Bay State Gas

On March 12,2010, a payment was made through a pay station which had been done before. On March 26, according to Bay State Gas Company, the payment check was returned for non-sufficient funds. The bank which the check was drawn on never was notified the check was returned. They did not return the check and I was never notified the check was returned by Bay State Gas. In fact, the pay station was never notified, the only people who claim the check was bounced was Bay State Gas, when in fact the check never bounced.

Since then I have had the bank send a letter which they claim they have never received and faxed, from the bank the letter explaining they never received the check which as of this writing, Bay State Gas never received. If there was an alternative to gas company, I would use it in a heart beat.

I arrived home to find my gas shut off. I am on the hardship plan and I paid my agreed-upon amount seven days before. I received no warnings that I was in risk of this. I would have gone up the street and paid it rather than mail it. However, the first rather rude customer service woman informed me that it takes 7 to 10 business days to reach Ohio. I am not sure why. Second, I must pay bill in full to get service. Well, the reason I am on hardship is the fact that I have been unemployed for two years. So, that was unrealistic.

However, my neighbor's heart is so bigshe paid the bill up the street at the local variety store that accepts their payments. I called at 7:30 next morning with the claim number and was curtly informed that they don't operate like that and someone would have to be at the house all day. Now, I asked why they can walk in to shut it off but need me there to turn it on. She found this unacceptable and rude because she apparently said, "Have a good day, ma'am." I am so glad the calls are recorded because I describe it as is and find it lacking in the service part of the job description which is "customer service."

Now, I don't want to take the second day off of a job I am hoping to keep, but, lo and behold, the gas man pulled up and didn't get out of truck. He drove away. I imagine he needed something. At 2:30 when the man across the street was watching my apartment, he must have used the rest room because he totally missed the gas guy. I asked if they could call first or check in with a neighbor and the answer was a pat, "We don't operate like that, mam."

So I still have no gas. My kids are 8 and 6 and I am giving them cold baths and microwaved dinners that I don't have the money to buy so I can feed them. The gas man left a card that says, "Call for an appointment." Guess what? Different number, same script: "We don't operate like that, mam." At this point, I handed the phone over to my sister because I can't get anywhere and I don't believe they can't give me a narrower time than an 8.5 hour span. I feel like the woman on the other end was personally offended by my situation. I am on hardship, not in Jamaica on a vacation and screwing the bills. Why are they so disrespectful to me rather than empathetic?

And the clincher is if they come out too many times to turn on my gas and I am not here, I get charged. I also need you to know that my gas is actually scheduled to be disconnected today. I got that notice this morning, two days after it was disconnected. I want an answer. Why can they come in to shut it off and not to turn it on? It is an apartment building. I know this is not going to help me, but maybe someday it will help another single mother who is alone in this world trying to raise two beautiful children alone.

convinced me to join a program they had to switch customers from electric to Gas. I did. They recommended a list of contractors and I selected one of them. He installed a Baseboard heating system which is a dual system. It heats the house and it provides hot water. Since it was installed, I had multiple problems with it. The biggest problem was that Bay State Gas did not have technicians that could work with the system. On various occasions, the technicians stated that there was "nothing they could do about the unit because parts were no available". Later a supervisor would come in and found alternative ways to repair the unit.

I called then on May 30th with a problem, "no hot water". I called Guardian Care. The technician said that he would order the part. I did not hear for them and called them back in four days. They stated that the part was not available yet. several days later I call them again. A woman on the phone gave the news that they can not find the part and that I needed to buy a hot water heater. I knew that she did not know what she was talking about. I asked her to let me speak to a supervisor. She told me that the supervisor will tell me the same thing. I called back and requested that a supervisor call me. No one has contacted me from the company. Today I requested another call from a supervisor and as before no one has contacted me. In the mean time , my wife and I have been heating water on the stove to take a shower every day since May 30th. I can not believe that in America (with the economy the way it is) are companies that do not respond to basic questions from their customers. No hot water for 12 days. What should I do next?

I have Guardian Care with the gas company. Of course, it does not cover for flood. What good is the coverage! I lost my heat and hot water due to a foot of water in the first storm and my hot water again in the second storm. My first charge for them to come out to check my heating system and hot water was for $356.57 and the second charge for just the hot waster was $125 for a total of of $481.57. You would think with all the damage and destruction people have suffered, you could adjust your rates for those who have thousands of dollars of damage. Thanks Bay State Gas for you caring attitude.

I purchased the Guardian Care Plan (extended warranty) for my furnace. My furnace stopped working. A Bay State Gas employee came to my home and stated that the heat exchanger was bad and was not covered by the Guardian Care plan, although my Guardian Care plan was current. I looked up what is covered in the plan, which are many parts, however, there are no "exclusions" noted, e.g., what is not covered! I feel this was unfair on the part of Bay State Gas. I purchased a new furnace for $4,300.00

I have been paying for the guardian care program for 1 year. I called to ask for service for my furnace and was told they cancelled my guardian care 6 days ago because my payment to baystate gas was overdue. I have paid the overdue amount and without any notice to me they canceled the guardian care, but it shows on my bill for this month a charge of $13.32 dated Sept.28,2009 and due Oct, 24,2009. Today, Oct, 20th, they told me over the phone it was cancelled 6 days ago, on Oct, 14th. It is a scam, do not pay for guardian care! They charge you monthly but when you want to use it they just happen to have cancelled it days before,what a scam!!! Baystate gas sucks and we should have other companies to choose from so there is not a monopoly that gives no choice to the consumer. Yes it's my fault my bill is overdue but it is still a scam when you want to use what you pay monthly for--they will look for anything they can so you cannot use what you paid for. My question is if they are billing me for this month for the guardian care of $13.82 how can they cancel it without notifying me in advance, they said they did but I know I did not recieve anything about it in the mail, and my bill says nothing about it but shows the charge for it. They charged me for this months service but not let me use it. If they are going to cancel it how can they do it the middle of a bill cycle in which I paid for this service.

I send my payment every month as I send payment to electrical or other.

With bay state gas, I get every other month late charge.

Then I'm start to send more the was they ask, like if the bill is $ 200.00 I send $ 300.00 or more.

But when my wife send it she send exact money, then I get late charge.

Last month april check was send on the 13 bill due on the 23 of april again, I get charge late feed.

I look in the bill from 2007 two now, and every other month or every month I get charge late feed,

even if I send the check two or tree weeks before do day.

Are bay state gas doing it to me or more customer.

21 cents for every 5 thousand customer go long way.

Every account I have submitted payments to have worked just fine, except Baystate Gas. I have submitted payments on 3/9 and 4/14 the payment transfered on 3/9 was recieved by Baystate on 5/6 and the payment (has cleared the bank)on 4/14 has not been received by BatState.

The customer service at BayState Gas is the worst I have ever experanced.

On Mon 4/27/09 Bay State Gas (BSG) shut off my gas and left a note in the door. When I got home from work and saw the note I called the # given to find out why. They said it was a mistake and verified that my account had a CREDIT of $200.00. Ok, then will the gas be turned back on by the end of the day? They said that the account was in my husband's name (John)and that he had to call to have the service reconnected. I reminded them that this was their mistake and no-one should have to call to have it reconnected because it never should have been terminated in the first place.

Long story short my husband died 7 years ago and even though I have paid all the bills since we have owned the home, trying to get this utility to put this in my name has been nothing short of a nightmare. Now to get the account in my name they want copies of 2 picture ID's and my social security card faxed to them (to be sure that I am who I say I am). There is no way I want that information faxed - anywhere. Also they told me that it takes 24-48 hrs for the change to happen - call then & request turn on.

As in the past when I have had a problem w/BSG I end up asking my son or another male call - say they are John - and mountains move. Even if I have just gotten off the phone w/BSG explaining he is deceased and just put my name on the account. Oh, yeah, to do that I have to open up a WHOLE NEW ACCOUNT. HELP!

My heating system was not working and Bay State Gas made repairs in October '08. The cost including parts came to $1,700 approx. Within days the system broke down, working inconsistently or not at all. Bay State refused to warranty their work and would not repair or service the unit, claiming that I was required to pay them in full first. Subsequently, having gone without heat for seven weeks, I installed a new unit in January '09 for $4,500 approx. I do not believe I should be liable for faulty repairs that the Gas Company would not warranty.

Economic harm is $1,700 approx. that Bay State has attached to my bill, which represents work inadequately performed. I went without heat for 6 weeks while arranging to have a new unit installed.

Monday morning, I called again requesting a transfer of service, they explained that they wouldn't be able to come to my home until the following friday. And also would not be able to turn off my service at my old address until then as well. Furthermore, the appointment would be all day meaning I could not leave the apartment until after they arrived which could be at any time during the day, and NO the day for the tech's don't end at 5.

The representatives were cold and uncaring. The company fails to meet the needs of the average American lifestyle. All day appointments scheduled for days or weeks later are unsatisfactory. Especially in regards to hot water and heating in a region that can become quite cold.

I believe that we deserve a choice in choosing a company to provide heat. And customers are treated with disregard due to this lack of choice.

In order to accommodate the company I was forced out of work that day to be in the apartment. Also, I had to pay for service at my old address for an additional week when I didn't live there. Meaning if anyone turned up the heat at that location I would be responsible.

On October 24th, I realized my gas furnace was not working and called the company to send a technician to look at it. They told me they were very busy and probably could not send someone out for a few days. I told them that I could probably wait until the following Saturday (October 29th) and they said they could do that and we set an appointment for between 8am and noon.

When Saturday came, no one showed up ALL DAY and when I kept calling them, they kept saying I was still on the list but couldn't give me an approximate time when they could come out. We scheduled it for first thing Sunday morning at 8am. That time has now passed and have not gotten any assurance on when they are coming. Besides going without heat during cold weather, I told them I was leaving on a business trip on Sunday afternoon so someone needed to come in the morning.

I feel like since I was trying to be accomodating that I have been pushed down on the priority ladder. I realize gas emergencies come up but also think that since I scheduled a technician practically a week in advance that I should have had someone out by now.

Since the temperature in the house was very low, I had to go out and buy electric heaters for the bedroom, costing over $50.

I have been a customer of Bay State Gas for 15 years. My heating at my residence and a three-family are provided with natural gas from Bay State Gas, as there is no other provider in the area. I also pay yearly for Guardian Care on three heating systems.

Over the past two years I have made 5 call about one system but it never seems to be repaired and returns with the same issue (no heat)from the pilot going out constantly and having to be relit by hand. This is their equipment which we rent as well. The operators and service technicians all seem very rude and don't seem to care about these reoccuring issues. We have waited at times for more than a day for them to respond to a service call request, and these calls are not when you would expect them to be at peak demand.

We also found that at one time the service technician had increased the temperature on the water so high that it was scolding. Since then we hired a private contractor (even though we have a service contract with Bay State Gas) to look at the system and he said the water temp. setting was set at the maximum which was not appropriate. He lower the temperature on the water and said it should cost us less now. He questioned the integrity of the Bay State Service technician in jacking up the temperature in the first place.

Why is Bay State Gas allowed to provide such sub-standard service? Now with the increase in natural gas prices passed along to us, and Bay State Gas' request for a rate hike, we do not think they deserve to gain a rate hike for poor service. They have no competition and we have no other choice but to change back to oil or electricity but at a cost to change our heating equipment! This extremely frustrating. We feel like we are trapped with Bay State Gas.