Liberty Utilities

We'll verify the situation and respond.
Unfortunately for Mr ***, his lack of payments and failure to inquire about his natural gas account lead to this situation, even after our notice to him
We are not able to honor requests for instant reconnection, due
to the subsequent work that is required at the home
The stipulation that someone grant us access to all the gas-burning appliances inside the home at the time of service reconnection is a safety requirement to protect the customerEach appliance is checked at that time for safe operationThis is an industry-wide, national safety standard that is mandated and cannot be waivedWe'll try to arrange a time when someone can allow us inside the home; we are not able to turn on the service without this
We'll attempt to work with Mr *** to re-establish his service safely

Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ***, and have determined that this proposed action would not resolve my complaint. For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below not satisfied with this resolution.]
Regards,
I have yet to hear from anyone from liberty utilities, someone contacted me on March 26,advising the only thing they are offering would be same day serviceI have asked about a payment plan to get the services reconnected and I have yet to hear anythingI am re question that the services be reconnected with a payment in placeI am willing to pay the that my online account states and then the rest broke up into a payment planI will not let this complaint close until this is done.
*** ***

As a business in the state of Georgia, we are required to pay sales taxes to the state of Georgia and to the local city government on the products we sell
We charge the same sales taxes that every other business in the state of Georgia
charges and we have charged these amounts when we were Columbus Gas Light Company, United Cities Gas Company, ,Atmos Energy Company and now as Liberty Utilities
We are also required to pay franchise taxes to the City of Columbus for the right to install our natural gas pipelines on city rights-of-way so that we can serve the citizens of Columbus
All taxes that we collect for the State of Georgia and the City of Columbus are paid to the state and city; we do not keep the taxes collected, we do not profit from the taxes nor do we have the ability to set them or not pay them
We're sorry Ms *** was not aware of these long-standing costs paid by the company

After looking at Mr***'s account it was obvious we should not have charged him any usage prior to his move in date of 8/29/16. We have corrected his bill and extended out his due date until 12/16/16. We have also reached out to Mr*** via phone, but as of this time we have
not been able to reach him. We have left a message and a supervisor's number to call at his convince

Mr. [redacted] has 3 properties of which all of them have been disconnected over the past year due to non-payment. Each of the properties are continuously on a Step 4(22 days past due date) for payment. We did collect $115 deposit on 5/4/15 for Apt A. It was disconnected again on 7/6/15 for...

non-payment. We did not charge an additional deposit nor did we charge for a reconnection fee of $40. We turned service back on once we received the full past due amount.

We spoke with Mr. [redacted] in the Columbus office on 4/17/15 due to his services being disconnected and he was upset about having to pay a deposit and a reconnection fee.
Per Mr. [redacted], he sent his 3/12/15 due date payment on 3/30/15 to our lockbox in Chicago and he was disconnected on 4/9/15,...

payment posted in our system on 4/10/15.
He stated it was not his fault but the fault of the mail system being so slow.
In an effort of goodwill, I waived the deposit and reconnection fee. I also advised Mr. [redacted] of our payment process and the steps he must take to keep from being in jeopardy of disconnection.

The service I received today was above reproach! A payment I made in February was not credited to my account, and my service was disconnected. I took my bank statement showing that the payment had cleared my account to the office on Victory Drive today. I spoke with Mrs [redacted]. She took the time to speak with me, and explain my options. At this point, I had knots in my stomach I was tearful, and full of anxiety. I knew I didn't have money for the current bill, plus a deposit.
When I returned to work, I looked at my bank account and realized I miskeyed my bill pay account number for Liberty. I called Mrs [redacted] back, she gave me her direct number, and informed her of my error. She located my payment and posted it to my account! I normally would have had to wait until the next business day, or later, to have my service restored. She arranged for my service to be reconnected same day! With NO additional fees!
From the start of this issue, Mrs [redacted] was kind, and caring. Words can not express my gratitude for what she did for me, and my family. I hope this message reaches her, and her manager. Thank you so very much!

Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response submitted by the business and have determined that the response does satisfy my issues and/or concerns in reference to complaint #[redacted]. I understand that by choosing to accept the...

business response that my complaint will be closed as resolved. 
Regards,
[redacted]

With regards to [redacted], Fall River, MA: Liberty Utilities identified for a very long period of time that the gas meter was not working properly at this location for floor 3 under [redacted].Over the last 2 years we have made attempt after attempt to gain access to correct the...

issue and replace the meter. However, this property is very difficult to gain access to and attempts to the property owner we have not been successful. It was finally decided due to the non-cooperation of the tenant and the landlord to seek a warrant with the sheriff’s office and executed the warrant on November 1, 2016. Once we gained access to the meters our Field Tech did not have access to the tenants apartment to light the pilot and complete a check of the gas service. Also, the customer has made only 1 payment since March of 2016. The amount owed at this time is a corrected bill for the gas consumption used but never billed correctly due to fact that Liberty Utilities was not granted access.The lack of cooperation on the part of the customer and landlord does not warrant and compensation at this time. Service was restored on November 1, 2016 at approximately 3:30PM.

We've provided all the pertinent information on this account at this time and have nothing further to add.
We've apologized, acknowledged the difficulties we've experienced and fixed what we could at this time.
We're sorry the customer is not satisfied.

When customers don't pay their bills or respond to our two phone calls and two letters to make payment arrangements within 45 days of their bill dates, we terminate service. Sometimes, that termination date falls on a Friday and we work those orders. Our customer service telephone hours include...

Saturdays, too, so Friday terminations occur.
We are working overtime and Saturdays in the field, too, to manage the workload but we (and most HVAC dealers and plumbers in town) face a waiting list each year as cool weather approaches.
We know waiting isn't pleasant so we encourage customers to pay their bills and contact us early each fall to avoid the delays. We also urge customers to have their equipment checked and prepared by qualified service companies before the fall and winter seasons arrive.
With travel time, equipment checks, meter checks, venting checks and piping checks, we allocate 45 minutes for a turn-on. We're not able to schedule turn-ons 10 minutes apart.
If our work orders move faster or we're able to get to additional customers sooner than scheduled, we DO contact waiting customers and reschedule them earlier, if it fits in their schedules so that we can work their orders sooner.
Otherwise, we complete our work orders according to schedule we set with our customers.

We sent this response to...

Revdex.com.complaints on July 3 but it must have been an incorrect routing. We consider this issue resolved.
 
Thanks,
[redacted]
 
[redacted]
 
Ms. [redacted] had an account with us at another location where a balance was due.
It appears that the last payments she made were applied to this other account, creating a credit balance there.  
We have now paid off that previous account’s balance and transferred the remaining funds from that account to her current location.
Due to the confusion over the two accounts, we suggest that Ms. [redacted] always use her account number for clarity when calling us.
In regards to the deposit required at the current account, Ms [redacted] previous payment history with us warranted a deposit on the current account and we have assessed it to her.

We apologize for any conversations or contacts with our customer service representatives or staff that seemed rude or unprofessional. We also strive for appropriate business attire at all times. It’s our goal to provide polite, professional service to every customer and we urge our employees to stay...

focused on this with every customer contact they have. We’ll reiterate this and appropriate attire with all our representatives.
Ms [redacted]’s account carried a past due balance that went unpaid, was delinquent and that resulted in her service termination. She also had a separate current balance on her account that was not yet delinquent. Additionally, to have service reconnected after it’s been terminated for non-payment, customers are required to pay a reconnection fee and a security deposit, if there is not one already on the account. All these fees may not show up instantaneously in the automated payment system when service is terminated. Therefore, the automated system may temporarily show a different amount due than what a ”live” customer service representative looking in the system real-time can see. This most likely accounts for the difference Ms [redacted] saw between the automated system and what our customer service representatives quoted from the “live” system.
Also with the different amounts past due, currently due (but not yet delinquent), due for reconnection and due for a deposit or increased deposit, it’s possible that our customer service representative or the customer wasn’t specific enough when discussing the actual payment. It’s also possible that our customer service representative misunderstood what she saw in the system or that there was other miscommunication in the process of quoting the requested amount to the customer. We’re sorry for the confusion this might have caused.
There is no Liberty Utilities employee named “[redacted]” making contacts to our customers about who is authorized to make changes on their accounts (as Ms [redacted] mentions). We’re not clear what this reference is about but we do not have an employee named “[redacted]” doing this.
We strive to make timely call-backs when customers request them; our workload and schedules and other customers’ needs sometimes delay us, though. We try to return every promised call-back.
And we normally refrain from quoting a specific arrival time for our service technicians due to our priority handling of all natural gas emergency calls. We do not promise to arrive at 3:00, for example, because we know that we may require the assigned service technician to switch to an emergency response at another location, leaving the 3:00 customer unserved. We do try, however, to assure customers of a morning or afternoon visit when we can predict that. This can be frustrating for our customers and our service technicians but we can normally work it out by shifting our service technicians around through our dispatching system.
Overall, it doesn’t sound like things went very well with Ms [redacted]’s account but we’ll use this feedback to improve our performance and continue providing better service in the future.”

[redacted] called in to have services placed in his name. We found he had a bad debt of $756.35. He then stated he would have the account placed in his wife's name. When Ms. [redacted] dialed in we then told he she would have to pay his bad debt with us.
Company Policy:
Customer with an...

existing bad debt balance must satisfy total balance due of the account/s (cash, debit/credit card) prior to service connection. Customers who have a bad debt amount are required to pay a deposit (deposit may be billed if bad debt is in excess of $500 and is paid per above.

Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response submitted by the business and have determined that the response does not satisfy or resolve my issues and/or concerns in reference to complaint # [redacted]. Please add your rejection comments below. Regards,
[redacted]

With the recent cold weather and the historic high volume of calls and visits to our office during the winter months, our supervisors and managers cannot always take "live" calls from our customers. We therefore request information to call our customers back when we can dedicate time to address...

their special needs, especially when our trained and experienced Customer Service Representatives cannot address the customers' needs to their satisfaction. This apparently was the case when this customer first called. If our Customer Service Representative could NOT resolve the issue, our supervisors and managers DO call customers back and assist them, as our first Customer Service Representative explained. This system normally works well and helps our customers and our staff during high volume times. We apologize if the representative did not communicate this thoroughly or pleasantly and we will mention it to [redacted], our representative, so that she can work on that in the future.
Call volumes, service technician availability, other emergency calls and available times with supervisors and managers change by the minute this time of year. Sometimes calling a few minutes later CAN result in a supervisor or manager being available. In some cases, a service technician in the field also may finish his current work load and become available for a reconnection, as this customer was requesting. Again, this changes by the minute in our dispatching system. Under the first circumstances, our representative must have seen a full work load schedule and known that no one could work the requested reconnection before the date she communicated.
Thankfully, we were able to address this customer's request in a way that satisfied her but we'll coach [redacted] to maintain a professional and empathetic approach when communicating the work schedule in the future so that we handle those request on the FIRST call, negating the need for a SECOND call.

I called Ms. [redacted] and spoke with her as soon as I received this from the Revdex.com. Ms. [redacted] had already spoken with one of our Lead CSR's and she had just made me aware of this unfortunate situation.
Upon researching the issue, we found that the system had moved this location to VACANT as there...

was so little usage on the meter.
I explained the situation to Ms. [redacted]. We are turning on her gas today, we are not charging her for the small amount of usage (43ccf) and we are refunding her $160 deposit as a credit to her account for our error.

the Company has resolved this issue with the customer.

We have spoken with Ms. [redacted] and are willing to turn her gas back on today under her current situation and circumstances.  We are always willing to work with any and all of our customers, we just need the opportunity.  The last thing we want to do is create an additional hardship for...

anyone.  Ms. [redacted] has told us she would request this complaint she filed be remove as we have assisted her promptly.

Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and have determined that this proposed action would not resolve my complaint.  For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.
While the response was correct, that my original problem was corrected, many of my issues were not addressed.  (And it did take multiple calls on my part to get it fixed.) 
1)  Why is it that 6 months after my bringing up the fact that the billing departments and online services were not yet connected?  Any decent IT team can have that up and running within days.
2)  Why would a letter be sent to a vacated residence when the customer tried to make sure a note was put on their account to e-mail the final bill?
And a new problem has developed, in regards to the double billing -  "We were not able to definitively determine the reason for this;  we could not positively state that it was due to something in our system or something due to actions from others.- "  That doesn't seem serious?  Either you have major security issues, or I did something incredibly stupid, since Liberty and I are the only ones authorized to make a payment to that account.
Please understand that I was very happy with how they handled the situation in December, and wrote a very thankful note to their website, thanking Mr. [redacted] by name.  I had not gotten any responses from 2 attempts via their website when this final bill problem became an issue.  And that is why I had to go this route.  Multiple review sites are saying this is not an isolated incident with their online billing. 
Regards,
[redacted]