CL&P’s Got the Power
And they’re being total dicks about it. I’ve written before about the “Summer Saver” rewards program that gives conserving customers a credit that’s financed by a charge on their bill.
Let’s review:
- Offering you a way to save money on your skyrocketing electric bill is great.
- Requiring you to sign up (as if not all ratepayers want to get a credit) is inconvenient, but somewhat understandable. After all, CL&P is not in the business of giving away money.
- Funding the credits for the small number of people who knew to sign up with a charge levied on every single ratepayer? That’s downright dickish.
I’m not someone who believes that businesses don’t deserve to turn a profit. I know very few people who believe that. But since we’re paying CL&P ever-increasing rates to provide the electricity that is necessary for every aspect of our daily lives, I think it is reasonable to expect at least a basic level of customer service. Proving once again that they are nothing if not dicks, CL&P has an unfriendly customer service policy:
CL&P then threatened to shut off his electricity. He told the service rep he would not pay until CL&P came out to his shop.
Apparently he was unaware of CL&P’s policy of not meeting its smaller customers.
So he asked to speak to her supervisor.
Levesque was also apparently unaware of another CL&P policy – don’t let the customer speak to a supervisor.
So this Levesque guy had a faulty meter, suspected as much, and was being charged for more electricity than his metal grinding shop (which runs on 100-amp service) could ever possibly draw in one month. That’s like pulling up to a full service gas station where the attendant charges you for the 25 gallons of gas he pumped into your 1990 Geo Metro. Except that the attendant is a human being capable of rational thought, and CL&P are just dicks.
I apologize to anyone who is genuinely offended by my language, but I believe I’ve found the best way to adequately explain the behavior and practices of CL&P. They do what they want. They can be nice — but it’s just for show. We have to deal with them — and they know it.
So think about someone you’ve known that made you think “what a dick!” Now think about CL&P. I think you’ll conclude that they’ve got a lot in common.
…not to mention that I get my bills online, which they push for, and since I’ve saved them the mailing costs, they also don’t feel like they have to let me know about this…I guess I had to click through to see the bill details …and I should because it is SO high right now, but I haven’t had the time.
Ive been helping some inner city folks navigate the utility nightmare that has been getting worse and worse in CT, and I have noticed that there is much more of a zero tolerance situation in place. If you’re someone who doesn’t speak English well, or someone on the lower financial spectrum and you have ever missed a payment, you’re screwed.
There is not alot of work around for people who need to make a real living that will actually cover these bills, and once one payment is missed, if a deal isn’t immediately struck, you’re out of luck…and all the amounts that were set aside as part of the savings programs seem to come due.
The story gets worse and worse in that city housing can kick you out if your utilities are cut off, and to restore it they require either the whole payment or a payment that is huge for someone working for minimum wage or less.
So, Ive been talking to people who are apologetic to ME, but there is zero tolerance and the payment has to be something like $500…oh, they can get it, but its the entire food budget for the month…and not enough at that!! And it really doesn thelp because you still owe them another $500 and you cant ge ton the bedget plan again till thats paid…so by the next bill, which is …oh!…Now!!…you owe it again.
I have been blogging about this and am about to do another post because of the crap that Im slogging through every day lately, just in helping people who didn’t even understand what was happening as it happened.
This is why we need JOhn Edwards or someone like him as president. We need serious federal regulation put in place.
For anyone out there who blames the poor…lets just say that when a city housing resident is kicked out with a bunch of kids, maybe they disappear from the radar, but likely they end up in Bridgeport in a shelter and eventually in a hotel for 3 grand a month…the cost to society is SO much greater when you add up the dollars and cents of bailing people out …letting the utilities write off some sort of program to help people get to zero in a rational way….
And if you extrapolate it out to the kids who are moved into a different school system and put into a different inner city…you cant even count the impact of that…
check me later today or tomorrow for more on this issue…my first hand experiences with one foot in each America…its so crazy …