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I also have been taken advantage by Systrum and I cannot afford to pay another bill like the one I just got...I am wondering if I cancel my PSEG account which they are on (stop service) and then the next day call and get another account (start service) with PSEG will I only be charged for the #of days Systrum was providing me "service" and not the full month it is going to take to switch back to PSEG? I will then have a new account for the same address but now my service would be just PSEG....am I just grasping at hope here? Thinking of doing this tomorrow morning thanks for any advice...
Might work if you did it under 2 different people's names and SSNs but otherwise probably not. PSE&G is still your delivery company no matter who your supplier was. Nothing on their end would change.
Pen, paper, and Excel are just tools. You are not considering the complexities of the data that goes into the tools. Maybe you have heard of the saying, "garbage in, garbage out". This means if you use garbage data as input, the output results and conclusions will be garbage.
You have a very simplistic view of this issue and it seems you are unwilling to evaluate or understand the explicit blatant deception that occurred. Your silly examples of Coke and Pepsi slogans are a waste of time and not relevant.
i enter the rate that PSEG charges in one cell and the rate that Systrum charges in another. i enter my kwh usage by month in another. then i do a simple calculation for each to compare and find out what i would save.
i know going in that Systrum is a variable rate, and can change at any time, without warning - that's the deal.
you're making this overly complicated. you do not need a professional to advise you whether to switch.
Agreed, the Coke and Pepsi example posted by @bradykp is not really useful here. The main concern I have is that Systrum's advertising insists they'll beat PSEG because of their smaller overhead and in the last two months, that has been false advertising. Which is illegal.
@ET_MTB - are you considering any small court claims actions?
they never advertised they will always beat PSEG. read all the details on their website.
I would like to share some very good news with the readers of this forum regarding Systrum Energy. First of all, thanks to Bradykp and MrPody for sharing the link on the NJ12 News report. I contacted NJ12 a couple of weeks ago and had not heard back from them. I was very pleased to learn that they had been overwhelmed with calls, emails and postings on their facebook page. The publicity of this situation was very important on a number of levels. I appreciate the insightful comments from Savage.
*****************Now for a very important update: I have heard back from the NJ District Attorney's Office - Department of Consumer Affairs and they have been wonderful. They are involved and they are taking this case very seriously. They have received numerous complaints and they are carefully following up each and every one. It is a natural inclination to think that if others are running with the ball that it is okay to stand on the sidelines. I urge everyone out there who has been affected by this scam to download the forms and mail them in to the Attorney General's Office - make your voice heard! We all lead busy lives but it's worth the time and a stamp. The Attorney General's office is requesting bills and any other supportive documents you feel may be important.
This may turn out to be quite an interesting case!
i enter the rate that PSEG charges in one cell and the rate that Systrum charges in another. i enter my kwh usage by month in another. then i do a simple calculation for each to compare and find out what i would save.
i know going in that Systrum is a variable rate, and can change at any time, without warning - that's the deal.
you're making this overly complicated. you do not need a professional to advise you whether to switch.
Again, you are over simplifying. You are comparing a single current data point and not accounting for a variable rate Vs a fixed rate evaluation. A more comprehensive analysis is required. Take historical data and develop a trending function to predict what will likely happen in the future. This approach is still not sufficient. You would have to evaluate historical fluctuations in price and make some correlation to understand what events caused the spikes and determine how likely those event are to occur in the future.
The offer that was presented by third party energy providers was simply that you would save money and the risks were not mentioned.
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.
Sorry, but you didn't check it out. So you're blaming Systrum that they "ruined our lives"? From what you've posted here, your life was in the crapper pre-Systrum.
It's terrible that your husband is a double amputee, the amount of your fixed income, and you have all of these prescription costs...but is that Systrum's fault?
And in all sincerity, I feel sorry about your plight. Nevertheless, you were less than a smart consumer to buy into a monthly, variable rate for energy.
You took a gamble and lost!
What were you thinking?
You moved from a utility company that locked into a consistent rate to one that played the market...and you got burned!
It's of value with regard for catharsis to blame others for life's misfortunes, but that' s just projection.
You made the choice to go with a variable rate company...nobody held a gun to your head.
The bottom line is that you made a poor decision by selecting a variable rate, third party energy provider when you switched to Systrum.
Like the self-righteous types like Ron4Sure, it's much easier to project your own stupidity onto a company like Systrum than to take personal responsibility for your own mistakes.
You made a dumb decision...face up to it!!!!
Your post is just another example of the "crying towel" theme of this entire thread.
Again, you are over simplifying. You are comparing a single current data point and not accounting for a variable rate Vs a fixed rate evaluation. A more comprehensive analysis is required. Take historical data and develop a trending function to predict what will likely happen in the future. This approach is still not sufficient. You would have to evaluate historical fluctuations in price and make some correlation to understand what events caused the spikes and determine how likely those event are to occur in the future.
The offer that was presented by third party energy providers was simply that you would save money and the risks were not mentioned.
very few companies offer up the downsides of choosing their product. i don't know why you'd expect any different from a third party electricity provider.
The risks you are mentioning...not knowing how much rates fluctuate from month to month...can be solved with some simple questions to a company like Systrum. They provided me with their rates over the past 12 months when I signed on. With regards to future rates of energy, well...that's anyone's best guess. Which is why a variable rate energy supplier is risky. You couldn't have hired the best energy expert in the world and have them accurately predicted demand this past January, because the polar vortex was such an odd data point. even if you had every single piece of data over decades...it didn't matter this january.
Sorry, but you didn't check it out. So you're blaming Systrum that they "ruined our lives"? From what you've posted here, your life was in the crapper pre-Systrum.
It's terrible that your husband is a double amputee, the amount of your fixed income, and you have all of these prescription costs...but is that Systrum's fault?
And in all sincerity, I feel sorry about your plight. Nevertheless, you were less than a smart consumer to buy into a monthly, variable rate for energy.
You took a gamble and lost!
What were you thinking?
You moved from a utility company that locked into a consistent rate to one that played the market...and you got burned!
It's of value with regard for catharsis to blame others for life's misfortunes, but that' s just projection.
You made the choice to go with a variable rate company...nobody held a gun to your head.
The bottom line is that you made a poor decision by selecting a variable rate, third party energy provider when you switched to Systrum.
Like the self-righteous types like Ron4Sure, it's much easier to project your own stupidity onto a company like Systrum than to take personal responsibility for your own mistakes.
You made a dumb decision...face up to it!!!!
Your post is just another example of the "crying towel" theme of this entire thread.
So, do you come on here just to pi$$ on people or to make yourself feel smarter than everyone else? So you didn't get burned by going with a variable rate TPS. Bully for you. Please continue to tell us how much smarter you are than the rest of us.
You are correct, people do need to be responsible for their own decisions and live by the results. Just because we might have made a "dumb decision" by going with Systrum doesn't absolve them from any wrongdoing. As I said before, maybe they did or did not do something wrong. It needs to be investigated. But apparently, you'd be okay with that not happening to precious Systrum in order for us to be taught a lesson. It's libertarians like you that created this scam market in the first place.
Might work if you did it under 2 different people's names and SSNs but otherwise probably not. PSE&G is still your delivery company no matter who your supplier was. Nothing on their end would change.
I just wanted to come back and follow up...I called PSEG and confirmed my question twice. Basically by stopping service on the account and the following day starting it again my 3rd party supplier cannot follow me to the new account. And I have to say it was fairly easy everything on the account was kept the same and just transfered to the new account number. Both account are on the same online sign-in I just have to pick the one I want to look at.
When I called I ask specifically is my new account have the 3rd Party supplier on it and the representative said no and said it couldn't follow a new account! He confirmed the supplier for gas and electric was now PSEG.
I may have been sucked in by all the wonderful reviews and fell for all the warm fuzzy of their website but I don't appreciate the fact that they told me that the "switch" would begin in Feb and than at the end of January I got an email saying that were cancelling me because of the pricing and then I got my Feb bill to fine out that they had been my supplier since January and that it would take to March billing cycle to make the switch back to PSEG.
Lesson learned but I do think that it is price gorging when the prices are over 250% above what PSEG would have provided how is that possible I guess they didn't lock in their rate with whomever they deal with that or playing a game....warm winter prices stable and 20% lower everyone loves them....cold winter prices go up and people are pissed but oh well theymade money!
I feel particularly sad for the those on a fix income not that anyone wants to get such a high bill unexpectedly but to have to make such heart wrenching choices! We are all trying to save some money get a good deal etc but to see your bill jump so much in one month must be incredibly overwhelming! I hope that there is something that can be done for them.
I am not happy about paying the bill but I will and I will file a complaint because of the % it went up and maybe down the line I can get some money back.
I just wanted to come back and follow up...I called PSEG and confirmed my question twice. Basically by stopping service on the account and the following day starting it again my 3rd party supplier cannot follow me to the new account. And I have to say it was fairly easy everything on the account was kept the same and just transfered to the new account number. Both account are on the same online sign-in I just have to pick the one I want to look at.
When I called I ask specifically is my new account have the 3rd Party supplier on it and the representative said no and said it couldn't follow a new account! He confirmed the supplier for gas and electric was now PSEG.
I may have been sucked in by all the wonderful reviews and fell for all the warm fuzzy of their website but I don't appreciate the fact that they told me that the "switch" would begin in Feb and than at the end of January I got an email saying that were cancelling me because of the pricing and then I got my Feb bill to fine out that they had been my supplier since January and that it would take to March billing cycle to make the switch back to PSEG.
Lesson learned but I do think that it is price gorging when the prices are over 250% above what PSEG would have provided how is that possible I guess they didn't lock in their rate with whomever they deal with that or playing a game....warm winter prices stable and 20% lower everyone loves them....cold winter prices go up and people are pissed but oh well theymade money!
I feel particularly sad for the those on a fix income not that anyone wants to get such a high bill unexpectedly but to have to make such heart wrenching choices! We are all trying to save some money get a good deal etc but to see your bill jump so much in one month must be incredibly overwhelming! I hope that there is something that can be done for them.
I am not happy about paying the bill but I will and I will file a complaint because of the % it went up and maybe down the line I can get some money back.
Hope this helps someone
Good for you. Glad it worked. I'll probably try it, since PSE&G told me it would be April (!) until my gas account would be switched over to them. My electric switches back (allegedly) on Wednesday, so hopefully that will work.
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