To clarify, that would be me (metaphorically speaking) on the right, foreground. ;)
You may remember a couple of weeks ago I posted a rant here against TXU Energy over the final bill they sent me saying that for just 12 days service I owed $153.34, nearly 3 1/2 times as much (average daily consumption) as I used the previous entire month. NO WAY! I called TXU's 800 Customer Service number and spoke with a guy whose training apparently consisted of little more than learning to say "NO" in several languages. I kept demanding to go upstream and was finally told a higher-up would call me the next day.
In the meantime "Lauren", a TXU social media service rep (many large companies have such people who monitor Facebook, Twitter, Blogger, etc, looking for mentions of their company) commented that I could contact her and she would see if she could help. I did, forwarding the facts and also photos of evidence of "meter room" door tampering, which raised yet another red flag in my mind.
The bottom line: TXU requested a meter re-read from Oncor, the electric distribution company who actually owns and reads the meters, and guess what?....I was right! They notified me yesterday my revised bill is $29.69. BIG difference!
So what have I learned from this experience? First, as the old saying goes, "Never accept 'NO' from someone not authorized to say 'YES'". If you honestly feel you're right, and you have some logic / evidence on your side, KEEP PUSHING! Principle matters.
Second, TXU Energy is firm, but fair. They probably have hundreds (thousands?) of scams aimed at them every day, and their natural instinct seems to be to just say "NO", but if you're adamant, they will listen. Thank you Lauren. :)
S
I just love it when the little guy wins out over the corporate giant. Kind of a David and Goliath story. Congratulations.
ReplyDeleteYes a clerical error by the meter reader....Crazy....
ReplyDeleteBobby....the odd part is we have "smart meters" that electronically report their numbers to headquarters. It wasn't a matter of a guy reading the little dials wrong. I have no idea what happened, but I do know I'm $123.65 better off!
ReplyDeleteThanks Steve....like I said, principle matters. :)
S
Go you! We're having a fight with our natural gas provider, but it's partly my oblivious fault & partly their oblivious fault. We'll see where it all leads!
ReplyDeleteI remember posting on JS a bill I got from our electric company for over nine hundred bucks. The budget amount was $79 at the time.
ReplyDeleteWhen they informed me on the phone that it was simply an error, I covered the mouthpiece and yelled "OK, we won't need the oxygen now Mabel". She did laugh.
f
Congrats sweetheart! I heard the convo with TXU - you were persistent but not rude. So glad we got resolution in our favor!
ReplyDeleteChalk one up for the "little guy."
ReplyDeleteMy 34-year-old co-worker recently got a hospital bill for a circumcision. He winced, crossed his legs, made a face, shook his head, and finally called to tell them, really, he did not just have a circumcision.
Turned out they had sent it to the wrong address.