As a contractor, it's important to make sure that utilities are set up and ready to go once a build is completed. It's also essential that everything is inspected and given the go-ahead by the local energy company. To sell a home afterward, a developer has to make sure everything is 100% accurate and ready-to-go. I had to check in on the request for energy at one of my builds, so I called the Duke Energy Builder's line to get straight to a customer representative who could help me.
While it's nice that Duke offers builders a separate line, I don't know that it helps us cut the line. When I'm on the job my time is important, and I wish I could get straight through to someone so I don't spend that time on hold. However, at the end of the day, we all end up stuck on the phone it seems, regardless of where we're calling from.
It's understandable that Duke Energy would receive a lot of daily calls, but it's still frustrating to wait a long time. People probably call daily with questions about their billing and their energy usage. Since they offer natural gas and electric services, this increases the amount of potential problems with billing and suppliers. In addition, at this time of year there are a lot of outages due to the inclement weather, and outages are a big deal when the weather is this cold. With all of that in mind, I can understand the long wait, but since this is an exclusive builder's phone number, you'd think there might be less traffic. Plus, there aren't too many new builds going on in the depth of the winter.
That said, the process to reach an actual person is very simple. When you call this number, an automated voice picks up and says, "Thank you for calling Duke Energy, Builder’s Line. Please remain on the line and your call will be transferred to the next available agent. To ensure you receive accurate and courteous service, this call may be recorded." Then, it sent me to a hold line that had pleasant, mild music that was interrupted on occasion to remind me to make sure my email was up-to-date to receive automatic updates and service announcements. It took about 20 minutes before a service agent finally picked up the phone. They were helpful, answered my questions and updated me on the process so the only complaint I have is the wait.