Southern Connecticut Gas Company

Complaint: [redacted]I do not still have those emails, I don't save all my emails for extended periods of time and I had no expectation that this was going to be such an issue.  This was from 2013 and I only recently noticed the problem on my credit report.  Again we settled the issue long ago and you received payment plus late fees however for the next several years I am being adversely impacted because of your poor service and infrastructure.  All I ask is that you stop reporting this information to the credit bureaus as it is not a fair representation of the situation.  I would very much like to settle this matter permanently, I am sorry that I don't have those emails - I know it's just my word at this point but this item being reported to [redacted] is extremely detrimental to me and it is very important that I get this resolved.  I do not feel that it is fair to me or a fair representation of the situation to report the late payments to [redacted].
Sincerely,
[redacted]

I just moved into a new condo, and I have no service. Obviously the prior owner turned off service. According to SCG, I have to wait until Monday morning just to talk to someone about it, and then it might take days before a truck can come out to turn the service back on. Currently it's 31 degrees outside and the forecast is for cold weather the rest of the weekend. Plus I have children in the house.
According to the company only emergency services are provided on weekends and no heat, during near freezing temp, with children in the house, is not considered an emergency.
This is not the case of me not paying a bill. I simply moved and need to set up new service. I had no problem setting up electric and cable.

Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID 10013092, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.
Sincerely,
Thomas Franeta

On January 4, 2016, SCG responded to a “no heat “call,
which a technician diagnosed to be beyond the scope of SCG work. The customer
was advised to get an outside licensed contractor to address the issue.
 
On January 20, 2016, SCG responded to a “repeat
no heat” call, which a...

technician found the same issue as on January 4 and that
an outside contractor has not been contacted.   
 
The charges are based on half hour increments
plus tax and the customer was charged the service rate. The customer’s
bill will not be modified for the service charge. There was no charge for the
work order from January 20, 2016.
 
SCG
service is working with the customer on a resolution.

July 28, 2014
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Revdex.com
[redacted] [redacted]
Consumer:  [redacted]
This letter is in response to [redacted] complaint regarding “Billing or Collection Issues” for [redacted] [redacted].
A review of the contacts and billing for [redacted] account is completed and below is my findings.
On July 2, 2014, [redacted] put in a request for a Supervisor to call him back regarding the security deposit that was  billed to his account.  
On July 28, 2014 [redacted] was contacted by a Supervisor and the deposit will be cancelled  off his account.
Southern Connecticut Gas Company (“SCG”) apologizes for any inconvenience that [redacted] experienced while waiting for a Supervisor call back.
[redacted]
Supervisor, Customer Relations
Southern Connecticut Gas Company

June 23, 2015
 
Revdex.com
Complaint Case #: [redacted]
Consumer:  [redacted]
 
RE: Account # [redacted]
 
This letter is in response to [redacted] complaint regarding “Gas Service” for [redacted].; Account # [redacted]....

  
 
Southern Connecticut Gas Company (“SCG”) was contacted by the customer on March 28, 2013 to start service at the reference account.
 
The account balance was reported to [redacted] on 8/8/2013 stating the following: Reported to Credit Bureau Account 90 Days Past Due Date. Prior to the balance being reported, SCG is showing two (2) contacts made by the customer ;8/2/12  and 3/28/2013. Neither of these contacts references any information regarding web site issues and/or payment issues.  On a monthly basis, the customer receives either a paper or electronic bill. 
The customer signed up for online billing on 8/25/2013 and a bill was generated each month. The bills were being sent to the email address [redacted]. By the time of the enrollment, the account was reported 90 days late.
 
If the customer tried to contact SCG by email regarding their online account and did not receive a response from the Company, the customer could have contacted the Call Center by phone.  The Call Center is open Monday through Friday from 7:30am to 6:30pm except holidays.
 
The customer can put in a dispute in with [redacted] but SCG reported the debt correctly.  SCG will contact [redacted] to verify that the debt shows an updated status now a $0.00 balance.
 
 
 
 
[redacted]
Supervisor, Customer Relations
  Southern Connecticut Gas Company

It was found that the customer received monthly bills that listed any payments to the accounts and any balances forward if there was a balance remaining from the previous month’s bill. In addition, it is stated at the bottom of each bill the company’s practices regarding credit reporting....

•    4-27-15 statement, $64.21, was a current month’s bill. No balance forward. No payments listed. •    5-28-15 statement, $42.86, was a current month’s bill. No balance forward. $64.21 payment listed. •    6-25-15 statement, $67.27, listed $24.41 current month’s bill. Balance forward $42.86. No payments listed. •    7-28-15 statement, $93.42, listed $25.01 current month’s charges, $1.14 late payment charge, and a balance forward of $67.27. No payments listed.•    8-27-15 statement, $119.31, listed $24.97 current month’s charges, $ .92 late payment charge, and a balance forward of $93.42. No payments listed.•    9-28-15 statement, $145.97, listed $25.41 current month’s charges, $1.25 late payment charge, and a balance forward of $119.31. No payments listed. Regards,Patricia D[redacted]Review Officer

The Company spoke with the customer today in regard to resolution of the complaint and the customer is satisfied.

April 30, 2014
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Revdex.com
Complaint Case #: 10026217
Consumer:  Kimberly Booth
This letter is in response to Kimberly Booth’s complaint regarding “Billing or Collection Issues” for [redacted]
A review of the notes and payments on the account is completed and below is my finding.
On March 17, 2014 at 5:43pm, Ms. Booth contacted the Southern Connecticut Gas Company (“SCG”) and made a required payment to set up an installment plan.  SCG uses an outside vendor to process all payments which takes a few days (they are not processed in real time, just posted).  
The confirmation for the payment that was given to the customer is stating that the payment will be processed by our vendor and presented to the customer’s bank for payment.  When the customer’s bank received the payment, there were “insufficient funds” in the customer’s account and Ms. Booth was notified by her bank.  
On March 17, 2014, the customer was entered into an installment plan with the understanding that the payment would clear.  When the bank declined payment, the customer’s installment plan became invalid.  Ms. Booth then received a disconnect notice on March 31 and did not contact SCG regarding the notice. 
The services were disconnected and to restore the service, a payment of the determined amount is required.
Deborah Lisi
Supervisor, Customer Relations
Southern Connecticut Gas Company

March 14, 2014
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Revdex.com
Complaint Case #: [redacted]
Consumer:  Yolette Isidor
This letter is in response to Yolette Isidor complaint regarding “Billing or Collection Issues” for [redacted]  [redacted]; account # [redacted].
A review of the billing and notes associated with this complaint has been completed, and below are my finding.
Ms. Isidor claims that she did not receive the billing statement from 1/3/2014 to 2/3/2014.  This bill was emailed to her at [redacted] on 3/13/14.  The statement has all the billing details she is requesting.
In regards to the high usage, Ms. Isidor moved into this address on 7/3/13 and there is no history of usage by her for the time period she is stating is high.  A review of the historical billing (previous customers) for the months in question proved that, Ms. Isidor billing was slightly higher, but the average temperature was 30 degrees for the three (3) months.  This year was colder than last year. 
In regards to the customer service that she received, Southern Connecticut Gas Company (“SCG”) is looking into the matter and is taking this very seriously.
Deborah Lisi
Supervisor, Customer Relations
Southern Connecticut Gas Company

The Company spoke with the customer today, 6/5, and advised the Company accepts responsibility for the damage to her door.  SCG will contract with a carpenter for repair of the door and the lock and will coordinate with the customer when a vendor is found. The Company will be in contact again with the customer today or tomorrow to do so.

Complaint: 10026217
I am rejecting this response because: The business did not respond as to why their agent told me the payment was accepted and did not inform me that it may take up to 72 hours to process the payment. He simply stated, 'payment accepted'. Accepting a payment is taking the payment. I also never received the second letter as I informed the supervisor I spoke with. I simply received another bill with a due date of 4/24 while my service was shut off on 4/23.
Sincerely,
Kimberly Booth

Good morning,  I have reviewed and have sent this over to a manager to contact [redacted]

Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.  However, I am unsure if the late fees will be credited back to me and if my credit has been affected by the late fees posted due to the deposit on my account that has now been removed.
Sincerely,
[redacted]

Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.
Sincerely,
[redacted]

Review: My bill was paid they had note of it and still shut off my gas. I have no heat or hot water. Scg Promised to fix it by midnight it never happened.

After calling several times to explain my situation I was hung up on an placed on hold for an extended period of time. I have kids they showed no remorse.Desired Settlement: I need the hundreds I pay back I have no service. I feel hustled an heat and hot water is a necessity.

Business

Response:

Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2013/06/25) */

June 25, 2013

Revdex.com

Complaint Case #: XXXXXXXX

Consumer: [redacted]

This letter is in response to [redacted] complaint regarding "Service Issues" for 91 [redacted] Street [redacted] CT.

Ms. [redacted]'s account had a past due balance and Southern Connecticut Gas Company (SCG) followed reg. XX-X-XXX and mailed her the appropriate documentation to make a payment.

Due to the payment not being posted by the required date, the gas service was disconnected. On the original scheduled date, the service technician was unsuccessful to make contact with Ms. [redacted] by phone. Since no contact was made with the customer, the reconnect work order was scheduled for the next business day.

SCG does apologize for the customer service she received and hope her next experience with SCG [redacted] be in a positive nature.

Supervisor, Customer Relations

Southern Connecticut Gas Company

Review: The company website did not acknowledge that a change in my payment information had not gone through. Then the company terminated my service without warning (no postal mail, electronic mail, phone call, etc). Most egregiously, although the company is a critical municipality, they do not provide customer service outside of bankers hours or on holidays, meaning that a person whose service was terminated in the winter could not have access to heat or warm water until the next business day. In my case the service was improperly terminated at the beginning of a holiday weekend. Even more unbelievably, there is only one non-emergency phone number offered by the business, and it requires you to sit through scam advertising (opportunities for [redacted] giftcards or a free cruise!) before you get to find out whether there are even customer service staff available to speak to you. Often as not if you do not consent to the scam (providing a credit card payment, etc) the phone call will be terminated without ever connecting through to the customer service line. This is absolutely unconscionable coming from a mandated utility provider, especially given that many of your customers are likely to be unable to distinguish between the advertisements and a wrong number, or your business itself.Desired Settlement: You absolutely must do the following:1. Make your customer service line available at all hours, or extend your emergency line to use for those who may be placed at risk by service termination. 2. Remove scam advertising from your customer service line, or place it after the customer service interaction so that people will not be forced to have their call prematurely terminated on your only line. Failure to address these issues will result in reports filed with state agencies.

Business

Response:

July 10, 2014

Review: Southern ct gas company is ruining consumers credit and not disclosing warnings to customers that they are doing so. My husband recently checked his credit report and noticed that southern ct gas company reported us 150+ days late from the moment we made an arrangement for our winter balance in June 2012 till November 2012. Like many people we needed to make an arrangement for balance left over from the winter and we payed every month. We were never informed that they would report very negatively on his report for 6 months!!! Now we are unable to get approved for a CHFA loan all because of this account. It's not fair to punish those who come across hard times and want to pay their bill so harshly without warning. In a time where obtaining credit can be so hard this should either be disclosed or not allowed. We have filed a dispute with experian and this company refuses to fix this.Desired Settlement: To disclose to customers who make payment arrangements, at time of making arrangement, that they still will be reported negatively to the credit bureau until balance is paid

Business

Response:

March 11, 2014

Review: As a utility serving Connecticut citizens, the lack of response and concern for their own failures is not acceptable because we are not able to go to competition. If our state government picks an organization that lacks respect for its citizens, I must hold our politicians responsible for contributing to their continued lack of professionalism.I have asked for a call from a SoCon supervisor on multiple occasions and never received the professionalism of a return call.I am unable to retrieve my bills because they have known bugs in their system that they admit to but never seem to fix them (for several months) - ARROGANCE.The resolution requires over 15 minutes on the phone every month to retrieve a simple bill. Their voicemail system is poor, their operators hang up on you before you can even speak and all this could be repaired with a simple network fix if they were not so inept.Desired Settlement: I would like a supervisor to return my call and act like a professional who wishes to resolve an issue that is simple and required of them. In this day and age, computing is so easy with such extensive tools that one expects at least the basic services from a giant like Southern Connecticut, and yet, their system is cumbersome and does not even allow the casual user to print a monthly bill. Their lack of response is an indication of the poor leadership and concern for their customers.

Business

Response:

So SCGC switched to a new online software. They supposedly sent an email with a temporary password to log on for those customers that use e-billing. NO PASSWORD EVER RECEIVED BY ME. I have been using online billing for a bout 8 years!!!. I had to call them. I used their call back option because wait time was 46 minutes. They called back only to disconnect me. I am now calling them again-I have been on hold for over 46 minutes. Funny how you have to spend HOURS trying to straighten out their mistakes but they'll shut off your gas in a heartbeat. Terrible company to have to deal with like most utilities. Something needs to be fixed there.