Cobb EMC and Scana Can About Go Fuck Themselves

[cassy_g]

Let me preface this story with saying that when I moved to my house, I was forced to give up Georgia Power and go to Cobb EMC, a company that I have forever loathed. They charge more per wattage, and they are just plain smarmy.

A few years ago, when the state decided to deregulate their gas service, I was given the option of Scana or nothing. Doesn't sound like much of a deregulation to me, but then again, I can't choose which electric company I have either. I was also informed that I would be getting a single bill with my Cobb EMC and Scana bills combined in one bill. Ok, fine, that DOES have its advantages, right? Write one payment and move along. However, the cost has always been insane as far as I am concerned. My combined gas/electric bill has averaged between $350-500/month which I think is ridiculous, we take showers (three combined, but sometimes we are every other day), we wash our clothes, and we wash our dishes. Most of the time we run fans in the summer, and use the fireplace (wood burning) in the winter, we turn off the lights in the rooms we aren't in, and we run four computers. My house isn't THAT big.

So, today, my son comes downstairs to inform me that there's no hot water. So I send astralfire down to check the pilot light on the water heater. Low and behold, we have no gas - at all. Considering I just paid my bill in full, I was like, WTF?

After a call to Cobb EMC, we are informed, for the first time mind you, that they decided to split Cobb EMC and Scana billing. So, why the fuck has my bill still been over $350 every month?

After calling Scana I get informed that they haven't been paid since February (which of course, is why they turned off my gas service), not that I have ever seen a bill from them. Then they tell me I owe them $750. For those of you not keeping score, that's $150/month for the last five months. And in case none of you noticed, it's SUMMER TIME. Ok, so let's just say I can somehow find $750 - guess what? It will be Thursday AT THE EARLIEST before they will reconnect me.

Could someone please tell me when the fuck the utility companies decided that they were no longer a service related industry?

And could someone PLEASE tell me why the fuck my bills are now $500/month for the last 5 months!?

I am so livid at this moment I could literally scream, if it weren't for Pirate goodness later, I swear I might be throwing things.

Comments

[nmissi.livejournal.com]

That is RIDICULOUS. My bill for this month, gas and electric combined, was 40.30. Last year, when I was using the A/C- it was 72.00. My home is small, about 1000 sq feet. But I don't think yours is THAT much bigger.

[bucketopants.livejournal.com]

Monopolies have realized that it is not in their best interest to spend money on customer service, or show any respect for their customers. But I am finding that true with many companies.

Remember when the customer is always right? Like sometime in the 1990's? Whenever I call Comcast about an outage, the first things out of their mouth is basically "is it actually your fault?" Then they say "oh we can send someone out in a week."

But one thing I noticed and actually had confirmed to me by a "customer service manager" (quotes because customer service is not their real intention) is that they insulate customer service these days a lot so they are ignorant to what problems may be, so they don't have to answer questions like "why is my cable out?".

Have fun at Pirates... And ask for some plan to pay the excess not all at once. Sometimes it works...