HOUSTON -- The State of Texas has made it relatively easy to compare the rates that electric companies can offer for residential power, but checking into their reputations for customer service takes more work.
"Price is not the driving thing in this particular commodity," said Dan Parsons of the Houston Better Business Bureau. "If you've got an indication that they are not responsive when you pick up that 800 number, that's bad."
The Houston Better Business Bureau keeps track of customer complaints and studies how the company approaches the resolution process, Parsons said. His office has given satisfactory ratings to three power providers: Champion, StarTex and TXU.
Four companies have received unsatisfactory ratings from the Houston BBB: Gexa, Reliant, Spark and TexPo/YEP.
"An unsatisfactory rating is the 'electricity kiss of death,'" Parsons said. "It means they're not handling complaints, not answering them and building up what we call a pattern."
A spokesman for Gexa Energy says the company takes its ranking seriously.
"We continue to actively resolve any issues that customers have communicated to the Better Business Bureau, and we look forward to elevating our status to the favorable rating," said Bernard Kaplan of Gexa Energy.
Pat Hammond of Reliant Energy says the company is working to resolve the six customer complaints that led to their unsatisfactory rating.
"We are committed to delivering exceptional customer service," she said. "We are committed to working with our customers to try to resolve all of those complaints."
Reliant's ranking is an example of how difficult it can be for a consumer to determine whether a company has a good customer service record.
Approximately 60 percent of all customers in the Houston area use Reliant as their power provider, and the company only recently received the unsatisfactory rating from the Houston Better Business Bureau. In a separate ranking, the Texas Public Utilities Commission calls Reliant the second best power provider in the state when it comes to consumer complaints.
The Public Utilities Commission ranks providers according to the number of complaints they receive, while taking the size of the company into account. According to that list, only the relatively small Nueces Electric Coop has a better complaint record than Reliant.
Other companies near the top of the list are Champion, TXU, Spark, Green Mountain, Direct Energy and Gexa.
According to the PUC, companies with the worst complaint rates include Dynowatt, Texas Power, TexPo and Amigo Energy.
Jeff James, Vice President of Marketing for Texpo Energy, is critical of the way the PUC assembled its data.
The state's rankings are based on the number of complaints the PUC receives, but does not filter out complaints that were deemed to be frivolous - which James said causes disproportionate harm to smaller providers in the rankings.
"The public is not made aware of the number of frivolous complaints filed against Residential Electric Providers or complaints the PUC has found meritless," said James. "We believe the first step toward great customer service is doing the basics correctly and consistently every day. Texpo Energy takes seriously the concerns of our valued customers and responds to each customer request, PUC filing and Better Business Bureau complaint with expedience and diligence because we hold ourselves and our service to a higher standard."
Here are some resources you can use to check a company's reputation yourself:
First, check the company's name on the Houston Better Business Bureau's website:
Sometimes, a power provider doing business in Houston is not based in Texas, and may only show up in a national search. In that case, you should also check the national Better Business Bureau database at:
The Texas Public Utility Commission maintains customer service statistics on all power providers doing business in Texas:
The PUC also offers graphics that show changes in the level of complaints against a company over time:
