Southern Maryland Electric Cooperative - SMECO - Hughesville, Maryland

Rebecca L.

I called a little under a month ago. Told them that their usage rates must be wrong because they were charging me more for electricity this year than last year. And that didn’t make any sense because the house is vacant. No one was in the house using any electronics and the temp was set at 60°. So how could I have used even more than I did last winter when I was living in the house? Anyway, They gave me some crap about not having a password that’s different from the password on the website. I never set this up and now I have to go in with my ID to get the information. Then I had someone call me back the next day, (because I guess they heard how terrible the phone call went and gave me the same info)… cut to today when I meet with a property management company, and told him what happened and they said that SMECO should be checking the meter when that happens. So I called today and got one scheduled. This means that not only was SMECO stealing from me financially all winter, because they thought I was still in the house… but when I called to address it, they straight up lied about how to solve the problem and tried to make me jump through unnecessary hoops to “fix” their outright fraudulent activity. I’m honestly considering suing them in small claims for the money or reporting this to the proper authorities.
SMECO was stealing. Point blank. And I caught them RED HANDED. They thought they could get away with it because they didn’t know my personal circumstances with that home. So if I were you. I would absolutely scrutinize every bill. This is something the attorney general needs to know about. This company stole hundred dollars from me for electricity I never used. How many other people are they doing this to?

Carol D.

I am beyond frustrated. I pay my bill thru my bank when I get a bill in the mail....For 46 yrs. I gave been a customer. When they decided NOT to send me a paper bill they never told me it was stopping. I am paying the bill on time when a notice is sent to my bank site, BUT then they decide that I haven't paid it and send me a notice thru my banking site of a DIFFERENT amount I owe when I clearly pd on time last month. I am sick of not being able to talk to anyone, and when I thought I had it straightened out 2 mo. ago and was given my account #, they now tell me that my acct. no. is wrong when I try to log in.!!!! This is so stupid! How am I supposed to get this straightened out if I am prevented from logging in or speaking to someone? They say online that my acct # is on my Bill! HA! I don't keep my bills from months and yrs ago so I DON'T HAVE A BILL TO LOOK AT!!! Ridiculous! All I want is a paper bill like I have gotten for 46 yrs! Or at least ability to log into my own account!!!!

Adam H.

This is the worst company I have ever dealt with. Their employees are spiteful and do not care about customers. They need to be investigated for unlawful practices including cutting people's power without notice after approving a project with a licensed contractor. They did not even attempt to call the homeowner. Their 'off hours' representative named Shawn is unfriendly, mean, and treats customers horribly. He bragged about being the only employee available and said "you'll just get me if you call back" and refused to help with the complete loss of power without notice caused by SMECO. I have never experienced a company entrusted with so much that is so absolutely bad.

Khalilah P.

OMG... the bills that I received from SMECO is the highest I have EVER seen or received in my entire 40+ yrs of living. My bill was so high in the winter with all the hidden fee that I could not afford to pay it all. So I got on a payment plan and have been paying every month on time. Last month I was 67 dollars short due to rent and getting the kids ready for school this month, my daughter needed glasses etc. I was going to pay it on the next bill. I got the next bill which listed the 67 dollars due IMMEDIATELY. But then a week later I received a cut off notice. So I called customer service and after speaking to the young lady who then stated to me that I was kicked off the payment plan ("you can't be even a penny short or else your kicked off") and now I own the balance on the payment plan and my current bill was unbelievable to me. I then requested a supervisor and was told one would call me back, it's 3 days later and I have yet to received a call back. Times are extremely hard, I'm not sure how they expect that life doesn't happen and sometimes residents will be short. But to say I was kicked off and would never EVER EVER be able to get on another payment plan with them is very disappointing. Because money grows on trees. Not the mention the economy is booming right now, right? Or better yet, we as humans don't ever go through financial difficulties. SMECO this is terrible and someone needs to look into your policy and customer service.

AD N.

SMECO is THE worst power company I have ever had the displeasure to work with across the entire country from coast to coast in the 7 states I have lived in. Their pricing practices are outrageous! I pay almost $900/month to heat my home in the winter months with my thermostat set at 67. $900!!!! That is insane!

They advertise appliance rebates, but then cancel the program for over 6 months and tell their customers to take their appliances to the local recycling center at their own cost in the meantime and do not honor the rebates. It reeks of a scam that they didn't distribute any rebates for almost 8 months and refuse to honor any rebates for customers who kept inquiring about the rebate program during those 8 months, and for the customers who followed their advice to take the appliance to the local recycling center, they won't do anything for them! I have proof of purchase of my new appliance that supposedly qualified for the rebate, so they really need to create an application form for the inconvenienced customers they stiffed during their program shut down! They're giving me grief over a $50 rebate when I pay them $900/month for winter power. Disgusting!

Aaron N. I.

My apartment complex had a planned power outage from 0800-2000. It is now 40 minutes past and we still do not have power. I called the customer service line to inquire about the ETA because a whole building was off electricity and we do not have hot water nor heat Nor the ability to cook food. The customer service agent was very short with me and told me that she couldn’t give me a ETA because she can’t stop the workers from working to ask them how Much longer it will be before we have power. She also blamed it on the apartment complex that the contractor they utilize took too much time. I find it ridiculous that there was no one that could respond because I can see that there are people just standing not working.

Chris

In my opinion this company sucks at providing power to it's customers. I have live in 6 different places around the U.S. and have had more power outages here than the other 5 combined. Constantly our neighborhood has 2-3 outages a month. SMECO y'all need to do better if you're going to continue to expect people to pay these sky high prices that you charge.

Joseph Y.

Smeco is a scam and a joke they get over on people because they know we can’t really track the wattage or the usage. I’ve had my service for six months and it still continues to be in the 300s to 400s so I did a little experiment I left my home for a month straight, I unplugged all the appliances, TVs, etc. and even turned off the AC unit but yet my bill is still $390. Nothing was in use so I did it again for another month the same thing this is how I know. They are scam and a rip off There getting over on this small town