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News Release
April 19, 2005
PNM Apologizes to Albuquerque Customers,
Says Reports of Employee Imposter Were Wrong
Albuquerque: PNM's top customer-service official today
apologized to Albuquerque area customers after discovering
that information regarding a suspected employee imposter last
week was incorrect.
"We now know the suspected imposter was in fact a PNM
employee on official company business, and we regret this
unfortunate incident," said Eddie Padilla, senior vice
president of customer and delivery services. "The incorrect
information was the result of poor communication between PNM
departments."
Padilla said the problem arose because PNM's customer service
area and dispatch office, both of which take customer calls,
were not informed the employee was out in the field on a special
project. The project involved seeking access to certain customer
homes in newer subdivisions in order to measure odorant levels
in the natural gas flowing to their appliances.
As a result, when a few customers suspicious of the man called
PNM to verify his employment, they were told the company did
not have personnel in the field seeking entry into customer
homes, except in the event of a customer request, and that
they should not let the man inside. When a vehicle number
reported by a customer did not match PNM fleet records, PNM
concluded the potential customer safety issues involved were
serious enough to warrant an alert to Albuquerque customers
via local media outlets.
"We have made great progress in recent years improving
customer service and we will do better than this in the future,"
Padilla said.
He said the incident has prompted two changes at PNM, effective
immediately. Any time electric or gas crews need access inside
a customer's home, and the visit has not been requested by
the customer, two things will occur:
- The customer will be notified in advance by phone or mail,
and
- Both PNM customer service and PNM dispatch offices will
be notified so that they can properly respond to any customer
calls associated with the work.
Padilla said he hopes the fear of an imposter will not cause
customers to be suspicious of PNM employees who routinely
work in the field, such as meter readers. Meter readers generally
work outside homes and businesses, wear the PNM logo, and
carry an official PNM identification badge. Their work frequently
takes them on to customer property so that they can read gas
and electric meters.
Customers concerned about a person wearing a PNM logo can
ask for official identification and call PNM for verification.
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