New York Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman has reached a settlement with HIKO Energy, LLC under which HIKO shall fund a $1.25 million fund to be used to provide partial refunds to current and former New York customers

Claim forms have been sent to more than 25,000 current and former New York customers of HIKO Energy, LLC who purchased HIKO energy products between June 1, 2011 to October 1, 2014

The amount of each customer's refund will be determined after all claims are received, and will depend upon the length of time they bought energy from HIKO Energy, LLC and the number of claims forms received.

"An investigation by the Attorney General’s Consumer Protection Bureau found that the energy service company lured consumers with false promises of lower rates, and then fleeced customers with much higher bills; enrolled new customers without their knowledge or consent; and made it difficult for customers to cancel their enrollments in a timely manner," the AG's office said in a news release

"The Attorney General’s investigation found that HIKO’s marketers falsely promised savings of 10 to 15 percent on consumers’ energy bills. Customers who enrolled were hit with rates that were frequently much higher than those offered by their local utilities," the AG's office said in a news release

"HIKO engaged in telemarketing and door-to-door sales. The investigation found that, in addition to promising lower costs, the company’s marketers enrolled consumers as customers without their knowledge or consent. They used a number of deceptive practices in order to do this, including tricking consumers into providing their account numbers which HIKO then used to transfer their accounts; falsely claiming that they represented consumers’ utilities; and obtaining consent to switch from individuals who were not authorized to provide such consent," the AG's office said in a news release

The settlement also requires HIKO to take remedial measures, including adequate training of sales representatives, recording of communications between customers and customer service representatives, recordings of communications between customers and sales representatives that result in a sale, regular monitoring of sales recordings, and appropriate disciplinary procedures for violations of the law.

The AG's office said that the settlement is part of its, "ongoing investigation into energy service companies (or ESCOs)."

Tags:
HIKO Energy   Sales & Marketing   Complaints   Litigation   Consumer Protection   New York  

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