Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I would like to respond to Alex. You can contact the NJ Attorney General's Office - Dept. of Consumer Affairs. The forms can be found online and you mail them in. I contacted them and they did get back to me. I am sending them supportive documents. Please do contact the Board of Public Utilities. It is a very quick online form. They have acknowledged receiving my complaint.
OK...so whether or not Systrum is being a scum company....they sent me this email a few minutes ago:
Dear Valued and Loyal Customers,
You may have been recently notified that your account has been transferred back to your local utility for the supply portion of your bill. Due to uncontrollable circumstances brought on by this winter’s extreme weather, we came to the conclusion that you would be better served by your local utility. This is in line with our goal of putting our customer’s interest first. As the winter passes and the rates again become more stable, we will evaluate whether we will be able to offer you preferred pricing at a rate that will be more favorable than that presented by your local utility. If in fact we determine that we can, we will notify you of such and would hope you would be willing to again give us the opportunity to serve you. As always, we appreciate your business and your continued confidence in us.
Sincerely,
Staff at Systrum Energy
I just got that email too, as well as a letter from PSE&G yesterday saying Systrum was dumping me for the electric part of the bill (not the gas, notably). I can't find anything online from them saying this would be happening. I can't think this is entirely altruistic. What's the catch?
I was gouged by Systrum too. You need to get in touch via the following link with a law firm that is contemplating a class action lawsuit against Systrum:
I was gouged by Systrum too. You need to get in touch via the following link with a law firm that is contemplating a class action lawsuit against Systrum:
Were you actually "gouged" or just a dumb consumer? Third party suppliers are essentially "day buyers". When the cost of energy is low on a particular day, they'll come in lower than the "big guys" who generally buy long term at a given rate.
Nevertheless, when the price shoots up, you're going to pay more.
If Systrum/Tullo did raise their prices to the degree that they "gouged" their customers, they should be on the next tumbrel to the guillotine.
Yet, there seems to be a lot of projection here from folks such as Ron4Sure. Like a trout responding to a shiny lure, many of Systrum's customers went for the "bait" without rationally assessing the consequences...and they got hooked. They saw the promise of lower rates and snapped at it without doing their homework.
This "advice" that you need to get in touch with some ambulance chasing law firm for a possible "class action" is totally naïve. Should there indeed be a class action, the lawyers will pocket at least fifty percent of the settlement. Unless you're first in line with the class action, you're not going to receive anything near the amount you've paid to Systrum.
Systrum's rate increase should be investigated, but it really doesn't matter in the end if they have clean hands or are heartless gougers.
Perhaps Tullo and the Systrum gang should go to jail and make good on what they billed their customers. Or, perhaps they'll be exonerated.
Regardless of the outcome, those who signed with Systrum need to take a long look in the mirror and come to the basic understanding that there's no free lunch. Last time I looked, greed was one of the Seven Deadly Sins, and greed does have a blinding effect upon those who are excessively parsimonious.
For folks like Ron4Sure, it's very easy to blame the thief when your wallet is stolen. Yet, the follow up question is why did you leave your wallet on the table in the first place?
You didn't do your homework...and you got burned!!!!
I really do not want to spend excessive time responding to the post by BenGigli when the real focus needs to be on Systrum Energy, helping those who have been affected, and letting the public become aware of the dangers of switching to third party suppliers. In short, like many others, I did do my homework. Unless you are someone with a true inside view of this industry the scam was not easily detectable. As far as a free lunch goes - no one was promised excessive savings. What we were promised was small, reasonable savings that for those on a budget made sense. We were promised that Systrum's rates would never exceed those of the major utilities. To recap what I have stated on previous posts: Their website indicates that they work with the Board of Public Utilities (they do not), they do not require contracts which gives their company an aura of safety. They have a good rating with the BBB. Unfortunately, we now find out after filing a complaint, that the BBB does not get involved in these kind of cases. Anyone, prior to signing up with Systrum, who checked with the BBB would have received a very false sense of security. Sytrum appears to be free of complaints on the BBB site, yet we now know that there have been many unhappy customers. Their sales department handily omits pertinent information such as their use of variable pricing. We are not greedy and we are not folks who did not do their homework. We are victims of an unscrupulous company. This is the last post I will personally write in response to those who are justifying what happened to decent people. I also question the source and affiliation of these posts.
I don't think anyone was looking for a "free lunch". I also did my homework on Systrum. And I read the fine print. There was nothing to tip anyone off that they weren't above-board. I knew about their variable pricing, and that it was due to change in January. Their rates weren't all that far off from PSE&G's. In fact, this whole third-party supplier choice business is kind of a sham - the savings are fairly minimal over time. Systrum wasn't offering anything too good to be true.
What wasn't cool was hiking everyone's rates SO high, without at least a warning that such a huge hike might be in the offing, and then (at least in my case), dumping me as a customer because the rates were so high, acting like they were doing me a favor.
Were their January 2014 rates in line with other suppliers and utilities? I have no idea. If they were, then too bad for us. But if not, Systrum has some explaining to do. At the very least, this situation smells funky and the BPU should be looking into it. Perhaps it doesn't merit a class-action lawsuit (yet), but someone from outside needs to look at what happened here.
Or maybe BenGigli can put the sanctimoniousness on hold and opine about the actual situation.
I don't think anyone was looking for a "free lunch". I also did my homework on Systrum. And I read the fine print. There was nothing to tip anyone off that they weren't above-board. I knew about their variable pricing, and that it was due to change in January. Their rates weren't all that far off from PSE&G's. In fact, this whole third-party supplier choice business is kind of a sham - the savings are fairly minimal over time. Systrum wasn't offering anything too good to be true.
What wasn't cool was hiking everyone's rates SO high, without at least a warning that such a huge hike might be in the offing, and then (at least in my case), dumping me as a customer because the rates were so high, acting like they were doing me a favor.
Were their January 2014 rates in line with other suppliers and utilities? I have no idea. If they were, then too bad for us. But if not, Systrum has some explaining to do. At the very least, this situation smells funky and the BPU should be looking into it. Perhaps it doesn't merit a class-action lawsuit (yet), but someone from outside needs to look at what happened here.
Or maybe BenGigli can put the sanctimoniousness on hold and opine about the actual situation.
Your last comment was totally ad hominen. The "actual situation", as you put it, is the failure of Systrum's customers to exercise a degree of common sense.
I find it amazing that we're seeing terms such as "rip-off" and "gouging" without any substantive proof that Tullo/Systrum did anything wrong. As I said, there should be an investigation, and if they "gouged", they should be held accountable.
Your charge that I'm being "sanctimonious" is interpreted by me that I possess a degree of common sense...which you seemingly lack.
This entire post points to the fact that you're just projecting. It's also compounded by your admission that you "did your homework"....and still got burned.
Proof of your consumer ignorance is that you fail to recognize that they were indeed doing you a favor by "dumping" you so you wouldn't be paying higher rates...Duh!!!
Get the Windex out and clean the mirror...take a good look at yourself.
This absurd argument reminds me of a crap game. It's wonderful when you roll a seven or an eleven...but it's a lousy game when you toss snake eyes.
You made a dumb decision. You got snookered into saving a few pennies on your electricity bill, and it blew up in your face because you didn't comprehend that you were dealing with a day trader as your energy supplier.
Face up to it, move on, and make an effort to learn from your mistakes.
I really do not want to spend excessive time responding to the post by BenGigli when the real focus needs to be on Systrum Energy, helping those who have been affected, and letting the public become aware of the dangers of switching to third party suppliers. In short, like many others, I did do my homework. Unless you are someone with a true inside view of this industry the scam was not easily detectable. As far as a free lunch goes - no one was promised excessive savings. What we were promised was small, reasonable savings that for those on a budget made sense. We were promised that Systrum's rates would never exceed those of the major utilities. To recap what I have stated on previous posts: Their website indicates that they work with the Board of Public Utilities (they do not), they do not require contracts which gives their company an aura of safety. They have a good rating with the BBB. Unfortunately, we now find out after filing a complaint, that the BBB does not get involved in these kind of cases. Anyone, prior to signing up with Systrum, who checked with the BBB would have received a very false sense of security. Sytrum appears to be free of complaints on the BBB site, yet we now know that there have been many unhappy customers. Their sales department handily omits pertinent information such as their use of variable pricing. We are not greedy and we are not folks who did not do their homework. We are victims of an unscrupulous company. This is the last post I will personally write in response to those who are justifying what happened to decent people. I also question the source and affiliation of these posts.
No, my friend, it's not a matter of focusing on Systrum...it comes down to common sense as a consumer.
They are scam artists and now I will be charged $1600 for TWO MONTHS of electricity. We get $1900 a month on a fixed income because my husband is a double amputee. We now will have no electricity, or food and prescriptions. My bill went up from $297 to $786 for the month of February. I am sick over this. They have ruined our lives. I trusted them, and they should pay for what they will be doing to us for many, many months, if not years, to come.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Were you actually "gouged" or just a dumb consumer?
