ComplaintsforLiberty

• Initial Complaint

  10/23/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Unanswered

  More info

  On 9/4/2023 payment to Liberty was done through phone like it is always done! Then a letter is received saying the payment was returned! I check with ******** Bank and trust and no record of 32.00 payment! But Liberty is charging 32.00 for a return payment for an electronic check which the bank says was never presented for payment. I could understand if the payment had rejected some kind of way! But for the bank not to have a record of the payment coming in for payment is not real! But they are charging for a return payment when the bank doesn't have record! And then the rep at Liberty said the bank told them it was a fraudulent payment! But the bank has no record of Liberty submitting the payment! So why is it they are charging a return check fee! They told me I had to talk to the bank!

• Initial Complaint

  10/16/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  My wife ******* and I lived at ** ***** ***** ** *** * in Concord NH and liberty was our utility provider. When we opened the account with Liberty they told us that we had to give them a refundable 250 dollar deposit. We gave them the 250 dollar deposit and lived at that apartment for 6 months before we moved to Hooksett. When we moved liberty told us that our last bill would be deducted from the 250 dollars we paid them and we would be reimbursed the remaining 112.56. That was 6 months ago since then we have called them every month asking about the refund and we have escalated it to the manager and they have said that the check is in the mail. We have asked them to send us the check with a tracking number and they said that the couldn't do that, we asked if we could pick it up at the office, they said no; we asked if they could wire us the money and they said no. They for 6 months have been telling us that they are mailing us the check but we have not received it. They have said that they have resent the check 4 times and 4 times we have confirmed the address. It is not possible for 4 checks to be lost in the mail. We would just like them to give us our money back either by mailing us a check with a tracking number, wiring us the money, or allowing us to pick the check up at their office.

  Business response

  10/20/2023

  Hello

  I have reviewed your complaint and we have reissued your refund check, it was sent via overnight mail and should be delivered tomorrow.

  Customer response

  11/01/2023

  
  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.
  
  Sincerely,
  
  ****** ******

• Initial Complaint

  10/10/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Unanswered

  More info

  Good Afternoon, I am calling in regards to my account ************ located at **** ****** *** *** ** ********* ** *****. I spoke to a Jane on 09/20/2023 asking when I would receive my refund for the oustanding credit and she stated that no one had called to either take over the account or establish the account under their name . My tenant called , Amanda R****** (###-###-####) called in the same day (09/20/2023) to make sure the Liberty Utilities account was in her name . Today , 10/06/2023 I spoke to a Barbara , asking when I would receive my refund ,she said 30-60days and I was ok with that . Then when I preceeded to ask that my account was closed and my new tenant had established service she went on to tell me that it was not done . I need this account out of my name and into my tenants name immediately and a refund issued back to me on my oustanding refund.

• Initial Complaint

  10/10/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Unanswered

  More info

  Liberty Energy and Water is causing health problems to me. Every month I try to pay their bill there is something wrong with their website. Either it wont login it, or some other error message comes up. I am unable to get it even after registering multiple times. My bills are piling up and the online process is giving me anxiety. I would love to sue them but for now I am filing this complaint. I am in New York, Nassau County area. These day and age, we should not have to deal with a garbage non-functional website. We have other responsibility already and should not have to spend hours trying to pay a bill. I will start a petition on Facebook to start taking legal actions against them.

• Initial Complaint

  09/25/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I am trying to establish service for my newly purchased home in ********, GA. This is a very long distance move (from Washington state) so I have been unable to arrange to turn on service in person. Liberty’s web site does not allow online set up. Starting last week I began trying to call to arrange start of service. Their phone system was “down for maintenance.” So I drove to the facility on Veteran’s Parkway to handle it in person. The facility is closed. No business can be conducted there. And their phone system in out of commission. After many attempts I connected with a live operator who told me she couldn’t help me - their phone lines are down for maintenance. She assured me she would call me on Monday morning to get schedule the turn on. She did not. When, again after many attempts, I connected with a live customer service agent in person, she told me they cannot turn on service until I pay a deposit - this is the first mention of this in my interactions with them, both by phone and online. They transferred me to bill pay where I intended to pay the deposit. At bill pat they informed me the account number Liberty had given me is invalid. I recalled customer service (with wait times) and was told the account number doesn’t work because their bill pay system is - wait for it - down for maintenance. The will do nothing until a) their system comes back online, b) the deposit is paid, c) I can get back through to customer service and request service turn on. Meanwhile, I have no hot water and cannot use my stove or oven for meals. My question is this: liberty is a government sanctioned monopoly who clearly have no accountability for providing service to their captive customers. What recourse does the public have when they decide to block access to service by voluntarily taking their system offline for maintenance during standard business hours?

  Business response

  10/30/2023

  Hello

  We were finally able to reach out to the customer and confirmed her services are on and her account is all set. 

• Initial Complaint

  08/11/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  On Saturday evening, November 5 2022 my rental water heater sprung a leak. I immediately called Liberty Utilities emergency call number to report the incident. I was informed that they would contact a contract provider to check the problem out and replace the water heater, if necessary. Around 6:30pm a representative of *********** ******** arrived at my residence. The young man took one look at the water heater and stated that it would have to be replaced. He left and returned about 45 minutes later with a replacement unit. 

  During the course of the evening I monitored the installation and had occasion to speak with the installer. He informed me that the replacement heater, also a rental unit, would be a little more expensive. I was paying $17.50 per month and he told me that it would be about $10.00 more. He was already installing it and I needed a water heater immediately as my wife and I were getting ready to head south for the winter. I was certainly agreeable to the $10.00 increase. He informed me that I would be getting a call from Liberty Utilities the first part of the following week, which I did, on Wednesday, November 9th. The Liberty representative asked me to come in to sign a new rental agreement. 

  I went to Liberty Utilities Massena office on November 10th and was presented with a contract (copy attached). I was, at this time, a captive audience. What choice did I have? The water heater was already installed. I perused the front page and noticed that I was signing an agreement which involved a 10 year rental contract. I did not read the back page at this time, and I was not too concerned as I figured that I would go back to the Liberty office upon my return from Georgia in the spring of 2023 and purchase the water heater and that would take care of the issue. At the time I was also informed that the monthly rental price would be $42.11, a far cry from what the installer had told me. It got much worse. 

  Around mi-April, 2023 I went to Liberty Utilities office and informed them that I would like to purchase the water heater in question. I was told that I would have to wait until November, 2023 to purchase same and that the cost would be $2,700.00 and that the rent I was paying was not a rent-to-own price and represented strictly a rental contract. I was appalled at the price to purchase and the attendant conditions of the rental. All the rights were in favor of the company and none in favor of me, as you can readily see. 

  I continued to pay the exorbitant rental rate of $42.11 until August 1st, at which time I once again went to Liberty Utilities office and asked to be removed from auto pay. I told the young lady to have a bill sent to me for $42.11 every month and I would pay it. I told here that I planned to buy the heater in November, after which I was going to remove it from my home; put it in my garage and gave them pick it up. She told me that they would pick it up at no charge to me, but that I was indebted to Liberty for a period of 9 additional years (108 more months) at $42.11 per month, no matter what I did. That comes to a total of $5,053.20 that I would have paid, even if I returned their water heater. That sounds like something akin to loan sharking in my opinion. But it gets even worse. She told me that I had been a good customer. That I had always paid on time, sometimes ahead of time and that if I wished to purchase the water heater now, 3 months ahead of schedule, I would be allowed to do so. I asked her how much it would cost to purchase now. She came back with a price of $3,300.00. I couldn't believe it. I told her that I had been given a purchase price of $1,700.00 back in April. She checked something and agreed that I could, in fact, wait until November and purchase the water heater for $1,700.00 plus tax, for a total of $1,836.00. I walked out, completely bewildered and disgusted. 

  On or about August 3rd I returned to Liberty Utilities office to make contact with somebody in a supervisory position to discuss this ridiculous contract. They shuffled me around to several different people until finally I was confronted by a red haired male subject who refused to allow me into that part of the office and refused to come into the lobby where I was. I told him that I was not going to stand talking with anyone through a window and I left.

  I guess you could say that it is my fault for not reading the back side of the rental agreement. But whatever happened to compassion and consideration for a customer in good standing, to say nothing of the possible legalities involved, like price gouging, larceny, etc.

  Sincerely,

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

  Business response

  09/08/2023

  Hello

  I have reviewed the customers account with our rental department and they advised that the customer has purchased the hot water heater and has no other issues. 

  Customer response

  09/08/2023

  
  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I was contacted by Liberty Utilities on or about 15 August 2023. The situation has been resolved to my satisfaction. That you for your attention to the problem, No further action is deemed necessary. 
  
  Sincerely,
  
  ******* *******

• Initial Complaint

  08/02/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Customer Service Issues

  Status:

  Unanswered

  More info

  Please help with extremely increase amount of GAS BILL. I only use gas for heating, for all else is electric . Tried numerous times to contact company via phone, email and site contact with no response..*********** is my account number..I have not used heat for there is a heat advisory in many states including Columbus Ga.. I can also tell you that there are many people in this area with EXTREME gas charges and none have been able to connect with them for they claim no contact either.. I'm going to try every resource available to me.. I know things are very pricey but 78.97 is a lot for us and we have NOT used heat... AT ALL..Thank You Kindly for your help.. I will wait for a reply from you because you have helped my family in the past and everything worked out well..YOUR SERVICE IS APPRECIATED... ****** *****

• Initial Complaint

  07/24/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Unanswered

  More info

  7/24/23, I am a customer with this company for many years and am on a payment plan to level out my bills over the year. I just received a bill for $1262.94 for one month of electricity because they did not bill me correctly. NOT MY FAULT! I have agreed to make time payments because I need electricity. I pay my bills every month, so it is not my fault that billing department cannot add. I am on a limited budget, and I do not need this extra bill because that billing department made an error. When I spoke to an agent, I was informed I canceled my plan. That was news to me, this is the first time I have spoken to customer service about anything in a really long time. I have enclosed the bill I received.

• Initial Complaint

  07/24/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Unanswered

  More info

  Account Number for this business is ************. I have been in auto enroll for bill payment up until March of this year. I received a bill out of being current with no past due for 845.00 to be paied on May 8, 2023. Around this same time the company I beleive switched to a different web accounting system or something. All my data (prior bill) disappeared from the site. My payment activity did remain but not all of it dating back to Aug 2021 when I moved here and paid my deposit. I called the company at 3 times talking to 3 different people and explained that I do not owe this money and that past due amount is not from CCF used. It is from the system not registering that I had paid all my bills for every month that I was on auto pay. The over due amount is a collection of already paid dues. I told them I will take myself off autopay until they figure it out. Each time with no reply to me, they have closed the inquiry with no resolution and the past due amount that I have already paid is still on each bill. I would like your help before I take this to court. I have all my bank statements with the auto draft from liberty. I have attached some documents that might help. I will attempt to find some bills that the ones I attached say I haven't paid while I wait for a response. NONE of the stuff I am attaching will provide a real good clarity of the situation, because none of the numbers from payment activity to the bills, nothing is jiving together. Which goes to show that they are not sure what they are doing. Also the prior bill to April falling off the website happened after the last time I called their fraud department to look into themselves. The first to times I called they told me they will report it to the billing section to be analysis, each time I called back 20 or so days later they said it was marked as resolved and were as flabbergasted as me. I have bank statements from Aug 2021 when I moved here to further prove I pay bills every month to them

• Initial Complaint

  07/19/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Unanswered

  More info

  I moved into a rental house on 3/31/23 and started my Gas utilities with Liberty Gas Company. I have called numerous times and opened tickets regarding the fact that I have never received a bill in the mail. Back in May and just yesterday 7/19/23 I called again. I was supposed to have a manager call me back but still nothing. I am concerned as I don't have any bills, don't know what I owe, and cannot get anyone to assist me with this. This is very bad business. I need to have them reach out to me and get this resolved. Any assistance would be appreciated. Thanks in advance.

*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. ↩