I moved into an apartment complex in August. Upon moving in, the leasing agent informed us that West Penn had merged with Allegheny Power. Due to this merge, she suggested we call to make sure the bill had been transferred into our names. When I called, the customer service representative said the account had not been transferred.in order to transfer it, she said she needed my social security number. Apparently, "there was nothing coming up under that social in the system, " and I now owed them a $120 security deposit or my electric would be shut off in a week.
Baffled, I asked how there was no information. She evaded my question and stated I could get a guarantor instead but they had to be a West Penn customer for at least 2 years. Unfortunately, everyone I know who is a West Penn customer is not by choice; rather, they were transferred to them recently (less than 2 years ago). So, obtaining a guarantor was out of the question.
It gets better... I had lived in this SAME apartment complex 2 years prior. The electric bill was in my name and always paid on time. AND no security deposit was required whatsoever upon move in. I even had the date and exact amount I had paid. Despite all this information, the customer service representative completely dismissed me.
I am a full-time graduate student and teaching assistant, and each unexpected and quite frankly, unjust expense really affects me.
I pulled up regulations on their site, and nowhere can I find any reason why I should have to pay this deposit.
"I'm unable to pull up any information" is not an adequate answer, yet it is the only answer West Penn can provide.
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