage unit and an AirBnB because I had to be out of my apartment by 1/31/2024. I created a Google review about the incident (they deleted their Google account on 2/13/2024) and they reached out stating I could email them to resolve the matter. I took 2 weeks to do it because I was trying to figure out my current situation. I have no home because of them. I emailed them 3 times this month which I provided the requested information and 2 follow up emails. No response. I called again on 2/12/2024 and the same results. Come into the office. I would have to spend money on a flight, hotel, and rental car to travel there to get my lights cut on. My travel fees will be over $1000. What I need is someone who is competent to call me to setup my account. This all that I’m asking.

  Business response

  02/14/2024

  We were able to contact ****** *****, confirm her identity and schedule her start service for next Friday 02/23/2024. She was happy we were able to complete the start process. 

  Customer response

  02/20/2024

  JEA did call me 30 mins after I submitted the compliment. ******* at JEA was professional and competent and resolved the issue within 30 mins. They were able to verify me over the phone and setup my account.   

• Initial Complaint

  02/12/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  A JEA technician visited my house in December asking about my water meter. I showed him the meter, he poked around a bit and left. Two days later, I receive my December JEA bill showing triple the water usage of the previous month. I knew this was incorrect because we had a good amount of rain that cycle and therefore didnt run the irrigation system. I tried calling JEA for weeks but couldnt get through (were experiencing wait times in excess of 15 minutes). I paid the bill in full.Two weeks ago, I finally reached a JEA agent and discussed the issue. She confirmed that my meter was broken and it would be repaired/replaced soon (to date, I haven't seen a technician). She also said a reimbursement would be applied to my account (I haven't seen that either.)WHY IM UPSET If JEA knew my meter was broken, why wasnt I notified? And why wasnt a reimbursement offered BEFORE I called and complained?

  Customer response

  02/21/2024

  I received my February bill from JEA. There are 20 items listed as "other activities" ... 10 water service adjustments (deductions) followed by 10 water service "re-bill" items. Essentially, the adjustments and re-bills amount to ZERO. I called JEA on 2-14-24 to question this and ask why I haven't received my adjustment for the faulty meter reading in December. The agent couldn't answer my question ... blindly reciting the "other activities" listed on my bill. I asked if I could speak with a manager. She put in the request and assured me I'd hear from someone in 48 hours. That was 7 days ago. 

  No adjustment. No new meter. No call from a manager. 

  JEA ... Building Community.  Yeah right.

  Business response

  03/04/2024

  ************** was called on 02/16/2024. Manager left a message with her contact information.  There are no notes of ************** calling back.  I called today and left a message with my number.  The meter was not providing daily reads.  Office estimates were made.  When meter was read manually, ************** received the consumption that was not billed in initial bills. We can set up an appointment to have someone come to his house to determine where the excess water may be coming from.  Also, we have adjustments that can be provided for high use or if there is a leak identified and repaired. 

  Customer response

  03/05/2024

  [To assist us in bringing this matter to a close, you must give us a reason why you are rejecting the response. If no reason is received your complaint will be closed Administratively Resolved]

   Complaint: 21281570

  I am rejecting this response because:

  I did not receive a voice mail or show any record of a call from JEA (My cell number is ************). I would still like to talk to a manager about this issue.

  Applying water usage from a previous year is not fair. My usage was much lower in December 2023 due to ample rainfall. Check the previous month ... (Nov 2023). My usage was about 1/3 of what JEA charged me in December.

  You can send someone to the house, but I doubt they will find a leak because my usage is not consistently that high.

  Regards,

  *******************

  Business response

  03/05/2024

  I called again today at 2:48pm.  After one ring, it went to voicemail.  It starts with "Hi this is Phil...."  I let a message with my name and contact number. 

• Initial Complaint

  02/07/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  My water consumption increased drastically from last month even though I live alone and my lifestyle has not changed. When I called ***, ******* told me I might have a leak but that they had no appts available for someone to come check. In the meantime, I was told I would need to continue to pay for the water, even if there is a leak. This company is ripping me off. Last month, I was gone for 3 weeks and my bill only decreased by $11! ******* told me she could view my daily consumption but she could not give me access to this information. Very rude and shady company. I want my bill decreased by $50 and I want the company to send someone out to look for a leak.

  Business response

  02/08/2024

  I spoke to ******************, went over billing and usage. Set an efficiency appointment. ******************** advised she didn't need any further action.

• Initial Complaint

  02/01/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  My experience with JEA over the past year has been frustrating, marked by exorbitant and inconsistent water bills and a notable lack of accountability. Despite JEA fixing their meter twice, including a replacement, the core issue persists with continuous blame for a water leak. Notably, I am a 60-year-old individual living alone, without an irrigation system. JEA's latest visit acknowledged a "leak at their meter at the street shut-off valve," resulting in a brief reduction in water usage. However, they continue to blame me. In the latest instance, JEA recorded 12,000 gallons for the month, with daily variations from 100 to 1,000 gallons, raising doubts about their metering system's accuracy. Even when the plumber shut off the valve at the meter, the usage spinner and clicker continued to operate, indicating a severe flaw in the equipment. Shockingly, JEA disregarded this information, displaying a lack of regard for customer satisfaction and fair business practices. The persistent blame-shifting and insistence on attributing leaks to me, despite evidence suggesting otherwise, amounts to harassment. I've incurred almost $500 in costs, hiring two plumbers and a leak detector, addressing issues that should have been resolved by JEA based on their service calls for meter problems. JEA must be held accountable for recurring meter issues, unjustified blame, and the financial burden imposed on me. Thank you.

  Business response

  02/09/2024

  Mr. ******** had a leak at the meter, the JEA tech advised the leak was on his side of the meter and he would need to call a plumber to locate the leak.  A water adjustment was granted after the leak was repair 01-10-24.  The adjustment applied to the account was $*****. Mr. ******** can submit a claim through our Risk Management Department at ****) ***-**** for the plumbers’ charge however if JEA was not responsible for the leak, the claim will not be approved.

  Customer response

  02/10/2024

  [To assist us in bringing this matter to a close, you must give us a reason why you are rejecting the response. If no reason is received your complaint will be closed Administratively Resolved]

   Complaint: 21230262

  I am rejecting this response because:

  1 why did JEA “fix” the leak at their meter (the shut off valve) and then my recorded usage went down correctly for a few days, yet they say the leak is on my side and my responsibility? Makes no sense.

  
  2 how is it the usage devices at their meter still spun & clicked (charging me) when the valve at their meter was shut off?  Plumber verified this and said there should be no activity when their valve is shut off. If need be I can get Plumbing company to verify what I’m saying.

  
  3 IF I have a leak how is it there are huge swings (see attachment) in usage? So, one day it decides to leak more than another and randomly goes back and forth with huge swings? Not physically possible.
  
  4 I was out of town from Feb 6-8, why are there swings from day to day (see attached) on those 3 days? Was it my cat?
  

  5 I’ve been keeping track of my water appliance usage. An example is I  showered on Feb 1 and used dishwasher on feb 3. How is feb 2 100 gallons of usage and the two days mentioned with actual usage aren’t even close (see attached) to that?  I guess on Feb 2nd I flushed the toilet 63 times!!!

  6 I’m still being incorrectly billed. 
  
  Come on!!!!  Seriously, are they even looking at my usage history? Can they not see something is wrong with all of this?  There answer to me is always the same, it’s my leak. Heck they said that like 8 months ago when they ended up  replacing their meter, fixed the problem for a short time and still they would not acknowledge it was on them.  

  Thank You. 

  Regards,

  ****** ********

  Business response

  02/23/2024

  Mr. ******** had a leak.  The old meter was not the problem. He definitely had a leak and is very evident in as we look through the usage and somehow on January 10th the consumption was greatly reduced. Mr. ********'s meter has no digital parts. It is a strictly mechanical meter. The consumption might as a result of a toilet issue. He can request an accuracy test if he would like meter tested however there will be a charge if the meter results report the meter is accurate.

  Customer response

  02/26/2024

  [To assist us in bringing this matter to a close, you must give us a reason why you are rejecting the response. If no reason is received your complaint will be closed Administratively Resolved]

   Complaint: 21230262

  I am rejecting this response because:

  I truly believe JEA is the stupidest most incompetent company I have ever dealt with.  They said “somehow on January 10th the consumption was greatly reduced”.  Geez  I wonder how that happened? Perhaps that is when they visited my residence (I believe the 9th) and THEY fixed their meter.  I did absolutely nothing before, on or after that date to anything water related to fix anything.  I did have to hire a plumber to find a supposedly leak I was causing, because JEA made me hire them. The Plumber found no such leak and I already described in an earlier post what the plumber found.  An improperly running meter charging me for usage even when the plumber shut-off the valve at the street on their meter. Again, JEA has their head up their ass and is just ignoring this.  I’m done with this back and forth bullying BS.  I will be looking into reporting them to them to their watchdog, media and hiring a lawyer. Thank You. 

  Regards,

  ****** ********

  Business response

  03/08/2024

  Hi ******

   

  I have confirmed with our field services and they have reassured me this was not an issue on our end.  Looking at his consumption, he had some spikes this past weekend.  I am going to see if we can meet with him to help him identify what may be causing this.  Sometimes it could be a toilet getting hung up.

• Initial Complaint

  02/01/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  For Dec and Jan only JEA has been over reading my meter at **** gal.the first time they admitted it was read incorrectly this time they said tech just said no leak but that's clearly not the issue. the meter is being read incorrectly the whole 2 yrs at my apt I never used that and they are refusing to look further i to situation and expects me to pay something that was reported incorrectly. Thanks

  Business response

  02/07/2024

  We understand Ms. ******* concern.  A tech visited the home and confirmed the meter was misread along with verifying the meter is functioning properly.  As a result of the overreading, the account was adjusted -$20.82.  We have a pending work order for the meter to have daily reads as this will allow **************** to view her daily consumption.  

• Initial Complaint

  01/30/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Order Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I am not liable for this debt with Jacksonville Electric Authority. I did not have a contract with Jacksonville Electric Authority they did not provide me with the original contract as requested.

  Business response

  02/02/2024

  I have spoken with ******************************* about her account. We went over the account with her, she stated she never lived at any of the addresses on the account.  I advised she would need to file a police report for identity theft.  ********************* stated it was her biological mother who used her information.  I provided the process to file the police report for stolen identity and advised to bring the report to our ***************** Department.   

  Customer response

  02/05/2024

  I have a faurd alert on my name because of other things like this I just wnt this off my credit I did not open the account I am disabled I don't have a car to run back and forth to do anything 

• Initial Complaint

  01/03/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Sales and Advertising Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  My water was shut off by JEA with no notice. JEA changed my home billing address back to the prior owner of my property without my / our specific authorization. The prior owner is the developer ***************************** in **************** ** ********************** Development. All bills / correspondence went to ***************************** and I never received any delinquent / pass due/ collections notices AND my water was shut off without notice. Im requesting a full independent audit of JEA for potential unfair deceptive practices. JEA also released billing info on my utility account to the previous property owner being the builder without our authorization in potential violation of the Fair Credit Reporting Act and Unfair and Deceptive Practices Acts. Also, any info released was not potentially kept private. The utility indicated water turn back on yesterday by 300pm which was approved by their supervisory personnel but never turned on until thus afternoon. We had to chase them. We are 65 plus. This kind of behavior by a public utility is unbelievable and something we never experienced previously living in GA, CT, NY, **, and NV. Reps are quite rude and need retraining.

  Business response

  01/16/2024

  
  I spoke to ***************************** and explained to her that the service was never started, we pulled the call and nothing was said about starting service at ***** Shipton **. That all bills were going to the builder. I removed the $10 connection fee, and she is happy with the outcome.
  
  

• Initial Complaint

  11/27/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  Jacksonville Electric Authority uses monopilization to continually increase homeowners bills while giving meanigless explanations on how or why the increases happen even with lower usage.i have had serious issues with JEA for well over a year now with getting no logigal explanation on how my bill continues to increase with less usage. after being sent to manager after manager over the phone, each explanation seems to change between each rep and none of which adds up whatsoever.i have been told conflicting things each time and given no help whatsoever . with out any competitors for electric and water to the north ******* area JEA continues to commit fraud and the consumers can do nothing about this. JEA needs to be under thorough investigation for the billing and usage analytics .

  Business response

  12/04/2023

  TO BBB-   WE HAVE CONTACTED ***************** TO GO OVER THE MY BUDGET PLAN -HE NOW UNDERSTANDS HOW IT WORKS AND IS HAPPY WE HAVE CONTACTED HIM TO GIVE THE IN-DEEPTH INFORMATION.  THE  INCREASE IN THE  BUDGET AMOUNT WAS PRIMILARY DUE TO A LEAK .  HE QUALIFIED FOR AN ADJUSTMENT AND ONCE THE FORM WAS RECEIVED, THE ADJUSTMENT WAS EXTENDED. HE WAS PLEASED WITH THE CONTACT AND INFORMATION.  THANKS  ************;

  Business response

  12/05/2023

  TO BBB-   WE HAVE CONTACTED ***************** TO GO OVER THE MY BUDGET PLAN -HE NOW UNDERSTANDS HOW IT WORKS AND IS HAPPY WE HAVE CONTACTED HIM TO GIVE THE IN-DEEPTH INFORMATION.  THE  INCREASE IN THE  BUDGET AMOUNT WAS PRIMILARY DUE TO A LEAK .  HE QUALIFIED FOR AN ADJUSTMENT AND ONCE THE FORM WAS RECEIVED, THE ADJUSTMENT WAS EXTENDED. HE WAS PLEASED WITH THE CONTACT AND INFORMATION.  THANKS  ************;

• Initial Complaint

  09/01/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  We have lived in Jacksonville for 5 years now and obviously we have had JEA. We have never missed a payment however this year has been extremely hard on us given the current state of the economy and my husband is in sales. So when we couldn’t pay in August 2023 I called and a woman suggested I do JEA Myway this program was pushed on me with very little explanation but she said they wouldn’t turn off the power if I did it. So I transferred over to be a Myway customer. Well apparently you pay every single day for your usage as a Myway customer. Once I realized a couple days later this was the case (because that DEFINITELY was not told to me) I called and said I don’t wanna be in this program I wanna go back to a regular account. Now they are saying just to transfer back I have to pay my balance of $600 damn dollars PLUS I will need to get a credit check for being a “new” Jea customer which I have been one for 5 years. She said if I failed the credit check I would have to pay an ADDITIONAL $800 on top of what I owe just to go back to a regular JEA account. I only got on MyWay less than a week ago. This is FRAUD! They did not explain anything of this nature to me when I switched and I was told that a manger couldn’t talk to me about it but that I could be put on a waiting list to speak to one. This is ridiculous! I will be going into the corporate building to speak to someone and I will also start contacting local news stations. I will blast JEA on all social media platforms and leave reviews on every forum. You are taking advantage of your costumers! I want to be transferred back to my REGULAR account without having to pay the ridiculous $800 and I’ll make my regular payment on September 12th when it’s due. Someone needs to contact me about this matter immediately or I will start calling every news station and corporate for giving me misinformation and refusing to transfer me back after just 2 days!

  Business response

  09/07/2023

  Good Morning, I have contacted ******* ******** to reviewed her account. She is a excellent customer and based on the fact she has only been on our MyWay Program less than 20 days, we offered her the option of returning to our Traditional Customer Process, without any additional charges.  She now understands our MyWay Process and why it is helpful to some customers.  She was happy we contacted her back.
  It is our hope that we have accurately identified the concerns that initiated the customers contact with the Better Business Bureau.
  
  

• Initial Complaint

  07/25/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  Supposedly needed electrical inspection..done...then city inspection...done NOW after all that I need a JEA inspection...still waiting it's 100 degrees in this house. I get a call from city stating I have not requested electrical services from JEA ...really this is total BS. CAN SOMEBODY PLEASE HELP ME GET THIS POWER ON ASAP IT OS FREAKIN TOO HOT FOR US IN HERE. **** ******** ****** ****. Also please make the staff all have the same information. I've literally called more than 10 times and haven't gotten the same Infor yet. Can somo e who knows what is going on please help me.

  Business response

  08/02/2023

   We communicated with *** *******, that the reason her electric service was off, was due to once the service stopped from the prior tenant, to go into her name on 07/19/2023, the system found a permit was needed for prior work. The request went into a "HELD" status until a permit was cleared for safety by the City of Jacksonville. Once the permit was obtained and cleared, her service was turned on 07/26/2023. *** ******* has some concerns over the electrical work and permitting, which is available on the permit division on the City of Jacksonville web-site. We have been unable to contact *** *******, however, we left a voice message and will be communicating back with her. It is our hope that we have accurately identified the concerns that initiated the customers contact with the Better Business Bureau. Thank you.We communicated with *** *******, that the reason her electric service was off, was due to once the service stopped from the prior tenant, to go into her name on 07/19/2023, the system found a permit was needed for prior work. The request went into a "HELD" status until a permit was cleared for safety by the City of Jacksonville.  Once the permit was obtained and cleared, her service was turned on 07/26/2023.  *** ******* has some concerns over the electrical work and permitting, which is available on the permit division on the City of Jacksonville web-site.  We have been unable to contact *** *******, however, we left a voice message and will be communicating back with her.
  It is our hope that we have accurately identified the concerns that initiated the customers contact with the Better Business Bureau.  Thank you.

*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. ↩