What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? DC
Not sure if this is the right place to post this, but hopefully a mod will move it if not.
Back in April I bought a condo. It's all electric except for my gas range. The day after I closed, I called the gas company to put the gas bill in my name (thankfully from my office phone, which shows up on caller ID as our central switchboard). The gas company informed me that there was no meter, and therefore no gas service to my home, installed for my unit. I told them that they were wrong, just the previous day, we had turned on the stove and oven during our final walkthrough, and there was, indeed, gas flowing to the unit. They insisted that there was no service to the unit and that I'd have to take an entire day off of work to wait for one of their techs (they do not do weekend appointments, and all appointments are 8-hour windows). I told them I would go downstairs and get the meter number and call back with it, so that they could just switch the service to my name without that hassle.
About a week later, I called back in with the meter number in hand. They again told me that they had no record of this meter, and there was still no meter registered to my address, so I'd need to make that service appointment, and sit and wait for the whole day for them. I told them that, yes, the previous owners probably did cancel their gas service, but that it would have only been a few days ago, the meter was there, and gas was flowing to my unit, so could they please at least put in a research request and *try* to find the meter number in their system so that I didn't have to wait around for a whole day for a tech (who probably wouldn't even show up, because that's how these things usually go). They said they'd put in the research request, but it probably wouldn't amount to much.
Well, apparently it *did* amount to much. From their recent letter, it appears that the previous owners never switched the gas service into their name when *they* bought the place, and there's now a back gas bill of several hundred dollars (it's something like $700...remember, this is only for the range). Fortunately (sort of), I did take a meter reading when I moved in, but it's just scribbled on a note card. I also have all the closing documents to show that I have only owned the place for a few months, and they have admitted that this back bill goes back to when the previous owners bought the place in 2010. Unfortunately, even though I can show that I've only owned the place for 5 months, because they weren't gathering the meter readings during the previous owners' stay here, they think I should pay the whole bill. I called my title insurance company, and they said that this is beyond the scope of what they cover.
So, remember when I said I called from work and that only gave them a switchboard number? Yeah, they also don't have my name (apparently no one ever typed it in over the three calls I made). Just my address. The letter came to "Owner," and said that my recent inquiry lead them to determine I owed this amount. Oh, and my meter is inside a locked building that I or another owner would have to buzz them in to if they wanted to do anything about it. We have no doorman who could let them in. Sure, they could find out who I am by searching Real Estate records, but that's a whole new level.
Now, I'm not saying I shouldn't pay for the gas I rightfully consumed, nor the gas I will consume in the future, but how do I approach this? They want, like, $750 from me, when I actually owe them something closer to $30. I've offered the meter reading I took, but they're not willing to accept that. I offered to provide them with my sales documents, showing I've only owned the place for a few months, and let them divide the usage by the total time and charge me for the fraction of that I've lived here, and they insist I have to pay the full amount.
FWIW, the gas company is a regulated private company, here. I could complain to the utilities commission, if you think that would get me anywhere...
Not sure if this is the right place to post this, but hopefully a mod will move it if not.
Back in April I bought a condo. It's all electric except for my gas range. The day after I closed, I called the gas company to put the gas bill in my name (thankfully from my office phone, which shows up on caller ID as our central switchboard). The gas company informed me that there was no meter, and therefore no gas service to my home, installed for my unit. I told them that they were wrong, just the previous day, we had turned on the stove and oven during our final walkthrough, and there was, indeed, gas flowing to the unit. They insisted that there was no service to the unit and that I'd have to take an entire day off of work to wait for one of their techs (they do not do weekend appointments, and all appointments are 8-hour windows). I told them I would go downstairs and get the meter number and call back with it, so that they could just switch the service to my name without that hassle.
About a week later, I called back in with the meter number in hand. They again told me that they had no record of this meter, and there was still no meter registered to my address, so I'd need to make that service appointment, and sit and wait for the whole day for them. I told them that, yes, the previous owners probably did cancel their gas service, but that it would have only been a few days ago, the meter was there, and gas was flowing to my unit, so could they please at least put in a research request and *try* to find the meter number in their system so that I didn't have to wait around for a whole day for a tech (who probably wouldn't even show up, because that's how these things usually go). They said they'd put in the research request, but it probably wouldn't amount to much.
Well, apparently it *did* amount to much. From their recent letter, it appears that the previous owners never switched the gas service into their name when *they* bought the place, and there's now a back gas bill of several hundred dollars (it's something like $700...remember, this is only for the range). Fortunately (sort of), I did take a meter reading when I moved in, but it's just scribbled on a note card. I also have all the closing documents to show that I have only owned the place for a few months, and they have admitted that this back bill goes back to when the previous owners bought the place in 2010. Unfortunately, even though I can show that I've only owned the place for 5 months, because they weren't gathering the meter readings during the previous owners' stay here, they think I should pay the whole bill. I called my title insurance company, and they said that this is beyond the scope of what they cover.
So, remember when I said I called from work and that only gave them a switchboard number? Yeah, they also don't have my name (apparently no one ever typed it in over the three calls I made). Just my address. The letter came to "Owner," and said that my recent inquiry lead them to determine I owed this amount. Oh, and my meter is inside a locked building that I or another owner would have to buzz them in to if they wanted to do anything about it. We have no doorman who could let them in. Sure, they could find out who I am by searching Real Estate records, but that's a whole new level.
Now, I'm not saying I shouldn't pay for the gas I rightfully consumed, nor the gas I will consume in the future, but how do I approach this? They want, like, $750 from me, when I actually owe them something closer to $30. I've offered the meter reading I took, but they're not willing to accept that. I offered to provide them with my sales documents, showing I've only owned the place for a few months, and let them divide the usage by the total time and charge me for the fraction of that I've lived here, and they insist I have to pay the full amount.
FWIW, the gas company is a regulated private company, here. I could complain to the utilities commission, if you think that would get me anywhere...