Washington Gas

I called Washington Gas on 06 Aug 2011 when I moved into my new apartment. The meter reader showed up on 17 Aug 2011. I came home early from work and was there when he showed up (I had to ask my landlord where the meters were - in the front hall closet by the front door). Apparently, the meter reader made a notation that I wasn't home and my account was never opened.

When I moved out of this apt in early December 2011, I called Washington Gas to cancel my gas. They noted that I never had an account. I set one up retroactively to be billed from early August to 01 December 2011. I am now receiving bills from early August through the present. I am told I am responsible for all the charges because I never called to cancel my service. The thing is, Washington Gas would have no one to bill for this service unless I had called them and set up the service retroactively. I contacted the current tenant and he apparently called Washington Gas to set up his own service. However, Washington Gas is saying that I'm still responsible for gas at this place from early August to 03 Feb 2012, when the new tenant called to set up service.

How am I responsible for gas that I never used for Dec 2011 and Jan 2012? How am I responsible for another tenant's actions? How can I be expected to pay for something when I couldn't call to cancel the service before I had set it up retroactively? I set up this account retroactively on 05 December. I did not receive a bill from Washington Gas until late January. The bill included all gas usage from early August to the end of January. Now I just got another bill for over $300 for gas service going through early Feb.

I am furious but no one at Washington Gas will even listen to my story. They tell me I am responsible no matter what. Please advise.

We were assaulted by an employee of this company with a wrench while he was standing behind out chain link fence where we keep our dog. The guy was here for all of 2 minutes and did not allow me the opportunity to put my little dog away before he pulled a wrench. Realized that he messed up and jumped back in his truck and drove away. We have been calling Washington Gas all day. We have been told to wait. We have been told someone would be here by 3 then by 4, after that I was just told to wait. So here I sit waiting. I have been on the phone with them since 10 this morning. I have lost time working. I have a headache and I have never felt so insulted in my life. It took us 3 months to save the money to get the service back on and the deposit and the reconnection fee all of which we paid. This is what we get in return.

Washington Gas is a very renowned gas company over the Metropolitan area. They service many people, and in return, receive a nice sum of money. But one thing they lack is one-on-one service with their customers. I have been with Washington Gas for almost eleven years and not once had a problem until now. This one issue became a long periodical that started three months and is still printing. It started with this year's early winter in August. The temperature started to drop so I decided that it's time to turn the gas on in my house. Who doesn't like warm showers and stove cooked meals? The technician arrived to turn on the gas valve. He came upon a problem and was not able to turn the valve at all. In fact, he couldn't even get the valve key on it. He called the main office and they called DNT, digging and tunneling. To my knowledge, DNT did not arrive at all. Disappointment number one.

About a week later, I called Washington Gas and inquired if they have fixed the problem. They said yes, and I came looking forward to my lovely home. I took off on my job and called to have the valve inside house turned on. The second technician came and tried to turn it on. Fail. He went outside and checked the first valve. It looked like it hasn't been touched at all. The technician said he couldn't do anything about turning it on because of the current state it was in, being rotated. I was disappointed.

Still living from my friends' and families' houses, about two weeks later, I called Washington Gas and inquired for a third time. They replied, "Your service is on." I set up a date for another technician to inspect. Called off again. He arrived. He couldn't do anything. No gas. No hot shower. No heat. No food. Uninhabitable. I've been paying mortgage for a house that I can't even live in. What do they expect me to do? Start a fire in my backyard and heat water and cook? Overall, I've met five different technicians, all with the same result. Why can't they just fix the pipe? I want what everyone wants. A house.

I called Monday (11/14/11) for service to be turned on and I was told that no one could come until 11/16/11 7am-12 noon. Good thing we were having mild weather so I took it in stride. 11/16/11 12:30pm, I'm calling customer service and they said that the tech received an emergency call and when a tech would be available to turn on my service. What would happen to me if the weather was cold and snowing? Do they leave people stranded then also? It's November and getting colder.

The technician never showed up at my apartment, never called and claimed he did. They won't come back out for the entire weekend.

There is no one that seems to be willing to help and they just quote you silly rhetorical jargon almost as if they are calling you the liar. There has to be some form of protection against this incendiary behavior.

Washington Gas told me a serviceman would be out to my address to turn on my gas but no one showed up or knocked on my door. I waited and waited, but no serviceman came. I called the gas company and they told me a serviceman arrived at 11:28am, the time I was looking for the serviceman. No one arrived.

I asked the tenants in the building, they said they heard no one at the door. Washington Gas said a serviceman did arrive but I saw no one and they could not send another serviceman out the same day. Washington Gas lied or the serviceman never got out his truck to knock on my door.

Since 09/2007, I have paid my bills to Washington Gas (WG) electronically through Bank of America's (BOA's) e-bill program. WG automatically takes the money from my account a few days after an e-bill has been generated and posted to my bank account. On June 7th, 2011, WG took $4,696.48 dollars from my account. I tried calling them to have them return my money. On June 11th, I gave birth to my baby and on the 13th, they had cut my gas off.

I went to the company headquarters in Washington DC and they assigned someone in charge of my account. This man told me that my meter had been installed incorrectly and that in a few days, he would send some workmen out to assess the situation. I told him about my baby and was scared because I thought that I wouldn't have air-conditioning or hot water and she was only a couple of days old. He didn't care. The workmen came out and said that the meter was running backwards, but it would be easy to get a reading because one had been taken when I moved into the house, so one would just calculate payment backwards. He also said that he knew that this situation was not my fault, but the contractor who worked for the seller. They can tell when the work was done.

This whole time (from 2007 to present), I had been paying quite significant gas bills. I just want the gas man in charge of my account to call me back and give me a breakdown of the charges (he can estimate from one month of my current usage), my payments, and the balance of the account. I would like my money back.

Washington Gas has repeatedly been saying they are going to cut off my gas because of being late on my bill (I've been out of work for over a year). I had called them and asked to be setup on budget billing, but they said no twice. I asked to be be put on email billing because I never seem to get my statements on time and they keep taking me off. So I average about $1200 in gas a year and have a zero balance on my account. I only missed one payment this year but doubled my following month when I realized it. Now, they want me to pay $405 deposit and if not, they will turn off my gas just as the cold season is starting. Where do we go for help on a company like this? I had to talk to 3 managers and not getting anywhere with them. They know that there are no other companies for us to go to for gas.

I relocated to the district after living four years overseas in South Africa on international assignment with a non-profit organization. I scheduled services to be connected at my property on October 6th, and was told that the service would be connected between 7AM and noon the following day. As promised, on the following day, someone called from outside and said that they didn't know where the meter room was in the building. When I went to collect the man downstairs, I showed him the meter room, which was locked. Within a few minutes, I called my building front desk and learned that the key needed to be signed out by the utility agent, and proceeded to obtain it.

In the two minute period of time it took for me to make the call, the technician left with no warning. Washington Gas refused to send anyone again until the following day. I was rescheduled for a Tuesday, because it was a holiday weekend and similarly given a 7AM to 12 noon window. I called every hour on the hour after noon when a technician failed to show. Washington Gas claims that someone showed up at 651PM, but made no effort to contact me, and left.

I was subsequently rescheduled for the following day between 7AM and noon, which did not occur. I spoke to several supervisors during the day, and made repeated phone calls, accruing air time, and missing work for two days to provide access to a technician.

I became so desperate; I even called the emergency line to report the suspicious smell of gas from down the hall. Although someone came for the emergency, they refused to connect the gas on the same visit. I swear I have never had worse service, even in Africa. I have resorted to boiling water in my microwave and filling it up in my bathtub. I have read all of the other posts on this site, and saw similar complaints. Six days into the original request date, I'm still waiting.

I signed up for Auto Pay for my gas bill. Due to a security issue with my bank, I had to close my checking account and open a new account at another banking institution. I immediately notified Washington Gas, who did in fact change the information in their records to reflect our new bank account, as I could clearly see the correct account when I went to their online payment site. However, the system continued to debit my old checking account. This led to massive bounced check fees and nonpayment of our gas bill. Before I could figure out what was happening, I had amassed over $800 in unpaid gas charges.

Upon finding their error, I sent all of the documentation to the office address listed on my gas bill, which stated that it's located at Constitution Avenue in NW, Washington, DC. I never received a reply. I continued to get phone calls from India and I received threats to discontinue my service, even though I have paid my bill in its entirety.

They owed me $75 in fees, which showed up on their system when I spoke with them about my account, but it never showed up on my bill. I have been harassed continually by their collections department and I have been unable to get a person in the United States to deal with this problem and solve it once and for all. I never received a reply from the FedEx letters and documentation that I sent them. It's been going on for almost an entire year now and it has been a mess. I asked why I couldn't speak with someone in the United States and I was told that I would have to physically go to the offices located at Constitution Avenue just to have the situation resolved. This would require me to take time off from my job, which is unacceptable.

Washington Gas Energy Services called my 91-year-old father that has dementia and talked him into signing up for one year a blanket bill plan for $105.00 per month. Washington Gas Energy Services is NOT Washington Gas Maryland Utility Company, they made him believe that he would not be able to afford his heat unless he signed up. After my father went into the hospital, I was closing out his bills and noticed repetitious amount on the heat bill. They sent me the contract and said that my father signed up for one year. His average billing charged per month is usually $30.00 but now he was paying almost $70.00 over for his heat. I had to continue paying these outrageous bills. They would not cancel the contract. The only way I could stop them from sending me bills was to cut the heat off and cancel the meter. They said they automatically renew unless the customer cancels. I believe that they do not adequately disclose to consumers that they are auto-billed unless they cancel.

Washington Gas Energy Services practice deceptive billing to senior citizens and trick them into joining this program. They deceive thousands of people out of money and they unlawful victimize seniors soliciting the most vulnerable consumers. This marketing scheme to older people prey on them through www.wges.com and cold-call them to join this and then have an automatic renewal they have to cancel.

We had our gas shut for non-payment on Tuesday. We paid the bill on Wednesday. They said they'd be out to turn it back on Friday between 7-5. The guy came at 7:50 and did not call nor did he ring our doorbell. Our dogs did not bark, which they always do when someone rings our doorbell. We are in a three-story townhome and can not hear a knock on our door from the basement all the way upstairs. Common sense on the technician's part should have thought, "Hey the car is in the driveway, windows are open, hmm someone is home. Perhaps I should make a courtesy call to say I am here because maybe, just maybe, they can't hear my light tapping on the front door that's at the BASEMENT!" But no, he put a note on our door and just left.

We called the customer service and spoke with a woman who then made us wait half an hour on hold to speak with a supervisor, who then told us we had to wait until Monday. You mean to tell me it's only 8:30 in the morning and they can not reroute the technician back to this house or any other technician for that matter in the next nine hours before they close? Ridiculous! We dished out 700 to have it turned back on and they overcharged us and refused to correct it. How can you go from 25 a month to 180 with no explanation at all? These people have the worst customer service on the planet. Tow truck companies and Pizza Hut even make courtesy calls to let you know they are there for service! These people are extremely cold, calculated and unprofessional. SOMETHING has to be done about this company. Otherwise, I will be spending my money on converting my townhome into electric! And I just might do that anyway!

The last time that I received a bill from Washington Gas was February 2010. Every bill after February 2010 came to me with no payment due. I called Washington Gas and explained to them that I had not received a bill in over a year. The customer service representative told me that my meter was broken and that someone would be at my house to fix it. The person that was sent to repair the meter "accidentally" cut off my gas. The person that cut off the gas left a card on my door explaining what happened and that I would have to call to have someone else to turn my gas back on. It was explained to me that the person who repaired or replaced the meter was a contractor and an actual Washington Gas employee would have to turn it back on. As of this date Monday, July 11, 2011, I still have not received a bill from Washington Gas Company. I have had approximately a year and a half with no bill. What should I do?

Well my service was disconnected. Called to pay bill and got the run around. Pay my bill on Friday and they told me that I cannot get it back on till Monday. I think that is crazy. I have a new baby and I have to wait 3 days to give my baby a bath and no hot water and no stove to cook food for other children all because they don't wanna sent someone out same day. The staff is bad, don't know what they are doing or talking about and when asked to speak to supervisor was on hold for 45 minutes.

This is the second letter to you guys asking for help for the above company. They charged me $1286.26 for an adjusted underpayment for a ** year. I have a small apartment and at most, the bill is $65.00 in the cold season. I have lived here for three years and now, Washington Gas says I have been underpaying due to their meter reading. I have always paid on time with Washington Gas in full every month. Am I supposed to pay this undercharge because of their mistake?

On Wednesday, March 29, I called Washington gas because I received a final bill. I explain to them that I didn't requested to be canceled. I live here and I am not moving and they told me that a guy called Joel requested my cancellation of gas service. They said they will fix the error and wouldn't interred my service. How can someone besides me cancel my service?

On April 1, I woke up to a cold house and I couldn't cook or shower. I called Washington gas and they gave me the same story that the so called Joel call to cancel and that it will take time for someone to come and put it back on. It is now the 2nd of April, I have no gas and I had to be 2 days without gas in a freezing house and they can't tell me when someone will come or how many days I will have to sleep in the cold.

My belief is that if this is their error, I should be put as priority and have my service back, ASAP. I pay my bills a week in advance every month for the past 10 years. I lived here, this is not fair. I was also on a plan call blanket bill where I had a fix payment and now that is also canceled when they cancel my gas and they say I can't be put back on it because" i cancel my gas service" when I didn't .

I am still waiting in the cold with no hot water and no heat. Please do something about this.

This company is charging us a deposit fee of $440 for the second time in a year. We admit to paying late, and have included late fees with our last payment. But how many times can a utility company charge a "deposit" to a customer? We have had this account active for about 20 years!

Washington Gas Account Number: **

In May of 2010, my gas was turned off. When I called Washington Gas, they sent a person out to resolve the problem. That service person informed me that the meters were crossed in their system and when the person in the unit below me moved out and turned off the gas, they turned my gas off instead. I was told that they would uncross the meters in their system. After this, I tried to pay my bill for the next three months (online) and I received the message that my account had a positive balance and they would not accept a payment. After three months, I received a bill for $705.00. I called and asked for an explanation in October 2010 and was told that it was a mistake and they would straighten it out.

In November 2010. I received a bill for $758.00. I called again and spoke to Carla (employee ID: **), who tried to tell me that the bill included the cost of new meters. I do not have new meters. I asked to speak to a supervisor and was given Jake (employee ID: **), who told me that the $758.00 included the money I should have paid if the meters had not been crossed. I stated that Washington Gas has already received payment from the tenant who moved out and my paying them would mean they are getting paid twice for making a mistake and crossing the meters. He said that what I pointed out was true. I demanded proof that they have refunded any money paid by the tenant who moved out (and I believe left the D.C. area), before charging me for services they have already been paid for.

I was told that their billing department would send me an explanation of my bill. My bill is getting higher and higher every month while I get a different story each time I call. I want to get this straightened out before it becomes a huge problem or they turn off my gas because they have not straightened this out. I have no confidence in their treating me fairly or following through with what they have said. It is ridiculous for them to expect to be paid twice, once by the tenant who moved out and again, by me. They want to profit from the mistake they made of crossing the meters.

I signed my lease to move in my apartment on Nov. 5th and I have not been able to really stay in my apartment as of today's date (Nov. 15th) due to the fact that the Washington gas technicians are lazy and impatient. I have scheduled for them to come out on three occasions and still nothing as far as turning the gas on. The first time they never showed up, the second time, the key to the room was being used by another technician, and the third time, the gas technician did not have his I.D. on him to verify that he works for the gas company.

I have been on the phone with Jason the rep, for about 30mins while typing this up and still no one can get someone out today and they have no way to get me to one of the managers. I asked if they have a number for the main office downtown DC and he said no that it is only a walk-in office, yeah right. I would like to see something done about this because I should not have been inconvenienced this long and it was not my doing. Washington Gas is a trip!

As a result of this, me and my family has been forced to stay elsewhere because we can not cook and fortunately the weather has not been as bad (cold, cold) but we would like to stay in our own home. We have to go and get clothes and return the ones that are worn so that we won't clutter up or crowd up anyone else's space where we are staying. Also, we are spending much more money because of this (gas to work, prepared food and housing cost). We also are sleeping on the floor and on a small couch, which has caused aches and pain all over our body.

This company called Washington Gas is stealing hard working people's money and nobody can defend us from them. Two days before I moved from Woodbridge to Sterling, VA , I did call them to start a new service and I asked if I am qualified for the budget plan. The representative told me that I am and the monthly payment will be around 30 dollars a month since this is just an apartment with a water heater for domestic and heating use. Well at the end of the month, I received a bill for 65 dollars and 120 dollars additional for security deposit.

I called and complained to one of their supervisors and he said that there will be no more than $65 a month and no more security deposit. Of course, after I agreed to pay the $185, wrong, the following month I received another 120 dollars bill for security deposit and the $65 . I had to pay again because they threatened to cut off the gas. Now they have a new charge of 123 dollars a month in the middle of summer. Can anybody do something!

WGES hit my BGE account with a $420 cancellation fee. Apparently, their contract provides an automatic renewal if you do cancel within a 45 day period at or near the end of a 2-year contract. I contacted WGES and they graciously agreed to credit a portion of the termination fee if I re-signed for a new 2-year contract with WGES. I asked to have the contract automatically end at the end of the two years. WGES refused my request. I have calendered the 45 day cancellation period in 2012. This is an extremely anti-consumer practice that severely limits consumer choice and places an unreasonable burden on busy consumers to protect themselves. I am offended by their business practices even if their lawyers have blessed, their conduct as legal.

I filed bankruptcy in April of 2006 and included Washington Gas in the bankruptcy. I closed my Washington Gas account and moved to Woodbridge, VA. I live in Woodbridge for three years and moved back to MD. I started renting a house in February 2009 and had to get the utilities on. I got the gas turned on with Washington Gas and had to pay a $150 deposit. After a year of living in the house, Washington Gas sent me an outstanding bill for $500 from the address I lived in 2006.

I explained to them that I had filed bankruptcy and I had the paperwork to prove that they were included. A Washington Gas customer service person said that the charges were from 2007. I told him that I was living in Virginia in 2007 and the bill was not mine. The customer service guy told me that I never turned the service off. I told him that I did, but nonetheless, I was not living in Maryland in 2007. They have cut my gas off and I have two children living in the house. My gas usage in the house is never over $30 a month, which I paid every month. I need to know if I can file a lawsuit.

We have a furnace problem, and they did respond quickly to shut off the gas on a Friday evening, but once the problem was diagnosed they would not schedule to turn it on before Monday. The temperature is dropping into the teens or twenties outside and it is windy, at least 10 inches of snow expected, and our gas heat will be off for the whole weekend. Unacceptable.

Unfortunately as of this writing (5:21 p.m.)I am still waiting for the people to check on a gas leak which we have reported at 7:30 a.m. today. The answer we got every time we follow up at least 4X were: "the people are en route." Please help me define these words. What is the meaning of en route? Why can't they be honest when can they send people to check on a complaint? I turned off my heat for fear of something that will happen. The temp is 39 degrees to be exact.

I would hope that there is another company to compete with this extremely poor Gas provider. I agree with all the complaints I read. They don't care about the quality of their service because we are stuck with them. They can live with poor service because we have no choice but to suck up their extremely poor service. If there is another word to describe how awful their service is let us add one in the dictionary. I am tired of complaining but this time is the worst experience I've ever had, that is an understatement.

I should have reported to work at 7:30a.m. but I agreed to stay until 9:30 to wait for the people to fix the leak. I went home and took off from work at 12:00 noon (which took me an hour back and forth) to check if there was somebody who checked the leak. I should have left from work at 4:00 p.m. but left early. So I lost a total of 4 hours of working time because of this extremely poor Gas provider.

In March of 2008 our townhouse received a bill from Washington Gas for approximately $600. This was a one month bill and about 3x the amount of our average usage, even in the winter time. During this billing period we had a technician come to the house to install an electronic meter, which we feel may have been the cause. When we called, we were told that we could have another person come do a reading, which we did. The next month, when we were told the bill would be fixed, we found that it was still the same, except now higher with another month's heating costs accrued.

We called again and this time were told that our bills would be put on hold for the next 3 months while it was straightened out because there was, in fact, a "discrepancy" in our bill. In June we received a bill for the past 4 months and it was still astonomical and even higher thanks to the additional months. That month, and each month since we have called because our bill continues to be incorrect and we are told to ignore the bill and wait for the next month.

On November 23, 2009, we received a bill saying our heat would be discontinued as of 12/2 unless our entire amount of $890 was paid. Now, a day after receiving this bill, we have been on the phone for countless hours, spoken to numerous customer service reps and somehow now owe $1000! Each time a person calls and leaves there name and we call back, we are told that no one by that name exists in the company. We have been assured that our heat will not be turned off, but told nothing about how or when our bill will in fact be fixed.

One customer service rep even put the phone down on the desk mid conversation, proceeded to have a conversation about the situation with a colleague and then 20 minutes later decided to pick the phone up, saying that he put the phone down before because he had said what he needed to and was "done" with the conversation. We have never been more frustrated and all we want is our bill fixed so we can pay it. No One at the company has been able to help us and they all REFUSE to let us speak to someone in the billing department.

WGES sent out a letter on Oct 15 informing to make renewal decision by nov 2. The mail may take up to 10 days for delay. I have just 2 days to make decision. Therefore I think it is unfair for the consumers. The consumers should have at least 15 days upon receipt of the letter to make decision. WGES is trying to lock consumers to pay higher price for gas.

i moved from woodbridge va a year and a half ago i paid washington gas the balance of my gas bill then i moved to wash.gas later on in the months sent me a bill for five hunderd dallors threating to turn my gas off... i then send them a receipt showing it had been paid ..they said it would be under a disspute and it has been months they have been cutting ny gas off like three or four times and they have proof that i payed my bill..sence i moved to the 9507 address i have payed my bill on time every month my gas is cut off now since 11-20-2009 and i am teird of this happeneing they keep saying they are sorry and turn it back on then with out notice they turn it back off please help me to fix this problem my daughter has ashma and keep getting sick because of this problem.. thank you .. i can explain more i detail if needed

I had the same problem when I called to transfer natural gas service from one place in Rockville to another during a move last month. I was told I had to go down to the office and fax them a copy of my lease. I have been a customer for years. WG has one of the poorest customer service departments around.

Also, they are charging me a deposit fee of $75 and a service initiation fee of $25. I have been a customer of WG for years and don't remember having to pay a deposit before. Also, Pepco doesn't charge service initiation fees for transfers of electricity. I wish Pepco was involved in natural gas, too. We need some competition in this area.

I plan to file a complaint with the Maryland PSC, Maryland Attorney General's consumer affairs office and BBB about these unfair and excessive charges.

I called Washington Gas today to set up a new account and the phone was answered by "Kevin" (I don't think it is his real name). Kevin did not seem to be a native English speaker as he spoke English with a heavy accent and his comprehension skills were poor (at one point he asked me for my wife's name-that's how confused he was). I had the distinct feeling that I was talking to a poorly trained foreigner at a call center located outside the US even though I was calling at 10 am EST and did not expect phones to be answered by a foreign call center rep. He asked for my info including my social security number.

When I had provided all the info he informed me that in order to complete the set up, I would need to go to the Washington Gas office in person, and bring two forms of ID plus proof that I owned the property where gas service was requested. I had never heard anything so absurd and told him so. In reply he insisted that this is a requirement for all potential customers. I asked to speak to a supervisor and was told that they were busy and couldn't come to the phone. In short I could not get past this incompetent person even to make a complaint. It is clear that Washington Gas has no interest in providing even acceptable customer service, and ironically does not seem to even want new business. Too bad it has a monopoly in this market, otherwise companies like this would not be able to stay in business.

Wasington Gas has over 240 BBB complaints in the last 3 years.

Washington Gas will fraudlently charge you more when you switch your gas over to your name.

We moved in on June 2008 from out of state. We thought Pepco took care of gas and electricity. In January 2009 we got a disconnection statement from our landlord, who said to change the gas to our name. The landlord's disconnection statement had a 12 month energy use graph.

We immediately changed the gas into out name.

Our second statement, which had the 12 month energy use graph was completely different. These bills are FOR THE EXACT SAME MONTHS IN QUESTION.

Washingon Gas is overcharing us by 91 therms (around $170)

The customer service is horrendous. No response to repeated emails and letters. 25 minute wait times on the phone.

I reported this to the Maryland Public Service Commision. Despite an email promise that Washington Gas would not turn off the gas before this was resolved, on Friday someone came out to turn off the gas.

Washington Gas uses fraudlent, illegal tactics, which rips off consumers.

On or about 5/15/2009, I dailed the Washington Gas Company and spoke to James. I told James that I received a recorded message on my phone from Washington Gas, stating that there was an Obama initiative helping customers who have fallen behind in there payments and this initative allows one to set up a budget plan to help customer get caught up, an I was calling to set up an budget plan. At the time of this call, my balance was $918.04, due to the difficult winter.

Our bills doubled during the winter and this bill should not have. Nevertheless, I asked what do we need to do to get on this budget plan? James said that he could not give us an amount yet, but we will send you information about our discussion and you will need to call us bact. I told James OK, but we have $300.00 to pay on our debit card. James said, we would need to take any payment until the documentation comes in the mail. You call us, when you get the information. We said OK and we waited. One month passed an on June 12, 2009, our Gas was turned off for non payment. We were alarmed because we were waiting for some form to fill out, but it never came, before our service was interrputed. My home has both electric and gas. Gas only used for cooking(two times a week), hot water and heating the house in the winter. For cooking purposes, and hot water, we can't understand why it is so high.

I have never received a bill so high just for cooking purposes (two times a week). On June 16, I called again, because the service was now off and we needed to know why...that's when we were told for non-payment. We said we were going to pay something last month, but was told not to make a payment and now you turn my gas off. You did not keep your promise to send me something in writing regarding a budget plan. But you quickly, turned off my service. We were then told, if we made a payment of $700.00, we could have the utility turned back on. I informed the company that we don't have that kind of money and we were waiting for something in writing to establish a budget plan. I said I only have $450.00 to give you right now. I was told once that's paid, call back and give us the confirmation number and your service will be turned on and we will establish a budget plan for the remainer of the balance.

0n 6/19/2009, I paid $450.00 as promised and my service was not connected. I was now told that the company can not turn on your service in one day, because of scheduling. This should have been clearly stated when the arrangements and payment was made. I feel like I am being jerked around by the utility company because they can do and say what ever they want without any responsibility for there comments or actions. I borrowed money from friends to pay the $450.00 expecting to have service for the holiday weekend. Was not happening. Not only was the customer service not good, but the representives we spoke to was rude. He was informative, but rude. no memeber should be treated in this manner. This is a service we need and should not have to deal with this rudeness.

The Customer Service function of this company is awful! Of course, with the monopoly that they have, they can treat their customers anyway they want. Why is it not possible to give appointments for service calls? With the economy in the mess that it is in right now, how can working people be expected to take off a whole day for Washington Gas to come to the home for ten minutes? If I had a way to not use Washington Gas it would be one of the very first things I would do!

Taking off from work lowers the pay check. The stress of dealing with the Customer Service Dept is unhealthy and who knows how it effects our health! Not to mention not having hot water available while waiting for them to come to your house.

The gas company came out to replace my meter in 4-7-2009. The technician asked me was my gas,heat and hot water working. I told him yes, and he did not have to light any pilots on my stove or hot water tank or the furnace. On April 16th 2009. I attempted to turn on the heat and it did not ignite. Prior to the technician coming out the furnace and heat was working properly.

I called the gas company to ask them to send the technician back out to check to see if he turn something off and forgot to turn it back on and they would not even comply. He made 2 trips in the room where the furnance was and he had to do something for that furnance to stop working just like that. All I asked them to do is to check, not touch and if it's no fault of the technicians they can walk out the door and they wont even send no one out. Evev though I am blaming their tech for the problem. I also smell gas around the furnace where it is a light smell.

When I called the emergency line the told me to hang up and called the regular number. When I called the regular number the operator gave me a very hard time even after I reported smelling gas. I asked to speak to a supervisor and she told me I would be some time before I can get one. She then came back to the phone as if she was playing games and called the emergency line so I could make a report for smelling gas. After I Initially called and smelling gas was one of the first things that I said. I had been on the phone almost 30 minutes or more. I was given a very hard time. I was told to call back after I get home around 7:00 to report the gas leak. I had explained to the operator that a responsible adult in my home reported the gas leak to me and I called it in. She still gave a hard time.

Stress and living in cold conditions.

I was a customer of theirs prior to moving in Oct 2007. My last statement which was mailed Nov 1, 2007 shows my security deposit in the amount of $825.80 is due to me, however after calling them in Dec 07, March 08, June 08, I have yet to receive my refund. I have been attempting to contact them for a fourth time, however I have been listening to the recorded message for 1 hr and 30 mins and remain holding to speak to a Customer Service Representative. I have emailed them yet no response.

I do not feel that I should be billed on a computer glitch that evidently happened over 30 months ago!!