Vent vent vent

Mattsmom277

Active Member
I know in hard economical times, utility companies crack down on customer payments schedules in fear of being stuck with high unpaid and uncollectable bills.

BUTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT

I
AM
SO
PEEVED!!

Okay first was my electric company. I owed all of $72 and it was 2 days late. This was last week. I have the $ in my account to pay it, but hadn't been feeling well so hadn't gone to online banking to send the stupid payment. It was a one month bill, and only 2 days overdue. Thats what late fees are for, being late! So I'm laying on the couch in pain and not having a good day, when the power goes off. I run outside in my pj's looking like broomhilda. Power guy is out with his truck and I barely kept myself composed to tell him to wait one dang minute, I went in and paid it online, gave him confirmation and he turned it right back on. But then I got on the horn and called the company and ripped the billing person a new one. What if I'd been not home? For a 2 day late bill that was only a month charges for $72??????? ARGH!!!!!!!!!


So yesterday. I'm plugging along. I'm in pain, spasms in back and legs. Spasms in bladder to where I can't pass any urine and know that I need to see the neurologist again but likely should have been heading to the ER. I get a knock at my door. My neighbor had tried calling me but my phone was not working. Now shortly before that I'd had a call. WTH????

My internet and telephone are all on one bill. My internet was just fine. Took until today to get a darn answer from the phone company. The problem??? I paid the bill but rounded it down, leaving a balance of .... wait for it .... $39.16! Soooo .... they kept my internet connected and turned off my TELEPHONE. I was FREAKING! So I paid the stupid $39.16 and in another 24 hours I should ahve my phone turned on. Oh, and they are going to bill me an extra $55 on my next bill because I was disconnected!!!! This is nuts! I have had this company for internet, satellite and telephone for 5 freaking years! My bill was paid on time, just $39.16 short. The new bill hasn't even come in the mail yet.

I am beyond ticked off. I'm fed up with the way they are gauging customers! Of course this company has the monopoly in Canada and there's not a darn thing customers can do.

Oh and to make it more fun, it took 4 seperate calls to get someone located in Canada. First 3 times I was connected to INDIA. Fine. Outsource for slave wages nasty company. But the problem is, I can't understand, and they don't know how to fix issues such as this.
So call number 2 I asked for someone from Canada. They said I'd have to keep calling until I randomly got someone not in India. The person there could not even connect me through to someone else. Apparently the people they work like slaves in India have telephones rigged to accept INBOUND calls but are not capable of calling OUTBOUND at all. They can't call OUT period. What kind of freaking system is that? What if they needed to make a emergency call?

PFFFT!!! I'm having a bad week physically and I"m about ready to throttle someone, anyone, who works for a utility. GRRRRRRRRRRRR!
 

mstang67chic

Going Green
Vent away but know it's not just Canada. I posted not long ago about a friend who's gas was cut off for an $80 bill. Yeah well...it wasn't a friend...it was us. It was embarassing but stupid for $80 bucks. And you wouldn't BELIEVE the amount we had to pay to get it back on. OMG...over $400 initially, with another $200 added on the next bill. All for EIGHTY freaking dollars!!!

husband talked to the guy who came out to turn it back on (i.e. remove a tiny little pin at the meter.) and even that guy said it was bad. He had shut someone off recently who was only $20 late. It's just ridiculous. I don't know how it works in Canada but here there are different companies in different areas. BUT...unless you use propane or other alternative fuels....you have ONE choice for gas and ONE choice for electricity. The government supposedly monitors the pricing but I still think there should be more than one company allowed in an area. This is just stupid.
 

DammitJanet

Well-Known Member
I am so with you! We have been very lucky that we havent been cut off but it has been close. We have outrageous bills though. My electric bill is close to $400 a month because we are total electric. Still that is way too high. I am on a co-op and my rate is high. If I could get another power company I would pay like half that. I know a girl who moved from an apartment in the city here to an apartment in the county so she went from city power to my co-op and her power doubled. There is no reason for that. We have three different power companies in this county alone. We should be able to choose which one we want to use. It would make the rates go down. Competition and the free market society.

I was once cut off on my water bill for 2 bucks! 2 freakin bucks and they made me pay 45 bucks to get it cut back on. Unreal. I misread the bill.

I wont even get into the time I put a money order into the water company's drop box and they claimed they never got it and turned my water off. I had the stub and took it in to show it to them, they still claimed they never got it. Looked through all their receipts, video footage (supposedly, I dont believe that one!), and still didnt find it. I called the money order vendor and verified it had been cashed and took that info to them and they still claimed they didnt get it. Meanwhile I had to pay $45 plus my $20 for the water to get it turned on again. If I wanted to get a copy of the money order I would have to pay $16! No one would reimburse that. I finally just gave up.
 

Mattsmom277

Active Member
Sorry to hear it seems to be rampant. I can't believe water turned off for $2 Janet!!! WOW!!

Here, there is only one gas company and one electric company. You can, if you are so inclined, go through a "reseller" with a "fixed rate" which requires a 2-3 year contract. They basically lock you in at a higher rate than the normal utility company but promise you that when the utility hikes its rates, you'll be so lucky you locked in at THEIR rate. They tell you to "think long term". It's a total scam. Therefore, you get the one company for gas and one for electric. That's it. I hate it. And because they know they have customers over a barrel, they run rampant over their customers.

I'm sooooo disgusted by all of this. I'm still steaming angry right now. I went to use the phone to call easy child's dad to ask him to switch his visit for tonight since I'm sick. DOH! No telephone!!! So now I can be grouchy that I've got to dress and head back to the school to pick her up later. Walking today stinks.

I guess I'll be thankful that since I rent, I don't also have a water bill to contend with.

Days like this I just wish S/O had to be away, difficult child and easy child were out for the night, so I could curl up on the couch with candles, quiet jazz music, a new coveted novel, my fuzzy soft blanket, pjs and a crisp bottle of white wine!!!

Instead I'll just grouch to anyone who listens about darn utilities ! HRMPH!!!

I need a happy pill .... wish they sold those!
 

Mattsmom277

Active Member
Oh, a good thing did come of my rage.

My doctor is a dufus lately. Turns out becuase psycho former neighbor guy has same doctor and who knows what lies he was telling our mutual doctor, but my doctor hasnt' been treating me the same for a long time therefore I've refused to see him. I am STILL refusing to use him.

However, this week my MS is flaring and it's either get my medications from dufus doctor, or travel 2 hours to my neuro (can't afford the trip right now anyhow). So.... I took my pent up frustration to my superintendents for tea and a visit, then borrowed her phone.

Called dufus doctor's receptionist and requested that my MS medications be called in to pharmacy for refill. She said no problem. I explained my current bladder/kidney/back/leg spasms and requested something for pain. She said I had to see dufus doctor. I was NOT impressed.

So I told her, listen here. After 18 years, a ton of short cuts dufus doctor made which delayed my diagnosis and caused years longer suffering than needed. After being treated like dirt because dufus doctor listened to schizo psycho stalker guy and illegally used those lies to effect my level of medical care, I don't think dufus doctor WANTS me in his office anymore than I want to be there. Told her I was hardly asking him to phone in a script for HEROIN. So please tell dufus doctor to order something for my disease related pain and thus avoid both of us having a pretty unpleasant appointment that I'm positive neither of us want.

My pharmacy just delivered my scripts. Thanks to the utility company for angering me. Until now, I couldn't even call in my far overdue, much needed scripts.

I guess thats the silver lining
 

witzend

Well-Known Member
When I nearly died in Mexico, my insurance at home was supposed to repay me. In Mexico the Doctor bills entirely seperately from the hospital. I made the mistake of sending both bills to the special "international claims" on the same claim form in the same envelope. They scanned it all, and paid the hospital bill - $800. For eight months I called. For eight months they could look up the scan and see that the doctor bill - $650 - needed to be paid. For eight months they told me that only the super special fix-it department could fix it, but that department didn't have a phone number, and they could only be reached by them by e-mail. For eight months they said that there was no super special fix-it form, that they would send an e-mail to a supervisor and follow up. For eight months they told me to re-submit the bills with a letter of explanation that they needed to pay the doctor bills. For eight months I did, and for eight months I got notices that "This claim has already been paid". The ninth month, I sent only the doctor bill as a new claim. They paid it.

How can an entire department not have a phone number? How can the only e-mail they are able to receive be from one other department and only be one form that can only be filled out one way? How can they have no procedure that allows for an oversight or a mistake? How can they be earning 400% more than they were 4 years ago? I think I know...
 

witzend

Well-Known Member
After the banks got the bailouts last year, they tripled their late fines, and got worse about enforcing them. What's hard times for everyone else is good times for banks and utilities. They make far more money from late fines and reinstatement fees than they do from regular business.
 
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