Two of my children arrived home from school yesterday to find that we had no electricity. They called me and I of course checked my TXU statement and correspondence, as well as my check book and called TXU. Since I was 10 days "past due" with an amount of $338.18, I could only speak to the collections department. They were not in the least bit concerned with my dilema of having 2 children at home waiting for me in the heat and in the dark as well as 3 more I would have to bring home with me very soon.
The first, second and third representative I spoke with simply told me that my electricity had been turned off on 10/01 and since I did not call them within 2 weeks to have it reconnected, all I could do is open a new acccount and pay a deposit to get it turned back on. I told them there was obviously a mistake since my electricity had never been turned off and I never thought it was going to be turned off on 10/01 and that we had service until now. All three representatives accused me of illegally getting electricity and threatened me with tampering charges!!!
By this time it was around 4:30 and I had to leave work soon to get to my 4 year old's daycare on time and my cell phone battery was going dead. I was in tears and the 3rd representative would only repeat over and over - "at this time your account has been finalized, would you like to pay your balance and then I can transfer you to the new enrollment department?" I asked for a supervisor and each time the representative would only transfer me to another representative because they said their supervisor did not take calls.
I will admit I was late paying the month before - I did not pay the August bill that was due on 09/10 until 10/10, but I had called and made arrangements with a representative who took my July payment over the phone, but did not note my account that I was going to pay my August bill on 10/10. So, I did receive a disconnect notice saying I had to pay my August bill and my September bill by 10/22 or I would be disconnected on 10/23. Since I already paid my August bill on 10/10, I was planning to pay my September bill (only 10 past the due date) on 10/19 and I would be caught up and on time - or so I thought. I suppose TXU could not take the chance that I might actually pay before the cut off date, so they cut it off early - 5 days earlier than their written notice indicated.
When I asked them why I would receive my regular statement and then a regular cut off notice if my service was already disconnected, their only robotic answer was "they are computer generated, we have no control over that" - the funny thing is, when I asked them to please be reasonable and listen to what I was telling them and to the obvious facts that I would not be calling them on 10/18 if my electricity was turned off on 10/01 and that I made arrangements to pay and did as I was suppose to, they said that all they could do is go by the computer and the computer says that the service was turned off on 10/01 and that my account was closed. So - which is it??? Does the computer have two different scenarios going on for me or what?
I finally had no other choice but to go ahead and pay the balance which I had planned to do anyway, and let the representative that accused me of lying and tampering (John ID#80419) transfer me to new enrollment. I actually asked them for their number so I could leave to be on my way to get my son, and I called them from my almost dead cell phone only to be placed on hold for 31 min. And 4 sec. And then hung up on. My phone died while I was trying to call them back.
I had to wait until I picked my my son and got home to call them back. I called them from my daughters cell phone that was on its last cell as well, can you believe my luck? I did get someone in new accounts that said he could help me quickly and get my service back on by midnight - I explained my cell phone problem and he said he needed to call me back on another line to set up my new account. I found a phone that did not need electricity and waited and he never called.
Finally, when I called back and after being on hold for that guy that never got back on the phone, I spoke with a very nice lady named Betty. She was very helpful to the extent that she could be. She listened to my story and was sympathetic. She set up the new account in minutes and put the reconnect out for top priority - then we ran into the problem that in my city, an inspection has to be done before service can be turned on, new service or reconnect - either way - it would have to be the next day at the earliest.
So then it was after 7:30 pm and my husband and I had to get the other children and decide what to do for the night. We were going to stay in the motel in our town, but we did not have the money for it, so we stayed in the dark, hot house all night with all 5 kids. We lit candles but that only made me nervous and afraid one of the kids would knock one over and start a fire, so we only used them when we ate pizza at 10 last night.
This morning after giving the kids cool baths and sending them to school after a breakfast of cereal and warm milk, I cleaned up the water that was all over the kitchen floor coming from our defrosting refrigerator and cried knowing that over $250 worth of groceries would be ruined and I don't have the money to replace it.
As soon as the clock turned 8:00 I called City Hall and told them a brief version of the story and my need for an inspection right away - and the lady I spoke with called TXU while she had me on the phone and told them our account was released. I called TXU and they confirmed this and said they would get it back on sometime today.
So, I am charging my cell phone at work, and waiting to see if it is back on when the kids get home today. Our alarm system went off at 2 AM to add to the "experience" when the back up battery ran out... They just called my husband a few minutes ago to let him know that they are now receiving a signal from our house... I hope that means that the electricity is back on. I am not looking forward to cleaning out and throwing away all that food from our 2 refrigerators and freezer, but at least we will have our security system and lights and hot water and a way to cook dinner tonight... Too bad I am out at least the same amount of money if not more as my next electric bill will be.
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