I found out why they turned off my power . . . Ugh . . .
Tockk
Last year, I filled out a form to switch my electricity provider. My
complete address was on it. But, when they put my address on their
records, they didn't copy my apartment number. Nevertheless, I got the
bills for the first 6 months or so, whereupon I prepaid a few month's
electric (I thought, simpler to write one check for $100 than 3 checks for
$33--yes, my electric bills are that small).
Well, for some unknown reason, they kept addressing my bill the same way,
without the apartment number, but someone kept sending it back to the
electric company. So I never got them, or the disconnection notice.
However, when they sent someone out to disconnect the power, those people
knew which apartment to go to.
I dunno why the power company didn't check the address on the returned
mail, against the same records that the guy who pulled the plug looked at.
Anyway, I talked to a nice lady at the power company this morning, and she
said they will turn my power back on for a turn-on fee of $100 - $200, plus
I had to pay 3 month's deliquent amount of $103. I paid the $103, they're
gonna bill me for the turn-on fee. I was nice to the lady, and she said,
"Let me check to see if the people who will turn your power on have the
complete address." She looked (on her terminal), and yes, they had the
complete address.
So, yes, somebody at the electric company could have checked my address
against another database, fixed their records, and prevented this entire BS.
For right now, I'm hopeful that when I go home tonight, the power will be
on. And after that's done, I'm gonna get the turn-on fee waived 'cause the
whole thing was their fault. And then see if I can get them to replace the
contents of my refrigerator.
Ugh. Craziness.
Meghan Noecker
>To make a long story short, it turns out it was an administrative error.
>
>Last year, I filled out a form to switch my electricity provider. My
>complete address was on it. But, when they put my address on their
>records, they didn't copy my apartment number. Nevertheless, I got the
>bills for the first 6 months or so, whereupon I prepaid a few month's
>electric (I thought, simpler to write one check for $100 than 3 checks for
>$33--yes, my electric bills are that small).
>
>For right now, I'm hopeful that when I go home tonight, the power will be
>on. And after that's done, I'm gonna get the turn-on fee waived 'cause the
>whole thing was their fault. And then see if I can get them to replace the
>contents of my refrigerator.
>
You might be able to get them to waive the fee since the notices were
sent incorrecty. But it sounds like you were unaware that you were
behind on your bill. You might want to get a calendar program and make
sure that you keep track so that you can't get behind again.
Tockk
It seems that here in Texas, they can't turn your power off until they tell
you, in writing, what they're about to do. Since the post office sent the
mail back, of course I didn't get their message, and it seems to me that
they didn't comply with Texas law on that. Could they have? Sure, they
managed to get the power shut off on the right apartment.
Meghan Noecker
They can show that they tried to contact you. Can you show that you
tried to pay them? Did you bother to check into why you weren't
receiving bills?
Does that law state anywhere that they must have a signed reciept from
you? How long are they supposed to go without payment. If that law is
strictly enforced, as stated, then people can simply return their mail
unopened and state incorrect address and have free power for years on
end.
You were 3 months behind on your bill. Be happy if they split the
difference with you.
Chloe
news:ct7rg31v8apr5b537...@4ax.com...
Just as a caution, I had a related type of problem a few years ago with a
property tax bill. I'd taken over all the bill-paying duties for an elderly
aunt who lived in a different city, and had put a forwarding order on all
her mail, because she didn't want to receive any of it. Unfortunately I
didn't know that the property tax office has a "do not forward" order on
their bills. Furthermore, I didn't know when the bills were mailed or
due--they publish a backup newspaper notice but that didn't reach me. They
sent some kind of delinquent notice which *was* forwarded, and when I called
to explain the situation were nice about waiving the delinquent fee. It
probably didn't hurt that it was the first time the payment was late in 40
years <g>.
Watch out for Sam's Club, too. In all the upheaval of moving the last time,
I failed to notice I hadn't received their bill. They also do not forward
and although the PO notified them of our correct new address, they input it
into their computer incorrectly. It was really fun trying to get all this
straightened out with the guy at the call center in India.
Dennis
>For right now, I'm hopeful that when I go home tonight, the power will be
>on. And after that's done, I'm gonna get the turn-on fee waived 'cause the
>whole thing was their fault. And then see if I can get them to replace the
>contents of my refrigerator.
I switched my two electric bills over to autopay with a credit card a
few months ago. The charges are itemized nicely on my CC statement
and the card that I use even gives a 2% cashback on utility bills.
Very convenient, never late or forgotten, and I get the float on the
money plus cashback. (BTW, I pay off the CC bill in full each month.)
Dennis (evil)
--
My output is down, my income is up, I take a short position on the long bond and
my revenue stream has its own cash flow. -George Carlin
Usene...@the-domain-in.sig
frie...@zoocrewphoto.com says...
Or just a regular paper calendar. The bills are generated within
a few days' period every month, so you can just write it on the
latest day that that usually happens. And then cross it out only
after you've paid it.
Some utilities have online billing, so you can check it before
receiving the paper in the snail-mail. I even opted out of paper
phone bills.
Another idea is to look at your bill amounts for the past year.
And then set up a monthly automatic payment from your bank
account (push, NOT pull) for an average dollar amount. If you
also pay them one month's extra to get ahead, you might be able
to go for long periods without even looking at it.
--
Get Credit Where Credit Is Due
http://www.cardreport.com/
Credit Tools, Reference, and Forum
Lou
"Tockk" <to...@sbcglobal.net> wrote in message
news:PmePi.58531$YL5....@newssvr29.news.prodigy.net...
Snafu, all right, but then, you received several month's worth of bills with
an incomplete address - you could have called earlier. And if you overpaid
one month to avoid writing a check the next month or two, you should still
have received a statement. I know it's harder to react to something that's
not there than it is to something that is, but when you didn't get an
electric bill, you could have enquired.
It would be nice if they end up waiving the fee, since the whole thing was
due to a mix-up. But I wouldn't hold my breath.
Lou
"Chloe" <just...@spam.com> wrote in message
news:470e31ea$0$26337$4c36...@roadrunner.com...
I'm surprised. Here in NJ, the stance is that you know you have to pay
property taxes, and they're due when they're due whether you get a bill or
not. If you don't get a bill for whatever reason, it's incumbent on you to
go to the tax collector and pay it. And if you're late, there's no waiving
the delinquent fee.
Jeff
> On Thu, 11 Oct 2007 00:45:35 GMT, "Tockk" <to...@sbcglobal.net> wrote:
>
>
>>For right now, I'm hopeful that when I go home tonight, the power will be
>>on. And after that's done, I'm gonna get the turn-on fee waived 'cause the
>>whole thing was their fault. And then see if I can get them to replace the
>>contents of my refrigerator.
>
>
> I switched my two electric bills over to autopay with a credit card a
> few months ago. The charges are itemized nicely on my CC statement
> and the card that I use even gives a 2% cashback on utility bills.
> Very convenient, never late or forgotten, and I get the float on the
> money plus cashback. (BTW, I pay off the CC bill in full each month.)
I had my phone service on autopay. Didn't worry about it. Didn't
bother to open the envelopes from this strange phone company I never
heard of.
Then one day my phone went dead.
As it turned out my phone company had discontinued service in this
area and transferred my account to the strange company. They did not
pick up the autopay.
I guess the point is not that auto pay is bad, it's not, but you
still need to know what's going on! And it's not always best to go with
the cheapest deal.
Jeff
>
> Dennis (evil)