82 thoughts on “New Online Billing System

  1. This website is the slowest site I have ever visited! Why so slow. I will try to log on, one again, and if it’s still “waiting to log on,” I’ll, sadly, just use snail mail. I wonder if other customers are having the same problems!

  2. I CAN’T BELIEVE HOW FRUSTRATING IS JUST TO MAKE A CALL TO RESET A PASSWORD I NEED TO MAKE A PAYMENT AND MANY TIMES I BEEN PUT ON HOLD FOR A GOOD 45 MINUTES I DON’T HAVE TRANSPORTATION AND I NEED TO MAKE A PAYMENT!!!

    WHAT IS GOING ON!!!

  3. Pingback: Top 3 Issues With New Online Billing « PepcoConnect's Blog

  4. I got a bill with a late payment. I have been on ebill forever and didn ‘t know there was a changover so I didn’t know that my bill was not getting paid automatically. That stinks! Also sitting on hold for 40 some minutes is not acceptable.

  5. I have the same issue with having been on ebill and not realizing it had stopped until I realized (too late) that I hadn’t gotten a bill from Pepco. So now I have a late fee. In addition, I don’t want automatic payments, I want to continue getting ebills that show up on my bank bill paying site and paying my bill each month through my bank. I can’t find that option anywhere on your website.

  6. Terrible!
    When trying to register to MyAccount, a message error “This account number is registered to another customer” appears. No way to go on. Typical example of poor or premature system implementation. LATE PAYMENT FEE MUST BE WAIVED, at least for the transition period (unless it is not pre-programmed as a mechanism for collection of additional bucks).
    Pepco, it’s a shame…

  7. My account had been locked, I need to resset acces to My Account. How to do it? Ineed to make a on-line payment. Thanks.

  8. why is it that when I put in my account number the security image I chose does not pop up. How can I pay online if a message tells me not to put in my password if the image I see is not my security image? please help.

  9. This is ridiculous that the old user names and automated transfers weren’t migrated to the new system due to “security.” You flunk Computer 101 and Customer Service 101! This could have easily been done with a splash page/verification page the first time you log in. You know…like my banks have done over the years since you are comparing your new system to banking systems.

    Very disappointed!

  10. This is ridiculous. I got slammed with the same late fee because of the site change over. Thought I signed up for a payment plan, not a website plan. Anyway, now that they have migrated to a new system, it sucks. they are clearly having serious issues and downtime right when people need access to manage their accounts. You have to do testing to make sure the new system works before you make the switch. And then not posting on the main pepco page that they are currently having an outage, when it’s clear they know it (“technical” rep knew anyway). Awful.

  11. Hard to pay your bill on this crap new site especially when it’s DOWN…

    page “https://webapps2.pepco.com/login/pepco/” because the server where this page is located isn’t responding

    Please go back to your old online billing system – I don’t know who you paid for this new one, but it’s horrible.

  12. I am behind one month + late fees because I can no longer pay my bill on line through “my old account”.
    When trying to register to “MyAccount”, a message error pops up: “THIS ACCOUNT NUMBER IS REGISTERED TO ANOTHER ACCOUNT NAME”. When I call 202-833-7500 I am either on interminable hold or shuttled around from one service rep to another to another. Your apologies do not make up for the past 45 minutes I have been on your web page trying to pay bill. If your is bill paperless, and God forbide, you no longer use checks how in the heck does one pay ….run down to PEPCO HQ and stand in line?

  13. Agreed. All late fees should be waived until the new system is actually up and running reliably. We should not have to pay to be beta testers!

  14. I never thought of myself as stupid, but I guess I must be since I have been unable to register for My Account. It’s baffling. I always end up at the “system maintenance” page. And I use both Firefox and Internet Explorer. Of course, you can’t talk to anybody live since wait times are 45 minutes to an hour. I was able to pay over the phone but I want this to work. This has to be some sort of social science experiment designed to torture PEPCO customers. I can think of no other explanation.

  15. This fancy new site is a disaster. It does not work properly with Safari – sometimes it will let me log on, more often it won’t (“too many redirects”). It does not work properly with Firefox – it will usually let me log on, but it will not download a pdf of my bill; instead it downloads an Automator action for fonts.

    Minimal testing would have revealed these problems, and they should have been corrected before going live. It’s a good thing you don’t build cars, trains or planes.

  16. I can’t seem to register my account using the new online system. I’d like to pay my bill ontime. It keeps reading error, even though I’m following the instructions verbatim. Pepco, for the record, has the worst service in the world..and that goes for customer service as well…i guess i’ll try and call the customer service number, just to be placed on hold, or talked down to again.

  17. You really need to waive the Bill Matrix fee of paying by phone until you get your website and the horrible Customer Service hold times under control. Please listen to your customer and FIX YOUR WEBSITE!!!

  18. YOUR CUSMOTER SERVICE IS THE WORST i HAVE SEEN FOR YEAR i HAVE BEEN ON HOLD FOR 1 HOUR 10 MINUTES GEETING DELAY APPOLIGIES…BUT NO ASSISTANT…… YOIuHAVE THE WORST CUSTOMER SERVICE IN AMERICA!!!!!!!!

    it should be called customer no care service ..I was trying to sign up for ebills but the system kept telling be I have the wrong account nunmber date etc. I have a bill in front of me …but the system is telling be the same… this is my 4th time trying to get this system to work…. I finally giving up after 1 30 minutes for the 5th time…………

  19. I use Firefox on a Apple/Mac. To re-establish my account I am required to allow third party cookies which I have read is a security mistake. I use Firefox and the instructions for making the change to the cookie allowances is written for PC not Mac. I was able to figure it out but I still have not been able to re-establish the same kind of “scheduled” payment (NOT Automatic Payment) which I was told I could do after waiting on hold for a customer service rep for almost 1 hour. I have set up for Auto-payment which I don’t really want but I can’t spend any more time on this matter. Last comment: Customer Service does not know about the website issues. You need a website customer service department to help people with website problems. PS I only found out about this blog from a Customer Service Supervisor who had to walk me through how to find it on the website. Not a good system.

  20. Oh dear Jesus!
    What kind of foolishness can this world have come to when, with all the advancements technology has afforded us….we can’t pay the ONLINE bill by credit card? And unless you do DEBIT they charge $4.00 and the only credit cards accepted are…Master Card and….DISCOVER!?!?! REALLY?!?!? Who doesn’t accept Visa…but takes Discover. Sounds like some shady business to me. This is the big improvement? REALLY Pepco? Are you really that broke from wasting OUR dollars on this inadequate system that probably lost 50 people their jobs…or could it be you “lose” early payments, bill are so ridiculously high or the ever present LATE fees make it so the people just can’t pay?

  21. I am past frustrated, I am angry. Regisered when the switch happened, but Pepco had no record, registered a second time and kept getting message about system maintenance, which is untrue because I registered a third time with a rep., but I’m at that point again “system mainenance. Call Pepco and the automated system says you can handle your business on our website. Lies, all lies.

  22. What a fiasco in terms of customer service! The IT person in charge of that project should be replaced. I used to have a direct withdrawal. Not it’s broken for something you claim is better? I have a late fee and was never notified of the upcoming change? I forgot… only some people were notified just not everyone affected. Waiting on the phone to get the same circular answers from a customer service rep that can’t help with the broken accounts is ridiculous. It’s bad enough that Pepco can’t keep the power on when it’s needed and we can sit in the cold or hot when the people 50 ft behind us never lose their power. If I had other choices to receive my power than from Pepco I would certainly exercise to choose someone else. I’d choose someone like NY State Electric & Gas. They know how to keep the power on and of course… the bills coming.

  23. Frustrated with the new system. I previously had two accounts linked to the same login. I could also pay the bills of both accounts with the one login. The new system allowed me to link the two accounts to one login but does not allow me to pay both accounts with the one login. I was advised by customer service to delete the second account and create a separate logon for the second account. The second logon account was not successful becasue it needs a separate email address and I do not want to create another email address to manage. I now have to pay one account online and pay the other by US mail. I really wish I could go back to the old system, it was more convenient for me or improve the new system to work similar to the old system.

      • Just logging in to make my monthly payment and noticed your reply, I will send an email later tonight. Thanks for the reply.

      • I spoke with IT over the phone to discuss my issue. The IT representative researched and resolved my issue. I am now back to paying both accounts online. Thank you so much for following and responding to customer complaints or comments on this blog.

  24. Is there a way to make one-time on-line payments with your new system? After several unsuccessful attempts I just switched back to snail mail to pay my bill. I do not like giving permanant access to my bank account to a company with such an awful customer’s service as yours.
    I am just curious if Pepco is that bad because it is basically a monopoly in our area or you are at the top of your capacity to serve your customers?

  25. Same thing here Steve. Was on auto pay and got hit with a late fee due to the system change. No notification through email or mail. Had to waste at least an hour to get the late fee reversed and re-registering for auto pay. This should have been an automate process without affect all people who are on auto pay.

  26. I have had automatic payments forever and am shocked that Pepco changed the system and eliminated the Automatic payments with no notice. It doesn’t seem fair that they charge late fees to customers who have given them an automatic method of payment.

  27. This is basically the dumbest “transition” I’ve ever seen. NO company that was not a monopoly would ever flush its customers’ information. And no company in its right mind would get rid of the customer billing information that gets it automatically paid. Was there some sort of massive security breach at Pepco that compromised every customer’s bank account or credit card number?

    Like others, I saw nothing prominent about this change, and I certainly didn’t see anything about having to re-enter/reactivate automatic billing.

    Clearly this was perpetrated by some internal IT guy. The CIO or CTO of Pepco should have been sent to early retirement by now.

    Shocking.

    • I totally understand your frustration. I can assure you that we haven’t lost any customer information due to a security breach. The change to My Account wasn’t solely for billing purposes. There will be a lot of functions customers will be able to utilize in the (near) future (i.e. remotely control smart thermostat, etc.) and to keep it simple, My Account will be the portal for all of those functions. If you need any assistance or insight into what we’ve already done and/or plan on doing relative to My Account, shoot me an email at PepcoConnect@pepco.com.

  28. Your system is the worst, most frustrating system I have EVER experienced. FIX IT.
    HORRIBLE, HORRIBLE. FRUSTRATING AND MISERABLE.

    Now I’ll have to go back to sending bills through the mail. THANKS, PEPCO

  29. The good news is that Pepco isn’t the only company with an overly complicated (very poorly designed) webpage. The bad news is Pepco isn’t the only company with an overly complicated (very poorly designed) webpage.

    I think Pepco and other organizations are dismissive of the complaints of their public about the web pages. Big mistake. I’m speaking as one with – wow, has it been this long? 30 years in I.T. When online commerce sprang up a few years ago, the pages were simpler in design because then – as it is now – the objective for webpages was to expedite as quickly and easily business transactions. A CLEARLY labeled button stating “Log In” meant precisely that – and did NOT lead the user to another page of information where he had to read hordes of addtional information or search for another button hidden somewhere to enable him to carry out the desired transaction. I honestly can’t believe how utterly stupid the people are now overseeing the design of their websites. Surely they were asleep in their Web Design & Implementation 101 class. But unfortunately, as I said, Pepco isn’t the only large corporation with this problem. Bank of America, Washington Gas, etc. Exxon gets straight to the point. They get it. I wanted to edit/delete my bank account information and had the darnedest time drilling down to it after several unsuccessful efforts. I tell you what. Why don’t you let me design your system for you at half what you were probably charged. Or just give me free power in exchange for a year to let me re-design your system!!! It’s not as foolish an offer as you may think because look at the headache you now have and you paid quite a bit for it.

  30. This is not good, every month I have to do password reset and trash that new voice response system. The upgrades are a failure. Put people back to work. Plus I can only see half of this blog I’m writting because the screen is cut off on the left side. Now I have to wait 2 1/2 hours for a return phone call.

  31. The problem continues… First, the switching of billing systems without notice which took me off auto pay. Second, got hit with a late fee and wasted time to get the late fee removed. Third, re-registering for auto pay which again wasted time. Finally to top it ALL, got a letter yesterday (05/07/2010) for NOTICE OF INTENT TO DISCONNECT?!?! What is the point of AUTO PAY if this piece of CRAP is NOT WORKING! If I have a choice, I would drop PEPCO in a heart beat.

  32. I finally got registered in this pathetic system after multiple calls for assistance and several lifetimes on hold. I just tried to log in to pay my bill, and guess what? The first time through I got a message that my account had been locked for my own safety. The only threat I perceive is that of getting another late fee or the threat of being disconnected! The next time I tried, the security image was not the one I had selected and the advice is not to input password.

    Who devised this system? Laurel and Hardy with security by the Keystone Cops? In my opinion PEPCO should not be paid by anyone until this system works. How do I know my charges are correct if you can’t even figure out how to get paid?

  33. The new system is horrible. It takes me 15 tries a month just to get to the page where I can pay my bills on mutliple apartments. Unbelievable, what a joke. And they still haven’t fixed it. Soon, I will just go back to paper billing and checks.

  34. Four months and multiple attempts to create a login for the new billing system. this time it timed out at https://webapps2.pepco.com/registration/pepco/selectimage.aspx
    Is this website application hosted on a pentium 286 connected to the internet with a dialup modem?
    Last month I made it to the secret question form before timing out.
    Each month I have sent customer service an email detailing the location of the failure during the signup process. I received a couple responses which attempted to blame me for not entering in the correct information.
    I have used firefox, IE7, IE8 it does not seem to matter. Another attempt while composing this comment and I finally received a confirmation email on my account. Guess what? the site timeout while processing the confirmation.
    I give up until the site is scrapped and it’s performance issues taken care of.

  35. Pepco’s mismanagement in the setup and execution of the new billing system is amply described in the unanimous negative comments posted by account holders above. I pay all my other public and private utilities, cable, credit card bills, even taxes and parking tickets online. But not to Pepco.

    No one else but Pepco offers us, their customers, two equally lousy choices of either permanently sharing our bank account numbers with them or pay fees to a third party for one-time credit card payments. Does anyone wonder why many of us do not trust Pepco to safeguard our bank account information? Pepco does not even provide a send-to mailing address on the monthly ebill; you’ve got to search for it on another page from the online bill; it’s right after they tell you there’s a fee for credit card payments and how to give them your bank account info.

  36. Why does this site always have issues?!!? I pay every other utility bill, credit card, car payment, mortgage, etc. online and NONE are as bad as this. I did manage to successfully create an account some time ago, but today, every attempt to login (that is, just entering my username before I get to see that silly picture for my password), I get an error. It should not be this hard to pay a damn bill. And I know this isn’t the first time I’ve had trouble with this site. Pretty graphs (simple metrics if you ask me) do not a good website make if no one can get in.

  37. I finally thought I got this resolved with a customer service rep and that it would work the next time — no such luck. Here I am again, I WROTE down my log in and password, meticulously underscoring caps for case-sensitive but even though I got to my correct “site key,” my password didn’t work. So I clicked “forgot password” to have them send it to me, but it doesn’t show up in either my inbox or spam. Last time I tried, I got an email from Pepco but when I opened it, it was a Verizon ad! How does THAT happen?? Meanwhile, I don’t get a paper bill anymore, have NO idea what I’ve racked up and can’t pay. I simply don’t have an hour to sit on the phone. I guess I’ll just wait till they shut off my electricity and deal with it then.

  38. That’s the error I am getting from new payment system:

    Server Error in ‘/IDMPepcoLogin’ Application.
    ——————————————————————————–

    Runtime Error
    Description: An application error occurred on the server. The current custom error settings for this application prevent the details of the application error from being viewed remotely (for security reasons). It could, however, be viewed by browsers running on the local server machine.

    Details: To enable the details of this specific error message to be viewable on remote machines, please create a tag within a “web.config” configuration file located in the root directory of the current web application. This tag should then have its “mode” attribute set to “Off”.

    Notes: The current error page you are seeing can be replaced by a custom error page by modifying the “defaultRedirect” attribute of the application’s configuration tag to point to a custom error page URL.

  39. I can’t believ this online payment system is still screwed up. I signed in, I got to “my symbol” I entered my password, I got to my account. I kept clicking on view and pay but I never REPEAT NEVER could pay the bill on line. I gave up, and called. Address was wrong on the recording. 24 to 29 minute wait time (gee, are OTHERS HAVING PROBLEMS?)…. It took me 42 minutes to pay the bill that is due on 8/10 and today is 8/3… Come on PEPCO… fix this problem… what in the world were your techs thinking when they wrote this piece of trash… I mean REALLY

  40. I am also ticked off at Pepco online b ill pay. I am struggling to keep my payments up, and when I use a system developed by Pepco to help save money and it doesn’t work, thats the DUMBest thing ever. I went all the way to my account, filled out everything and couldn’t pay online. What is the problem Pepco?????? So now I gotta pay a call in fee for nothing and could of applied that little money also to my bill. Come on do something, as there are enough problems as it is….

  41. This website and to be able to pay your bill is a joke. Perhaps a little less time working to get the corrupt Md. Governor reelected so we can even pay more and little more customer service that Pepco has never been good at would make their customers a little more tolerable to the outrageous fees they charge. This whole company and their campaign contributions along with their business practices need to be investigated.

  42. This have got to be the worst way ever to pay online. It should be a
    simple transaction. But, Try and logon with all the error messages you get even after you logon with your ID and password. Still get errors.
    Reset password and more errors. Terrible, Just terrible. Bring back the old system or something similar. Do you need that much online security to make a payment. ID does not work, Password does not work.

  43. I wish I had read the comments and troubles others had before I signed to this crap. The system will not log me in. It just times out everytime I try to log in. I’m sure if PEPCO decided to disconnect someone’s power, they would have no problem getting that done.
    Pathetic
    Ecrap
    Pissing
    Customers
    Off

  44. Can you have people monitoring your web site on the weekends. I only have free time to pay my bills on the weekends and cannot access screen to make a payment.

    Ability to make payment on Pepco web site failed on Sept 26, 2010.

    Since the business office is closed, there is no one to notify.

    What is the point of having a web site if it only works during business hours.

  45. I liked the old system better because it was less confusing all though this new system is suppose to be more secure it’s confusing as hell. I have tried several times to pay my bill on line with the new system ,got angry and stopped trying then forgot to pay it. I have co-workers and friends who have complained about the same issues concerning this new system. Thats why I registered on line because of the convenience of not having to go to the post office and buy stamps. This new system has made your bill more difficult for customers.

  46. This is the worst online billing system I have ever used. It took more than 7 hours of my time to set up and pay my bill the first time. I have spent at least 2 hours of my time trying to pay this past month’s bill. Pepco used to have the best online payment system prior to this totally nonfunctional new one. I could pay my bill in under 10sec. Now I am here waiting for another 30 minutes for Pepco to answer the phone and listening to a message how I can save energy. You SUCK!!!!!

  47. This online bill pay NEVER WORKS. every month I spend an hour online trying to get it to work…I use firefox, have cookies enabled and still have to send an e-mail to pepco EVERY MONTH to tell them their website doesn’t work. i always get a response “we’re sorry for your incovenience.” Really, Pepco? Really? if you were really sorry you would FIX the problem….

  48. Just in case the frequency of complaints has dropped doesn’t mean that the payment site works any better; people are just tired. It is still extremely slow (probably the slowest I have ever been on), and does break a lot, with or without error messages. Once I do get in, I do not feel at all certain that a payment actually “took” until I get a subsequent email. It can take several minutes from pushing the pay button till anything comes back (if at all). There is something very wrong with it.

    Finally, the helpful button that allows the user to select to pay the bill on the due date seems in direct contrast with the following footnote. Does this mean that choosing that option will make you a day late??:

    Your payment will post to your account on the next banking day following the scheduled payment date (weekends and holidays excluded).

  49. Seems like an interesting invoicing system, but I prefer SnapBill – http://www.snapbill.com . The service signup up is fast and simple. The billing is recurring, automated and subscription based.

    Just from looking at the comments here, and everyone struggling with the signup, I am not sure it would be worth it to even try.

  50. I would like to get back my paper bills, because your site does not work and never respond my request “PAY BILL NOW” after I sign my account.I spend a lot of time-answer:…. not at this time….????
    And pepco never emailed me bill in advance.

  51. I’ve tried 3 different days to pay my bill and the site is not working.
    I don’t think this blog note would do either, since hasn’t been actualized in 2012.

  52. Not happy about having to use Firefox! The error message should say that the browser could be the problem. I have tried repeatedly to pay my bill and thought your system was down. Only happened to stumble onto the information by accident and in frustration on this blog.

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