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:12/05/2022

  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.

  My electricity was turned off for being late no more then 10 days they sent me one disconnection notice and then shut it off I had paid $595.00 to bring both my electricity and water bill to $0 I then tried to have them come turn my power on and they are refusing to until I pay a water bill that hasn't even been sent out to be paid yet. I am still without power and electricity and it has been 1 month now I've called about ten times to get them to come out and they keep refusing. I owe $0 on my power and yet they still won't turn it on. I don't get how they can do that because of a $130 water bill. I don't know what else to do. I need help

  Business Response

  Date: 12/09/2022

  Thank you for contacting Tacoma Public Utilities.  We have reviewed the referenced address in this complaint and we see that service at this address has been restored.

  
  For future reference, please note that per the Tacoma Municipal Code, Chapter 12, services can only be restored by authorized Tacoma Public Utilities personnel.  ** services are found to be turned on by parties other than the authorized personnel,services will be disconnected, the meters may be removed and any applicable tampering or self-cut-in fees would be required to be paid in full before services can be restored. 

  
  ** you have any additional questions, please contact our **************** ********************** at *************, Monday through Friday from 8:00 am to 5:30 pm. 

  Customer Answer

  Date: 12/09/2022

   
  Complaint: 18526500
  
  I am rejecting this response because: it had nothing to do with the power being tampered with. It had to do with the f****** water bill that you dumb f**** were wanting me to pay that wasn't even due yet. So don't f****** lie! You guys are f****** thiefs! Tiiimmmmmmbeeerrrrrrr
  
  Sincerely,
  
  *****************************

• Initial Complaint

  Date:11/30/2022

  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.

  November 30th 2022, Tacoma Public Utilities shut the power off to my apartment at the Fairways in Tacoma Washington APT# ***, for a unpaid bill from a previous tenant. My account is current and in good standing, I have been in the apartment for less than a week and after hours of being on hold and my wife and two young children sitting in the car trying to stay warm, i was charged a 60 dollar reconnect fee.. a fee that should not have been charged because they were saying the old tenants owed money, and my account needed to be verified even though i set the account up and started services with my entire social security number. My kids and my 2-year-old and 4-year-old have filled up twice to keep the car full of gas for fear of the cold and snowfall. totaling 100 dollars. as well as me having to clock out of work and have to lose out on hundreds of dollars to resolve a problem that wasn't ours in the first place. TPU disconnected the only utility in the house because nothing is gas, and did so with freezing temperatures and snowfall happening because they couldn't collect or find the last tenants AFTER i made a account and started services. I fully hope TPU is made accountable for their disregard for my families health and time.

  Business Response

  Date: 12/05/2022

  Thank you for contacting Tacoma Public Utilities.  Please note that in order to stop or start service, contact with our **************** ********************** needs to be made by the tenant or owner to establish an account.  In some cases, when a tenant requests to establish service, tenancy may need to be verified with the owner or property manager before an account can be established.  In regard to this complaint, service had not yet been established in the customers name as additional verification was needed from the property manager.  An email was sent to the customer at the time of their request to notify them of additional documentation needed or contact from the property manager. 

  
  At the time service was requested to be established, a reconnection fee was charged in accordance with Tacoma Municipal Code 12.01.010,Section C, 1 and we are unable to provide a refund for this transaction as it would be considered a gifting of public funds.  Should the customers have questions regarding establishment of service,they may speak with their property manager directly as we did not receive contact regarding the change of tenancy prior to the services being disconnected.  If there are any additional questions, please contact our **************** ********************** at ************** or via email at *****************************************,Monday through Friday from 8:00 am to 5:30 pm.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:11/11/2022

  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.

  Hello, My daughter, *****************************, died of cancer at age 42 in April. We are having to probate her estate, and are in the process of doing just that currently. Today, Tacoma Power and Light shut off the power to her home, which is currently for sale. The bill is current and always has been. The payments have been made from my deceased daughter's estate account while probate is ongoing. I called Tacoma Power and light to ask why they shut off the power to the home when the account is current (Never has been late). I was told by a representative named ******** that the reason they shut it off is because the power can not be in a dead person's name and they insisted that the account pe put in MY name immediately, and that I also must pay in full for the heat pump that is also part of the electric contract in my deceased daughter's name (this is a monthly payment contract which also has always been paid on time and is current. I explained that the estate was in probate and that all bills, including the monthly heat pump bill, have always been paid in full and on time from my daughter's estate checking account, and they also very recently accepted another payment from my deceased daughter's estate account for electric and the heat pump. I do not have the over $1000 cash to meet the payment demands they are insisting on to turn the electric back on, which seems unethical and possibly illegal given the bills have all been paid all along and are current, and this is an estate in probate. Additionally, it is winter and with no heat the pipes could even freeze and cause significant damage to the home and additional expenses and delays in selling the home. I would like this investigated and the power to come back on immediately, as it is current and paid for in full. You can contact Tacoma Power and Light at ************. The account # is ********* Thank you for your help, ***********************, ************

  Business Response

  Date: 11/21/2022

  Thank you for contacting Tacoma Public Utilities.  We have reviewed the referenced account and see that this situation has been resolved.  Tacoma Public Utilities is a lienable utility and balances are required to be paid in full before service can be transferred from owner to owner.  Additionally, when notified that a business partner is deceased, we are unable to continue billing service in a deceased party's name.  Documents regarding the estate are required in order to establish service for a valid billable party/person.  We show that documents have since been provided and service at the address in question has already been restored.  Thank you! 

  Customer Answer

  Date: 11/21/2022

   
  Complaint: 18390077
  
  I am rejecting this response because:
  It is not at all a true representation of what occured.  I am including the full chain of corrospendence detailing what actually happened, and I also have the Death Certificate and Court document making me administrator of the Estate which were given to Tacoma Utilities on Octobet 10th (an entire month before they shut off the power), as well as the *** letter of EIN established for the Estate given to them on November 10th, the very day I discovered the power had been disconnected.  Tacoma Utilities totally mishandled this situation and created damages due to their own repeated internal mistakes, and deliberate or negligent acts beginning on OCTOBER 10th, as represented in the supporting documentation included below. Please see below, Thank you.
  Sincerely,
  
  ***********************

   

  
  
  On Friday, November 18, 2022 at 03:13:36 PM PST, Support <*****************************************> wrote:
  
  
  This is ***********************, personally, and as Administrator of the Estate of ***************************, my deceased daughter. My Counsel has suggested that I require that this complaint be referred to your Legal Counsel for their review and comment prior to proceeding with enforcable action: This past Friday, November 18th, the electric was finally restored to my deceased daughter's home, as referenced in the string of emails contained in this email. As was determined during the phone conference on the 18th, certian mistakes and omissions were made by Tacoma Public Utilities that resulted in the disconnect of essential electric service at my deceased daughter's home.  As referenced in the emails below, the disconnect resulted in actual damages to the home and contents, as well as created a situation making the home uninhabitable, and rendering me homeless during a time with temperatures in the low 20's. It is important to note that all accounts were paid in full (and always had been) when the decision to disconnect the electric was made by Tacoma Public Utilities.  
  
  
  Although complaints were filed immediatly upon the discovery the electric had been disconnected on November 10th (both on the phone and in writing), and subsequent complaints were filed since that time (again, please reference string of communications, below), the electric remained disconnected for 9 days. It has been established that, on October 10th,  Tacoma Power and Light had been furnished with a Death Certificate and Court Issued documentation informing that *************************** was deceased and *********************** was the appointed Administrator of the Estate; it can be further demonstrated that an *** form assigning the Estate EIN was furnished on November 10th as was requested  by representatives of Tacoma Public Utilities.  These legal documents were included by Tacoma Power and Light in the string of this complaint, proving they were in reciept of all needed documents to create an electric account tor the Estate. Instead of doing this, they made a decision to shut the electric off, and did not even try to call me prior to doing this.
  
  
  Notwithstanding my numerous attempts to explain to Tacoma Public Utilities that this electric was for the Estate of my deceased daughter, and was still in probate, I was told repeatedly that the only way to restore power was to put the account in MY name, Personally, and to pay in full for the heat pump and reconnect fees, in the amount of approx. $1500.00; please reference the included communications.  I told the representative and supervisor that I did not have that kind of cash to make the payments they insisted on. At NO point in our conversation did they ever offer to create an Estate Account to solve this, which was totally available and really the only correct way to proceed. Their actions were at least incompetant, but unconsionable, unreasonable and unethical, and I believe a Judge would also find them illegal as well.  As a note: All conversations were recorded and should probably be reviewed by your Legal Counsel, and the emplyees involved should probably also be questioned relative to their involvement in the issues discussed in this email and the documented evidence contained herein.
  
  
   As suggested by my Counsel, I am writing you personally at this time to request that this be referred to your Legal Counsel to be reviewed and commented on in order that: (1) Tacoma Public Utilities will not do this to anyone else in these circumstances ever again, and (2) To afford Tacoma Public Utilities the opportunity (prior to initiating legal actions) to right the wrong done personally to me, which has resulted in actual physical damages, and compounded by additional damages such as unwarrented emotional distress and ultimately making the home uninhabitable and rendering me homeless for purposes of occupying the home in furtherance of making repairs, probating the estate, and furthering efforts to sell the home as required to close the Estate.  
  
  
  So, I await the prompt response as to what your Legal Counsel recommendes be done about this.  Your Legal Counsel can respond directly to me at any time during the next week to seek a proper settlement. After that time, My Counsel is prepared to seek redress in the Courts and will seek actual and punitive damages. You have all my contact information, however I can supply my current mailing address if you wish to mail me something.  I remain, Very Sincerely, ***********************, personally, and ***********************, Administrator of the Estate of ******************************, deceased.

   

   

   

  
  ##- Please type your reply above this line -##
  Your request (*****) has been updated. To add additional comments, reply to this email.
  
  Tracy (City of Tacoma)
  Nov 18, 2022, 15:13 PST
  Good afternoon ****,
   
  Thank you for contacting Tacoma Public Utilities Customer Service.  I left a voice mail for you today. Please contact our office at the number below so we can assist you with the steps to transfer the service to the Estate.
   
  If you need further assistance, please contact us at **************, Monday through Friday from 8:00 am to 5:30 pm.  
   
  Respectfully,
  *****
  Customer Service | **********************
  *****************************************
   
  (NOTE: Any attachments to be included in this message can be found below the confidential disclaimer)
   
  This message and any attachments are confidential, may contain privileged information, and are intended solely for the recipient named above. If you are not the intended recipient, or an authorized agent for the recipient, you are notified that any review, distribution, dissemination or copying is prohibited. If you have received this message in error, you should notify the sender by return email and delete the message from your computer system.
   
  *****
  
  
  ***********************
  Nov 16, 2022, 05:01 PST
  
  
  
  
  
  On Thursday, November 10, 2022 at 10:42:30 PM PST, Support <*****************************************> wrote:
  
  
  Today is Wednesday the 16th of November, 2022.  You have had 6 days to correct this situation which you created. You have not even contacted me although you have all my contact information. Again, I am informing you that: You turned off the power to my deceased daughter's home a week ago (even though all accounts are paid current and always have been) and You have not responded as yet to this complaint. Since then, all the food in the refrigerator and freezer has been ruined and the refrigerator defrosted and leaked ice melt water on to the nearly new laminate floors. You have created a ticket ***** and told me to review it, BUT you failed to include a copy of the ticket or even give any information as to how I am supposed to review this ticket you created, such as a link to whatever site you have where tickets can be reviewed. Please give me the information as to WHERE I can review the "ticket" you have created.  I have been in contact with a Personal Injury Law firm and will pursue that avenue of redress if this is not resolved to my satisfaction.  I suspect your actions in turning off the power, while paid in full (in winter), are illegal and are certainly unethical, and appear to be nothing but a strong arm tactic to make me PERSONALLY responsible for my daughter's estate expenses. This is essentially a black-mail tactic which may result in claims for punitive damages as well as actual damages.  I plan to pursue this to the fullest extent of the law if need be, and insist that you turn the power back on to this home immediately, before further damages ensue from your reckless and unreasonable actions. If you continue to ignore me and this issue, and if the power is not on within 24 hours, I will probably have no recourse other than to instruct counsel to begin the process of initiating a legal action against you,  And I will also alert all appropriate consumer protection agencies of your actions.  Sincerely, ***********************, for the Estate of ***************************, deceased.
  
  
  ***********************
  Nov 10, 2022, 22:42 PST
  Hello, I'm the executor / administrator of *************************** Estate. My name is ***********************. I will be paying *******'s Estate bills until her house sells.
  Address of service, 
  6843 **********
  Tacoma, ********** 98408
  
  
  My contact info:
  
  
  **** Hulahan 
  5236 ***************** 
  ********, ****** 97439
  
  
  email  ******************* 
  
  
  Phone  ************ 
  
  
  The utilities should never have been shut off.  They are paid and current. The Estate is the owner of the house. I have contacted *******'s Estate Attorney ********************* and we will inform you when ****** has had a chance to review this situation. The power needs to be turned back on immediately.
  I have filed the following complaint with a Better Business Bureau here is a copy for you to review.
  Hello, My daughter, *****************************, died of cancer at age 42 in April. We are having to probate her estate, and are in the process of doing just that currently. Today, Tacoma Power and Light shut off the power to her home, which is currently for sale. The bill is current and always has been. The payments have been made from my deceased daughter's estate account while probate is ongoing. I called Tacoma Power and light to ask why they shut off the power to the home when the account is current (Never has been late). I was told by a representative named ******** that the reason they shut it off is because the power can not be in a dead person's name and they insisted that the account must be put in MY name immediately, and that I also must pay in full for the heat pump that is also part of the electric contract in my deceased daughter's name (this is a monthly payment contract which also has always been paid on time and is current. I explained that the estate was in probate and that all bills, including the monthly heat pump bill, have always been paid in full and on time from my daughter's estate checking account, and they also very recently accepted another payment from my deceased daughter's estate account for electric and the heat pump. I do not have the over $1000 cash to meet the payment demands they are insisting on to turn the electric back on, which seems unethical and possibly illegal given the bills have all been paid all along and are current, and this is an estate in probate. Additionally, it is winter and with no heat the pipes could even freeze and cause significant damage to the home and additional expenses and delays in selling the home. I would like this investigated and the power to come back on immediately, as it is current and paid for in full. You can contact Tacoma Power and Light at ************. The account # is *********
  Thank you for your help, ***********************, ************
  
  
  Sent from Yahoo Mail on Android
  
  This email is a service from City of Tacoma. Delivered by Zendesk
  [0WG58P-XV7YW]
  
  

• Initial Complaint

  Date:11/03/2022

  Type:Order Issues
  Status:

  UnansweredMore 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.

  Between September and October 202, Tacoma Public Utility allowed for a tenant to fraudulently add another person to the Utility Account without confirming that the person was on the lease of the home. Previously on September 28, 2022, the tenant tried to add another person to the account. Tacoma Public Utility denied the request until they could get confirmation that the person was in fact a party on the lease. When I asked why they allowed someone to be added without my consent the rep stated if the two people were ever on a bill together previously the other person can be added. I reminded the rep of the Sept 28 phone call. He simply repeated the same talking point. I called back spoke to ***** who stated that a tenant could put her father on the bill if she called up and requested. Stated someone would call me in 3 - 5 business days.Rep also stated the person would have to come to the office to verify his identity.The person added to the lease "*******" has no legal right to be in the home nor the ability to claim the property as his residence. By adding his name to **** he can therefore claim standing at the residence with law enforcement, US Government, and local municipalities. Any reasonable person would assume he legally resides at the residence which he does not!

• Initial Complaint

  Date:08/19/2022

  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.

  On July 30th roughly around ***************************************************** my home. I noticed that another one of my receptacles were very hot to the touch, to the fact that I literally had a small burn on my finger after touching it. With having three kids and a home that was already hot due to not having AC in ******** **, I quickly attempted to contact an emergency electrician due to having a very melted and charred outlet that travel halfway up the wall. I had Beacon Plumbing and electric come out, which they instantly knew what the issue was. They expedited our appointment for the next following day due to the damage to our electrical panel that showed obvious signs of "power surges" and failure to "trip". We were charged $15k+ for a knew electric panel. The following day after, I filed a claim with USAA, which It was denied due to the contractor mentioned that the power surge was caused by and outside source (Tacoma Power) and recommended attempting a refund through the city. Which caused us to be without power for over 6 hours doing the repair/replacement causing food to spoil.

  Business Response

  Date: 08/22/2022

  Good day,

  Thank you for reaching out and I am sorry to hear about the electrical damage at your home.  Tacoma Public Utilities has a claims process if you believe that we have damaged your property.  A claims packet is being mailed to you today so that we can begin an investigation.  We look forward to you completing and returning the packet so we can discuss this matter in more detail.

  Sincerely,

  *********************;
  ******** Services Operations Manager
  **********************

• Initial Complaint

  Date:07/13/2022

  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.

  Hi, had an issue with TPU charging a bank account that I deleted from my profile bc I closed it instead of the credit card I chose for charges. Apparently this has happened several months which I discovered when they threaten to require a deposit and no longer allow credit card payments. This is 100 perfect their mistake and I should not be responsible. Ive spent hours trying to appeal this and cant get a manager to call me back. Theres no other energy company available-its a monopoly and illegal. I would like them to waive the fees and deposit and not charge me the back pay. Im currently unemployed and cannot afford to pay all this ** they messed up.

  Business Response

  Date: 07/14/2022

  Good morning,
  
  Thank you for bringing this concern to our attention.  I would be happy to ensure the customer is called back by a Manager, per their request. 

  We did convert our MyAccount portal and the payment screen was different.  In our old system it did not default to a payment card and you had to select one as part of the payment process.  When we went live with our new system it allowed customers to make a payment with their "default" payment option, which they had to confirm before the payment went through.  While some customers found this convenient (one less step) other customers have expressed frustration that, even though they confirmed the payment method before processing, this was too easy for them to make a mistake if they didn't review the information before confirming.    We have since implemented a change to require customers to again pick their payment method in hopes that this reduces the number of errors.

  Again, I will ensure the customer is contacted.

  Sincerely,

  ***********************
  TPU ******** Services Operations Manager

  
  
  

  Customer Answer

  Date: 07/14/2022

   
  Complaint: 17564211
  
  I am rejecting this response because:I am not making an error with the portal. I am choosing my debit card and your system is running a bank account that I deleted. I received an email about this bug for my april payment from Latina ******* and this issue has not been resolved for my account as promised. I am not paying the deposit ** youre charging a bank account that I am not selecting, nor am I paying late or returned payment fees. I have also contacted the *** about this and the exploitative nature of this issue and TPU abuse of the power monopoly 
  
  Sincerely,
  
  ***************************

  Business Response

  Date: 07/22/2022

  Good morning,

  I understand the confusion as the customer did get notice about an April payment were we had modified our system to have a default payment method.  Due to customer feedback about this change we waived all fees for this issue and made a system enhancement were future payments again require all customers to choose their payment method.  The payment referenced in this complaint is a second returned payment made in June after the enhancement was put into place.  In summary, the customer had a returned payment which we waived all fees for, and then followed up with a second return payment which she is requesting we also waive fees for.  For this second payment the customer was required to select the payment method of their choice, and also confirmed it was the correct payment method, before they could process the payment.  

  We have been in contact with the customer and are reviewing the system logs at this time.  We will follow up with the customer and hope to be able to resolve this issue at that time.  We look forward to following up with the customer to reach resolution.

  Sincerely,

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

  TPU ******** Services Operations Manager