Complaints

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:06/23/2025

  Type:Billing 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.

  On May 30, 2025 I paid my electric bill that was due on June 6. 2025. It was approved and paid for. I went on their site to make sure it was paid and I found out that they accidentally closed my account and the money was returned. Now they are trying to charge me $20 for a returned check. They closed my account and the money could not be applied to my account. I have had *************************** problems with them not having my account put in my name. I have tried calling them which is impossible to do. I want them to take that $20 returned check charge off my account and fix my account so I can make a payment.

  

  Business Response

  Date: 07/15/2025

  Hello,
  
  I have reviewed the customers concerns.  The customers perception of this situation is incorrect.  There is nothing for AES to fix/change/correct.
  
  1) The customer has an active account with ********************.  His ACES account has not been closed.  We do not block closed accounts from receiving payments, so even if his account with us was closed, that would not have prevented a payment from being received.
  
  2) The $20 return check fee was assessed in response to a $118.21 payment that was initiated by the customer on 05/30.  That payment was not honored by his financial institution.
  
  3) We cannot access the full payment account number, but the last 4 digits are 9305.  The customers financial institution advised us that the checking/financial account he attempted to use has been closed.  This is the financial account and NOT his AES account.  It is possible that he mistyped his account number when he processed the payment.
  
  4) Although it is a valid fee, the $20 return payment fee has already been removed, and the customer will see that on his next bill.  As an FYI, any time payment from our customers is not honored, AES is charged a fee by our financial institution.  This is our way of recovering those fees.  Removing this valid fee was a one-time courtesy.
  
  Thank you,
  
  AES Customer Services
  

• Initial Complaint

  Date:06/19/2025

  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.

  ***, we have lived here for many years (husband 53 years, wife over 30). Literally every year we have several outages. Some long some short outages. My husband is 76 years old so having to sit up all night without his breathing machine and in a muggy house we have no way to circulate fresh air or cooler air into is torture for him. Now here is the really interesting part. Neighbors behind us (new apartments) have electricity, Neighbors across the street have electricity. But our entire side of the street has no electricity. I get no one can control the storms. I get things happen. However this isn't a one and done situation. This happens a lot. A couple ******* ago I lost two freezers of food and a few days of work. I feel patronized when you try to voice this is happening to often and to long! We went for a drive last night to cool off and never saw a contracted AES or AES truck the entire 45 min we drove around. Why is the problem not being permanently fixed? Something is very wrong with our side of the streets connection. They didn't update with anything after about 11pm last night. No communication at all while we boiled. I'm so frustrated that this happens so often! I'm frustrated it's so often we have an entire emergency cabinet. I want to voice again it's not a once in awhile thing this happens often. Realistically I would say about once a month from about May to October and not flickering electricity. My husband being elderly and caring for him makes this even more concerning.

  

  Business Response

  Date: 07/15/2025

  Hello,
  
   I have reviewed the customers concern and the account.  I do see a number of outages affecting this customer, especially more recently. 
  
  AES takes seriously our responsibility to provide reliable electricity as we are aware of how important it is, especially when heat and air is needed.  Even short outages are inconvenient.  Longer outages are especially difficult.
  
  We are actually in the process of updating our equipment to ****** our infrastructure against storms, and we have seen a difference.  We will continue to make those updates/improvements in the coming years until we have completed work throughout our territory. 
  
  Additionally, this concern has been forwarded to our reliability team and to our vegetation management team.  Our reliability team will review all the outages and determine next steps in an effort to reduce future outages in this area.  Our vegetation management team is also checking for any work that can be done before we get to that area as part of our normal routine vegetation management program that might reduce future outages.
  
  I apologize for the inconvenience and frustration that comes along with power outages, especially frequent ones.  
  
  Thank you,
  
  AES *****************

• Initial Complaint

  Date:06/18/2025

  Type:Product 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.

  I contacted AES to turn on my power on June 5, 2025. At the time, I was advised that submitting my driver's license, passport, and a copy of my lease would be sufficient to start service. I submitted these documents immediately. *** did not follow up until I emailed twice, once on June 10 and again on June 11, at which point the power in my apartment was turned off. At this point, AES demanded a copy of my social security card to be sent via email, despite me having provided this number to them each time I called. I am not comfortable with this as email is HIGHLY insecure. *** was extremely slow to respond. Each time I called, I received different information from agents I spoke with. Several times, I was told providing my SS card was the ONLY way to start service. Other times, I was told "well you could be lying about your identity." Still other times I was told "I'm not sure why we need your SS card but we do." One person said I had to provide my SS card because "there is a large balance on the account," even though that balance isn't mine as I'm not a customer yet. I asked to talk to a supervisor and was told I'd receive a callback "within 1 to 3 business days." When I did receive a call, it was outside of their business hours, though luckily I answered. Finally, on the 4th or 5th call, someone mentioned there was a fraud alert on my credit score. This time the agent said "if you remove the fraud alert MAYBE you won't need to submit the SS card." I removed the fraud alert and called AES, who told me I simply had to "wait five business days" and then they'd turn on my power. I emailed them again and received no response. I called AES again and this time was told "email us." Then I called again and was told "there's nothing we can do, you are required to send us your social security card." It has now been two weeks of inconsistent responses or no responses via email. I am desperately trying to become a customer and receive this public utility when it is 80+ degrees

  

  Business Response

  Date: 07/15/2025

  Hello,
  
  I have reviewed the customers concerns and her new account.  I see that she was placed on service 06/24/2025.  I apologize for the inconvenience and frustration she experienced trying to start service with ***.  That is not the experience that we want for our customers.
  
  *** does need to verify the identity of our customers.  This is done to protect both the customer and the *** from any type of fraud.  If we can verify the social security number verbally while on the phone with our customer,we do not require that anything be sent to us. That requirement only comes into play when we cannot verify the information. 

  
  That can happen if the customer has no credit, or if the customer has a block on their social through credit reporting agencies. 

  
  There are also some red flag situations such as a very large past due balance at the location where the customer is requesting service.

  
  We are in the process of reviewing the calls made by this customer so that any appropriate coaching can occur. Again, I apologize for the inconvenience, but the customer does have service with us now.
  
  Thank you,
  
  *** Customer Services
  
  
  

  
  

• Initial Complaint

  Date:06/15/2025

  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.

  *** claims I owe them money from 2022. *** will not show me proof. I need all billing statements from *** so my bank and I can match the money amounts to show that ONE, I did not have sufficient funds and TWO that the money was taken out for my bill. I have been over and over and over this situation. I thought it was over and now I'm looking at disconnection. *** in the summer of 2022 did a rehaul on their computer system. I believe there was some kind of glinch. All I am asking for is proof that I owe ***. I have left multiple messages in ***'s contact us section on their website. I get no response. Hopefully, *** will prove to me that I owe that money but we can only do that with the *** biling statements and my personal banking statements. Thank you.**** ********

  

  Business Response

  Date: 07/16/2025

  Hello, 
  
  I have reviewed the customers concern and her account.  Im sorry for any delay in response via our website. 
  
  Our records do not indicate that she owes us money from 2022,and we did not rehaul our system in 2022. We did transition to a new billing system in November of 2023.  When we transitioned, Ms. ******* had only current charges of $48.16 due.  That bill went out 10/17/2023 and was due in November 2023 as shown on her bill.
  
  Our records do indicate that we sent the duplicate bills (we can go back 36 months) as she requested.  However, I will also attach them here.
  
  The only issue I could find was a returned payment for $105.25 that was originally submitted to AES 04/17/2024.  We received notification from the financial institution that the routing number/checking account number used for that payment was either closed or not a valid combination.  It is certainly possible that the checking account was entered incorrectly.  We had originally given the customer credit for the $105.25 payment, and that is shown on the customers 04/19/2024 billing statement.  We reversed that when the notification came that the payment would not be honored. We also charged a $20 return payment fee as we are charged from our bank any time a payment from a customer is not honored.  Both line items are listed on the 05/22/2024 statement.   I asked our back office to ensure that the payment was indeed not honored, and they still had the report from the bank from that day showing the payment would not be honored.
  
  If there is any other issue the customer is questioning, we would need specific information such as my payment for $100 made on 01/05/2023 is not listed on my billing statement, and I did not receive credit.  The customer would then need to provide proof that a payment in that amount came to AES Indiana via her bank statement.  Please note that the dollar amount and date ($100, 01/05/2023) is just an example.    Or if she has a specific question about a balance on a certain bill, we are happy to review a bill.  
  
  Thank you,
  
  AES *****************

• Initial Complaint

  Date:06/11/2025

  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.

  I HAVE CALLED AES REQUESTING ALL MY BILLS FOR THE LAST YEAR AND THEY WON'T SEND ME THE BILLS. ONLY SENT ME AT DISCONNECT NOTICE. I WAS ON THE BUDJET PLAN BECAUSE THEY TOLD ME TO GET ON IT. THEN THEY TAKE ME OFF OF IT WITH NO NOTICE AND SEND ME A DISCONNECT LETTER. I HAVE BEEN TRYING TO GET AN APPOINTMENT WITH A REAL PERSON TO TALK ABOUT MY BILL AND HAE NOT BEEN SUCCESSFUL. I JUST GET TOLD THAT NOBODY KNOWS WHAT TO DO ABOUT IT. I AM ONLY ONE PERSON RESIDING AT MY HOME, MY HUSBAND PASSED AWAY LAST YEAR. I HAVE LIVED IN THE SAME HOME FOR OVER 22 YEARS AND NEVER EVER HAVE I GOTTEN HIGH BILLS LIKE THIS YEAR. ONE MONTH ALONE WAS 1200 JUST FOR MY ELECTRIC BILL, THIS IS WHY I HAVE WANTED TO SPEAK TO SOMEONE. SEVERAL HOMEOWNERS WHO RESIDE ON RACEWAY ARE HAVING THE SAME PROBEM BUT WE ARE FORCED TO PAY THE BILL BECAUSE THERE IS NOBODY AT THE ACTUAL BUIDNG DOWNTOWN NOR CAN I GET A HELP BY CALLING. THIS IS A RIP OFF! I AM 73 YEARS OLD, HOW ARE POEPLE SUPPOSED TO JUST COME UP WITH THOUSANDS EXTRA A MONTH FOR AN ELECTRIC BILL?

  

  Business Response

  Date: 07/15/2025

  In response to this inquiry, historical bills, usage and letters providing passing meter test results have been sent to the customer.  The customer had been receiving monthly bills via email until February 2025 and then bills were sent to the customer mailing address on record. The bill that generated for April 2025 advised customer would be removed from budget if balance not paid.  May 2025 billing statement advised customer was removed from budget billing due to insufficient payment amount.  Customer made payment and is back to current charges only. 

• Initial Complaint

  Date:06/04/2025

  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.

  AES incorrectly set up my account as a business account for my residence. The have been charging me a higher rate since November 2024. This issue was identified in February of this year and despite a *** employee coming to my home and verifying it is a residence, they have not fixed the issue and credited my account with the over payment.

  

  Business Response

  Date: 07/15/2025

  Hello,
  
  I have reviewed the customers concern and his account.  I confirmed that we did indeed enter the rate code as a commercial property instead of a residential property.  That has been corrected all the way back to the creation of the account.  The 06/27/2025 bill the customer received listed the cancelation of the charges under the commercial rate and rebilled the charges under the residential rate.  Correcting something like this does take a considerable amount of time to complete.
  
  We apologize for the confusion and frustration this has caused.   
  
  Thank you,
  
  AES *****************

• Initial Complaint

  Date:05/21/2025

  Type:Customer Service 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.

  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and have determined the response would not resolve my complaint.  For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below. 
  

  You have not looked at the correct account.  the account number was INCLUDED IN THE COMPLAINT and is 200000723745

  
  Regards,
  
  **** *****

  
  

  

  Business Response

  Date: 06/13/2025

  Dear Customer,

  Thank you for reaching out. AES Indiana has carefully reviewed your concerns, and the account activity related to your service addresses.

  After a thorough review, we found no record of a request to end service at *************** in December 2024. The only request we received during that time was to end service at ************************************************ 1B. That request was processed accordingly, and the final charges are reflected on the billing statement included with this message.

  For your reference, I have also attached a copy of the original request, which clearly indicates the service address specified was *****************

  As this situation does not appear to be the result of an error on the part of AES Indiana, no adjustment or refund will be issued at this time.

  We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience or frustration this may have caused and appreciate your understanding. 

  Thank You,

  Jen 

  
  

  

  Business Response

  Date: 07/16/2025

  Hello,
  
  I apologize that the previous response was not clear enough.  We researched any disconnect requests we received from Mr. ***************** only disconnect request close to the date he mentioned that we were able to find for ANY account number and ANY service address was the one that we attached in our initial response.   On 12/30/2024, we received and processed a disconnect request for Mr. ***** to take service at **************************, out of his name.
  
  We were not able to find any additional requests to end service at any address for Mr. ***** for this time frame.   If he has confirmation of the disconnect for the address he mentioned, we would be happy to review.  As of now, we have only the disconnect for the ************ address, which was completed correctly.
  
  Thank you,
  
  AES Customer Services
  

• Initial Complaint

  Date:05/12/2025

  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.

  I signed up for ***'s budget billing program to help manage my monthly utility expenses. However, just three months later, on or around March 31st, my bill unexpectedly increased to nearly $725, leaving me with a balance of almost $2,000. This sudden increase was not explained, and as a working father of five children, I simply cannot afford or justify such a drastic spikeespecially under a program meant to stabilize billing.I attempted to resolve this directly with AES by calling customer service three times. On the first two occasions, I was placed on hold for over an hour before being disconnected. On the third attempt, I waited for approximately 90 minutes before finally reaching a representativeonly to be told they didnt know what caused the issue. I was offered a payment plan of $250/month on top of my current usage, which is not a realistic or sustainable solution for my household.

  

  Business Response

  Date: 05/27/2025

  Hello,
  
  I have read the customers concern and reviewed the account.  I can understand why a large bill would be challenging to pay and understand.
  
  Under typical circumstances, customers are required to either be current on their account or have a zero balance to be placed on the budget to avoid a large 1st budget bill.
  
  Due to a new billing system that was recently implemented,we had not reactivated that requirement. Therefore, the customer was able to start the budget with a considerable past due amount owed.
  
  That meant the 1st budget bill was large due to including both the past due and budget amount.
  
  Additionally, we experienced the coldest winter we have had in a decade, which resulted in extremely high usage.  Our records indicated the customer has electric heat.  Approximately half of a customers winter usage is due to heating the home. I see that this customers usage did increase significantly during the winter season.  We receive communication from our meters every 15 minutes and receive a billable read each night around midnight. I have included that usage as well as monthly usage for review.
  
  Although I dont see any red flags, I have requested that we test the meter to ensure we are accurately measuring consumption.  The customer will receive a letter with the test results once that has been completed. 
  
  The customer has ended the budget plan. I would recommend an installment plan to break up the past due balance over time.  I have noted that the customer can set up an ******** arrangement instead of the one mentioned, but I would recommend paying as much down as possible to reduce the monthly installment payments.   The customer would need to speak to an agent to set up this plan as it is not the norm.  He can call ************. 
  
  Thank you,
  
  AES *****************

• Initial Complaint

  Date:05/05/2025

  Type:Customer Service 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.

  AES Indiana is the electric company. There have been several complaints about this company. Currently I have not been able to get in contact with them regarding a balance. On hold for hours. How can I even address the past due balance when I cant reach the company. They have left messages with a number to call but dont answer. My power is now off and I still cant reach anyone!!!

  

  Business Response

  Date: 05/13/2025

  Hello, I am sorry the customer experienced an extended wait time when attempting to reach an agent. After a lengthy pause in disconnecting for non-payment, we resumed those disconnects.  Despite numerous notifications,and the ability of both our IVR and web to both accept payments and set up installment plans, many customers still wanted to speak with a person.  This led to a significant increase in the number of calls coming into our contact center. 
  
  I requested that someone reach out this customer directly so that he does not have to wait for a person.
  
  There are a few other things of note:
  
  Customers can use our self service capabilities to pay their balance or establish an installment agreement for up to 12 months. Either of these can restore a customers service without needing to speak to an agent unless the account has closed. 
  -If a customer is unable to pay their balance or is unwilling to establish an installment agreement additional resources are listed on our website. 
  -Customers do not need to wait on the phone to resolve their account, our self service options are the same options that customer service can provide. 
  -We are working on a series of customer education campaigns, which will advise customers on all of their self service options and how to use those services. 
  - We have additional resources that have joined the other agents taking calls.
  -Additionally our new telephony solution is set to go live in about 5 weeks. We hope this guided experience improves customers ability to engage in our self service capabilities, and we will begin to offer solutions such as holding your place in line and automated call backs. These solutions are designed to make the experience better. 
  
  Thank  you,
  
  AES *****************

• Initial Complaint

  Date:05/05/2025

  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.

  No one responds to the calls. I was on the phone for 1 hour with no response from customer service. How do other customers get hold off them to restart the service? There is no email and you cant take care of this online. Horrible service.

  

  Business Response

  Date: 05/06/2025

  Thank you for your patience, and we sincerely apologize for the extended hold times. We are working diligently to assist all of our customers as quickly as possible.
  Were happy to fulfill your request; however, we currently do not have enough information to proceed. Please email us at ************************************************************* with the following details:
  -Your first and last name
  -The name under which you would like the service to be established
  -The address where you would like service to begin
  -The desired start date for service
  -The last four digits of your Social Security number or your full Tax ID number
  -Your phone number
  Once we receive the complete information, well process your request promptly.