Piedmont Natural Gas Company Reviews (%countItem)
Piedmont Natural Gas Company Rating
Address: 4720 Piedmont Row Dr Ste 100, Charlotte, North Carolina, United States, 28210-4294
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A technician came to my home on 2/22/18 and left information in writing that there was a gas leak in our home line. We had a gas line installed by an independent contractor over a year ago. Because of this we were told that the contractor would have to read the line and verify that there was no leak and that once this was done, to call PNG and they would come back to turn the gas back on. On 2/23/18 the contractor was at our home before 9am, he verified that the reading was negative for any leaks. We called PNG by 9:15am and was told that they could not reinstate the gas because the contractor used was not a certified dealer with them. During the third conversation with a PNG rep they tell us that we would have to contact the City of Charlotte to give them the contractor's certification and license information. No one thought to mention this information when we called to confirm that there were no leaks, instead they continued to give us the run around and not give proper information to rectify this issue. We are without hot water in our home for two additional days because of the lack of professionalism of the PNG customer representatives and supervisors. I wish there was another option for gas service in the Charlotte area. They do not have the customers best interest at heart. My rating for them is a zero.
Failure to provide reasoning for excessive billing for gas usage during winter months.
Although I have contacted the piedmont natural gas several times over the last few years relating to excessive gas billings, I have not received a satisfactory answer to why my home billing is so high during the winter months. My main complaint is that my home is less than one thousand feet is size and although I live alone and my heat regulator is never higher than 70 degrees during the winter months, my bill is consistently over $150. There is no way that I utilize this much gas to heat my home. I know that my insulation is fairly decent considering that my summer cooling bills are relatively low and additionally I have added new windows and storm doors to protect the insulation inside the residence. As I stated before, I have contacted the customer service for Piedmont Natural Gas about this situation multiple times and I have been told the same thing over and over again, that the bill is higher because of the cold weather. Once again, my heat thermometer is never higher that 70 degrees and when I am not in the residence the unit automatically cycles down to 60 degrees during the daytime. As recently as this past December 2017 into January 2018, I was out of the country for two weeks and my last bill was still $30 higher than the previous bill. Which made no sense at all considering that my heat was not even on during that time. I have a theory on why my bill is so high, when it should be relatively low. My theory is that the gas company is taking all the units in the area and averaging them together, rather than checking each unit individually.
In closing, I hope that someone at the Revdex.com checks into this complaint because there is no way that my gas bill can consistently be so high every month, even though I am rarely utilizing it.
I would like a thorough explanation from the gas company showing how they check the individual meters and if they cannot show with certainty that this bill is correct, then I would of course like a refund, error fixed and apology.
I have sent a response to customer's personal email so that I could include specific temperatures, rates and usage for his account.
Failure to provide reasoning for excessive billing for gas usage during winter months.
Although I have contacted the piedmont natural gas several times over the last few years relating to excessive gas billings, I have not received a satisfactory answer to why my home billing is so high during the winter months. My main complaint is that my home is less than one thousand feet is size and although I live alone and my heat regulator is never higher than 70 degrees during the winter months, my bill is consistently over $150. There is no way that I utilize this much gas to heat my home. I know that my insulation is fairly decent considering that my summer cooling bills are relatively low and additionally I have added new windows and storm doors to protect the insulation inside the residence. As I stated before, I have contacted the customer service for Piedmont Natural Gas about this situation multiple times and I have been told the same thing over and over again, that the bill is higher because of the cold weather. Once again, my heat thermometer is never higher that 70 degrees and when I am not in the residence the unit automatically cycles down to 60 degrees during the daytime. As recently as this past December 2017 into January 2018, I was out of the country for two weeks and my last bill was still $30 higher than the previous bill. Which made no sense at all considering that my heat was not even on during that time. I have a theory on why my bill is so high, when it should be relatively low. My theory is that the gas company is taking all the units in the area and averaging them together, rather than checking each unit individually.
In closing, I hope that someone at the Revdex.com checks into this complaint because there is no way that my gas bill can consistently be so high every month, even though I am rarely utilizing it.
I would like a thorough explanation from the gas company showing how they check the individual meters and if they cannot show with certainty that this bill is correct, then I would of course like a refund, error fixed and apology.
I have sent a response to customer's personal email so that I could include specific temperatures, rates and usage for his account.
Failure to provide reasoning for excessive billing for gas usage during winter months.
Although I have contacted the piedmont natural gas several times over the last few years relating to excessive gas billings, I have not received a satisfactory answer to why my home billing is so high during the winter months. My main complaint is that my home is less than one thousand feet is size and although I live alone and my heat regulator is never higher than 70 degrees during the winter months, my bill is consistently over $150. There is no way that I utilize this much gas to heat my home. I know that my insulation is fairly decent considering that my summer cooling bills are relatively low and additionally I have added new windows and storm doors to protect the insulation inside the residence. As I stated before, I have contacted the customer service for Piedmont Natural Gas about this situation multiple times and I have been told the same thing over and over again, that the bill is higher because of the cold weather. Once again, my heat thermometer is never higher that 70 degrees and when I am not in the residence the unit automatically cycles down to 60 degrees during the daytime. As recently as this past December 2017 into January 2018, I was out of the country for two weeks and my last bill was still $30 higher than the previous bill. Which made no sense at all considering that my heat was not even on during that time. I have a theory on why my bill is so high, when it should be relatively low. My theory is that the gas company is taking all the units in the area and averaging them together, rather than checking each unit individually.
In closing, I hope that someone at the Revdex.com checks into this complaint because there is no way that my gas bill can consistently be so high every month, even though I am rarely utilizing it.
I would like a thorough explanation from the gas company showing how they check the individual meters and if they cannot show with certainty that this bill is correct, then I would of course like a refund, error fixed and apology.
I have sent a response to customer's personal email so that I could include specific temperatures, rates and usage for his account.
Failure to provide reasoning for excessive billing for gas usage during winter months.
Although I have contacted the piedmont natural gas several times over the last few years relating to excessive gas billings, I have not received a satisfactory answer to why my home billing is so high during the winter months. My main complaint is that my home is less than one thousand feet is size and although I live alone and my heat regulator is never higher than 70 degrees during the winter months, my bill is consistently over $150. There is no way that I utilize this much gas to heat my home. I know that my insulation is fairly decent considering that my summer cooling bills are relatively low and additionally I have added new windows and storm doors to protect the insulation inside the residence. As I stated before, I have contacted the customer service for Piedmont Natural Gas about this situation multiple times and I have been told the same thing over and over again, that the bill is higher because of the cold weather. Once again, my heat thermometer is never higher that 70 degrees and when I am not in the residence the unit automatically cycles down to 60 degrees during the daytime. As recently as this past December 2017 into January 2018, I was out of the country for two weeks and my last bill was still $30 higher than the previous bill. Which made no sense at all considering that my heat was not even on during that time. I have a theory on why my bill is so high, when it should be relatively low. My theory is that the gas company is taking all the units in the area and averaging them together, rather than checking each unit individually.
In closing, I hope that someone at the Revdex.com checks into this complaint because there is no way that my gas bill can consistently be so high every month, even though I am rarely utilizing it.
I would like a thorough explanation from the gas company showing how they check the individual meters and if they cannot show with certainty that this bill is correct, then I would of course like a refund, error fixed and apology.
I have sent a response to customer's personal email so that I could include specific temperatures, rates and usage for his account.
I just got my monthly bill from Piedmont Natural Gas. My monthly bill ranges from around $20 in the summer to around $60 in the winter. Last month the bill was $80.85. The bill I received that is due on March 5th is $143.92. Nothing has changed and there is no explanation for this enormous increase. In fact there is a note on the bill about a rate decrease of $0.XXXXX per therm effective February 1, 2018. I saw on social media that this is happening to everyone in my neighborhood. How can PNG do this? They are claiming we used 109 therms at our house this month as opposed to 56 last month. There is no possible way that can be correct! Do we have any legal recourse or do we just have to pay whatever they charge us? Evidently many of my neighbors have called them and they have no explanation.
Account_Number: XXXXXXXXXXXXX
Billing Adjustment I would like for them to send me the correct bill for the billing cycle from 12/28/2017 to 1/30/2018.
The increase in your January bill is due to the colder temperatures we have experienced; temperatures were 67% colder than they were during your December bill for service. The colder it is outside the more frequently your furnace will come on to satisfy the thermostat setting. Your bills for the last three months have increased in correspondence to the decrease in temperatures.
Piedmont bill forms provide gas usage history for the previous 13 months as well as a side comparison for the current month bill and the same period the previous year. We have included this information at the bottom of this email; as you can see the therm usage and average daily temperature were nearly the same for the December 2016 and 2017 bills for service however, the average temperature for the January 2017 and 2018 bill for service varied by 9 degrees; this is reflected in the increase in therm usage.
Based on an analysis of your historical consumption data and the given temperatures we would have anticipated that your therm usage would have increased as it did. Piedmont utilizes Automatic Meter Reading (AMR) technology to obtain monthly reading for billing. This technology eliminates the possibility of human error in the readings.
Rate per therm by month Average Temp (via US
Climate Data)
December 2016 1.XXXXX 44.6
December 2017 1.XXXXX 45.1
January 2017 1.XXXXX XX.6
January 2018 1.XXXXX 35.5
February 2018 1.XXXXX
(The consumer indicated he/she ACCEPTED the response from the business.)
I just got my monthly bill from Piedmont Natural Gas. My monthly bill ranges from around $20 in the summer to around $60 in the winter. Last month the bill was $80.85. The bill I received that is due on March 5th is $143.92. Nothing has changed and there is no explanation for this enormous increase. In fact there is a note on the bill about a rate decrease of $0.XXXXX per therm effective February 1, 2018. I saw on social media that this is happening to everyone in my neighborhood. How can PNG do this? They are claiming we used 109 therms at our house this month as opposed to 56 last month. There is no possible way that can be correct! Do we have any legal recourse or do we just have to pay whatever they charge us? Evidently many of my neighbors have called them and they have no explanation.
Account_Number: XXXXXXXXXXXXX
Billing Adjustment I would like for them to send me the correct bill for the billing cycle from 12/28/2017 to 1/30/2018.
The increase in your January bill is due to the colder temperatures we have experienced; temperatures were 67% colder than they were during your December bill for service. The colder it is outside the more frequently your furnace will come on to satisfy the thermostat setting. Your bills for the last three months have increased in correspondence to the decrease in temperatures.
Piedmont bill forms provide gas usage history for the previous 13 months as well as a side comparison for the current month bill and the same period the previous year. We have included this information at the bottom of this email; as you can see the therm usage and average daily temperature were nearly the same for the December 2016 and 2017 bills for service however, the average temperature for the January 2017 and 2018 bill for service varied by 9 degrees; this is reflected in the increase in therm usage.
Based on an analysis of your historical consumption data and the given temperatures we would have anticipated that your therm usage would have increased as it did. Piedmont utilizes Automatic Meter Reading (AMR) technology to obtain monthly reading for billing. This technology eliminates the possibility of human error in the readings.
Rate per therm by month Average Temp (via US
Climate Data)
December 2016 1.XXXXX 44.6
December 2017 1.XXXXX 45.1
January 2017 1.XXXXX XX.6
January 2018 1.XXXXX 35.5
February 2018 1.XXXXX
(The consumer indicated he/she ACCEPTED the response from the business.)
I just got my monthly bill from Piedmont Natural Gas. My monthly bill ranges from around $20 in the summer to around $60 in the winter. Last month the bill was $80.85. The bill I received that is due on March 5th is $143.92. Nothing has changed and there is no explanation for this enormous increase. In fact there is a note on the bill about a rate decrease of $0.XXXXX per therm effective February 1, 2018. I saw on social media that this is happening to everyone in my neighborhood. How can PNG do this? They are claiming we used 109 therms at our house this month as opposed to 56 last month. There is no possible way that can be correct! Do we have any legal recourse or do we just have to pay whatever they charge us? Evidently many of my neighbors have called them and they have no explanation.
Account_Number: XXXXXXXXXXXXX
Billing Adjustment I would like for them to send me the correct bill for the billing cycle from 12/28/2017 to 1/30/2018.
The increase in your January bill is due to the colder temperatures we have experienced; temperatures were 67% colder than they were during your December bill for service. The colder it is outside the more frequently your furnace will come on to satisfy the thermostat setting. Your bills for the last three months have increased in correspondence to the decrease in temperatures.
Piedmont bill forms provide gas usage history for the previous 13 months as well as a side comparison for the current month bill and the same period the previous year. We have included this information at the bottom of this email; as you can see the therm usage and average daily temperature were nearly the same for the December 2016 and 2017 bills for service however, the average temperature for the January 2017 and 2018 bill for service varied by 9 degrees; this is reflected in the increase in therm usage.
Based on an analysis of your historical consumption data and the given temperatures we would have anticipated that your therm usage would have increased as it did. Piedmont utilizes Automatic Meter Reading (AMR) technology to obtain monthly reading for billing. This technology eliminates the possibility of human error in the readings.
Rate per therm by month Average Temp (via US
Climate Data)
December 2016 1.XXXXX 44.6
December 2017 1.XXXXX 45.1
January 2017 1.XXXXX XX.6
January 2018 1.XXXXX 35.5
February 2018 1.XXXXX
(The consumer indicated he/she ACCEPTED the response from the business.)
I just got my monthly bill from Piedmont Natural Gas. My monthly bill ranges from around $20 in the summer to around $60 in the winter. Last month the bill was $80.85. The bill I received that is due on March 5th is $143.92. Nothing has changed and there is no explanation for this enormous increase. In fact there is a note on the bill about a rate decrease of $0.XXXXX per therm effective February 1, 2018. I saw on social media that this is happening to everyone in my neighborhood. How can PNG do this? They are claiming we used 109 therms at our house this month as opposed to 56 last month. There is no possible way that can be correct! Do we have any legal recourse or do we just have to pay whatever they charge us? Evidently many of my neighbors have called them and they have no explanation.
Account_Number: XXXXXXXXXXXXX
Billing Adjustment I would like for them to send me the correct bill for the billing cycle from 12/28/2017 to 1/30/2018.
The increase in your January bill is due to the colder temperatures we have experienced; temperatures were 67% colder than they were during your December bill for service. The colder it is outside the more frequently your furnace will come on to satisfy the thermostat setting. Your bills for the last three months have increased in correspondence to the decrease in temperatures.
Piedmont bill forms provide gas usage history for the previous 13 months as well as a side comparison for the current month bill and the same period the previous year. We have included this information at the bottom of this email; as you can see the therm usage and average daily temperature were nearly the same for the December 2016 and 2017 bills for service however, the average temperature for the January 2017 and 2018 bill for service varied by 9 degrees; this is reflected in the increase in therm usage.
Based on an analysis of your historical consumption data and the given temperatures we would have anticipated that your therm usage would have increased as it did. Piedmont utilizes Automatic Meter Reading (AMR) technology to obtain monthly reading for billing. This technology eliminates the possibility of human error in the readings.
Rate per therm by month Average Temp (via US
Climate Data)
December 2016 1.XXXXX 44.6
December 2017 1.XXXXX 45.1
January 2017 1.XXXXX XX.6
January 2018 1.XXXXX 35.5
February 2018 1.XXXXX
(The consumer indicated he/she ACCEPTED the response from the business.)
My bill in January was almost 400 bucks, when I called to complain I was not given a valid reason. All I was told was that it was colder this past January. The customer service rep did not appreciate my concerns.
My bill in January was almost 400 bucks, when I called to complain I was not given a valid reason. All I was told was that it was colder this past January. The customer service rep did not appreciate my concerns.
My bill in January was almost 400 bucks, when I called to complain I was not given a valid reason. All I was told was that it was colder this past January. The customer service rep did not appreciate my concerns.
My bill in January was almost 400 bucks, when I called to complain I was not given a valid reason. All I was told was that it was colder this past January. The customer service rep did not appreciate my concerns.
I enrolled in auto pay. 4 months later, my gas (and heat) is turned off on January 29th with 4 kids in the house, all under 8 yo, on a 29 degree night
I called customer service to setup auto pay 4 or 5 months ago so I don't have to deal with paying monthly. Apparently it was never done though. I also don't regularly check my bank statements, so I wouldn't have known. On 1/29/18 my gas was turned off without any prior notice. The first notice I saw was a note on the door saying it's been shut off. I immediately paid it online and called customer service. The rep said I have to pay $95 to re-activate. I explained how the account was supposed to be on auto pay. My wife and FOUR children went without heat on a night that got down to 29 degrees. This is unacceptable.
I want the $95 reactivation fee credited to my account since the customer service rep was supposed to have activated the auto pay feature for my account. And an apology for turning off the gas, without notice, in the coldest time of winter. Just disgraceful.
We have investigated the complaint filed by the consumer. Our records reflect that prior to the payment received to restore service, the last payment received on the account was August 4, 2016. Bills for service were issued August 9; September 9; October 10; November 8; December 8, 2017; and January 10, 2018. Each of these bills, except August, reflected a past due balance was owed, and the total amount due.
The January 10 bill for service included an Important Notice (page 2 of 2) that advised to avoid interruption of gas service, the past due amount of $142.23 must be paid, or deferred arrangements made by the notice expiration date of January 22; please reference the attached billing statements and Important Notice.
When payment was not received a call was placed to the number on file for 24 hour notice of disconnection. Our records reflect a message was left on a voice messaging system January 24 at 10:52:49 AM. When payment was still not received service interruption occurred on January 29 due to non-payment.
Account notes reflect that prior to interruption of service, the consumer had not contacted us since January 30, 2017 when he placed an application for service. Call logs do not reflect that we have received a call from the phone number included in the consumer's complaint which is also the phone number on file. Records reflect the account was last accessed by a representative on June 6, 2017. Piedmont has no record of the consumer contacting us to enroll in our automatic bank draft program.
As this was a valid service interruption, Piedmont is unable to honor the consumer's request to credit the $90.95 payment for the service reconnection fee to his account. The reconnection fee allows Piedmont to recover a portion of the costs incurred associated with the trips to interrupt and restore service.
We hope this is a satisfactory explanation and will gladly answer any additional questions or concerns the consumer may have.
The response from Piedmont is almost entirely false or misleading. I had a Piedmont representative tell me over the phone that autopay had been set up, hence me never opening any monthly bills and instead putting them in the trash. Another completely false statement is that a voicemail was left for me 24 hours prior to disconnecting. I purposely do not have voicemail set up, therefore it's obviously impossible and a flat out lie. Again, I demand a refund for the service fee. My service was disconnected because of the incompetence of Piedmont employees. If this situation isn't resolved via Revdex.com, then my next step will be to inform my local representative, Alma Adams, of these devious business practices and mistreatment of a veteran. Or perhaps I'll take this dispute to the local NBC affiliate since 2 of my customers are their on-air personalities*** B and
Piedmont reported the information that is contained in our records. After receipt of the consumer's rebuttal we expanded the search in our call data base from February 1 to January 29. Our initial search of call recordings was from September 2017 to the date of service interruption January 29. This search was based on the consumer's statement in the initial complaint that service was interrupted "4 months" after he enrolled in auto pay. With the expanded search we located a call placed to us on June 6, 2017 at 12:16:12 PM.
Review of this call reflects the consumer stated that he had an account at a previous rental but moved and was at a new rental. He stated he thought he had set everything up and that he thought the bill was supposed to be automatically drafted out of his account. He further stated that he opened one of the bills and saw that it had a previous balance on it and that when he logged online the only account he saw was his previous address as opposed to the account for his current address. The consumer asked our representative how to access the online bill for his current address.
Our representative advised the consumer he would need to access Account Setting to manually change the account number. She advised him Account Settings were on the left hand side of the web page at the bottom of the blue banner at the bottom. She instructed him to remove the old account and then add the new account number.
The consumer stated that he would go ahead and do that and thanked our representative for her help. She told him he was welcome and asked if there was anything further she could do for him. The consumer said no, that was all. Our representative thanked him and told him to have a good day and the call was ended.
The consumer never provided his address or account number and our representative did not access his account as the inquiry was a general inquiry, no actual account information was discussed.
We truly regret the inconvenience the consumer experienced with the service interruption, however we are unable to honor his. This was a valid service interruption, notice of service interruption was provided and the account was past due. If necessary, Piedmont can allow the consumer to listen to the call recording to confirm he was not advised the account was enrolled. If he would like to do so we can contact him at the number listed on the service account.
Piedmont is happy to confirm the account is currently enrolled in our automatic bank draft program. The current bill reflects this with a message on the remit stub that states "Your Account Will Be Drafted On 03/05/18. Do not Pay."
We hope this is a satisfactory explanation and will gladly answer any additional questions the consumer may have.
I enrolled in auto pay. 4 months later, my gas (and heat) is turned off on January 29th with 4 kids in the house, all under 8 yo, on a 29 degree night
I called customer service to setup auto pay 4 or 5 months ago so I don't have to deal with paying monthly. Apparently it was never done though. I also don't regularly check my bank statements, so I wouldn't have known. On 1/29/18 my gas was turned off without any prior notice. The first notice I saw was a note on the door saying it's been shut off. I immediately paid it online and called customer service. The rep said I have to pay $95 to re-activate. I explained how the account was supposed to be on auto pay. My wife and FOUR children went without heat on a night that got down to 29 degrees. This is unacceptable.
I want the $95 reactivation fee credited to my account since the customer service rep was supposed to have activated the auto pay feature for my account. And an apology for turning off the gas, without notice, in the coldest time of winter. Just disgraceful.
We have investigated the complaint filed by the consumer. Our records reflect that prior to the payment received to restore service, the last payment received on the account was August 4, 2016. Bills for service were issued August 9; September 9; October 10; November 8; December 8, 2017; and January 10, 2018. Each of these bills, except August, reflected a past due balance was owed, and the total amount due.
The January 10 bill for service included an Important Notice (page 2 of 2) that advised to avoid interruption of gas service, the past due amount of $142.23 must be paid, or deferred arrangements made by the notice expiration date of January 22; please reference the attached billing statements and Important Notice.
When payment was not received a call was placed to the number on file for 24 hour notice of disconnection. Our records reflect a message was left on a voice messaging system January 24 at 10:52:49 AM. When payment was still not received service interruption occurred on January 29 due to non-payment.
Account notes reflect that prior to interruption of service, the consumer had not contacted us since January 30, 2017 when he placed an application for service. Call logs do not reflect that we have received a call from the phone number included in the consumer's complaint which is also the phone number on file. Records reflect the account was last accessed by a representative on June 6, 2017. Piedmont has no record of the consumer contacting us to enroll in our automatic bank draft program.
As this was a valid service interruption, Piedmont is unable to honor the consumer's request to credit the $90.95 payment for the service reconnection fee to his account. The reconnection fee allows Piedmont to recover a portion of the costs incurred associated with the trips to interrupt and restore service.
We hope this is a satisfactory explanation and will gladly answer any additional questions or concerns the consumer may have.
The response from Piedmont is almost entirely false or misleading. I had a Piedmont representative tell me over the phone that autopay had been set up, hence me never opening any monthly bills and instead putting them in the trash. Another completely false statement is that a voicemail was left for me 24 hours prior to disconnecting. I purposely do not have voicemail set up, therefore it's obviously impossible and a flat out lie. Again, I demand a refund for the service fee. My service was disconnected because of the incompetence of Piedmont employees. If this situation isn't resolved via Revdex.com, then my next step will be to inform my local representative, Alma Adams, of these devious business practices and mistreatment of a veteran. Or perhaps I'll take this dispute to the local NBC affiliate since 2 of my customers are their on-air personalities*** B and
Piedmont reported the information that is contained in our records. After receipt of the consumer's rebuttal we expanded the search in our call data base from February 1 to January 29. Our initial search of call recordings was from September 2017 to the date of service interruption January 29. This search was based on the consumer's statement in the initial complaint that service was interrupted "4 months" after he enrolled in auto pay. With the expanded search we located a call placed to us on June 6, 2017 at 12:16:12 PM.
Review of this call reflects the consumer stated that he had an account at a previous rental but moved and was at a new rental. He stated he thought he had set everything up and that he thought the bill was supposed to be automatically drafted out of his account. He further stated that he opened one of the bills and saw that it had a previous balance on it and that when he logged online the only account he saw was his previous address as opposed to the account for his current address. The consumer asked our representative how to access the online bill for his current address.
Our representative advised the consumer he would need to access Account Setting to manually change the account number. She advised him Account Settings were on the left hand side of the web page at the bottom of the blue banner at the bottom. She instructed him to remove the old account and then add the new account number.
The consumer stated that he would go ahead and do that and thanked our representative for her help. She told him he was welcome and asked if there was anything further she could do for him. The consumer said no, that was all. Our representative thanked him and told him to have a good day and the call was ended.
The consumer never provided his address or account number and our representative did not access his account as the inquiry was a general inquiry, no actual account information was discussed.
We truly regret the inconvenience the consumer experienced with the service interruption, however we are unable to honor his. This was a valid service interruption, notice of service interruption was provided and the account was past due. If necessary, Piedmont can allow the consumer to listen to the call recording to confirm he was not advised the account was enrolled. If he would like to do so we can contact him at the number listed on the service account.
Piedmont is happy to confirm the account is currently enrolled in our automatic bank draft program. The current bill reflects this with a message on the remit stub that states "Your Account Will Be Drafted On 03/05/18. Do not Pay."
We hope this is a satisfactory explanation and will gladly answer any additional questions the consumer may have.
I enrolled in auto pay. 4 months later, my gas (and heat) is turned off on January 29th with 4 kids in the house, all under 8 yo, on a 29 degree night
I called customer service to setup auto pay 4 or 5 months ago so I don't have to deal with paying monthly. Apparently it was never done though. I also don't regularly check my bank statements, so I wouldn't have known. On 1/29/18 my gas was turned off without any prior notice. The first notice I saw was a note on the door saying it's been shut off. I immediately paid it online and called customer service. The rep said I have to pay $95 to re-activate. I explained how the account was supposed to be on auto pay. My wife and FOUR children went without heat on a night that got down to 29 degrees. This is unacceptable.
I want the $95 reactivation fee credited to my account since the customer service rep was supposed to have activated the auto pay feature for my account. And an apology for turning off the gas, without notice, in the coldest time of winter. Just disgraceful.
We have investigated the complaint filed by the consumer. Our records reflect that prior to the payment received to restore service, the last payment received on the account was August 4, 2016. Bills for service were issued August 9; September 9; October 10; November 8; December 8, 2017; and January 10, 2018. Each of these bills, except August, reflected a past due balance was owed, and the total amount due.
The January 10 bill for service included an Important Notice (page 2 of 2) that advised to avoid interruption of gas service, the past due amount of $142.23 must be paid, or deferred arrangements made by the notice expiration date of January 22; please reference the attached billing statements and Important Notice.
When payment was not received a call was placed to the number on file for 24 hour notice of disconnection. Our records reflect a message was left on a voice messaging system January 24 at 10:52:49 AM. When payment was still not received service interruption occurred on January 29 due to non-payment.
Account notes reflect that prior to interruption of service, the consumer had not contacted us since January 30, 2017 when he placed an application for service. Call logs do not reflect that we have received a call from the phone number included in the consumer's complaint which is also the phone number on file. Records reflect the account was last accessed by a representative on June 6, 2017. Piedmont has no record of the consumer contacting us to enroll in our automatic bank draft program.
As this was a valid service interruption, Piedmont is unable to honor the consumer's request to credit the $90.95 payment for the service reconnection fee to his account. The reconnection fee allows Piedmont to recover a portion of the costs incurred associated with the trips to interrupt and restore service.
We hope this is a satisfactory explanation and will gladly answer any additional questions or concerns the consumer may have.
The response from Piedmont is almost entirely false or misleading. I had a Piedmont representative tell me over the phone that autopay had been set up, hence me never opening any monthly bills and instead putting them in the trash. Another completely false statement is that a voicemail was left for me 24 hours prior to disconnecting. I purposely do not have voicemail set up, therefore it's obviously impossible and a flat out lie. Again, I demand a refund for the service fee. My service was disconnected because of the incompetence of Piedmont employees. If this situation isn't resolved via Revdex.com, then my next step will be to inform my local representative, Alma Adams, of these devious business practices and mistreatment of a veteran. Or perhaps I'll take this dispute to the local NBC affiliate since 2 of my customers are their on-air personalities*** B and
Piedmont reported the information that is contained in our records. After receipt of the consumer's rebuttal we expanded the search in our call data base from February 1 to January 29. Our initial search of call recordings was from September 2017 to the date of service interruption January 29. This search was based on the consumer's statement in the initial complaint that service was interrupted "4 months" after he enrolled in auto pay. With the expanded search we located a call placed to us on June 6, 2017 at 12:16:12 PM.
Review of this call reflects the consumer stated that he had an account at a previous rental but moved and was at a new rental. He stated he thought he had set everything up and that he thought the bill was supposed to be automatically drafted out of his account. He further stated that he opened one of the bills and saw that it had a previous balance on it and that when he logged online the only account he saw was his previous address as opposed to the account for his current address. The consumer asked our representative how to access the online bill for his current address.
Our representative advised the consumer he would need to access Account Setting to manually change the account number. She advised him Account Settings were on the left hand side of the web page at the bottom of the blue banner at the bottom. She instructed him to remove the old account and then add the new account number.
The consumer stated that he would go ahead and do that and thanked our representative for her help. She told him he was welcome and asked if there was anything further she could do for him. The consumer said no, that was all. Our representative thanked him and told him to have a good day and the call was ended.
The consumer never provided his address or account number and our representative did not access his account as the inquiry was a general inquiry, no actual account information was discussed.
We truly regret the inconvenience the consumer experienced with the service interruption, however we are unable to honor his. This was a valid service interruption, notice of service interruption was provided and the account was past due. If necessary, Piedmont can allow the consumer to listen to the call recording to confirm he was not advised the account was enrolled. If he would like to do so we can contact him at the number listed on the service account.
Piedmont is happy to confirm the account is currently enrolled in our automatic bank draft program. The current bill reflects this with a message on the remit stub that states "Your Account Will Be Drafted On 03/05/18. Do not Pay."
We hope this is a satisfactory explanation and will gladly answer any additional questions the consumer may have.
I enrolled in auto pay. 4 months later, my gas (and heat) is turned off on January 29th with 4 kids in the house, all under 8 yo, on a 29 degree night
I called customer service to setup auto pay 4 or 5 months ago so I don't have to deal with paying monthly. Apparently it was never done though. I also don't regularly check my bank statements, so I wouldn't have known. On 1/29/18 my gas was turned off without any prior notice. The first notice I saw was a note on the door saying it's been shut off. I immediately paid it online and called customer service. The rep said I have to pay $95 to re-activate. I explained how the account was supposed to be on auto pay. My wife and FOUR children went without heat on a night that got down to 29 degrees. This is unacceptable.
I want the $95 reactivation fee credited to my account since the customer service rep was supposed to have activated the auto pay feature for my account. And an apology for turning off the gas, without notice, in the coldest time of winter. Just disgraceful.
We have investigated the complaint filed by the consumer. Our records reflect that prior to the payment received to restore service, the last payment received on the account was August 4, 2016. Bills for service were issued August 9; September 9; October 10; November 8; December 8, 2017; and January 10, 2018. Each of these bills, except August, reflected a past due balance was owed, and the total amount due.
The January 10 bill for service included an Important Notice (page 2 of 2) that advised to avoid interruption of gas service, the past due amount of $142.23 must be paid, or deferred arrangements made by the notice expiration date of January 22; please reference the attached billing statements and Important Notice.
When payment was not received a call was placed to the number on file for 24 hour notice of disconnection. Our records reflect a message was left on a voice messaging system January 24 at 10:52:49 AM. When payment was still not received service interruption occurred on January 29 due to non-payment.
Account notes reflect that prior to interruption of service, the consumer had not contacted us since January 30, 2017 when he placed an application for service. Call logs do not reflect that we have received a call from the phone number included in the consumer's complaint which is also the phone number on file. Records reflect the account was last accessed by a representative on June 6, 2017. Piedmont has no record of the consumer contacting us to enroll in our automatic bank draft program.
As this was a valid service interruption, Piedmont is unable to honor the consumer's request to credit the $90.95 payment for the service reconnection fee to his account. The reconnection fee allows Piedmont to recover a portion of the costs incurred associated with the trips to interrupt and restore service.
We hope this is a satisfactory explanation and will gladly answer any additional questions or concerns the consumer may have.
The response from Piedmont is almost entirely false or misleading. I had a Piedmont representative tell me over the phone that autopay had been set up, hence me never opening any monthly bills and instead putting them in the trash. Another completely false statement is that a voicemail was left for me 24 hours prior to disconnecting. I purposely do not have voicemail set up, therefore it's obviously impossible and a flat out lie. Again, I demand a refund for the service fee. My service was disconnected because of the incompetence of Piedmont employees. If this situation isn't resolved via Revdex.com, then my next step will be to inform my local representative, Alma Adams, of these devious business practices and mistreatment of a veteran. Or perhaps I'll take this dispute to the local NBC affiliate since 2 of my customers are their on-air personalities*** B and
Piedmont reported the information that is contained in our records. After receipt of the consumer's rebuttal we expanded the search in our call data base from February 1 to January 29. Our initial search of call recordings was from September 2017 to the date of service interruption January 29. This search was based on the consumer's statement in the initial complaint that service was interrupted "4 months" after he enrolled in auto pay. With the expanded search we located a call placed to us on June 6, 2017 at 12:16:12 PM.
Review of this call reflects the consumer stated that he had an account at a previous rental but moved and was at a new rental. He stated he thought he had set everything up and that he thought the bill was supposed to be automatically drafted out of his account. He further stated that he opened one of the bills and saw that it had a previous balance on it and that when he logged online the only account he saw was his previous address as opposed to the account for his current address. The consumer asked our representative how to access the online bill for his current address.
Our representative advised the consumer he would need to access Account Setting to manually change the account number. She advised him Account Settings were on the left hand side of the web page at the bottom of the blue banner at the bottom. She instructed him to remove the old account and then add the new account number.
The consumer stated that he would go ahead and do that and thanked our representative for her help. She told him he was welcome and asked if there was anything further she could do for him. The consumer said no, that was all. Our representative thanked him and told him to have a good day and the call was ended.
The consumer never provided his address or account number and our representative did not access his account as the inquiry was a general inquiry, no actual account information was discussed.
We truly regret the inconvenience the consumer experienced with the service interruption, however we are unable to honor his. This was a valid service interruption, notice of service interruption was provided and the account was past due. If necessary, Piedmont can allow the consumer to listen to the call recording to confirm he was not advised the account was enrolled. If he would like to do so we can contact him at the number listed on the service account.
Piedmont is happy to confirm the account is currently enrolled in our automatic bank draft program. The current bill reflects this with a message on the remit stub that states "Your Account Will Be Drafted On 03/05/18. Do not Pay."
We hope this is a satisfactory explanation and will gladly answer any additional questions the consumer may have.
Piedmont Natural Gas Monthly Bill is not accurate to reflect natural gas therms units,date of the natural gas meter reading, name of employee.
Customer Care
There is no need to highlight your bottom message.
I am very familiar with your web site and how to navigate.
Your response is :
1. Incomplete - DOES NOT SHOW WHAT WAS READ ON JANUARY 23, 2018 ( NO THERMS UNITS VALUE CONFIRMED IN EMAIL)
Reading your response, I am not sure if other " your bill was correct" there is anything from you to understand your email.
2. It is also showing your LACK OF UNDERSTANDING, we us customers need to have a complete results of any Piedmont Natural Gas Bill
read or re-read containing actual THERMS UNITS ( on the read meter)
3. AS OF TODAY JANUARY 29, 2018 I DID NOT RECEIVE ANY LETTER FROM YOU
Please show respect for us, customers in the way you address your email correspondence (email / letter)
4. I AM REQUESTING MY PIEDMONT NATURAL GAS BILLS PAPER STATEMENTS STARTING WITH JUNE, 2016 TO TODAY JANUARY 29, 2018
5. YOUR EVERY MONTH BILL SHALL INFORM ALL OF US CUSTOMERS :
a) The actual price HIKE in comparison with last year instead to show at the left top corner of our bill a decrease in the price of Therm Unit of $ 0.02 / Therm Unit.
b) The note inserted in blue in our bill does not show : 50 % HIKE IN PRICE OF THE NATURAL GAS AND IN ADDITION WHEN CALCULATING THE TOTAL PRICE ANOTHER COEFICIENT OF 1.14APPLIED TO THE TOTAL BILL WHICH BRING THE TOTAL PRICE OF OUR BILL AS : LAST YEAR PRICE OF $ 0.08/THERM UNIT, NOW $ 0.14/THERM UNIT WHICH IS MULTIPLIED WITH 1.14 AND AT THE END DISCOUNTED $ 0.02/THERM UNIT.
CLEARLY STATED FOR ALL OF US CUSTOMERS : A HIKE OF TOTAL 62% of the THERM UNIT in comparison with last year, paid by all of us due to the price hike.
This email in form of letter (USPS Certified Letter) is sent to your headquarter, upper management, to reflect / show how your Customer Care does respond to our concerns.
I am waiting for your letter with full explanation of the re-read bill ( containing NUMBER OF THE THERMS UNITS read on January 23, 2018) - which could not be the same THERM UNITS previously read initially by your employee in charge.
Thank you,
***
Retired Sr. Manager / Project Engineer Electrical / Energy Manager
Bechtel Corporation, San Francisco, CA
Onizuka Air Force Station, Raytheon Corporation, Sunnyvale, CA
Eaton Corporation, Pleasanton, CA
From: CustomerSelfService mailto:***@duke-energy.com
Sent: Wednesday, January 24, XXXX X:XX AM
To: ***@YAHOO.COM
Subject: Piedmont Natural Gas. - XXXXXXXXXXXXX #XXXXXX
***
Thank you for contacting Piedmont Natural Gas. A reread was performed on January 23, 2018. Per these results you bill was correct. You will be mailed results via postal mail.
To view you detailed bill online:
You can view your bills 2 ways:
1. Open your e- notice using your zip code. Click on the green paper clip to view your invoice.
2. From our website.....Visit: www.piedmontng.com then Manage Your Account. Once logged in click on Bill Information followed by Select A Bill Image.
Please make sure your pop up blocker is deactivated as this opens in an additional window/tab. In addition you will need Adobe acrobat reader to view bills.
*** If you have any additional questions regarding your account for security purposes we ask that you please visit our website at www.piedmontng.com then click Contact Us followed by Billing Question (http://www.piedmontng.com/about/aboutpng/customerservice/home.aspx) or call 800-752-7504 (Monday-Friday, 7:30 am- 7pm Eastern Standard Time) for immediate request as online request can take 2 business days to process.
Sincerely,
*** Care Team
We as customers want billing accuracy, fully informing about natural gas price hike (not only reduce) which is not reflected easy on the bill. In order to read and understand natural gas bill It is very hard for us as customers to go to various web site to look for the price of the THERMS UNITS. The bill shall contain the total therms units for the actual read month, date of reading, name of the person performing the reading
We have reviewed the complaint filed by the consumer; our records reflect the consumer contacted us on January 17 with a high bill complaint. The consumer requested that Piedmont re-read the meter that serves him to verify the January bill for service was correct.
The consumer also emailed us on January 18 stating that our bill lacks detailed information. Our records reflect the consumer is enrolled in eBill; the email sent to consumers notifying them they have a new bill available for viewing does not contain specific bill information; consumers must open the bill attachment to view the actual bill image which detailed information. A reply email was sent to the consumer the same day with instructions on how to view his bill. If the consumer is not able to view the bill in a specific browser he may need to turn off any pop-up blocker a browser may have.
The consumer contacted us on January 22 with a request to be removed from eBill; our records reflect the consumer will begin receiving paper statements beginning with his next bill for service. The consumer also indicated that he had not receive an email response for his communication to us on the 18th; our representative submitted a request to have another email sent to the consumer explaining how to view his eBill, and a request to email the results of the service order to verify the meter reading. If the consumer did not receive the email response from January 18, he may wish to check his spam folder as our email management system reflects a response was sent to the email address provided by the consumer.
Our records reflect the second email was sent to the consumer the following the day advising a reread was performed on the 23rd which verified the January bill was correct; the email advised the results would be mailed to him via postal mail. We apologize the consumer has not received the letter advising him the meter was re-read reflecting the January bill for service was correct; our business office is behind on mailing these letters due to high work volume. We have requested they mail the letter to the consumer today however, we will also provide the results in this correspondence.
Piedmont utilizes Automatic Meter Reading (AMR) technology to obtain monthly readings for billing. Using this technology increases accuracy in the reading of meters as it almost completely eliminates the chance of human error in the readings. However, at the consumers request we scheduled an order for January 22 to confirm the meter reading for the January bill for service was accurate. Piedmont was unable to complete this request on the 22nd and the order was completed the following day. Our records reflect our technician obtained a visual meter reading of 5570 which is 20 CCF greater than the AMR reading of 5550 obtained January 9 for the January bill for service.
Our records reflect the consumer was billed for 25 therms on the bill for service dated December 14, 2017; for service period 11/07/17 to 12/07/17. The average temperature for this billing period was 49, the bill for service was comparable to the December, 2016 bill for service where the *** was billed for 20 therms, and the average temperature was 51.
The consumer was billed for 60 therms on the bill for service dated January 17, 2018; for service period 12/07/17 to 01/09/18. The average temperature for this billing period was 37, reflecting that it was significantly colder than the billing period from the previous month and the same time period the previous year when the average temperature was 42.
In an analysis of the consumer's consumption, we would have anticipated January consumption would have double based on actual heating degree days (HDD). The consumer used 25 therms in December with 509 HDD; the HDD in January totaled 945 reflecting the billing period was nearly twice as cold. Based on historical consumption we would have anticipated the consumer would have used 46 - 50 therms for the January billing period, however meter readings reflect 60 therms were used, which is slightly higher than we would have anticipated.
Since the billed meter reading was verified as accurate we recommend the consumer speak with the apartment complex where he resides to ensure the heating equipment is working properly. It is possible the furnace needs cleaning and/or servicing, if a unit is not operating properly this can cause higher than anticipated usage.
As requested the bills for service beginning January 25, 2016 to present are attached; these bill copies have also been placed in the mail so the consumer will have them for his records. All Piedmont Natural Gas bill forms show:
(1) The reading of the meter at the beginning and at the end of the period for which the bill is rendered.
(2) The date on which the meter was read at the end of the billing period.
(3) The number of units metered.
(4) Identification of the applicable rate schedule.
(5) The gross and/or net amount of the bill.
(6) The date by which the *** must pay the bill in order to benefit from any discount or to avoid any penalty.
(7) A distinct marking to identify an estimated bill.
(8) Any conversion from meter reading units to billing units, or any calculations to determine billing units from recording or other devices, or any other factors, such as purchased gas or fuel adjustments, used in determining the bill. In lieu of such information on the bill, a statement must be on the bill advising that such information can be obtained by contacting the utility's principal office.
Effective January 1, 2018, as approved by the North Carolina Utilities Commission, the consumer's bill included a rate decrease of $0.XXXXX per therm. The December 2017 rate per therm was $1.XXXXX, the January 2018 rate per therm is $1.XXXXX reflecting the $0.XXXXX decrease. Rates may be viewed on our website at https://www.piedmontng.com/ by selecting the "About Piedmont" tab, and then selecting "Our Rates".
We hope this is a satisfactory explanation for the consumer and will gladly answer any additional questions or concerns he may have.
(The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)
Piedmont Natural Gas does not address my concerns :
1. As of today, February 7, 2018, I did not receive any letter with the results of the re-read therms units as indicated by Piedmont Natural Gas in their email response. Also I did NOT receive any copies of the bills requested February 2016 to February 2018.
2. Upon numerous emails sent explaining in details the difficulties, I experience in reading the gas bill details using various browser platforms - Mozilla FireFox, Google Chrome, and NOT having any Pop Up blocker, and so far rendered NO results or response. Also, I did explain in detail the fact that I was able to see in detail my natural gas bill on my iPhone 6S browser platform.
I did try several times to be as clear as possible to have Piedmont Natural Gas IT Department look at the problems I encountered and try to find a solution.
3. Automatic Meter Reading (AMR) is in general an accurate reading method versus human error however is not perfect "as it almost eliminates the chance of human error" Almost, means, sometimes could have errors in data readings transmission...or otherwise.
4. While I agree, temperature for the billing period was 37 degrees significantly cooler that previous month, it was NOT substantially cooler than last year of 42 degree, a 5 degrees difference which could not be translated in a bill of $ 85.36 twice of last month bill $ 41.40 or compared with last year bill of $ 55.47.
5. Piedmont Natural Gas Billing Department shall structure gas bill details containing all the information needed by us, customers, to understand and take proper decisions in how to reduce and save more in natural gas spending energy.
Several times I did mention bill shall contain the price rate for natural gas therm units consumption for period billed. Bill does not have to ask us, customers, to go to a different web site to find the rate schedule.
Since the rate schedule is for us, customers, RESIDENTIAL, only one rate schedule does apply for bill which shall include on the same page the price rates for therm units used.
I did attach, as an example Duke-Energy bill which clearly shows the price rate per kilowatt included in the same page without asking us, customers, to go to a different web site for rates schedule.
6. Piedmont Natural Gas bill forms DOES NOT contain all the necessary information for customers to evaluate, understand, and take proper decisions in regard to their gas energy savings.
All Piedmont Natural Gas bill forms show:
Paragraph (4) response shows "Identification of the applicable rate schedule" instead of rate price per therm units included clearly in the bill as many other energy companies do.
Thank you,
***
Retired Sr. Manager / Project Engineer / Energy Manager
Bechtel Corporation, San Francisco, CA
Raytheon - Onizuka Air Force Station, Sunnyvale, CA
Eaton Corporation, Pleasanton, CA
Both the letter containing the results of the re-read and bill copies were mailed to the consumer, we expect that given sufficient time those items have been received.
Piedmont Natural Gas eBills are delivered in Portable Document Format (PDF) which can be opened on a web page either within a web browser or in Adobe Acrobat or Reader. Each web browser has its own settings to control how PDFs open from a web page. If the consumer is having difficulty he may need to change his plug-ins or add-ons in Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox. The consumer may wish to visit Adobe's Acrobat help page for instructions on how to manage plug-ins and add-ons for assistance; Piedmont is unable to provide support for a consumer's web browser settings as these are built in security settings. Adobe's help page may be viewed by following this link: https://helpx.adobe.com/acrobat/using/display-pdf-in-browser.html
We appreciate the consumer's feedback regarding our bill format however, Piedmont has no plans to change its bill format at this time.
The January 2018 billing period was 20% colder than the same billing period in 2017. Piedmont verified the meter reading on January 23 at 5570 which was 20 CCF greater than the *** 9 billed reading of 5550. If the consumer still believes his bill is inaccurate we can change the meter that serves him and have a special test for accuracy performed. In order to change the meter, service will be temporarily interrupted, the consumer would need to be at the premise in order for a technician to have clear and safe access to all natural gas appliances for the purposes of relighting equipment and performing a required safety inspection. The consumer may contact our *** Contact Center at XXX-XXX-XXXX to schedule the meter change; our department will follow up with him after the meter has been tested. Please note meters are shipped to our testing facility and the results will not be immediately available.
Piedmont Natural Gas Monthly Bill is not accurate to reflect natural gas therms units,date of the natural gas meter reading, name of employee.
Customer Care
There is no need to highlight your bottom message.
I am very familiar with your web site and how to navigate.
Your response is :
1. Incomplete - DOES NOT SHOW WHAT WAS READ ON JANUARY 23, 2018 ( NO THERMS UNITS VALUE CONFIRMED IN EMAIL)
Reading your response, I am not sure if other " your bill was correct" there is anything from you to understand your email.
2. It is also showing your LACK OF UNDERSTANDING, we us customers need to have a complete results of any Piedmont Natural Gas Bill
read or re-read containing actual THERMS UNITS ( on the read meter)
3. AS OF TODAY JANUARY 29, 2018 I DID NOT RECEIVE ANY LETTER FROM YOU
Please show respect for us, customers in the way you address your email correspondence (email / letter)
4. I AM REQUESTING MY PIEDMONT NATURAL GAS BILLS PAPER STATEMENTS STARTING WITH JUNE, 2016 TO TODAY JANUARY 29, 2018
5. YOUR EVERY MONTH BILL SHALL INFORM ALL OF US CUSTOMERS :
a) The actual price HIKE in comparison with last year instead to show at the left top corner of our bill a decrease in the price of Therm Unit of $ 0.02 / Therm Unit.
b) The note inserted in blue in our bill does not show : 50 % HIKE IN PRICE OF THE NATURAL GAS AND IN ADDITION WHEN CALCULATING THE TOTAL PRICE ANOTHER COEFICIENT OF 1.14APPLIED TO THE TOTAL BILL WHICH BRING THE TOTAL PRICE OF OUR BILL AS : LAST YEAR PRICE OF $ 0.08/THERM UNIT, NOW $ 0.14/THERM UNIT WHICH IS MULTIPLIED WITH 1.14 AND AT THE END DISCOUNTED $ 0.02/THERM UNIT.
CLEARLY STATED FOR ALL OF US CUSTOMERS : A HIKE OF TOTAL 62% of the THERM UNIT in comparison with last year, paid by all of us due to the price hike.
This email in form of letter (USPS Certified Letter) is sent to your headquarter, upper management, to reflect / show how your Customer Care does respond to our concerns.
I am waiting for your letter with full explanation of the re-read bill ( containing NUMBER OF THE THERMS UNITS read on January 23, 2018) - which could not be the same THERM UNITS previously read initially by your employee in charge.
Thank you,
***
Retired Sr. Manager / Project Engineer Electrical / Energy Manager
Bechtel Corporation, San Francisco, CA
Onizuka Air Force Station, Raytheon Corporation, Sunnyvale, CA
Eaton Corporation, Pleasanton, CA
From: CustomerSelfService mailto:***@duke-energy.com
Sent: Wednesday, January 24, XXXX X:XX AM
To: ***@YAHOO.COM
Subject: Piedmont Natural Gas. - XXXXXXXXXXXXX #XXXXXX
***
Thank you for contacting Piedmont Natural Gas. A reread was performed on January 23, 2018. Per these results you bill was correct. You will be mailed results via postal mail.
To view you detailed bill online:
You can view your bills 2 ways:
1. Open your e- notice using your zip code. Click on the green paper clip to view your invoice.
2. From our website.....Visit: www.piedmontng.com then Manage Your Account. Once logged in click on Bill Information followed by Select A Bill Image.
Please make sure your pop up blocker is deactivated as this opens in an additional window/tab. In addition you will need Adobe acrobat reader to view bills.
*** If you have any additional questions regarding your account for security purposes we ask that you please visit our website at www.piedmontng.com then click Contact Us followed by Billing Question (http://www.piedmontng.com/about/aboutpng/customerservice/home.aspx) or call 800-752-7504 (Monday-Friday, 7:30 am- 7pm Eastern Standard Time) for immediate request as online request can take 2 business days to process.
Sincerely,
*** Care Team
We as customers want billing accuracy, fully informing about natural gas price hike (not only reduce) which is not reflected easy on the bill. In order to read and understand natural gas bill It is very hard for us as customers to go to various web site to look for the price of the THERMS UNITS. The bill shall contain the total therms units for the actual read month, date of reading, name of the person performing the reading
We have reviewed the complaint filed by the consumer; our records reflect the consumer contacted us on January 17 with a high bill complaint. The consumer requested that Piedmont re-read the meter that serves him to verify the January bill for service was correct.
The consumer also emailed us on January 18 stating that our bill lacks detailed information. Our records reflect the consumer is enrolled in eBill; the email sent to consumers notifying them they have a new bill available for viewing does not contain specific bill information; consumers must open the bill attachment to view the actual bill image which detailed information. A reply email was sent to the consumer the same day with instructions on how to view his bill. If the consumer is not able to view the bill in a specific browser he may need to turn off any pop-up blocker a browser may have.
The consumer contacted us on January 22 with a request to be removed from eBill; our records reflect the consumer will begin receiving paper statements beginning with his next bill for service. The consumer also indicated that he had not receive an email response for his communication to us on the 18th; our representative submitted a request to have another email sent to the consumer explaining how to view his eBill, and a request to email the results of the service order to verify the meter reading. If the consumer did not receive the email response from January 18, he may wish to check his spam folder as our email management system reflects a response was sent to the email address provided by the consumer.
Our records reflect the second email was sent to the consumer the following the day advising a reread was performed on the 23rd which verified the January bill was correct; the email advised the results would be mailed to him via postal mail. We apologize the consumer has not received the letter advising him the meter was re-read reflecting the January bill for service was correct; our business office is behind on mailing these letters due to high work volume. We have requested they mail the letter to the consumer today however, we will also provide the results in this correspondence.
Piedmont utilizes Automatic Meter Reading (AMR) technology to obtain monthly readings for billing. Using this technology increases accuracy in the reading of meters as it almost completely eliminates the chance of human error in the readings. However, at the consumers request we scheduled an order for January 22 to confirm the meter reading for the January bill for service was accurate. Piedmont was unable to complete this request on the 22nd and the order was completed the following day. Our records reflect our technician obtained a visual meter reading of 5570 which is 20 CCF greater than the AMR reading of 5550 obtained January 9 for the January bill for service.
Our records reflect the consumer was billed for 25 therms on the bill for service dated December 14, 2017; for service period 11/07/17 to 12/07/17. The average temperature for this billing period was 49, the bill for service was comparable to the December, 2016 bill for service where the *** was billed for 20 therms, and the average temperature was 51.
The consumer was billed for 60 therms on the bill for service dated January 17, 2018; for service period 12/07/17 to 01/09/18. The average temperature for this billing period was 37, reflecting that it was significantly colder than the billing period from the previous month and the same time period the previous year when the average temperature was 42.
In an analysis of the consumer's consumption, we would have anticipated January consumption would have double based on actual heating degree days (HDD). The consumer used 25 therms in December with 509 HDD; the HDD in January totaled 945 reflecting the billing period was nearly twice as cold. Based on historical consumption we would have anticipated the consumer would have used 46 - 50 therms for the January billing period, however meter readings reflect 60 therms were used, which is slightly higher than we would have anticipated.
Since the billed meter reading was verified as accurate we recommend the consumer speak with the apartment complex where he resides to ensure the heating equipment is working properly. It is possible the furnace needs cleaning and/or servicing, if a unit is not operating properly this can cause higher than anticipated usage.
As requested the bills for service beginning January 25, 2016 to present are attached; these bill copies have also been placed in the mail so the consumer will have them for his records. All Piedmont Natural Gas bill forms show:
(1) The reading of the meter at the beginning and at the end of the period for which the bill is rendered.
(2) The date on which the meter was read at the end of the billing period.
(3) The number of units metered.
(4) Identification of the applicable rate schedule.
(5) The gross and/or net amount of the bill.
(6) The date by which the *** must pay the bill in order to benefit from any discount or to avoid any penalty.
(7) A distinct marking to identify an estimated bill.
(8) Any conversion from meter reading units to billing units, or any calculations to determine billing units from recording or other devices, or any other factors, such as purchased gas or fuel adjustments, used in determining the bill. In lieu of such information on the bill, a statement must be on the bill advising that such information can be obtained by contacting the utility's principal office.
Effective January 1, 2018, as approved by the North Carolina Utilities Commission, the consumer's bill included a rate decrease of $0.XXXXX per therm. The December 2017 rate per therm was $1.XXXXX, the January 2018 rate per therm is $1.XXXXX reflecting the $0.XXXXX decrease. Rates may be viewed on our website at https://www.piedmontng.com/ by selecting the "About Piedmont" tab, and then selecting "Our Rates".
We hope this is a satisfactory explanation for the consumer and will gladly answer any additional questions or concerns he may have.
(The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)
Piedmont Natural Gas does not address my concerns :
1. As of today, February 7, 2018, I did not receive any letter with the results of the re-read therms units as indicated by Piedmont Natural Gas in their email response. Also I did NOT receive any copies of the bills requested February 2016 to February 2018.
2. Upon numerous emails sent explaining in details the difficulties, I experience in reading the gas bill details using various browser platforms - Mozilla FireFox, Google Chrome, and NOT having any Pop Up blocker, and so far rendered NO results or response. Also, I did explain in detail the fact that I was able to see in detail my natural gas bill on my iPhone 6S browser platform.
I did try several times to be as clear as possible to have Piedmont Natural Gas IT Department look at the problems I encountered and try to find a solution.
3. Automatic Meter Reading (AMR) is in general an accurate reading method versus human error however is not perfect "as it almost eliminates the chance of human error" Almost, means, sometimes could have errors in data readings transmission...or otherwise.
4. While I agree, temperature for the billing period was 37 degrees significantly cooler that previous month, it was NOT substantially cooler than last year of 42 degree, a 5 degrees difference which could not be translated in a bill of $ 85.36 twice of last month bill $ 41.40 or compared with last year bill of $ 55.47.
5. Piedmont Natural Gas Billing Department shall structure gas bill details containing all the information needed by us, customers, to understand and take proper decisions in how to reduce and save more in natural gas spending energy.
Several times I did mention bill shall contain the price rate for natural gas therm units consumption for period billed. Bill does not have to ask us, customers, to go to a different web site to find the rate schedule.
Since the rate schedule is for us, customers, RESIDENTIAL, only one rate schedule does apply for bill which shall include on the same page the price rates for therm units used.
I did attach, as an example Duke-Energy bill which clearly shows the price rate per kilowatt included in the same page without asking us, customers, to go to a different web site for rates schedule.
6. Piedmont Natural Gas bill forms DOES NOT contain all the necessary information for customers to evaluate, understand, and take proper decisions in regard to their gas energy savings.
All Piedmont Natural Gas bill forms show:
Paragraph (4) response shows "Identification of the applicable rate schedule" instead of rate price per therm units included clearly in the bill as many other energy companies do.
Thank you,
***
Retired Sr. Manager / Project Engineer / Energy Manager
Bechtel Corporation, San Francisco, CA
Raytheon - Onizuka Air Force Station, Sunnyvale, CA
Eaton Corporation, Pleasanton, CA
Both the letter containing the results of the re-read and bill copies were mailed to the consumer, we expect that given sufficient time those items have been received.
Piedmont Natural Gas eBills are delivered in Portable Document Format (PDF) which can be opened on a web page either within a web browser or in Adobe Acrobat or Reader. Each web browser has its own settings to control how PDFs open from a web page. If the consumer is having difficulty he may need to change his plug-ins or add-ons in Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox. The consumer may wish to visit Adobe's Acrobat help page for instructions on how to manage plug-ins and add-ons for assistance; Piedmont is unable to provide support for a consumer's web browser settings as these are built in security settings. Adobe's help page may be viewed by following this link: https://helpx.adobe.com/acrobat/using/display-pdf-in-browser.html
We appreciate the consumer's feedback regarding our bill format however, Piedmont has no plans to change its bill format at this time.
The January 2018 billing period was 20% colder than the same billing period in 2017. Piedmont verified the meter reading on January 23 at 5570 which was 20 CCF greater than the *** 9 billed reading of 5550. If the consumer still believes his bill is inaccurate we can change the meter that serves him and have a special test for accuracy performed. In order to change the meter, service will be temporarily interrupted, the consumer would need to be at the premise in order for a technician to have clear and safe access to all natural gas appliances for the purposes of relighting equipment and performing a required safety inspection. The consumer may contact our *** Contact Center at XXX-XXX-XXXX to schedule the meter change; our department will follow up with him after the meter has been tested. Please note meters are shipped to our testing facility and the results will not be immediately available.
Piedmont Natural Gas Monthly Bill is not accurate to reflect natural gas therms units,date of the natural gas meter reading, name of employee.
Customer Care
There is no need to highlight your bottom message.
I am very familiar with your web site and how to navigate.
Your response is :
1. Incomplete - DOES NOT SHOW WHAT WAS READ ON JANUARY 23, 2018 ( NO THERMS UNITS VALUE CONFIRMED IN EMAIL)
Reading your response, I am not sure if other " your bill was correct" there is anything from you to understand your email.
2. It is also showing your LACK OF UNDERSTANDING, we us customers need to have a complete results of any Piedmont Natural Gas Bill
read or re-read containing actual THERMS UNITS ( on the read meter)
3. AS OF TODAY JANUARY 29, 2018 I DID NOT RECEIVE ANY LETTER FROM YOU
Please show respect for us, customers in the way you address your email correspondence (email / letter)
4. I AM REQUESTING MY PIEDMONT NATURAL GAS BILLS PAPER STATEMENTS STARTING WITH JUNE, 2016 TO TODAY JANUARY 29, 2018
5. YOUR EVERY MONTH BILL SHALL INFORM ALL OF US CUSTOMERS :
a) The actual price HIKE in comparison with last year instead to show at the left top corner of our bill a decrease in the price of Therm Unit of $ 0.02 / Therm Unit.
b) The note inserted in blue in our bill does not show : 50 % HIKE IN PRICE OF THE NATURAL GAS AND IN ADDITION WHEN CALCULATING THE TOTAL PRICE ANOTHER COEFICIENT OF 1.14APPLIED TO THE TOTAL BILL WHICH BRING THE TOTAL PRICE OF OUR BILL AS : LAST YEAR PRICE OF $ 0.08/THERM UNIT, NOW $ 0.14/THERM UNIT WHICH IS MULTIPLIED WITH 1.14 AND AT THE END DISCOUNTED $ 0.02/THERM UNIT.
CLEARLY STATED FOR ALL OF US CUSTOMERS : A HIKE OF TOTAL 62% of the THERM UNIT in comparison with last year, paid by all of us due to the price hike.
This email in form of letter (USPS Certified Letter) is sent to your headquarter, upper management, to reflect / show how your Customer Care does respond to our concerns.
I am waiting for your letter with full explanation of the re-read bill ( containing NUMBER OF THE THERMS UNITS read on January 23, 2018) - which could not be the same THERM UNITS previously read initially by your employee in charge.
Thank you,
***
Retired Sr. Manager / Project Engineer Electrical / Energy Manager
Bechtel Corporation, San Francisco, CA
Onizuka Air Force Station, Raytheon Corporation, Sunnyvale, CA
Eaton Corporation, Pleasanton, CA
From: CustomerSelfService mailto:***@duke-energy.com
Sent: Wednesday, January 24, XXXX X:XX AM
To: ***@YAHOO.COM
Subject: Piedmont Natural Gas. - XXXXXXXXXXXXX #XXXXXX
***
Thank you for contacting Piedmont Natural Gas. A reread was performed on January 23, 2018. Per these results you bill was correct. You will be mailed results via postal mail.
To view you detailed bill online:
You can view your bills 2 ways:
1. Open your e- notice using your zip code. Click on the green paper clip to view your invoice.
2. From our website.....Visit: www.piedmontng.com then Manage Your Account. Once logged in click on Bill Information followed by Select A Bill Image.
Please make sure your pop up blocker is deactivated as this opens in an additional window/tab. In addition you will need Adobe acrobat reader to view bills.
*** If you have any additional questions regarding your account for security purposes we ask that you please visit our website at www.piedmontng.com then click Contact Us followed by Billing Question (http://www.piedmontng.com/about/aboutpng/customerservice/home.aspx) or call 800-752-7504 (Monday-Friday, 7:30 am- 7pm Eastern Standard Time) for immediate request as online request can take 2 business days to process.
Sincerely,
*** Care Team
We as customers want billing accuracy, fully informing about natural gas price hike (not only reduce) which is not reflected easy on the bill. In order to read and understand natural gas bill It is very hard for us as customers to go to various web site to look for the price of the THERMS UNITS. The bill shall contain the total therms units for the actual read month, date of reading, name of the person performing the reading
We have reviewed the complaint filed by the consumer; our records reflect the consumer contacted us on January 17 with a high bill complaint. The consumer requested that Piedmont re-read the meter that serves him to verify the January bill for service was correct.
The consumer also emailed us on January 18 stating that our bill lacks detailed information. Our records reflect the consumer is enrolled in eBill; the email sent to consumers notifying them they have a new bill available for viewing does not contain specific bill information; consumers must open the bill attachment to view the actual bill image which detailed information. A reply email was sent to the consumer the same day with instructions on how to view his bill. If the consumer is not able to view the bill in a specific browser he may need to turn off any pop-up blocker a browser may have.
The consumer contacted us on January 22 with a request to be removed from eBill; our records reflect the consumer will begin receiving paper statements beginning with his next bill for service. The consumer also indicated that he had not receive an email response for his communication to us on the 18th; our representative submitted a request to have another email sent to the consumer explaining how to view his eBill, and a request to email the results of the service order to verify the meter reading. If the consumer did not receive the email response from January 18, he may wish to check his spam folder as our email management system reflects a response was sent to the email address provided by the consumer.
Our records reflect the second email was sent to the consumer the following the day advising a reread was performed on the 23rd which verified the January bill was correct; the email advised the results would be mailed to him via postal mail. We apologize the consumer has not received the letter advising him the meter was re-read reflecting the January bill for service was correct; our business office is behind on mailing these letters due to high work volume. We have requested they mail the letter to the consumer today however, we will also provide the results in this correspondence.
Piedmont utilizes Automatic Meter Reading (AMR) technology to obtain monthly readings for billing. Using this technology increases accuracy in the reading of meters as it almost completely eliminates the chance of human error in the readings. However, at the consumers request we scheduled an order for January 22 to confirm the meter reading for the January bill for service was accurate. Piedmont was unable to complete this request on the 22nd and the order was completed the following day. Our records reflect our technician obtained a visual meter reading of 5570 which is 20 CCF greater than the AMR reading of 5550 obtained January 9 for the January bill for service.
Our records reflect the consumer was billed for 25 therms on the bill for service dated December 14, 2017; for service period 11/07/17 to 12/07/17. The average temperature for this billing period was 49, the bill for service was comparable to the December, 2016 bill for service where the *** was billed for 20 therms, and the average temperature was 51.
The consumer was billed for 60 therms on the bill for service dated January 17, 2018; for service period 12/07/17 to 01/09/18. The average temperature for this billing period was 37, reflecting that it was significantly colder than the billing period from the previous month and the same time period the previous year when the average temperature was 42.
In an analysis of the consumer's consumption, we would have anticipated January consumption would have double based on actual heating degree days (HDD). The consumer used 25 therms in December with 509 HDD; the HDD in January totaled 945 reflecting the billing period was nearly twice as cold. Based on historical consumption we would have anticipated the consumer would have used 46 - 50 therms for the January billing period, however meter readings reflect 60 therms were used, which is slightly higher than we would have anticipated.
Since the billed meter reading was verified as accurate we recommend the consumer speak with the apartment complex where he resides to ensure the heating equipment is working properly. It is possible the furnace needs cleaning and/or servicing, if a unit is not operating properly this can cause higher than anticipated usage.
As requested the bills for service beginning January 25, 2016 to present are attached; these bill copies have also been placed in the mail so the consumer will have them for his records. All Piedmont Natural Gas bill forms show:
(1) The reading of the meter at the beginning and at the end of the period for which the bill is rendered.
(2) The date on which the meter was read at the end of the billing period.
(3) The number of units metered.
(4) Identification of the applicable rate schedule.
(5) The gross and/or net amount of the bill.
(6) The date by which the *** must pay the bill in order to benefit from any discount or to avoid any penalty.
(7) A distinct marking to identify an estimated bill.
(8) Any conversion from meter reading units to billing units, or any calculations to determine billing units from recording or other devices, or any other factors, such as purchased gas or fuel adjustments, used in determining the bill. In lieu of such information on the bill, a statement must be on the bill advising that such information can be obtained by contacting the utility's principal office.
Effective January 1, 2018, as approved by the North Carolina Utilities Commission, the consumer's bill included a rate decrease of $0.XXXXX per therm. The December 2017 rate per therm was $1.XXXXX, the January 2018 rate per therm is $1.XXXXX reflecting the $0.XXXXX decrease. Rates may be viewed on our website at https://www.piedmontng.com/ by selecting the "About Piedmont" tab, and then selecting "Our Rates".
We hope this is a satisfactory explanation for the consumer and will gladly answer any additional questions or concerns he may have.
(The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)
Piedmont Natural Gas does not address my concerns :
1. As of today, February 7, 2018, I did not receive any letter with the results of the re-read therms units as indicated by Piedmont Natural Gas in their email response. Also I did NOT receive any copies of the bills requested February 2016 to February 2018.
2. Upon numerous emails sent explaining in details the difficulties, I experience in reading the gas bill details using various browser platforms - Mozilla FireFox, Google Chrome, and NOT having any Pop Up blocker, and so far rendered NO results or response. Also, I did explain in detail the fact that I was able to see in detail my natural gas bill on my iPhone 6S browser platform.
I did try several times to be as clear as possible to have Piedmont Natural Gas IT Department look at the problems I encountered and try to find a solution.
3. Automatic Meter Reading (AMR) is in general an accurate reading method versus human error however is not perfect "as it almost eliminates the chance of human error" Almost, means, sometimes could have errors in data readings transmission...or otherwise.
4. While I agree, temperature for the billing period was 37 degrees significantly cooler that previous month, it was NOT substantially cooler than last year of 42 degree, a 5 degrees difference which could not be translated in a bill of $ 85.36 twice of last month bill $ 41.40 or compared with last year bill of $ 55.47.
5. Piedmont Natural Gas Billing Department shall structure gas bill details containing all the information needed by us, customers, to understand and take proper decisions in how to reduce and save more in natural gas spending energy.
Several times I did mention bill shall contain the price rate for natural gas therm units consumption for period billed. Bill does not have to ask us, customers, to go to a different web site to find the rate schedule.
Since the rate schedule is for us, customers, RESIDENTIAL, only one rate schedule does apply for bill which shall include on the same page the price rates for therm units used.
I did attach, as an example Duke-Energy bill which clearly shows the price rate per kilowatt included in the same page without asking us, customers, to go to a different web site for rates schedule.
6. Piedmont Natural Gas bill forms DOES NOT contain all the necessary information for customers to evaluate, understand, and take proper decisions in regard to their gas energy savings.
All Piedmont Natural Gas bill forms show:
Paragraph (4) response shows "Identification of the applicable rate schedule" instead of rate price per therm units included clearly in the bill as many other energy companies do.
Thank you,
***
Retired Sr. Manager / Project Engineer / Energy Manager
Bechtel Corporation, San Francisco, CA
Raytheon - Onizuka Air Force Station, Sunnyvale, CA
Eaton Corporation, Pleasanton, CA
Both the letter containing the results of the re-read and bill copies were mailed to the consumer, we expect that given sufficient time those items have been received.
Piedmont Natural Gas eBills are delivered in Portable Document Format (PDF) which can be opened on a web page either within a web browser or in Adobe Acrobat or Reader. Each web browser has its own settings to control how PDFs open from a web page. If the consumer is having difficulty he may need to change his plug-ins or add-ons in Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox. The consumer may wish to visit Adobe's Acrobat help page for instructions on how to manage plug-ins and add-ons for assistance; Piedmont is unable to provide support for a consumer's web browser settings as these are built in security settings. Adobe's help page may be viewed by following this link: https://helpx.adobe.com/acrobat/using/display-pdf-in-browser.html
We appreciate the consumer's feedback regarding our bill format however, Piedmont has no plans to change its bill format at this time.
The January 2018 billing period was 20% colder than the same billing period in 2017. Piedmont verified the meter reading on January 23 at 5570 which was 20 CCF greater than the *** 9 billed reading of 5550. If the consumer still believes his bill is inaccurate we can change the meter that serves him and have a special test for accuracy performed. In order to change the meter, service will be temporarily interrupted, the consumer would need to be at the premise in order for a technician to have clear and safe access to all natural gas appliances for the purposes of relighting equipment and performing a required safety inspection. The consumer may contact our *** Contact Center at XXX-XXX-XXXX to schedule the meter change; our department will follow up with him after the meter has been tested. Please note meters are shipped to our testing facility and the results will not be immediately available.