Kinda sad huh

Lost User

:sigh:

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Chris Meech

The response of the utility borders on the absurd. They still haven't got paid whatever money is owed and now that the home owner has died, it will be even longer before they get paid. I think they need to re-think how they collect past due accounts. Very sad and tragic.

Chris Meech I am Canadian. [heard in a local bar] In theory there is no difference between theory and practice. In practice there is. [Yogi Berra]

Dan Neely

AFAIK they're required by law to include mini brochures about energy assistance plans provided to the poor by the state. The utilties can't sign people up themselves since they don't have the requisite income/(expense?) information used to determine if someone qualifies. I'm not sure what you think the utilities should do instead? If they don't turn off service to customers who refuse to pay and refuse to get assistance in paying, there'd no longer be any reason for anyone to pay regardless of means since they could simply continue to steal service indefinitely without consequence.

Today's lesson is brought to you by the word "niggardly". Remember kids, don't attribute to racism what can be explained by Scandinavian language roots. -- Robert Royall

Chris Meech

dan neely wrote:

I'm not sure what you think the utilities should do instead

Actually I wasn't suggesting that the utilities should not limit or cut-off electricity, just that if that is all they do, it isn't helping them to get paid. I'll grant you that the article was scant on details of what else the utility was doing in order to try to collect. I'm not positive, but I believe here in Ontario, the utilities have to do a lot of other stuff first before they either limit or cut-off any consumption. And even when then do that, they have to do it with a court order and a sherrif's warrant.

Chris Meech I am Canadian. [heard in a local bar] In theory there is no difference between theory and practice. In practice there is. [Yogi Berra]

Oakman

dan neely wrote:

If they don't turn off service to customers who refuse to pay and refuse to get assistance in paying, there'd no longer be any reason for anyone to pay regardless of means since they could simply continue to steal service indefinitely without consequence.

So why didn't they turn off his electricity in the fall when he owed maybe 500 bucks rather than waiting until the temperature dropped below freezing in the dead of winter?

dan neely wrote:

The utilties can't sign people up themselves since they don't have the requisite income/(expense?) information used to determine if someone qualifies.

If they can spend the time and money to put a regulator on the customer's meter, they might end up saving themselves some costs by having someone whose job is was to check with people who aren't paying their bills. Remember that, in this case, we are talking about a city-owned subsidiary. They have access to more information about their customers than many businesses. Follow Up from yesterday's news: "The Bay City Commission voted to raise electric rates by 3 percent on Monday."[^]

Jon Smith & Wesson: The original point and click interface

Dan Neely

Unless I missed it, the article doesn't say how long the bill was delinquent. IF he had an uninsulated, electrically heated house a $1000 bill could only be 2 or 3 months of service.

Today's lesson is brought to you by the word "niggardly". Remember kids, don't attribute to racism what can be explained by Scandinavian language roots. -- Robert Royall

Oakman

dan neely wrote:

IF he had an uninsulated, electrically heated house a $1000 bill could only be 2 or 3 months of service.

True. In which case why are they so fast turn it off? Would it have killed them to wait till spring? (In some states, private utilities are required to do this.)

Jon Smith & Wesson: The original point and click interface

Brady Kelly

Chris Meech wrote:

Actually I wasn't suggesting that the utilities should not limit or cut-off electricity, just that if that is all they do, it isn't helping them to get paid. I'll grant you that the article was scant on details of what else the utility was doing in order to try to collect. I'm not positive, but I believe here in Ontario, the utilities have to do a lot of other stuff first before they either limit or cut-off any consumption. And even when then do that, they have to do it with a court order and a sherrif's warrant.

Mine gets cut without contact or notice - no pay, no power.

All Sorted

Stan Shannon

Well shit what about this[^] link on that page. Damn. That is too much sadness. Now, I am really depressed and pissed off again. Betrayal of devotion, betrayal of innocence.... Time to go say something mean to oakman just to cheer myself up...

Chaining ourselves to the moral high ground does not make us good guys. Aside from making us easy targets, it merely makes us idiotic prisoners of our own self loathing.

Chris Austin

That shit really depresses me..........

Sovereign ingredient for a happy marriage: Pay cash or do without. Interest charges not only eat up a household budget; awareness of debt eats up domestic felicity. --Lazarus Long

Dan Neely

In PA all they have to do is post a cutoff notice with a 10 or 15 day notice. I know this because my landlord 'forgot' to pay the bill for the shared laundry and insecurity lights on my building a year or two ago. :doh: Scare quotes because when I called I was told it had just been paid, so either I was lied to or they were playing chicken with penalty dates. :rolleyes:

Today's lesson is brought to you by the word "niggardly". Remember kids, don't attribute to racism what can be explained by Scandinavian language roots. -- Robert Royall

BoneSoft

Yep, especially because it's so easy to visualize. When my little boy gets in trouble he always says "I love you momma/daddy, I don't wanna be in trouble". Whatever happens to those two idiots will be far better than they deserve.

Visit BoneSoft.com for code generation tools (XML & XSD -> C#, VB, etc...) and some free developer tools as well.

JimmyRopes

Oakman wrote:

in the dead of winter

Literally! :sigh:

Simply Elegant Designs JimmyRopes Designs
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Pierre Leclercq

Maybe they could take into account the environment. For example, this is a problem to cut off the power during severe winter conditions, but the guy who does not pay his bills will have to live in the dark and without air conditioning in the summer?

You can't turn lead into gold, unless you've built yourself a nuclear plant.