Last month I needed to open a new account at the local gas company, Atmos Energy. I'd been a customer for nearly three years, but until recently the gas was billed through my condo association. So I called my local gas supplier who decided that I, as a "new customer", should pay a $295 security deposit (which supposedly I'll get back in 12 months - I bet there'll be a posting on that this time next year as I chase these guys all over the place trying to get my refund).
First beef. I discovered later that there was a $3.95 charge for the priviledge of paying by credit card. Nice of the agent to tell me. And how else do they expect you to pay an upfront fee, on the spot, over the phone? Here, let me send you a check and wait a week for heating?
Anyway, that was a small problem compared to their next SNAFU. I received my first bill and there's a charge of $295 for the security deposit (yes, the one I'd already paid). Email correspondence with them revealed that my payment "was posted to the wrong account and is in the process of being corrected." It was eventually but it took two weeks.
Now here's what I want to know. Who on earth would design a system that let's you take a deposit payment as part of establishing a new account without ensuring that the payment is credited to the said account? And is this such a common occurance that you don't even feel the need to include in your response the most cursory apology (even if you don't really mean it)?
Oh, and by the way. Since they gave me gas service for a month even though they thought I hadn't paid the deposit, what's the purpose of the &*$% deposit in the first place, huh?
No comments:
Post a Comment