General Utilities, Inc.

Review: At the end of May I received a bill for $1,000 from General Utilities stating that I violated the contract. I called several times to speak to someone and nobody would ever call me back. When I finally got through to speak to a representative she stated that I violated the contract because I refused to take delivery. She said they called and were unable to leave messages (never happened). They emailed me and I didn't respond (never happened, no email received) and a driver came to my house and I was home and turned the driver away refusing to take oil. NONE of that was true. She said that they have a recording of the conversation of terms. On that call I told her that I will call to schedule my oil deliveries, I DO NOT want to be on automatic delivery. After calling and speaking to this rep 4 times she could not produce this recording to prove it. Suddenly I get a new bill for a reduced amount of $595.00. I imagine they were hoping I would just pay it. I live in Lindenhurst and had my basement flooded during hurricane Sandy. I told this to the rep but she didn't care. She said although my furnace was destroyed and I converted to gas furnace since I had to replace the furnace that caused me to break the contract and I had to pay. I think this is absolutely horrible taking advantage of people from the storm just to make a profit. I was finally told that if I don't pay they will report me to the credit bureau. I have stellar credit my entire life, I am looking to purchase a new home and a new vehicle in the next year or so - and I didn't want my credit to be damaged. Despite my arguing my wife made the payment of $595.00 to prevent me from having my credit damaged. This is a horrble company that takes advantage of people who were harmed by the storm. I did take 2 oil deliveries from them and gave them well over $1000 for oil throughout my contract - I never purchased oil from anyone else. Horrible way of doing business. The way these people talk to you is also horrible. No sympathy.Desired Settlement: I should not have had to pay $595.00 for breaking the contract because my basement was flooded during hurricane Sandy and I had to replace my furnace. Since I have natural gas in the house and national grid was offering rebates for oil to gas conversion I went with a very cheap gas furnace rather then another oil furnace. A GOOD company would have called me after the hurricane knowing that my area of Long Island was tremendously effected to see if they could help or if I had any damage from the storm. Instead, they just send me a bill for not taking oil. I want a full 100% refund of my $595.00 as I plan to complain on [redacted] and go to News12 as well.

Business

Response:

[redacted]

On August *, 2012, [redacted] entered into cap price agreement which protected his price for a period of one year through August **, 2013.

At the time of this agreement [redacted], in a recorded agreement, consented to the stipulation that if he terminated his account prior to the fulfillment of the pricing contract he would be charged a terminator fee of $595.00.

On March **, 2013, [redacted] refused a delivery. On April [redacted] we explained to [redacted] in a phone conversation that he consented to be on automatic delivery and

that by stopping his deliveries he was violating his pricing contract and if he ran out of oil he would be charged for any service that was required. [redacted] told our representative that he understood that he would be billed for service.

On May [redacted] we tried to leave a message for [redacted] at ###-###-#### to let him know that his account was on a "stop" basis but his mailbox was full. We tried to e­mail him at [redacted] on May [redacted] but the e-mailed failed.

On June [redacted] called after receiving the termination fee for breaking his pricing contract. We told him at that time that the only means by which we would remove his termination fee is if he consented to take another delivery. He informed us at that

time that he has converted his home to natural gas.

We are willing to reduce the termination fee to half of its value to $295.00 due to the damage Sandy has caused to numerous General customers.

Consumer

Response:

I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted].

ALL of the "facts" this company stated are completely lies. However, due to my financial circumstances having already paid the $595 fee to avoid my credit from being damaged, I regretfully accept the offer made by General Utilities to reduce the fee to $295 - which means I should expect a check in the mail refunding me the difference. Only at that time will I consider this resolved.

When should I expect this refund?

Sincerely,

Review: I called General Utilities on 10/**/15 to ask if I was still under contract for my included free oil burner cleaning. I spoke with Janis and she said that I was,and my contract didn't expire until 10/**/15. I asked her to double check because I wanted to be sure before I made the appointment, and she said it was fine. She then scheduled the oil burner cleaning for 10/**/15. I called General on 10/**/15 to let them know that I wasn't renewing my contract after it expired on 10/**/15. I then received a bill dated 10/**/15 for the oil burner cleaning in the amount of $200.96. I called General on 11/**/15 and spoke to Ashley. I explained that I shouldn't have been charged for the cleaning, that it was included in my contract. She told me she would speak to her supervisor and get back to me. She got back to me and said I had to pay the bill, Janis made a mistake. I don't see why I need to pay for a mistake that one of the employees made and also, I had never received my basic service on my oil burner for that contract period.Desired Settlement: Credit in the amount of $200.96 plus interest and no report on my credit history.,

Business

Response:

We will not penalize a client whom was given the wrong information by one of our representatives. In good faith we will reverse the fee. We would like to thank you for your patronage and hope you will consider General in the future. Sincerely,Michele M[redacted]Sales Manager

Consumer

Response:

I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me and the matter has been resolved.

Sincerely,

As a former customer of General Utilities, Inc. I can attest of their horrible and intentional business tactics misleading customers over the phone into a verbal contract and then harass them with bills and phone calls threatening to damage their credit record if they do not pay moneys not agreed on the call. Myself and neighbors had similar experiences. After the first year I started recording my conversations with them so they have to stand by their word. Also, I see the same pattern on the complains listed on Revdex.com. I am no longer their customer as I found an honest and reputable company that does not mislead their customers.