TECO Energy, Inc. Service client Polk

Calling this number wasn't very effective, as the automated system had trouble understanding anything I was saying. When I called, I asked if I could get service set up, and it needed three times and changing around the wording before I could get anywhere close to where I intended to be.

Once I did get to where I was trying to go, I was quickly blocked from doing anything, as the system told me it was not available to set up any more appointments for that day. If I wanted to set up service, I would need to call back again the next day and try to reach a live person. 

At that point, I attempted to ask the system to check my power usage for the month. However, I couldn't get anywhere here because the system asked me to enter my phone number. When I did, the system told me that it had no account with my information. Without that information, I wouldn't be able to get any information about a residential account. I had no options left at this point, and I opted to end the call there.

Overall, there were a couple of good things abut this call. One of the best things is that the phone system provides some protection of information you might have registered with TECO Energy. If anyone tries to acquire any of your information about your bill, you're protected unless they have access to your phone number. 

However, the fact that you can only set up service with a live person and can't make an appointment outside of certain hours doesn't work very well. This shouldn't be a difficult concept, as the system would seemingly know when and where technicians would be able to make themselves available based on them putting in their respective schedules. The fact that a customer can only set up service during business hours means that they've got to make themselves available at two different times if they want to get services in place, which inconveniences them twice.

Additionally, the automated system is really bad at recognizing what people are trying to say. If you don't use the exact verbiage the system is looking for, it's not going to take you where you want to go. On four different occasions, the system either guessed completely wrong or said that it couldn't understand what I had tried to say. If the system isn't successfully understanding callers, the smart move would be to set up a touch-tone option so that customers can dial in their choice. Alternatively, TECO could make its system less sensitive to certain words and allow it to accept more than just one rigid phrase.

Based on this interaction, I wouldn't want to use this number. It seems like it could be helpful, but there are too many flaws to make it a top option unless you absolutely need assistance.