October 31, 2006

• Customer "Service"

  "Hello, this is Ms. Elsie.  How can I help you?"

  "Hi.  Well, I moved out of my apartment at the end of July, but I keep getting a bill for electricity use through the month of August."

  "One moment, let me look into your account."

  She came back and, in an annoyed tone, said, "I see an outstanding bill for the meter reading at the end of August.  We’ve already given you three notices."

  "But I moved out on July 31st.  Why am I getting billed for usage after I’ve moved out?" I asked. 

  "Did you notify us that you were moving out?"

  "Yes," I replied. 

  "Sir, we have no record of being notified." 

  I had no idea you could be called "sir" and still be disrespected at the same time. 

  "I called in July, and several times after I moved out.  Each time, I was told that the bill would be adjusted accordingly, and be sent to my new address." 

  "Sorry, I don’t have a record of that." 

  I let out a sigh. 

  "Okay, what do I need to do to get this thing taken care of?"

  "You need to get a notarized letter signed by your landlord saying that you moved out when you said you did." 

  "What?  That’s not going to be possible.  I’m 3000 miles away.  I’ve called 3 or 4 different times, and no one’s said anything about needing a letter from the landlord."

  "Sorry, but that’s our policy." 

  "Why didn’t someone tell me when I was still living there?   I called in the middle of July, and the person I spoke to then said that it would be taken care of." 

  "Do you know the name or extension of the person you spoke to, sir?"

  "….  No."  Darn.  She had me there. 

  "Then I’m afraid there’s nothing I can do.  You need to either pay the bill, or produce the letter." 

  "Wait, wait.  When I called back in July, the person gave me a confirmation number.  Will that help at all?" 

  "Confirmation numbers are only used for new orders, sir.  There’s no reason a person would’ve given you a confirmation number to close an account with us." 

  "Well, can I give it to you anyway?"

  "Okay, what is it?"

  I searched frantically through my stack of papers.   

  "Hold on a sec… I have it here somewhere." 

  I pulled the July bill where I had scribbled on the confirmation number out of the pile, and read off the number. 

  "Okay, let me look it up.  Please stay on the line." 

  "Sir, that number is not in our system." 

  I shook my head, and let out another sigh. 

  "So let me get this straight.  You have no record of me calling in July and closing my account."

  "No, sir."

  "You have no record of the four or five calls I’ve made since August to get this thing squared away?"

  "No." 

  "And my only options now are to either pay a bill for electricity that I didn’t use, or to try and get my former landlord to write a letter, take it to a notary, then send it to you?" 

  "That is correct, sir."

  I knew I wasn’t going to get anywhere with her.  I also knew that there was no way I was going to pay that bill.  I didn’t want to go there, but I had no choice.  It was time to play the “manager” card. 

  "All right, I would like to talk to someone higher up.  Can I speak to your manager?"

  She paused for a bit. 

  "Okay.  Let me transfer you." 

  A minute ticked by, then another.  After about 10 minutes of waiting, she came back. 

  "Sorry, but all of the supervisors are busy at the moment." 

  "Is there a way that I can have one of them call me back about this?"

  "Okay, I’ll fill out a form and have someone call you back.  It’ll take anywhere from 10 minutes to 6 hours." 

  "Thanks." 

  I hung up. 

  At that point, I was... worked up.  I had called many times before, trying to get this sorted out.  When I called back in July, no one told me that I had to do anything other than to tell them that I was moving.  If there was anything I had to do, I would’ve surely done it when I was still there.  Now that I was 3000 miles away, it would be hard to get the letter that the power company wanted. 

  I didn’t know when I would hear back, or if I would even hear back at all.  

  10 minutes later, I got a phone call.

  "Hi, is this Matthew?"

  "Yes.  The voice sounded familiar.  

  "Hi, this is Ms. Elsie calling you back."

  "Hi."

   I wanted to point out that she wasn’t a supervisor, but I held back. 

  "I’m calling to let you know that we looked into your account a bit further, and have decided to wipe out your bill." 

  "What?  Really?"

  "Yes, sir, we’ve taken the charge off of your account."  She sounded pained to tell me that. 

  "Thanks, that’s good to hear."  

  "Is there anything else I can do for you?"

  "No, that’s it.  Thanks."

  "Thank you for contacting PSE&G." 

  I don't know what caused them to erase the bill.  Maybe the confirmation number did turn up something after all.  Maybe there was a record of my previous calls on another system somewhere.  In any case, I'm just glad it turned out well. 

  • 4:09 am
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