Thread: I HATE Rochester Gas and Electric

I think we all feel your pain. I feel like I'm living out a Camus novel every time I call a local Dr's office.

So I was trying to look at my old bills online. They don't mail me hard copies since I enrolled in their paperless program.

Me: Hello, I'm trying to look at my old bills online, but I keep getting the error message "PDF unavailable." Is there some way I can see those bills.
RGE: No. We only display the last 13 months of bills online.
Me: I see. Would it be possible for you to mail me the hard copies? I was not sent any, as I enrolled in the online system under the assumption that all my bills would be there.
RGE: Yes, we can do that for you.
Me: Thank you. So if you would just go ahead and send me the hard copies of all my bills from this address, that would be great.
RGE: No, they're not going to do that. They'll only send you the bills you no longer have access to online, because you can just print the rest.
Me: So, had I not enrolled in your online billing program, RGE would have sent me paper bills without a problem? But since I went paperless, they will not?
RGE: Yes, that is correct.

Are you kidding me? I seriously plan to call them every month and request my old bill. I also plan to go back to paper bills. When a company is trying to screw me over, my desire to save the environment definitely takes a back seat.

I had a problem with sprint where they tried to charge me $250 for a 3 year old phone I "did not return". It turned out someone forgot to scan it into the system.

Originally Posted by gugi

And above all consult with a lawyer beforehand.

Why don't you ask to be escalated to a supervisor - they're generally better.

The closest experience resembling yours that I had was with verizon wireless. What fixed the issue was just calling again the next day and drawing a person who's passed third grade this time - the bill was corrected properly without any need of explanation on my behalf - the issue was obvious to them.

FFS, that annoying!

I've had the same here with my cell company in particular. They're absolutely useless and boot me over to a crappy T mobile service as soon as the network gets busy.

Im like "if I wanted to be with T mobile I'd have signed on with them. Invest some of the money you have in your infrastructure!"

Half of these companies act like they're doing you a favour even talking with you... And to a man they're all useless.

IIRC a big part of the reason that so much of the country switched from coal to natural gas is because the customer service in the coal industry was generally terrible at that time and the gas companies worked hard to provide good service.

Too bad they forgot about that.

ah good old RG&E. I don't miss them!
I dont remember the name of the power company we had in college, but one month they sent me this huge informational packet about how to reduce my electricty, because they noticed my bill had gone up 20% since the year before.
of course, on the bill it said 'this bill reflects the 20% rate increase'

Finally, after calling in four times, I spoke to someone who actually listened to my questions and provided rational explanations.

It turns out the biggest $ amounts on my bill are flat costs just to be connected, whereas I had thought they depended on my usage. Had the first person pointed that out, instead of trying to deny how the meter works, I would have saved a lot of time and frustration.

The low cost of actual usage also eliminates my reasoning for doubting the accuracy of the meter.

I also have a new reason to hate RGE. Every month, half of my bill is just for being connected.

I was in a meeting with a manager of a group like this and after
listening to the "plan" I mentioned that Kafka would be proud.
They hand no idea what I was talking about...

Do read you meter often and keep a hand written log.
Do keep a written use log.

Meters break and go out of calibration.

Take names and follow up all conversations with
a written letter (keep a copy). i.e. this letter
is to document and follow up on the conversation
I had with "bob" date and time.... Regarding
this and that...

keep it civil....

A CC: at the bottom of the letter that sends
a copy to the regulatory agency and the equivalent
of the bureau of weights and measures (commerce)
never hurts.

Originally Posted by holli4pirating

This is a rant.
I'm not even kidding, it's like talking to a brick wall. Forget if it's their fault or mine. Forget that there's even a problem. How did these people get past middle school?

Dylan,

I think many companies select for incompetence by using criteria for hiring such as the presence of a palpable pulse. I had an equally frustrating experience with Charter Cable. They replaced a cable box at our old house about 5 years ago, and the tech neglected to update the records with the new box number. When we moved 3 years ago to a new house, they totally messed up the change of service. During one of my multiple conversations with them about correcting their mistakes, they accused me of stealing the box. I'm normally a relatively easy going guy, but they really got me riled up. I raised such a ruckus that after the dust had settled someone from their corporate office called me to "smooth things over". Although it's out of character for me to say something like this, I told her: "You know ma'am, I'm a veterinarian. If I were as incompetent at my job as Charter is at theirs, there would be a trail of dead animals behind me". In their defense, she was incredibly nice and actually seemed concerned.

Originally Posted by nun2sharp

As Lily Tomlin used to say in her most famous skit, "We dont care, we are the Phone Co., we dont have to.".

Kelly, that is one of my favorite lines of all time

Originally Posted by JohnnyCakeDC

Just imagine if this was the same song and dance from the people who hold your mortgage.

Because interest rates had dropped so much, we refinanced out house several months ago with a new mortgage company. Our old mortgage company just can't seem to get the picture that we no longer owe them a penny. Our closing attorney has had to argue with them repeatedly and show them that they are confused. At least he has to do most of the arguing with them, but they still occasionally call us and ask when we're going to send in our payment.

Also, when I was in private practice, the TN Department of Revenue, without my knowledge, manufactured a mysterious second sales tax number for my business. Out of the blue one day, they sent me a registered letter stating they would freeze my bank accounts and padlock the doors to my business if they hadn't received sales tax payments within 48 hours. Forget the fact that I'd not missed a single tax payment using the only true sales tax number for my business.

Sheesh....

Originally Posted by holli4pirating

This is a rant.

Me: How can I possibly be using 10 units of gas per month in the summer, when I only used 16 per month in the dead of winter?
RGE: How do you know you were using 16 units of gas per month in the winter?
Me: On 12/29, your people read my meter at 4653. On 2/28, your people read my meter at 4690. Can we agree that, between those dates, I used 33 units of gas?
RGE: No. You have to consider the month before that, and...
Me: Do you disagree with those numbers, or is that what you have in front of you?
RGE: Yes, those numbers are correct.
Me: Are you saying that the difference between two meter readings does not tell how much gas I used in that period of time?
RGE: That is correct, you have to consider...


This literally went on for about 15 minutes.

-----------------

Me: Fine, forget the winter. There is no way I was using 10 units per month in the middle of summer with the heat off, cool showers, no drier, cooking for one, laundry for one, etc.
RGE: No, 10 units per month is about normal.
Me: Can you compare that to my usage last summer? (I seemed to remember my usage being way lower).
RGE: We can, but 10 units per month is about normal, so that must be right.
Me: Normal for WHO?

(I checked - last year from 2/27 - 6/28 I used a TOTAL of 11 units over the 4 month span. They are trying to say that I used 50 from 3/1 - 8/3 this year. Of course, from the first back and forth, I'm sure they'd debate that too.

-----------------

Me: Is it possible that my meter is reading incorrectly?
RGE: No. If the meter was broken, it would stop reading all together. Nothing else is possible.
Me: Can I get someone to check the meter to see if it's accurate?
RGE: Yes, but it will cost $150.
Me: So... I'd have to pay to fix your error?

-------------------

I'm not even kidding, it's like talking to a brick wall. Forget if it's their fault or mine. Forget that there's even a problem. How did these people get past middle school?

Dylan,
Your lucky your not dealing with the Feds. Trust me, I know.