ROCHESTER, N.Y. — Armed with complaints, individuals stuffed up Rochester’s Metropolis Council chambers to air their grievances Tuesday in opposition to RG&E.
News10NBC investigative reporter Jennifer Lewke, who has been reporting on these points for months, was a part of that crowd.
First public hearings into @RGandE’s billing and customer support points about to start. @NYSDPS tells me it took 800 complaints in regards to the utility in January alone. @news10nbc pic.twitter.com/i8xHdr1Tsb — Jennifer Lewke (@WHEC_JLewke) February 7, 2023
The New York State Division of Public Service organized the hearings in response to a stack of complaints in opposition to the utility and are available after an intensive News10NBC investigation. Clients have reported inaccurate payments and hours spent on the cellphone making an attempt to repair them.
“I don’t have time in my life, working 60 hours every week simply to make ends meet, and like different individuals need to take from Peter to pay Paul to maintain the warmth on, I don’t have time to be on the cellphone with you guys,” buyer Theresa Wilson mentioned. “The place’s my invoice?”
“Each time I name again to see why it hasn’t been rectified but, I’ve to start out from scratch, undergo the entire course of over once more, get transferred from division to division to division,” buyer Bridgette White mentioned.
RG&E has blamed its billing and customer support points on not having sufficient workers.
(WHEC photograph)
“It’s time to proper the ship by placing the shopper first. I’m the shopper. I’m not at all times proper however I’m at all times the shopper and since I’ve no various selection, I search for this physique to take robust motion to proper the ship that RG&E and its possession appear to demonstratively be unable to do,” buyer Patrick Fox mentioned.
Monday afternoon, the utility mentioned it’s making progress:
Rochester Gasoline and Electrical (RG&E) continues to make important enhancements to customer support with elevated staffing ranges. In consequence, it has seen its proportion of estimated payments drop greater than 63 % from February 2022 to January 2023. The Firm attributes this to the meter learn workforce
stabilizing, studying extra meters, and lowering estimated payments, which is able to cut back billing
points.
45 new customer support representatives will start coaching quickly. RG&E already employed extra
than 120 customer support representatives, with over 100 extra positions to be stuffed this
yr leading to decreased wait instances for patrons contacting the Firm. As well as, the
Firm’s backlog of payments requiring guide evaluation has fallen greater than 40 % since
September throughout RG&E and New York State Electrical & Gasoline (NYSEG). With the addition of
40 billing specialists final yr, the Firms have been in a position to expedite billing opinions,
leading to extra well timed payments.
“Bettering the customer support expertise is a prime precedence for our Firm, “ mentioned Trish
Nilsen, president and CEO of RG&E and NYSEG. “It’s a course of that takes time, it takes
time to coach new representatives to ensure that them to supply high quality service, and we’re
holding and accelerating this coaching now.”
The set up of Sensible Meters will start quickly within the Rochester space, an initiative that may
cut back billing points by considerably lowering estimates. The Firm will proceed to
enhance the shopper expertise because it reaffirms its dedication to supply secure and dependable
power to the neighborhood.
RG&E and NYSEG encourage individuals fascinated about beginning a profession to view alternatives
accessible now.
Public remark classes may even be held in Binghamton on Wednesday.
Extra about billing points with RG&E: