Poop MGE Sucks - Page 4

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.

Big Dog · 11-17-2009, 02:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MOhillbilly

quit bein a bitch about it and put your man pants on 'big dog'. JFC.

Ultimately I did...heat is back on today.

MOhillbilly · 11-17-2009, 02:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Big Dog

Ultimately I did...heat is back on today.

only cause ya had ta.

Big Dog · 11-17-2009, 02:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kstater

So to summarize:

You haven't paid your bill since July.
You got a statement saying the billing method would change to e-mail.
You signed up with said email 5 years ago.
You haven't paid your bill since July.

And this is the gas companies fault?

You left out 2 important steps.

-I have not received a bill since June
-The gas company is completely aware of this and had an easy remedy available

Add these, and yes...it's the gas company's fault.

kstater · 11-17-2009, 02:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Big Dog

You left out 2 important steps.

-I have not received a bill since June
-The gas company is completely aware of this and had an easy remedy available

Add these, and yes...it's the gas company's fault.

Did you not recieve notice that your bill would be emailed to you?

**Donger** · 11-17-2009, 02:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Big Dog

When a company purposely preys on basic human behavior in order to unethically charge you outrageous fees?

You act like they didn't inform you. They did. You threw their notice away.

How is that "preying" on basic human behavior?

**Donger** · 11-17-2009, 02:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Big Dog

You left out 2 important steps.

-I have not received a bill since June
-The gas company is completely aware of this and had an easy remedy available

Add these, and yes...it's the gas company's fault.

YOU HAVEN'T RECEIVED A BILL BECAUSE YOU GAVE THEM A BAD EMAIL ADDRESS.

**Old Dog** · 11-17-2009, 02:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kstater

Did you not recieve notice that your bill would be emailed to you?

Well yeah, but he didn't bother to read it so it's someone elses fault.

IMHO this is what's wrong in America today. Nobody wants to accept responsibility for his own actions. It's always someone elses fault.

kstater · 11-17-2009, 02:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Donger

YOU HAVEN'T RECEIVED A BILL BECAUSE YOU GAVE THEM A BAD EMAIL ADDRESS.

It's the gas companies fault that they didn't connect with each of their thousands(millions?) of customers to ensure they had a correct email address(which likely was stated in the announcement stuffed in one of his bills).

Big Dog · 11-17-2009, 03:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kstater

Did you not recieve notice that your bill would be emailed to you?

No, I did not. I am not arguing that they did not send it though...again I heard about it for the first time today. My bills go to a bill pay service and they scan in the bills for me to view and pay over the internet.

OMG I just reviewed what they scanned in...and they sent me a letter in June saying my email was bad and they would begin sending bills via the US postal service.

NEVER HAPPENED....lol. And today I was 'chastised' by customer service for not dealing with my e-bills...wow.

I did not find the original notice of the switch to e-bills only though.

BigCatDaddy · 11-17-2009, 03:09 PM

Not saying Big Dog is right here at all since he should know he hasn't paid a gas bill in a few months, but how about a call, knock on the door, or shutoff notice mailed to the home before shutting off someone's heat right after the first snow of the year.

Big Dog · 11-17-2009, 03:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by truebigdog

Well yeah, but he didn't bother to read it so it's someone elses fault.

IMHO this is what's wrong in America today. Nobody wants to accept responsibility for his own actions. It's always someone elses fault.

When an entity changes the way they do business, specifically billing, with its customers they do indeed take on a responsibility to notify each and every customer of that change, and ensure the change was understood. Given the new information I mentioned in my previous post, I now see that MGE did in fact notify me and had a plan in place to act if they could not confirm I received their message. Kudos to them for that.

Of course their plan failed miserably, and they did not do what they said they would. First I was complaining the company did not have a proper plan in place and I felt it was completely irresponsible of them. NOW, however I see they actually did have a plan in place, but failed to implement it properly in my case.

As to taking responisibility for my own actions...well I could defend myself till I am blue in the face, but since there is only one or two people here who know me personally, it would be pointless. Fact is...many bad things happen due to failures by multiple people or entities. Yes, had I realized I had not actually paid a gas bill in months, or had I kept an email up to date with a company I do not communcate with via email, this would not have happened. At the same time there are many corporate failures in this scenario as well, and although I admit my transgressions...I felt (and still feel) theirs are more significant.

wild1 · 11-17-2009, 03:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Donger

You act like they didn't inform you. They did. You threw their notice away.

How is that "preying" on basic human behavior?

I'm going to board up my mailbox, and then tell my creditors I don't owe them any money. When my car is repossessed I'll post a new topic here about how unfair they are.

**Donger** · 11-17-2009, 03:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Big Dog

No, I did not. I am not arguing that they did not send it though...again I heard about it for the first time today. My bills go to a bill pay service and they scan in the bills for me to view and pay over the internet.

OMG I just reviewed what they scanned in...and they sent me a letter in June saying my email was bad and they would begin sending bills via the US postal service.

NEVER HAPPENED....lol. And today I was 'chastised' by customer service for not dealing with my e-bills...wow.

I did not find the original notice of the switch to e-bills only though.

Have you checked to see if they did indeed send the bill via USPS and your bill pay company didn't drop the ball?

mrbiggz · 11-17-2009, 03:17 PM

It may cost you some money to upgrade your electrical service, but you might want to cut your gas appliances over to electric. Tankless water heaters and such have come a long way.

Big Dog · 11-17-2009, 03:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Donger

You act like they didn't inform you. They did. You threw their notice away.

How is that "preying" on basic human behavior?

Throwing away junk mail without reading it is not basic human behavior?

Sorry to hear about that.

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, 03:09 PM	#55
BigCatDaddy The Beast Inside Your Head Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Parts Unknown Casino cash: $1459122	Not saying Big Dog is right here at all since he should know he hasn't paid a gas bill in a few months, but how about a call, knock on the door, or shutoff notice mailed to the home before shutting off someone's heat right after the first snow of the year.
Posts: 25,945

11-17-2009, 03:17 PM	#59
mrbiggz Starter Join Date: Aug 2003 Location: i travel Casino cash: $2708333	It may cost you some money to upgrade your electrical service, but you might want to cut your gas appliances over to electric. Tankless water heaters and such have come a long way.
Posts: 186