Stay away from SEMCO. They will lie, threaten, harass, and violate the law, anything whatsoever to collect money, whether owed or disputed. Go with any other utility company!
Consumer Complaints & Reviews
I got a late payment notice in the mail and paid it. The next morning, a woman came here to shut off the gas. We explained that we had paid and she gave us a number to call to clear it up. My wife called and the woman she talked with confirmed that we paid and called the service technician and straightened it out.
Today, it is three days later, a man in a service truck without knocking, walks into the yard and takes the meter. My wife tries to stop him and asks what is going on, he says that our gas was shut off three days ago and it is illegal for us to reactivate our own gas, which is stealing. My wife says that there is a mistake, we didn't have our gas shut off and that she have the paperwork and confirmation number inside, so he can come in and get this fixed.
He responds, "my order says you were cancelled, there was gas going into your house that is illegal, I am taking your meter so you cannot reactivate." My wife says, "please don't do this, I have children in diapers and a 4-year-old here; we need heat." He said, "you should have thought about that before you stole gas for three days."
We have called three different numbers and have gotten nowhere. Two numbers are closed for business till 8am; the third was a call number to report a gas leak. That man "Brian" was very rude to my wife and we got him through a company called Homeserve. They do line checks, and that man named John was on the line when the other man from SEMCO, Brian, was yelling at my wife and heard the whole thing. He called us back after the hang up by Brian when he was asked to talk to a supervisor. John said that he will be filling a report on our behalf in the morning but he can't do anything for us; he is a different company.
I called back to SEMCO and got Brian. I asked about help getting the meter back. We have a 1-year-old, a 2-year-old, and a 4-year-old. The temperature outside is 32 and will be dropping as the sun goes down. We got the same response; there's nothing he can do. We might all freeze to death tonight. My 1-year-old might not make it through the night. We have done nothing wrong; it is their paperwork.
Supposed to receive a larger meter as we are prepping for a whole house generator. Spent days setting up appt. given to us by supervisor- Mon. Aug. 17, 2009. No one showed. Called - told there was an emergency. Was rescheduled for Tues. Aug. 18, 2009 - no one showed - called - again said there was emergency. Tired of the run around. This is ridiculous. They set the appts. I had to waste time waiting here. Had to cancel my 87 yr. old father's Dr. appt. twice to wait for these clowns.
they changed out my gas meter, then a year later, came back to me and said that i owed them over 800 dollars back bill because the meter wasn't reading correctly. I set up a payment plan with them to be a set amount toward the 800 dollar bill and my current bill amount each month. They charged me penalties on the outstanding amount. I called and talked to the supervisor and she said that they'd take the penalties off and I wouldn.t be charged for them again. The next month my bill had a late fee on it. I paid the agreed upon amount and my present bill. I didn't pay the late charges. Now I have a cut off notice that says that I must pay in full all at once.
Really don't know who to complain to. How can I get a bill for heating my home ten times more than the gas I used. I used $3.16 in gas and my final with all there extra charges is $35.81. Who watches this and what will happen come winter. At this rate my home heating will be 1200 to heat a small mobile home for one month.
