Xcel Customer Who Was Charged Twice Gets Help From CBS4

DENVER (CBS4) - Xcel Energy made a mistake on his electric bill, but it was the initial fix that made a young man from Denver angry enough to ask CBS4 for help.

Keith Jensen is the manager of sales and marketing operations and strategy at a Boulder start-up. It's a big title for a 22-year-old, but Jensen admits he's still years away from making his fortune. That's why his recent Xcel Energy bill really bothered him.

"I was shocked. I mean it's $1,000. That's a lot of money for a 22-year-old recent college grad," Jensen said.

It turns out $1,054.13 was deducted from his checking account. That's when Jensen realized that Xcel double charged him.

"You can see that I paid that $1,054 on Jan. 18," he said.

But the amount was added to the February bill.

"They rolled over that $1,000 into that $392."

He said he called the energy company and was told it was a mistake with the automatic billing system. But that's not what really made him angry.

"They said that they couldn't get it back for 30 to 60 days, which was also shocking," Jensen said.

CBS4's Kathy Walsh asked Michelle Aguayo with Xcel if that was true.

"No, it does not take 30 to 60 days," Aguayo said.

Aguayo apologized to Jensen saying he was given erroneous information. She said getting a refund can take up to 10 days. She thanked him for sharing his problem with automatic billing.

"It's flagged us and said we need to look at the system to make sure that there isn't a bigger problem that may be affecting more customers," Aguayo said.

Xcel said Jensen should have his money back in his account sometime on Thursday. Jensen said from now on he'll send a check.