ROCHESTER, NY – Residential customers aren’t the only ones getting hit with huge surprise bills from RG&E, some business customers are being affected as well. News10NBC has been reporting New state investigation into RG&E billing and customer service issues It follows a months-long News10NBC investigation into the problems.
Donald Swartz owns Veneto Wood Fired Pizza & Pasta on East Avenue in downtown Rochester. Dealing with RG&E has been a bit of a nightmare for the past few years, “We’re lucky if we get a bill every two months we have to call and basically beg,” he told News10NBC, “and remember, it’s not 10 minutes on the phone with RG&E, just to get an operator, then to the right department or someone who can help.” It takes an average of 90 minutes to find someone.
RG&E says Swartz won’t let him call the metro reading because it’s a business account, and RG&E doesn’t show up when one is scheduled. Because of persistence, Swartz has read some accurate metrics since the outbreak, which is why he was so shocked when his latest bill arrived this week, “This month’s bill was 20,829.25. Small at first,” he recalls.
The typical rent for the building where Veneto is located is around $3,500 per month. So, even though this particular billing cycle appears to cover two months, which is nearly 3 times higher, “obviously, something has gone horribly wrong with this bill,” says Swartz.
Earlier this week, RG&E’s president told News10NBC investigative reporter Jennifer Leuk that between the recent changes to the billing system and the utility going through a bit of a customer service crisis between working out some glitches and being short staffed, “That’s why I’m asking our customers for their patience, but they’re giving us I understand that they hold us to high standards, and until we meet their standards, they’ll complain and that’s fair,’ says Trish Nielsen.
An RG&E spokesperson said in a statement Friday about the Swartz case “According to our records, several meter readings were scheduled and successfully carried out for this business customer last year. There were a few instances where readings were not possible due to the building being inaccessible. In those cases, as is standard practice, estimates of past usage were applied. We continue to engage with this customer to resolve their issues.” .
The utility said customer-supplied meter readings are not an option for commercial customers with high energy usage.
