So…
My gas was turned off because we were a month late in paying. (BTW, it’s been FREEZING here the last few days.) To be honest it was my fault, but I’ve been so frazzled lately that it just slipped my mind. All the other bills were paid.
So I call the company to get the past due part paid, and gas service turned back on, only they’re not open. They’re only open until 5pm. I don’t off work until 5:15pm. Thankfully I’m off the next day and I call. The cs rep proceeds to tell me that he can help but that to turn everything back on it will be 230$
*blink blink*
My past due bill is 85$, and I figured some kind of reconnect fee. The reconnect fee is 25$. They want a 120$ deposit as well. (This is on top of the deposit that I paid when I had service started, which was a whole ‘nother fiasco because the cs rep then didn’t believe that I was who I said I was because she didn’t bother to ask what my maiden name was.)
Guess who doesn’t have 230$? I have 150$ until Friday because I’m still the only one with a paycheck, so I’ve had to pay the rent, buy groceries, put gas in both cars (so he can work) and pay the other bills.
I asked to speak to a supervisor. At first, he tells me that none are available and that I should call back later. I tell him no, I will wait. He gets someone on the phone and she tells me that there is nothing that she can do and that I would need to speak to an outside agency for assistance, but when I start to ask about said agencies, either she hung up or my phone disconnected. It’s hard to say which because the signal out here is spotty at best. So, I call back, speak to another cs rep, and she proceeds to tell me the same thing, at this point, I kinda lose my shit and call them out on their bullshit because I never got ANY notice except one in the mail LAST WEEK. No phone call, nothing. (And to top it off, they had the wrong damn phone number on the account, even though I CHANGED it when I set up my online payment account.) I asked to speak to a supervisor again, and she told no, that they would just tell me the same thing.
As an aside, I work as a Senior Advisor in a call center. I was also a Tier 1 Advisor. First rule is that if a customer asks for a supervisor, you get that person to a supervisor.
Figuring I was getting nowhere, I hung up. Then I did the one thing that I hate doing most. I called my mom. I HATE asking her for help. I’m 32 years old, I shouldn’t have to run back to mom. But I did. I explained the situation, and told her that all I needed was the $120 and that she would get it back as soon as I got it back (which by BOB I will get). She called the bank, and we worked out transferring money to my account.
I call stupid gas company back, get it paid. They tell me that they’ll have someone out here today (Wednesday) by 8pm or tomorrow(Thursday) and that they can’t promise when they’d be here.
Mr Auryn can’t go to work because he’s not showered, and because the water heater is gas, we have no hot water. So, we pile on as many warm clothes as possible and get all of our extra blankets out to pile on the bed. On the upside, I do have a heating pad, which helps but it’s not very big. We sit and wait all day for someone to arrive and by 8pm I’ve figured it’ll be tomorrow. Thankfully our stove is electric so I can make dinner and we turn the oven on with the door open for some heat in the kitchen.
Today, I get a knock on the door around 10:30am. It’s the gas guy! YAY! I’m going to have heat again!! He tells me that he’s going to do the outside stuff first and then come in and get our pilot lights re-lit. About 5-7 minutes later, another knock. Gas guy has come to tell me he’s got an emergency that he has to go to down the street but that I’m next on the list after that.
*Insert frowny face here*
I’m surprised that my poor cats don’t have frosted whiskers. And I swear to BOB that when we move, the new place better be all electric. Gas may be more efficient, but the level of crap service that I’ve gotten from this damn company is starting to piss me off.
