I was just finishing lunch yesterday, getting ready to trek upstairs to work when the phone rang. G told me he had a guy from the generator place on the line that was coming out to do something. OK. Well that's a step forward.
Earlier that morning my new best friend (the one who has become my contact person at the generator place) called me. He told me that they had paid the gas company in mid July to come out to put in the new gas meter for the generator. We have to have that done because there is no way it could be connected through the existing gas meter because the money pit (swimming pool) is in the way. My NBF suggested that they might listen to the customer complain about not being out here more than the company.
So I called the gas company. I got the guy's voice mail. I dutifully left a message. No call back. I called again this morning, only earlier. Same song, second verse.
In the mail yesterday I got a bill from the electric company that I wanted to turn the power on in the house we are trying to buy as an investment - which is still on hold. I'm about to call my realtor and tell her that we are really tired of this waiting game - especially with what I am going to tell you. Anyway, that electric company has been called five times. The first was to establish power to be turned on the next week, i.e. call on Aug 12 for power on the 21st. We called on the 18th to cancel and postpone the order to the 28th. We still didn't have the house, so we called on the 25th to cancer and set for Sept 3. I called to simply cancel the whole thing only to find that the power had been turned on on the 12th of August.
The customer service guy worked a lot, got the power turned off, and supposedly set it to where I wasn't going to be charged. Well, the power was turned off. A few days later I got a bill for 25 days of over $400. I am fit to be tied. I don't even have access to that house, much less own it. I'll bet someone turned the thermostat to 60 to get a bill that high.
A few years ago, we had deregulation of utilities here in Texas with the idea that a free market would reduce our power costs. Well, it has been a disaster. At least in Swampland, we pay the highest rates in the country. Our service, well in a word, sucks. With my recent dealings with utilities, customer service is also terrible.
I wonder if the gas company has our house here mixed up with the one we were trying to buy?? It needed a new meter also. I'll bet so.
1 comment:
Oh Good Grief--I would be gnashing my teeth and smoking cigarettes if I were going through this. Guess it will all work out in the end...if you can stand it that long.
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