Complaints

This profile includes complaints for Hawaiian Electric Industries, Inc.'s headquarters and its corporate-owned locations. To view all corporate locations, see Find Local Branches.

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  Hawaiian Electric Industries, Inc.

  900 Richards St Honolulu, HI 96813-2919

• 

  Hawaiian Electric Industries, Inc.

  PO Box 730 Honolulu, HI 96808-0730

The complaint text that is displayed might not represent all complaints filed with BBB. 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.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:09/10/2024

  Type:Order Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  Dear BBB:Starting in May, 2023 (but continuing into 2024 and within the past year) we have been working with Hawaiian Electric Industries (d.b.a. Hawaiian Electric Company; HECO) on resolving an issue regarding an installment plan that had been established but not effectively adhered to by ****. Please reference the attached communication between us and HECO. On April 4, 2023, **** confirmed the installment plan was effective. Going into May and June, 2023, we continued to reach out to **** to confirm that this installment plan remained in effect. After making the initial payment, confirmed by ****"s own payment history, in the amount of $191.13 (on March, 14, 2023). Despite the installment plan being confirmed (by ****) as being in effect and initial payments being received, in June, 2023, HECO issued a "Final Notice" and disconnected our family's electricity. Since this time, we had been working with HECO (via telephone customer service) to refund the resulting "Late Payment Fees" and "Disconnection Fee" that was a result of the established installment plan being ignored by ****. However, going well into 2024, there has been little-to-no resolution. We were told that we could work through their customer service department to request a refunds of these incorrectly assessed fees but to no avail. While the events that transpired (i.e. incorrectly fees assessed) were not malicious, we are requesting that HECO refund us the $175.70 in incorrectly assessed fees that was a result of either their bureaucratic negligence or incompetence. In addition to the customer care transcript, you will also find a export (from HECO) of the incorrectly assessed fees.Thank you for your time and please reach out should

  Business Response

  Date: 09/27/2024

  Please see attached for Hawaiian Electric's response.   Thank you.

  Customer Answer

  Date: 09/30/2024

  Re: Complaint: 22266700
  

  Dear BBB Community:

  Thank you for contacting and soliciting a response from Hawaiian Electric Company (HECO). We appreciate HECO's thorough response but we completely disagree with HECO's characterization of the events that unfolded. Particularly with respect to the communication and agreements entered into with our family by ****. HECO only provides an extemporaneous narrative as evidence. Conversely, we provided digital scans of multiple lines of communications and a filtered ledger of payments as well as wrongfully assessed fees levied by HECO (during this period) as evidence. If you look at the communications record, between May 26, 2023 and June 9, 2023, HECO gave the impression that a payment arrangement was being formulated and would take effect during the next billing period. Likely, in large part, due to HECO's bureaucratic incompetence, HECO no longer referenced (between May 26, 2023 and June 9, 2023) the payment arrangement that was being drafted and, instead, opted for disconnecting out family's electricity. As as result, not only were the resulting late fees and interest wrongfully assessed but the reconnection fee that HECO (claims is rightfully assessed) is ridiculous. A fee that is incurred as part of a disconnection that should have never happened is not valid nor rightfully assessed. Or, at least opting for the common sense approach, pausing disconnection until the payment installment agreement, that **** entered into with a customer, is either void or completed.

  HECO's behavior, in this case and likely many other instances with families, is not aligned with the statutes, rules, and orders established by the State of Hawaii and the *************************** (***) ***************************************************. Situations like this speak directly to why HECO continues to lose the faith of the public. HECO's culture of incompetence and equivocation later culminated with their likely culpability in the Maui Wildfires disaster. In time, perhaps the people of ****** will get the electric utility service provider they deserve. In the meantime, as ****'s bankruptcy possibly comes to fruition in the coming months/years, the *** should reign in not only regulation around HECO but future electricity providers. So, that these utility providers no longer take advantage of the public's trust.

  Sincerely,
  
  *** ******

• Initial Complaint

  Date:01/24/2023

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  Power off settled the dispute indicated power would be restored that evening was never restored as indicated. Emergency medical equipment and eldery women in house ************** went bad and breathing issue cost me time effort medical bills on false promises. I was told emergency dispatch to come out never came...still without power....

  Business Response

  Date: 02/13/2023

  02/10/2023 Hawaiian Electric Response to Customer Complaint dated 01/24/23 *****************
  
  We reviewed ************** complaint regarding the request for restoration of power. ************** power 
  was disconnected on January 23, 2023 at 1:32 p.m. due to non-payment. ************** called Hawaiian 
  Electric at 5:50 p.m. later that evening to report a power outage and was informed that she was 
  disconnected for non-payment. She was directed to **************** for further assistance. Customer 
  Service informed ************** of the payment amount required in order to reconnect service. Payment 
  was received at 7:04 p.m. ************** requested same day reconnection due to her mom needing a CPAP 
  machine. Normal timing for reconnection of service is usually within 24 hours if the request is 
  made during normal business hours. Hawaiian Electric tried to accommodate her request for same day 
  reconnection; however, our staff was not able to perform the reconnection until the next morning at 
  10:00 a.m.
  
  Upon receipt of the BBB complaint on February 2, 2023, the Companys Customer Ombudsman sent Ms. 
  ***** an email with information and instructions on how to file a claim since her complaint 
  referred to loss of medicine and food. The Company has not received her formal claim application as 
  of today; however, the ***************** has opened a Claim Request on her behalf in the event that 
  she files the required documentation for the claim. She was also sent a Life Support/Special 
  Medical Needs form as the households special medical needs are not on record with the *************************** regrets that our personnel was not able to reconnect power at the time of the request; 
  however, the Company restored service as soon as it could. It is important for ************** to 
  complete the Claims process so that the Company can evaluate her request for compensation due to 
  her losses.
  
  Hawaiian Electric appreciate the opportunity to address Ms. ****** concerns. If she requires 
  further assistance, she may reach the Company Ombudsman, *************************, at **************
  or by email at ************************************************************************.