Alagasco is the worst. My bill was past due and had a disconnect date of April 03. My fault... Sure. But I paid on April 03 in the afternoon, and took a shower and had hot water. The following day, I dont think I used the hot water, but on late Thursday afternoon I noticed it was off. Do they put any notice on the door? Of course not. Really, how hard is that? A person isn't likely to notice their gas is off until they go to use the shower in the evening. If there is a tag on their door when it is disconnected, then they might likely get it taken care of quickly. But of course, Alagasco makes it as bad as it can be, just kicking someone even more when times are tough.
They claim the gas was turned off on the 3rd, but I highly doubt that my hot water would have remained steaming hot all the way into that evening. I contend that the gas was turned off on the 4th and asked them for proof that it was turned off on the 3rd. They declined of course. They are liars, pure and simple. I work at home as well, and I was home all day on wednesday. The gas meter is right next to the window. I heard a tech out there that day but they said they were investigating a gas leak. There also was not a lock on my meter, because I looked when I saw the techs out there. So they lied. They shut it off after I had paid. Plain and simple.
Moreover, they have a $75 reconnect fee, despite the fact that the bill is likely not even that high (I live in a 1BR apartment and it's warm weather - so only hot water uses the gas) How can a $75 fee be justified? On top of that, they add an additional deposit each time you are disconnected, even if the deposit they already have on hand is three times more than my largest bill has ever been. How is that justifiable?
Having lived many places in this country, I cannot recall ever dealing with a utility ocmpany that is so absolutely nasty and unaccomodating to the customer.
Really, I fault the Public Service Commission for not looking out for the interests of the public, when much of the public has no choice. I will make sure I wage a dilligent campaign to have laws enacted to change this, even if I have to run for election to the Public Service Commission board myself.
The reconnect fee also has to be paid in full before reconnecting, and there is no way to pay it online without paying an additional "convenience fee". That is another point of abuse - these convenience fees. They charge $3.99 to take debit or credit card payment. They say it covers the cost of processing that payment. First of all, any other business incorporates this cost as a simple cost of doing business. Also, with the prevalence of using plastic these days, this reduces their overall costs in handling mail and such. Third, the transaction does not cost anywhere near that much to process. It might cost 75 cents or so for a company like Alagasco to process.instead, they outsource it to an outside company. No doubt there is a kickback to the utilty from the outside processor, so that they can increase their bottom line in a way that is not subject to state regulation.
It is absolutely... Well... Just plain ridiculous that one must pay a fee, to pay their bill.
The reconnect fee needs to be a percentage of the bill owed. Additional deposits should have a ceiling limit, and not simply be cleverly disguised penalty, keeping poor and economically challenged people from getting their gas turned back on. It is clearly an unjustified and unfiar practice.
They also need to get rid of their phone system that has you verify all of your account information, and then when somone gets on the line, they ask you for the same info all over again (when they have it on the computer right in front of them) It could not be a more irritating experience. I know I complain about this every time, and friends of mine mention they have done the same, yet nothing changes.
Their customer service reps on the phone do not listen. They simply read off their script or list of canned responses. They are terrible.
Do they care? Of course not.
Would they be able to get away with any of this crap if there were a competing company? Of course not.
They are clearly abusing their power as the only gas provider in the region.
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