A Calgary homeowner is warning others after a months-long battle with Direct Energy over a billing dispute.
Tammy Schuiling told Global News she started getting texts and phone calls from a collection agency at the start of June.
“They started texting me that I owed over $1,300 for a Direct Energy bill,” she said. “I was completely shocked.”
Not only was she stunned to get the bill, she was also surprised that it was from Direct Energy.
“I’ve never used Direct Energy in my entire life.”
Schuiling discovered that the utility bills were tied to her old home, which she sold in 2021. She said she had disconnected all the utilities before she left — though none were with Direct Energy — but later learned the new owner hadn’t signed up for utilities in her own name.
“So, when a person purchased my home they automatically got signed up with Direct Energy,” Schuiling said. “I was told it was by default.
“They (Direct Energy) were providing energy services to my old home for about a year and three months… and then the services were cut off,” Schuiling added. “Then the homeowner went to another utility provider. But in the meantime, Direct Energy didn’t investigate what happened in that time period or who might have been owing the money for the home. ”
Schuiling said she was on the hook for the charges because her name was on the land titles search done by Direct Energy.
“My name had not been removed from title as yet, this is two or three months after the purchase, so Direct Energy assumed I was still the homeowner. Three years later they’re tracking me down through a collections agency — for over $1,300 that I did not owe.”
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Schuiling said the company made no attempt to phone or contact her in any way regarding the bill, which she believes continued to go to her old home and the new owner.
“Mail coming in someone else’s name, she’s not going to open the bill addressed in my name,” Schuiling said of the new owner.
Direct Energy told Global News they have now spoken to Schuiling and assured her that “all charges have been removed from her account and that there will be no impact to her credit
score.”
It also confirmed that because the new owner of the home did not set up an account, it checked with land titles to find out who the owner of the property was.
“Tammy Schuiling was listed as the property owner and found to be the responsible party for the charges at the address. Although we have since learned that Ms. Schuiling had sold the property in April of that year, at the time there was a significant delay in updating land title records due to the pandemic.
“DERS sent a welcome letter and subsequent bills for the period of April 21, 2021, to August 22, 2022, to the service address under Ms. Schuiling’s name.”
Direct Energy said an escalated investigation has now discovered Schuiling is not the owner and is not responsible for the charges. It added the reversal actually occurred on June 12, but Schuiling was not advised.
“We apologize for this oversight as we understand Ms. Schuiling’s concerns could have been addressed sooner. We will use this as an opportunity to identify where internal processes can be improved moving forward.”