I'm trying to make some lemonade here. After this goes up, I'll be going to Working 4 You, 7 on Your Side and WTOP Call for Action and see if I can get some publicity for Steemit as well as make life as uncomfortable as possible for Washington Gas.
So . . . . last night, about 6:30, the wife goes to whip up something quick for dinner -- and the gas range refuses to light.
The ignition is clicking and there is no smell of gas, so she tries the oven. No joy. She goes and tries the gas fireplace. No joy. She has me check the Washington gas website. No outages in our neighborhood. She calls a neighbor. They have gas. This isn't good . . . .
A thought strikes her . . . . she recalls a news story about billing issues with Washington Gas . . . .
This isn't good at all. Quickly checking the Holy Grail of Information Both Critical and Incorrect (aka the Internet) reveals the following:
Washington Gas customers fume as website woes persist for 18K
By Megan Cloherty | @ClohertyWTOP June 24, 2016 2:41 pm
Check online statements: Washington Gas admits ongoing billing errors
By Chris Papst, ABC7 Friday, June 10th 2016
Washington Gas E-Billing Issues Continue
By Susan Hogan and Patti Petitte Published at 1:15 PM EDT on May 18, 2016
credit: http://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/Washington-Gas-E-Billing-Issues-Continue-379723191.html
Yeah . . . . "on track to resolve the remaining issues this week" -- in an article dated 15 weeks ago.
What was a nice productive day starts going downhill -- rapidly
Like most other people, we use our bank's online Bill Pay. For the last five years or so, we have never even looked at our gas bill except when we get those promotional things allowing us to "lock in" our price/therm.
We go to our Bill Pay website and check out payment history. That's not good. We haven't been billed since January . . . .
Compared to our other bills, our gas bill isn't that high (< $100/month). Our mortgage, cellular service, FiOS, etc. (not to mention credit card bills) are all much higher. It really isn't unreasonable that we missed the fact that we weren't paying it . . . . especially since
We have received no e-mails, no snail mail (except the aforementioned opportunity to lock in our rates), no phone call -- NOTHING!
In the news stories, Washington gas claims that all affected people were notified. Many people dispute that fact. WE dispute that fact. Not paying your utility bills is like not paying the IRS -- it never ends well. If we had any clue, we would have resolved the issue immediately.
So . . . it's time to start wending our way through Washington Gas's voice menu . . . . (& their hold music seems specifically selected to be abrasive)
At first, it isn't so bad. My wife gets a very nice lady who is very apologetic and acknowledges that it is Washington Gas's fault.
The nice apologetic lady removes the late fees -- but then quotes a price much higher than what the automated system gave us (apparently due to just-added disconnection/re-connection fees).
She can't remove the fees so she has to pass us on to Everette, the escalation manager . . . .
The nightmare begins -- "Escalation Manager" Everette comes on, immediately says "please hold" and leaves us hanging for over 15 minutes
After fifteen minutes, the wife assumes that she has been dropped and uses another phone to start wending her way though the voice menu yet again. Everette finally picks up again on the original phone . . . .
Everette is determined to treat us like the non-paying deadbeats we are.
He starts with a lecture questioning why we feel that we have "a right not to pay for services rendered". He won't let the wife get a word in edgewise. As he becomes increasingly rude and abusive, I take the phone from the wife.
Everette demands to know who I am, verifies that I am on the account and then punishes me by suddenly saying "please hold" and leaving me hanging for another 15 minutes. The lecture then continues . . . .
I say that I am more than happy to pay -- except for the fact that we've never been billed. He is eager to investigate this and concludes by informing us that it is all our bank's fault for not realizing that it hadn't received a bill (note that the Bill Pay system is a "Push System", the bank should have no responsibility other than to properly handle any bills that are sent its way) and instructs me to take it up with them. The facts that Washington Gas never billed me, never warned me that they thought I was "delinquent" and disconnected me without any warning (even though I was home at the time) were entirely irrelevant to him.
We're well over an hour now and I'm desperate just to get my gas back. Everette is taking great glee in his successful extortion (the fact that I've had to give up on trying to have the disconnection/re-connection fees removed before paying in order to have any hope of having my gas restored soon).
He is now dragging the process out as long as possible and still constantly berating me. Every step involves putting me on hold and then coming back and s-l-o-w-l-y verifying number after confirmation number. He is clearly savoring his victory.
Only after paying am I gleefully told that I (or the wife) *MUST* be at home from 7:00 AM to 5:00 PM in order to have the gas reconnected.
It makes sense that they want to ensure that all the pilot lights (furnace, water heater, etc.) are re-lit. But, seriously, a TEN HOUR window? *Everybody* does better than that . . . . (most are two hours in my area).
Of course, for the media they mouth all the right platitudes:
but the treatment I received -- particularly from Everette -- shows just how fleeting that "regret" is.
Theoretically, I'm getting a call from Everette's manager to continue discussing the removal of the disconnection/re-connection fees (and to complain about Everette's treatment of my wife and I). I'm not holding my breath . . . .
The reviews of Washington Gas by Consumer Affairs and Yelp are crystal clear. The only question is . . . .
Why can't the local governments be persuaded to follow up on this?
Omg, ~$100 a month for gas? 0.o That is insane. I pay ~6000 RUR for the whole rent, and that includes gas, cold/hot water (depending on usage it goes up and down), and another ~1500 for electricity. That is about, what? ~$120-150
And that is quite expensive. Prices have reeeeeealy gone up in last 10 years. And it is a good thing that Russian Rouble dropped, since it was twice that in dollars before the crisis. :->
I should probably write something like that about Beeline. They shafted me for that much (~6500) over 20 mb of traffic, of roaming charge without even dropping a hint that there are roaming charges on their "unlimited internet everywhere in Russia". :-/
I live in an expensive area and the gas is used for heating, hot water, cooking and, occasionally, the gas fireplace. At the same time, FiOS Internet/TV/phone is about $110, cellular is closer to $150 and . . . . well . . . . we won't go into the mortgage.
Ouch. I pay like ~$10 for mobile internet that I am on now (and it is actually unlimited where there is coverage), weirdest thing it is also Beline, or rather some subcontractor, that is actually decent. Land based internet have always been around that much, even with some options. Okay, before crisis it was closer to $20, but still. If I ever get a post or two in $500-700 range, my immediate problems that I had for several years now are solved. :-D For me crisis is a good thing, since weak rouble to dollar is great! If you are getting paid in somethimg that is pegged to dollar.
It is almost like in that euro trip movie :-D