Are AES Overcharging Customers?

Navigator52

Hi,
After receiving an unexpected bill from AES recently, for their refuse collection service, I examined the charges that I have been paying over the years. To be honest I hadn't really paid much attention to it before.
When I looked at their price plans for my area, I discovered a discrepancy between the service charge component of the advertised price and the price I was being billed. Under the “Pay by Lift” plan that I was supposed to be on, the service charge is €79/6months or €158 per annum. But I was being charged €180 per annum.
When I queried this, I was informed that it was because I was on the E-tag rate that Kildare County Council charged before AES took over in 2012 and that I hadn't instructed them to put me on their equivalent plan! In disbelief at this I pointed out that I hadn't done so because, according to my account details on their website, I was already on the “Pay by Lift” plan. In response they stated that at the top of each bill there is a line that reads “Service Code: KCC_std_etag_PBL” and this clearly shows that I was not on their “Pay by Lift” plan. Really? So customers are supposed to understand their “codes”?
I then asked what in terms of service is the difference between the plan that they claimed I was on and their “Pay by Lift” plan; was it simply that I, and presumably many like me, get to pay €22 per annum more for the same service? Not surprisingly, I didn't get an answer to that question.
I realise that many people would consider €22 per annum pretty much insignificant but if this has been going on since 2012, the total amount for each customer is €154. Then when you consider how many customers might be involved, (100, 1000, 10000?) it takes on a completely different dimension.
So, are AES systematically overcharging customers like me? Comments invited.

Mike3549

Sorry but It was all your fault. You didnt bother checking your bill for the whole 7 years and now you blame aes for this?
Same with gas, electricity, insurance, broadband, phone bills... You have to shop around everytime your contract expires. And in fairness, €22 a year is nothing compared to how much people overpay on other stuff

Xterminator

no, i dont think it all the OP's fault.

according to my account details on their website, I was already on the “Pay by Lift” plan.

If they OP logged onto their website and checked what tariff they were on, and were misled by inaccurate information, then that would make this a very valid complaint,

Op - you should write a formal letter of complaint. I cannot see any address on the website, so call up and ask for the address to write to.

Navigator52

Thanks for the advice X, but I think I'd be wasting my time. I've already exchanged a number of emails with a customer support rep and attached a screenshot from their website showing the "Pay by Lift" plan; but they just stone-walled, insisting that I was not overcharged.
The post was as much to alert others to the possibility that they too were being overcharged because a refund to me would be an admission of culpability, and I couldn't see that happening. So I'll learn from it and move on. Cheers.

WishUWereHere

Navigator52 wrote: »

Thanks for the advice X, but I think I'd be wasting my time. I've already exchanged a number of emails with a customer support rep and attached a screenshot from their website showing the "Pay by Lift" plan; but they just stone-walled, insisting that I was not overcharged.
The post was as much to alert others to the possibility that they too were being overcharged because a refund to me would be an admission of culpability, and I couldn't see that happening. So I'll learn from it and move on. Cheers.

Our RA has it's AGM in or around March every year, which almost always coincided with AES's new year. The variation on what one person got from another was an annual discussion at the AGM. I got totally pissed off with this crazy way of doing business, and left them for Thornton's. Only difference between them was that Thornton's You pay an annual fee, and PPL after that, whereas AES You only paid an annual fee.

Personally, I wouldn't touch AES with a 40ft barge pole.

Navigator52

Thanks for the info WUWH. I'll check out Thorntons. With the few collections that I need, it looks like the annual cost under their PPL plan would be a lot less than AES's, even with the correct service charge applied.

WishUWereHere

Navigator52 wrote: »

Thanks for the info WUWH. I'll check out Thorntons. With the few collections that I need, it looks like the annual cost under their PPL plan would be a lot less than AES's, even with the correct service charge applied.

I don't know what part of Kildare You are in ( I'm not sure if rates vary ). I'm from Newbridge, and the annual fee is €75, then the grey bin is €9.90 per lift, the green bin is €1.00 per lift and the brown bin is €4.90. I reckon I saved nearly €150.00 PA moving from AES to Thornton's.

Hope this helps N52.

daheff

vote with your feet. go to a different provider