CenterPoint Energy

The Centerpoint meter reader”s unauthorized access to our yard caused our older dog injuries. The results of the injuries include multiple trips to the veterinarian, high vet bill, and depression! Another result of the meter reader”s unauthorized entry to our yard is that I need therapy to begin feeling safe in my own home again!!! When we purchased the house five years ago, Centerpoint assured my husband and I that their electric meter readers would never barge into our yard unannounced. Don”t they have ways of transmitting homeowner requests or warnings to field workers?? After the first few times someone surprised us in our own yard, however, Centerpoint told us we could read the meter ourselves and promised to send postcards for that purpose. When the postcards stopped coming the reader returned and again barged in without announcing himself! Of course we called Centerpoint to complain and they promised to send cards for us to read the meter ourselves again. Thus, a cycle began. We received cards for a few months and then without warning a reader would be leering at me through the blinds as I stepped out of the shower! Or a reader would run through the gate as the dogs crashed through the back door roaring their displeasure. How many times can a human stand such unpleasant surprises? My blood pressure must have been through the roof at each instance. Several times, I asked my husband to leave work because I was so upset! The worst occurrence of a Centerpoint meter reader ignoring the requests we”ve repeatedly made to the office was on March 23, 2009. That was the day I stepped into my backyard with my dogs to find a stranger lurking behind the bushes! The dogs, who came out with me, began barking immediately. Our larger dog thought to protect me (as I was scantily clad!) and performed amazing feats of leaping and posturing that I haven”t seen in years. He herded the stranger out of our yard without a single bite! The moment the stranger (I could now see was a Centerpoint meter reader) closed the back yard gate behind him, our poor brave dog collapsed onto the grass and began yelping and crying like I”ve never seen any dog do before. I was sure the meter reader had kicked him and broken his bones!! I rushed him to our veterinarian! She diagnosed him with severe muscle strain in front and back legs and possible hairline fractures. She put him on medication, crate rest for several weeks, and wanted him back for x-rays when swelling decreased. We have now spent nearly $1000 on meds and testing and the vet says it”s time for x-rays but we have already spent much much more than we ever do for our dog”s routine vet care. All of this should have caused the meter reader to notify us before trying to enter our back yard again. My husband and I re-filed the request again on the day of our dog”s injury and again a week following it to be absolutely sure no meter reader would barge into our yard unannounced again. Today, the absolutely most insulting incident occurred, however. I witnessed the meter reader tromping through my yard unannounced again!!! Today is May 22, 2009. The reader is the same one who caused our dog”s injuries just three months ago! How could he forget? How could he ignore the Centerpoint office stating in very clear terms that all readers must have permission from these particular homeowners prior to entering the back yard? The ridiculous thing is that the backyard faces a lightly wooded area and a main neighborhood road. The electric meter could easily be read over the fence and all the unpleasant and hurtful encounters could have been avoided! My husband and I expect Centerpoint to cover all of the veterinarian bills that occurred as a result of the meter reader”s unauthorized entry. We know that our dog was fine before the incident because he was seen by a vet one month before the injuries occurred! I would love to hear from any other homeowners who had unpleasant experiences with a Centerpoint meter reader ignoring requests to be notified before the reader enters the yard.

Three months ago, Centerpoint installed a smart meter at my home. Since then, I have been experiencing very frequest power outages in different parts of my home. I can not even turn on my air condition since the power flow is not reliable. I am 64 years old and retired, living on a fixed income. I have called centerpoint numerous times and they have not admitted responsibility and tell me that I am responsible to fix the this issue which is a fire hazard as well. I have consulted with two different experienced electricians and they have told me that when a centerpoint technician installed the smart meter, the 4 prong male connection that plugs into the smart meter was not inserted correctly and he must of forced it in which caused one of the prongs to go bad and burn out. So I now know what is causing the so frequent power outages, but Centerpoint Reps will not take responsibilty for the problem that they created. I have been living in my home for 24 years and never have had this occur. This is not a coincidence, How come this problem surfaced once the new smart meter was installed? We all know the truth, I will keep calling centerpoint and I am in the process of filing a formal complaint with texas state regulators.

We have been without power at 20624 Hufsmith Kohrville since May 27, 2018 – approximately 12 hours at this point. Despite numerous calls to report the outage on May 28th (at approximately 3:00 am, 6:06 am, and 9:30 am), Centerpoint kept telling us that the power was on and did not send anyone out. Instead, the ticket was closed because the Centerpoint system said that we had power. It appears that Centerpoint had a failure in the field due to personnel that stated and reported in the system that all repairs had been made and with the power outage reporting system since our reports were ignored. If appears that the actual source of our outage was an open fuse on Hufsmith Kohrville just south of Willow Creek, Tomball, TX (see attached photograph). I request a meeting with a Manger to discuss our continued repeat outages at our house and an explanation of the failures in Centerpoint”s system and would like to be reimbursed for damaged food in our refrigerator. My phone number is [protected].

This past Thursday, I phoned Center Point Energy and reported a gas leak; a tech came out and found where the leaks were and informed me that they had to take our meter; they never told me on the phone that they might take the meter when I called; The tech told me that if we could have a plummer come out and fix the problem that we could still call them back and someone would bring the meter back before midnight. The plummer came and would not do anything until the gas company told him whether they were going to come back out. They said then that we would have to have a city inspector come out and then once we got cleared with him that they would bring the meter back. Today the plummer came and fixed the problem at a charge of 1200.00 plus and once again we were told that the inspector would clear us and then the company would bring out the meter. We were told that the inspector informed Center Point at 245pm today and 5hours later we were still waiting for someone to come. I called the office again tonight at 8pm and was told they might could get to it but could not promise anything. We have been without heat for over 30 hours and both myself and my husband informed them of my health condition. And here it is after 11pm and no word back from them at all. They want the bill paid on time and we did everything we could do to do our part; my husband rushed out Thursday night and even got a new hot water heater. What does it take to get anything done; who do you call?

We have had the worst nightmare experience with this Home Service Plus company. We were having problems with the dishwasher leaking water on the floor. Called the company about 3x because their waiting line can take longer than 20 minutes to answer with you waiting on the line. I finally was able to get a hold of someone in the company and even though I mentioned water leaks under tiles they did not seem alarmed and said the only day available would be a week later. Since we have been paying for the plan we decided to wait for them to come. Appointment day came a week later – and they said they would come on a Friday from 8am-4pm. I called around 3pm no one answered and I kept waiting. At around 4:10 Friday no one had showed up. No phone calls or anything. I looked at my email and they had rescheduled for another week later without any notice. At that point the water starter flooding the basement carpet on the floor below the kitchen. I called the company on Friday night they said they could put me on the line with a tech to walk me through fixing the issue. I was unable to fix it myself with the tech help over the phone and they said there was nothing they could do. I even talked to the manager that said was making phone calls to try to allocate service and then never called back to follow up. I had to eventually call an emergency service On the weekend and pay out of pocket $189 for a plumber to come and at least close the water leading to the dishwasher and plumbers apparently cannot fix appliances. Right now I cannot use the dishwasher because of it is leaking water, but this is not the worst problem. The basement drywall is completely destroyed. I was told by the plumber that the service inside the basement ceiling to fix the water damage will cost most likely thousands of dollars. I am so disappointed and upset that this company had neglected my problem for so long and this has caused a major loss in my property. I do not recommend their services specially when you need them. I believe this is not worth the $50 a month we pay for repair service because the company is unable to provide service in a timely manner. I am completely dissatisfied and will cancel my plan.