Poop MGE Sucks - Page 2

Big Dog · 11-17-2009, 12:52 PM

So I am leaving the house today, and there is an MGE vehicle parked in front. I drive over to see a woman standing next to my gas meter. She explains she has turned off my gas due to non payment. WTF? She also cannot turn it back on, as she is a collector (although I was home and there was no knock on my door to collect), and that I have to call to get it turned back on.

I pay my bills via a bill pay service, meaning they get the bills, scan them in, and send me a notification of amount and due date. It has worked very well for years now. As I am calling to get my service turned back on, I find that I received a bill on 11/12 and paid it (received in their office today). When I actually looked at the scan I find it says final warning, cutoff, blah, blah. Then I look at history and see that I have not received a bill from them since June. WTF?

So I am told they will not turn on my gas until tomorrow. I say no way, get passed up to a supervisor, and I start to try and find out what has happened.

She basically says it's my fault because I didn't pay...I say I paid every bill I received, and then it's my fault because I didn't notice I wasn't getting bills. We examine further...I am set up for e-bills. Now it's my fault because I signed up for e-bills and didn't pay. I argue I haven't done anything different in years, and that the fault is theirs, and they need to turn my service back on today.

Finally we find out that I did sign up for e-bills so long ago that I used an email address from a provider I haven't had in 5 years or more, and that I was receiving both e-bills (although I wasn't) and paper. Now it comes to light that in June they announced (via a slip of paper in the bill) that if you have e-bills set up they will discontinue your paper bills unless you respond. Well, of course I didn't respond...because even if that was scanned in by my bill pay service, I didn't look at it...and realistically it came with all the other junk they send...trying to sell return address labels, rubber stamps, checks, etc. who would look at it?

NOW THE FINAL KICKER...her system shows failed attempts at email delivery on June 4th and 5th! So it's my fault I was not paying bills they were only sending to an email address they knew I was not receiving!

Still, they are not going to come turn on my service today. Throughout these calls, I am pretty agitated and tired of the condescending 'but sir, you signed up for e-bills, we have no control over that'. So I end with my only recourse. Since MGE is a monopoly and I have no other option (excepting propane I suppose, if there is no city ordinance against it) I explain to her I will be calling every radio and tv station in the city this afternoon (not a bluff btw) and seeing if anyone wanted to pick up the story...that they probably would not, but I was committed to making the calls since I felt it my only recourse.

"I'll send in the order to have your gas turned on today."

Of course she wouldn't guarantee when, so it's likely to be as late as they feel they can go, but it's just so damn ridiculous that through a series of errors primarily on MGE's part they did not feel responsible to turn my gas back on today. It's also a sad state that to get these monstrous monopolies (gas, electric, insurance, etc.) to do anything you have to fight and fight, and the lesson learned is that customer service doesn't matter, but the squeaky wheel gets oiled.

Ok, done now...just wanted to vent.

**Donger** · 11-17-2009, 01:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Big Dog

Well, this is why I said in my post they are primarily to blame. I pay bills by looking at what bills are there (in my email via bill pay service), verifying the amount seems correct, and just paying them...so I don't really pay attention to the recurring ones that are within normal range (i.e. gas, electric, water, trash removal, etc). This is how I missed it.

How in God's name is that their fault?

wild1 · 11-17-2009, 01:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Big Dog

Well, this is why I said in my post they are primarily to blame. I pay bills by looking at what bills are there (in my email via bill pay service), verifying the amount seems correct, and just paying them...so I don't really pay attention to the recurring ones that are within normal range (i.e. gas, electric, water, trash removal, etc). This is how I missed it.

They missed...knocking on my door today (as the collector was suppose to...I was home). Verifying my email when they changed their policy. Addressing the fact they knew my email was incorrect. (They found a way to contact me for the final bill, which I paid right away....imagine that)

Did you think gas became free all of a sudden?

Sorry that happened. There will probably be a reconnection fee. Maybe keeping records in Quicken or Excel or some other document of what bills are due each month would be good.

tooge · 11-17-2009, 01:14 PM

You should have sexually harrassed her.

sodcat · 11-17-2009, 01:17 PM

Shoulda stuck with the USPS..............

Big Dog · 11-17-2009, 01:17 PM

As a programmer I can tell you that changing a policy to rely on emails that are multiple years old without verification is pretty inconceivable. To then have the information of what emails are not working and doing nothing about it is equally atrocious.

This is at best horrible programmer and/or corporate negligence or, as I suspect, an intentional policy to be able to charge late fees, cutoff and reconnect charges.

Tiger's Fan · 11-17-2009, 01:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Donger

How in God's name is that their fault?

This

**alpha_omega** · 11-17-2009, 01:18 PM

This is exactly why (even though i pay online) i still have the paper bill sent every month.

Sorry Big Dog....you should have known you haven't paid your gas bill for 6 mos.

**Donger** · 11-17-2009, 01:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Big Dog

As a programmer I can tell you that changing a policy to rely on emails that are multiple years old without verification is pretty inconceivable. To then have the information of what emails are not working and doing nothing about it is equally atrocious.

This is at best horrible programmer and/or corporate negligence or, as I suspect, an intentional policy to be able to charge late fees, cutoff and reconnect charges.

Sorry, but it was your responsibility to give them a working email address. And, it was also your responsibility to read the notice they sent out. What exactly did you expect them to do? Send you registered mail or something?

Big Dog · 11-17-2009, 01:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wild1

Did you think gas became free all of a sudden?
.

No, as I said, I don't really pay attention to my basic recurring bills...I truly did not notice I hadn't paid one since June until today.

We are only talking about $190 total here over the time frame...so the impact on my budget did not alert me either.

wild1 · 11-17-2009, 01:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Big Dog

I don't really pay attention to my basic recurring bills...

I think we have found the problem.

Big Dog · 11-17-2009, 01:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Donger

Sorry, but it was your responsibility to give them a working email address.

I did, 5 years ago, and to my knowledge they never used it. Further I disagree with your premise. When a company fundamentally changes the way they communicate with their customers, it is not the customer's responsibility to ensure the communication will succeed.

Jilly · 11-17-2009, 01:21 PM

I've done this before. And it was my fault. I took the blame for it. But in all actuality it wasn't. The bank wasn't sending the checks to the right account....and they were sending me paper bills, but I didn't check them because I knew I had been paying them online, just didn't know it wasn't to the right account. There was another person with the same name. I thought it weird that I had always done it that way and it was fine from the inception....figured out that when the other same named person started her account, my account ended up being the new one while hers was mine.

Nixhex · 11-17-2009, 01:22 PM

I find it odd they don't send a notice in the regular mail to someone they know isn't getting their email bill. It could be so they can charge all those fees. That would be bullshit if true.

Bottom line is you need to change how you pay your bills if you aren't noticing one as regular as the gas bill missing for months.

**Donger** · 11-17-2009, 01:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Big Dog

I did, 5 years ago, and to my knowledge they never used it. Further I disagree with your premise. When a company fundamentally changes the way they communicate with their customers, it is not the customer's responsibility to ensure the communication will succeed.

Well, why didn't you update the email address to a working one? That's your responsibility, not theirs.

And, they DID send you a notice regarding the change. You chose to throw it away without reading it.

Hydrae · 11-17-2009, 01:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nixhex

I find it odd they don't send a notice in the regular mail to someone they know isn't getting their email bill. It could be so they can charge all those fees. That would be bullshit if true.

Bottom line is you need to change how you pay your bills if you aren't noticing one as regular as the gas bill missing for months.

This

Learn the lesson and move on.

11-17-2009, 12:52 PM
Big Dog gimme 3 stacks of high society Join Date: Aug 2003 Location: Grain Valley, MO Casino cash: $10004900	MGE Sucks So I am leaving the house today, and there is an MGE vehicle parked in front. I drive over to see a woman standing next to my gas meter. She explains she has turned off my gas due to non payment. WTF? She also cannot turn it back on, as she is a collector (although I was home and there was no knock on my door to collect), and that I have to call to get it turned back on. I pay my bills via a bill pay service, meaning they get the bills, scan them in, and send me a notification of amount and due date. It has worked very well for years now. As I am calling to get my service turned back on, I find that I received a bill on 11/12 and paid it (received in their office today). When I actually looked at the scan I find it says final warning, cutoff, blah, blah. Then I look at history and see that I have not received a bill from them since June. WTF? So I am told they will not turn on my gas until tomorrow. I say no way, get passed up to a supervisor, and I start to try and find out what has happened. She basically says it's my fault because I didn't pay...I say I paid every bill I received, and then it's my fault because I didn't notice I wasn't getting bills. We examine further...I am set up for e-bills. Now it's my fault because I signed up for e-bills and didn't pay. I argue I haven't done anything different in years, and that the fault is theirs, and they need to turn my service back on today. Finally we find out that I did sign up for e-bills so long ago that I used an email address from a provider I haven't had in 5 years or more, and that I was receiving both e-bills (although I wasn't) and paper. Now it comes to light that in June they announced (via a slip of paper in the bill) that if you have e-bills set up they will discontinue your paper bills unless you respond. Well, of course I didn't respond...because even if that was scanned in by my bill pay service, I didn't look at it...and realistically it came with all the other junk they send...trying to sell return address labels, rubber stamps, checks, etc. who would look at it? NOW THE FINAL KICKER...her system shows failed attempts at email delivery on June 4th and 5th! So it's my fault I was not paying bills they were only sending to an email address they knew I was not receiving! Still, they are not going to come turn on my service today. Throughout these calls, I am pretty agitated and tired of the condescending 'but sir, you signed up for e-bills, we have no control over that'. So I end with my only recourse. Since MGE is a monopoly and I have no other option (excepting propane I suppose, if there is no city ordinance against it) I explain to her I will be calling every radio and tv station in the city this afternoon (not a bluff btw) and seeing if anyone wanted to pick up the story...that they probably would not, but I was committed to making the calls since I felt it my only recourse. "I'll send in the order to have your gas turned on today." Of course she wouldn't guarantee when, so it's likely to be as late as they feel they can go, but it's just so damn ridiculous that through a series of errors primarily on MGE's part they did not feel responsible to turn my gas back on today. It's also a sad state that to get these monstrous monopolies (gas, electric, insurance, etc.) to do anything you have to fight and fight, and the lesson learned is that customer service doesn't matter, but the squeaky wheel gets oiled. Ok, done now...just wanted to vent.
Posts: 236

11-17-2009, 01:14 PM	#18
tooge MVP Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Liberty, MO Casino cash: $3724112	You should have sexually harrassed her.
Posts: 15,135

11-17-2009, 01:17 PM	#19
sodcat Starter Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: MO Casino cash: $10004925	Shoulda stuck with the USPS..............
Posts: 139

11-17-2009, 01:17 PM	#20
Big Dog gimme 3 stacks of high society Join Date: Aug 2003 Location: Grain Valley, MO Casino cash: $10004900	As a programmer I can tell you that changing a policy to rely on emails that are multiple years old without verification is pretty inconceivable. To then have the information of what emails are not working and doing nothing about it is equally atrocious. This is at best horrible programmer and/or corporate negligence or, as I suspect, an intentional policy to be able to charge late fees, cutoff and reconnect charges. __________________ If you are going to run with the big dogs, you had better learn to pee in the tall grass!
Posts: 236

11-17-2009, 01:18 PM	#22
alpha_omega Supporter Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Liberty Casino cash: $1361251	This is exactly why (even though i pay online) i still have the paper bill sent every month. Sorry Big Dog....you should have known you haven't paid your gas bill for 6 mos.
Posts: 16,779

11-17-2009, 01:21 PM	#27
Jilly MVP Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Lee's Summit Casino cash: $10004925	I've done this before. And it was my fault. I took the blame for it. But in all actuality it wasn't. The bank wasn't sending the checks to the right account....and they were sending me paper bills, but I didn't check them because I knew I had been paying them online, just didn't know it wasn't to the right account. There was another person with the same name. I thought it weird that I had always done it that way and it was fine from the inception....figured out that when the other same named person started her account, my account ended up being the new one while hers was mine.
Posts: 8,461

11-17-2009, 01:22 PM	#28
Nixhex Chiefn' It Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: IndepMo Casino cash: $8185142	I find it odd they don't send a notice in the regular mail to someone they know isn't getting their email bill. It could be so they can charge all those fees. That would be bullshit if true. Bottom line is you need to change how you pay your bills if you aren't noticing one as regular as the gas bill missing for months.
Posts: 1,483