Peoples Gas Reviews

I filed a complaint with the Illinois Utility Board and received a call from a representative who said I had a history of being late. I was in utter shock because 10 years of service with over 120 payments with three payments not made on the due date, but within 30 days does not constitute a history and reporting is based on month to month: in March 2014 it was reported okay then less than 30 days I was reported. I disputed with TransUnion and to no avail the negative report is still on my credit report and my score dropped from 748 to 689. I just want the item removed because I did not deserve to be treated that way!

I made a minimum payment last month of $650 dollars to avoid disconnection and this month and it did not significantly lower the balance owed; they request another $850 dollars before the end of the month, not to mention the bills just keeps getting higher and higher like a Tetris game. They've reported me to the credit bureau already. It's just frustrating not been able to arrange anything that suits our income since we live paycheck to paycheck and are willing to pay. Can't qualify to any assistance program either as most resources average income before taxes. No alternate gas company since it's a monopoly. It has given me such a headache. I might as well cancel it out and change my entire house for an electric heating system. Frustrated and dissatisfied with the service and the rude reps.

I called them to explain that it wasn't me and they need to turn my gas back on ASAP. They said they could not do that- that they needed proof from me- which I already had sent them. I just resent it where they said they would contact me within 24 to 48 hours- which I won't hold my breath but they didn't hesitant cashing my check and gave me NO warning about turning it off because someone else who I don't even know didn't pay their bill. I feel this is somehow illegal and terribly wrong. People's Gas is just the worst of the worst businesses and they should be shut down for terrible they are. But from what I am gathering from other complaints they aren't so quick to come back out and turn my gas back on. What can I do to make this a faster turn around time?

Fast forward two weeks, I have still not received a call from the Enrollment Services department. I have been following up with their customer service line daily, and continue to receive what seems to be the standard, boilerplate response of "I'm sorry, but you really should have gas by now." I have confirmed on multiple occasions that I have done my due diligence, all information has been submitted, and that Enrollment Services will be contacting me within 24 hours. This has not happened!

I have requested multiple times for management to call me in order to discuss this issue. Much to my chagrin, I have yet to receive a call from any supervisor, and customer service refuses to let me speak to one citing company policy. I cannot get a straight answer or any help in resolving the matter, and continue to live without any amenities that should have been provided to me upon arrival. The gas line should not have been shut off to begin with!

I called in to Peoples Gas to ask for some type of credit towards my bill or just see what they could do to appease the situation. These people had no sympathy for me at all, all they said was that "they're sorry for the inconvenience" - mind you I have no heat, can't take a hot shower, can't wash my hair, can't cook - of me having to be an innocent victim (more like collateral damage) in this situation. To make matters worse I was told by 1 representative that everyone in the building received a notice and when I told her I didn't receive a notice she switched it up and said my building's management received a notice (which they claimed they didn't either).

I talked to a different representative the following day and I was told that I didn't receive a notice because I had an active account and only units with inactive accounts received the notice - what sense does that make??? So my gas was turned off without proper notification and yet they still weren't willing to do anything. I requested to speak with a supervisor... I'm still waiting to get a "return call" from 1... tomorrow will make a week since I've been dealing with this craziness.

I think my gas service should be place back on my certificate. Also call two days ago talk to someone team leader and they could not help me. Ask to speak with a supervisor person, talk told me someone will call me back in two days. I don't have two days or 241.63. I need to pay by April 20, 2015. Call two days ago. Talk to team leader. Told me I need a new medical certificate and when I get it faxes it over because the one I have on file expire. Call back in two days. I was told it was denied because can only be on it for a year. You can call me at **. My gas will be shut off after April 20, 2015. My son has diabetes.

I called Peoples Gas emergency number to report. Before Peoples Gas came out, I called the second time and the person admit that it was accidentally turned off. When Peoples Gas' two workers pulled up, one of them immediately dug into the ground and began to work. Then he asked his partner to go inside of the house and turn on the stove. Of course the stove then came on and they proceeded to tell me that the gas was not off. It was crystal clear the gas was turned off. Both Peoples Gas' workers continued to work, checking the meter and doing what they had to do. On top of wrongfully shutting off my gas, they caused so much damages and the two workers came out to insult my intelligence by telling me, "Gas was not off".

What can I do now? I'm at a lost. Waiting for the water department to replace water meter. It's been more than 14 hours waiting for City of Chicago, Water Department. Today I will find out if this problem being without gas for days has destroyed my boiler. How can Peoples Gas do this to me when I have been paying my bill? This is about to run me out of business at that location. God help me!!

Flash forward to six months later. We decide to apply for a HELOC. Quickly, the bank informs me our application will be turned down with me on it. However, we require my income to qualify. I asked why there was a problem, again confused because my credit has safely been above 750 for over a decade, and they informed me it was because of a derogatory remark reflecting serious delinquency on a Peoples Gas account. I contacted Peoples Gas immediately and was informed that a late fee of around $15 had been in collections since May.

I explained that my total final payment six months ago included a late fee & my account should have been closed. This information was confirmed and I was informed the fee was waived...clearing my account & making it current & closed with a zero balance as of my final payment date. They also sent me a letter confirming this action. So now what's the problem. Since October, my credit report still reflects this account as a serious delinquency, a charge-off account, and 90-160 days past due. They have updated my account balance to reflect $0, however, despite several bureau disputes they will not remove the false derogatory remarks.

I have called Peoples Gas on numerous occasions and they have reported to me that my account has been reported accurately & confirmed that in their system it is not a charge-off account & confirmed that the collection activity following the final payment should be removed because they did in fact waive that fee. This would also make my account NOT 90 days late. So, they confirm this on the phone & then I ask for the info in writing so that I may submit it to the credit bureaus myself and they tell me they cannot do that because my account is closed. Really??

When I asked if they'd please update the bureaus accurately, they said they also would not report anything because my account is closed. I said "You just reported to me exactly what needs to be reported" to which the rep then changed her story and told me that Harris & Harris (the collection agency) actually handles the reporting and gave me their number. Of course I called right away only to find out what I already knew...

This last statement was indeed a lie. Peoples Gas is in fact the reporting creditor & will do nothing more to help me clear up this error that will follow me and damage my credit throughout the next decade. I am at a loss. It makes zero sense that they can't simply just put my account number on a letterhead document and bullet point what they have confirmed for me over a handful of times. No skin off their back & helps me tremendously. You'd think my spotless account with them since 2003 would help out...apparently not.

I want to cancel this service, but the winters in Chicago can be excruciatingly brutal. What else can we do but wait until this company lifts their big stomping foot from our dignity? What mostly irritates me about all of this, is the Supervisor not letting me talk to anyone else other than him [or much rather, wait 1 business day to speak to HIS Supervisor]. Sadly, we cancelled our plans to have a fragile family member stay with us because 1. The deposit we made was gone to obtain heat through another source [a space heater]. 2. We couldn't talk to anyone to hear our emergency situation 3. We would've invested in said heaters rather than spending our money on People's gas.

Our Landlord even told us that he's needed service before and has seen the Technician drive off without even knocking. It really makes you wonder why we never found the mysterious note, that is a standard procedure to post, according to Supervisor. With that being said, I would love a copy of that "blue note." We've gathered our change and Christmas money to fix our doorbell situation, and offered an alternative number for calling; let's see if such technician really does his job this time.

I argued with several non-caring customer service people, who apparently answer the phone from Atlanta, and finally they agreed to set up an appointment to come out and lock the gas, since they would not agree to my reading my own meter, which I have photographs of. On the appointed day, I stayed home from work so that I would not miss the appointment, and no one ever showed. They had left a phone message, the night before reminding me, but when I called, I was calmly told that there was no service call scheduled, and I would have to continue to pay the delivery fee, until they could get someone out in a couple of weeks. I finally told them there was a gas leak, at which point the girl hung up on me. She said I was lying. I called again, and they sent someone right out. Turns out there was a gas leak.

He put in a new meter. He said he was appalled at the "estimated reading" on my bill as opposed to the actual meter reading. When I asked for a receipt, he said that I'd just have to trust them. I asked when I would get my deposit back, and he answered, "Ha. Good luck with THAT!" And, he was right. They adjusted my last bill. They admitted that they owed me $36. They owed me lots more than that, but I realized I'd have to go through a lot, to get them to alter several months to maybe years, to get it all back. They said they would return my deposit of $126 and the $36, via check.

Well, today, I got the check for $85. They deducted the $36 back out, but that doesn't even add up. I feel that complaining here is doing very little, so I will also be filing a complaint with the better business bureau, next week. I doubt that will do anything either, and they can continue right on, gauging the citizens who work so hard to keep their families warm, here in Chicago, and have no other option. I've called so many times that I've lost count. I've lost my patience, and apparently an unknown amount of money, over the years. But at least I have my dignity, which I don't see how anyone who works for People's Gas, could ever say. It's embarrassing to think, that there are people in this country, who take such advantage of others.

I called Peoples Gas Customer Service and was eventually referred to their "Escalation Team". I was told that once an estimate is entered, it cannot be changed and the bill must stand as issued. I was also told that I could submit my own reading and an adjusted bill would be issued. I live in an old, large apartment building. I do not even know where the meters are located, let alone if I have access to the location (probably not). I now find myself in a position where fact-based business dealings must give way to guesses and subterfuges as Peoples Gas and I spar over whose usage reading wins out for October. I would have expected the company to have an estimation process based on known actual readings and be willing to correct a significant deviation from that use.

Now, I can go through great effort to contact my landlord and try to get access to the gas meter then submit a reading or I can short pay the bill and risk some sort of credit reprisal; finally, I can pay the bill and then wait for the dollar amount I actually owed to be made up (a no-interest loan to a super large utility!). I am a small customer, a retiree living on a fixed income and this is a smallish issue to some, but a noticeable financial problem to me. Peoples Gas is managing to totally mishandle this whole affair. The lion's share of what I pay each month on my bill is for the Peoples Gas' "account charge", some sort of management or administration fee. What am I getting for this? Not much it seems.

Naturally I had to call again and was told I would need to make another service time and the next available was next week (Thursday) October 16th! When I called again to let the gas company that to go another week without heat or hot water was not acceptable, I asked to speak with a a supervisor/manager, was put on hold for an hour listening to that loud annoying music that played, and nobody came to the phone. I know it won't do any good but I'll call again tomorrow. Peoples Gas sucks. They did not monopolize the industry. Even if signed up with Direct Energy, Tara, etc., Peoples Gas would still be the main provider! Talking about a Catch-22! You're just a dollar sign & an account number to the Peoples Gas. They don't care about anything about providing decent customer service! All they care about is collecting money and "putting you on punishment" if you don't pay up!

2) I was living in an apartment 2011 and Peoples Gas had the meters all mixed up. A couple moved out on the first floor and they turned off my gas and I was on the second floor in the middle of the winter and didn't come back for a few hours. Then Peoples Gas decided on their own to bill ME for the two meters and I called at least 50 times and they came out a few times to get the meters straight and ended up turning my gas off a few more times then put me into collections for both meters. And after 6 or 7 months of calling and arguing, I had to pay in order to get out of collections.

My boss also has 600.00 sitting in their account and they haven't paid her the money they owe her. I will never move anywhere where Peoples Gas is. I ask who is the gas company before I move into a place.

In November we moved into a house and the trouble only got worse! No sooner did we receive our first bill, we started seeing the same pattern begin. Again we had set up auto payment and paperless, not to mention a budget billing for $99 a month. We began receiving bills for figures in the $200's range. We called again. The speeches the CS reps gives makes them look like they have no clue as to their job! Supposedly, whenever you talk to them, they are supposed to be documented what the complaint is. Again they say, "Yes, I will take care of this," and next month the same thing happens! No email again till the next one says we now owe $612 even though we are on a $99 budget billing.

We call again and the rep told us they took us off the budget billing because we did not pay the initial money. We explained again about the budget and that Peoples Gas was supposed to be taking it directly from our auto pay. But because one department didn't bother to read our problem from prior months, they just took it off budget and "NEVER" contacted us about it. After being on the phone for over an hour with Lillian, she said she would place us back on the budget and if we paid the 3 months' worth of $99 = $297, we would be up to date and then next month we'd be back to only owing the budgeted amount of $99. She assured us both that the $612 would be gone because we paid the $297 that day. I just knew something would not be right.

The following month, Peoples Gas automatically took $612 from our checking account! As soon as I saw this, I called my bank and put a stop payment on it costing me $30. Oh, don't ever try to speak with a supervisor - left me on hold for 90 mins and never picked up. So another call to CS. Again assured me $612 is not what we owe. Last month, got email saying we didn't owe anything, we have a credit (because they tried to take $612 out of my account which was stopped by myself). This month, got email saying we owed $298 really! Called yesterday - CS not knowing again what they are doing! Asked for supervisor, left my husband on hold for 190 mins and never picked up. He finally hung up because it was like 6:30 and we needed to eat dinner. He is calling again today!

We even tried to go down to office (which states accepts visitors) only to find out after walking through building inspection (metal detectors) that not only do they not accept visitors but have their own armed guards too. I am at my wits' end and can see why they would need double security! If I could rate them 0, I would. Wish us luck today but doubt it will work!

Well they only turned on the basement and been giving me the freaking runarounds all day about my first floor. I'm so freaking pissed right now because I know someone can come right back out here today to turn my first floor on. That was just so stupid to come and do one floor and not the other. They are so unprofessional. I ask to speak with a supervisor; they're not available. I ask for the supervisor boss, not available. And to top it off, I been on the phone with them since this morning. Still no one helped me. It's now 6:36pm and I'm still holding. I'm over pissed right now. All I want is my gas turned back on because I paid my bill in full. So why? Can't I have my services turned on at the same time I paid them at the same time?

On March 13, 2014 we received another bill, including the whole amount from the first bill plus late fee charges. We also received Notice of Disconnection. We called Peoples Gas again. Person from Customer Service said that someone will call us in the next 24 hours to resolve the problem. No one ever called. On March 17, 2014, we contacted Peoples Gas again. We were transferred to the escalation department where they simply informed us that we either pay the bill or we will be disconnected. They said that they did not contact us after February 11, 2014 because the first bill was correct and we will not get any discount.

Just for the record, the first bill we got (January 2014) included 29 days so the second one did (February 2014). The temperature was only 1F degree higher in the second month and according to Peoples Gas that one degree made the 1,378 therms different in usage, which is $1,989.92 on a gas bill. This is how Peoples Gas takes advantage of their customers.

Now they have 460 dollars of mine and they are refusing to even give me an appointment. I called my bank to stop the payment and they said that because the payment already posted to the gas company, I cannot stop the payment! So now, I have to wait ten days to even make an appointment. After I make the appointment I have to then wait for them to give me an available date, which can take up to 7 days. This would mean that my service would be reconnected by August 1st. This is unacceptable being that they have my money. They are not waiting to receive my money. I can't even take the money back at this point, it's theirs and I still have no service.

This is an unfair practice in place to penalize people. Large utility monopolies suck. Yes, I get we live in a capitalist society and Peoples Gas is trying to ensure that they get paid for providing services and there are probably a lot of people who scam them on a daily basis, but I am not one of them. I have paid my money, they have it, and they refuse to turn my service back on. I have no power to fight them and they know it, so they put policies in place to bully the consumer. I called the Illinois Commerce Commission to make a complaint and they are also powerless. At least the counselor that I spoke with was not able to provide me with a solution. (I say this next statement with a great deal of sarcasm and disgust). So, from this point on I have to be a good citizen with no personal crises or hardships that come which may prevent me from paying my gas bills on time, pay with a credit card or cash and thank God everyday that Peoples Gas exists to offer horrible services to the people of Cook County.

I understand that that was partly my bank's fault because I did edit my account but it didn't seem to save it, but why was I not notified that three months of payments going to a closed account by Peoples Gas?! Furthermore, they sent me checks back so I put them back in my account only. Unlike other companies, they didn't put a notice telling me why they were sent back. Because I always overpay, I assumed it was just that; certainly not that I was paying a dead account! When I explained this to them, they said that they sent the bills, only I just got my bill of three months build-up the day before and a collections notice yesterday! They basically told me that they would disconnect me if it wasn't paid by the end of this week.

I now explained that this means I would be short on my mortgage. They clearly didn't care. The lady told me that it would cost a reconnection fee so that when I told them how bad a service they were and agreed to pay, she still told me I would owe her an additional fee just for taking my money over the phone! I was so incredibly angry that I just told her I was already short on my mortgage and that I would have gas in a house I might be kicked out of due to their lack of work ethic. And on top of that, they wanted to charge me even more? I said I would take care of it and find other companies or move than to deal with their abuse, and then hung up. They feel that they can be neglectful at work because they monopolize the service sector and that is just unethical.

Later that evening, it became clear that these 2 men disconnected our hot water tank and furnace without telling us. We were shocked to discover this as they spent enough time in our home to at least mention they had to do this. Had we known they were cutting the heat and hot water off, we would have simply taken the door off the hinges on the spot and avoided all of this mess. Instead, they sneaked out of the house with full knowledge that someone living in the house had surgery less than 48 hours previous to that and could not tolerate being in an environment that was nearing 40 degrees due to the overnight temperatures being in the low teens.

We started calling Peoples the following morning; first to complain about this poor treatment in the middle of winter for a violation that had not been addressed in the numerous times their service people had been in our house in the previous years and second, to figure out how to fix the issue. Because we had not been told what they were doing, it took some guessing and multiple phone calls to even be told that was what happened. Not surprisingly, if you want to talk to a supervisor, they have an endless set of excuses (in a meeting, busy, with another customer, etc). They always transfer you to a voicemail for someone who never returns the call (3 voicemails today). They then tell you that it isn't their responsibility to tell you what they're doing and they additionally have no responsibility in fixing it.

Finally, after several hours of calling them and getting the runaround, they finally agreed to send someone out for a $30 fee. When the guys arrived, he proceeded to tell us that he can't reconnect the appliances (unknown reason). We basically told him that he's not leaving without reconnecting them. He was resistant, but complied. This company obviously has a strong hold on the gas service in this area, so they are not motivated to engage in any level of customer service. We pay our bill on time every month and do not feel it is ethical to simply disconnect service without so much as a notice. This business is a joke.

1. Prior to suspending service, Peoples Gas should have at least inquired if there were existing occupants who would take over the new service so as to prevent the lag time in gas delivery. This should especially be true in the winter months as I know there is a ban on suspending service per the Municipal Code of The City of Chicago. They should also have a system in place to set up service in the winter months for people that will be left in the cold, especially if those people have no issue paying for the service; 2. My landlord, via not providing a heating cost disclosure, should be liable here as living in the frigid cold is very damaging to me.

I would not care about this whole situation if Peoples Gas would just send someone out to start my service, but now I am faced with having a miserable week, and potentially incurring health issues as a result of the cold. I would really like either my landlord or Peoples Gas to simply fix the problem by getting my service going.

Peoples Gas issued a bill on 10-9-2012 with an alleged transfer balance from 1994. On 10-10-2012, Peoples Gas sent a Final Notice for disconnection to take place on 10-22-2012 based on the 10-9-2012 bill for that account. Prior to that, Peoples Gas had erroneously assigned a meter to a wrong location and applied payment for the requested location to the wrong meter, resulting in alleged late payment for the 2012 portion of gas charges for the requested location. A verbal Notification of Dispute of Bill was given to Peoples Gas by us with request for supervisor call back on 10-11-2012 to sort this out. No call back or information has been forthcoming.

Subsequent calls to customer service reps to ascertain where to email fax or mail any documentation to proof of non-occupancy at that location during the alleged time for the alleged gas use at that location (1994) have met with rude behavior, non-information, and hang-ups from the representatives. Peoples Gas also closed one account in error and without notification to account holder because their representatives mixed up locations and meter numbers. This "comedy of errors" is not being addressed with the potential result of shutting off two accounts that have been in good standing for over 30 years.

On Tuesday, October 2nd, 2012, there was a fire at the property in Chicago, IL 60608. The carriage house that my family rents was adjacent to that property and was relatively undamaged by the fire. On Thursday, October 4th, 2012, Peoples Gas terminated the gas supply to both properties claiming that the fire caused a gas leak. Between October 4th and October 12th, 2012, the contractor for my landlord's insurance company, Unlimited Fire and Restoration Board Up, attempted to initiate repairs on the gas line. Having no place to go, my wife and I remained in the apartment with no heat or hot water, despite low temperatures that week dipping to 36 degrees Fahrenheit and lower. We were promised that Peoples Gas would be returning the gas supply to us by Tuesday (October 9th).

When that did not occur by Friday (October 12th, 2012), the contractor claimed that they attempted to contact Peoples Gas on four separate occasions. Their calls were not returned. When representatives from Peoples Gas did finally visit the property on Wednesday (October 10th, 2012), my wife and I attempted to ask them questions about whether the gas service was to be turned on. We were met with disdain from the employees, one of whom just scowled at our appearance and refused to communicate. On Wednesday, October 12th, representatives from Peoples Gas indicated that there was now an underground gas leak that only they could fix. They informed the contractor that they would be at the property on Friday October 12th at 10:00 am to initiate said repairs. The contractor assured us that People's Gas would honor their appointment and that we would have heat and hot water by the end of that day.

On the afternoon of Thursday, October 11th, I received a terse phone call from a woman named Blanca at Peoples Gas - Gas Operations Department informing me that no repairs would be commenced without a permit from the city of Chicago, which would take a minimum of five to seven business days. When I challenged her as to what my family and I were supposed to do in the meantime, having suffered though no heat or hot water for the past seven days, I was told to contact Customer Service. I did so and was met with similar scorn for our situation. At this point, I informed the Customer Service operator that I would be filing a complaint with the ICC and contacting an attorney. On Friday, October 12th, 2012, a representative from Peoples Gas met with the contractor at the property on Chicago, claiming that I had threatened to sue. He carried a number of legal documents with him.

He informed the contractor that he believed it would actually take a minimum of three months for repairs to be initiated and completed through Peoples Gas. I have further been informed by my landlord that his attempts to contact Peoples Gas met with no success, the file for my apartment and my family having been 'lost' by Peoples Gas on several occasions. While my wife and I have been left with little choice but to terminate our lease and find an alternative place to live, we cannot conceivably find said apartment, sign a lease and move within the next two to three weeks. Peoples Gas, in the meantime, has left us with two choices: Live in a home with no heat and hot water in low temperatures expected to drop over the coming two weeks. Be homeless. I have been a Peoples Gas customer since 2007. Never once did I fail to pay my bill on time and in the full amount requested.

The company claims that chief among their core values is 'integrity' and, in regards to customer service that "We focus on creative solutions to meet and exceed our customers' expectations." I submit that neither of those claims is valid. I submit that Peoples Gas has treated my family, your customers, with aversion and contempt - both in our choices of lifestyle and the dangerous living situation we find ourselves in. I further submit that Peoples Gas has refused, either through absolute negligence or owing to discrimination on behalf of its employees, to consistently communicate with either with my family or the contractor looking to resolve a most urgent issue. I intend to hold Peoples gas wholly responsible for any and all health problems my family may suffer in the coming weeks, until we can relocate to a new apartment, owing to the fact that your company refuses to provide us with the basic necessities of living and the colder temperatures.

Furthermore, I am terminating any further bill payments to your company and thus ending a business relationship which has proven only one thing: since Peoples Gas ostensibly has an energy monopoly in my area, they can treat their customers with, at best, contempt; and it would be fair to say utter repugnance without it affecting their bottom line. According to the last statement I received from Peoples Gas, the company owes me a credit of approximately $11.54. I am hereby billing you for that amount and will use it towards finding my wife and myself a new place to live - with electric services only. I request that Peoples Gas remit that payment immediately.

On Tuesday, October 2nd, 2012, there was a fire at the property on **. The carriage house that my family rents was adjacent to that property and was relatively undamaged by the fire. On Thursday, October 4th, 2012, Peoples Gas terminated the gas supply to both properties claiming that the fire caused a gas leak. Between October 4th and October 12th, 2012, the contractor for my landlord's insurance company, Unlimited Fire and Restoration Board Up, attempted to initiate repairs on the gas line.

Having no place to go, my wife and I remained in the apartment with no heat or hot water, despite low temperatures that week dipping to 36 degrees Fahrenheit and lower. We were promised that Peoples Gas would be returning the gas supply to us by Tuesday, October 9th, and when that did not occur, by Friday, October 12th, 2012. The contractor claimed that they attempted to contact Peoples Gas on four separate occasions. Their calls were not returned. When representatives from Peoples Gas did finally visit the property on Wednesday, October 10th, 2012, my wife and I attempted to ask them questions about whether the gas service was to be turned on. We were met with disdain from the employees, one of whom just scowled at our appearance and refused to communicate.

On Wednesday, October 12th, representatives from Peoples Gas indicated that there was now an underground gas leak that only they could fix. They informed the contractor that they would be at the property on Friday, October 12th, at 10:00 am, to initiate said repairs. The contractor assured us that Peoples Gas would honor their appointment and that we would have heat and hot water by the end of that day. On the afternoon of Thursday, October 11th, I received a terse phone call from a woman named Blanca at Peoples Gas’ operations department informing me that no repairs would be commenced without a permit from the City of Chicago, which would take a minimum of five to seven business days. When I challenged her as to what my family and I were supposed to do in the meantime, having suffered though no heat or hot water for the past seven days, I was told to contact customer service. I did so and was met with similar scorn for our situation. At this point, I informed the customer service operator that I would be filing a complaint with the ICC and contacting an attorney.

On Friday, October 12th, 2012, a representative from Peoples Gas met with the contractor at the property on **, and claiming that I had threatened to sue, carried a number of legal documents with him. He informed the contractor that he believed it would actually take a minimum of three months for repairs to be initiated and completed through Peoples Gas. I have further been informed by my landlord that his attempts to contact Peoples Gas met with no success, the file for my apartment and my family having been “lost” by Peoples Gas on several occasions. While my wife and I have been left with little choice but to terminate our lease and find an alternative place to live, we cannot conceivably find said apartment, sign a lease and move within the next two to three weeks. Peoples Gas, in the meantime, have left us with two choices: live in a home with no heat and hot water in low temperatures expected to drop over the coming two weeks or be homeless.

I have been a Peoples Gas customer since 2007. Never once did I fail to pay my bill on time and in the full amount requested. I submit that Peoples Gas has treated my family with aversion and contempt - both in our choices of lifestyle and the dangerous living situation we find ourselves in. I further submit that Peoples Gas has refused, either through absolute negligence or owing to discrimination on behalf of its employees, to consistently communicate with either with my family or the contractor looking to resolve a most urgent issue. I intend to hold Peoples Gas wholly responsible for any and all health problems my family may suffer in the coming weeks until we can relocate to a new apartment owing to the fact that they refuse to provide us with the basic necessities of living and the colder temperatures.

The gas meter is located in front of the house; on the left side bottom behind some bushes. You are going to tell me some man came and bent down to read a meter. Then he told me there is some kind of "gauge" that is hooked up to the meter to "read" a meter. Give me a break! What I think is they are adding extra numbers to our bill to get more money and for the reputation that Peoples Gas has, I wouldn't be surprised! We went from using cooking gas at **, acct.#** to a private house in the middle of summer where we moved in and they automatically said we owed $800! I always wanted to question this, but was told several times through mail and email, that if I didn't pay the bill no matter what, they would turn my gas off! Our account now is ** and they are still trying to take extra money from us that is not warranted. Does the stealing ever stop? And you wonder why I am angry? I do not work. I'm at home. What else can I do?

There's no expedited or anything; just we follow what's in the system. Customer service is wrong; there's nothing in the system. I asked to speak with enrollment services, but there's no phone number available. I asked to speak to the manager of customer service, but the manager's not available. I asked to speak to the manager of enrollment services, but the manager's not available. I asked to speak with someone in-charge to discuss, and still, not available. This is clearly a Peoples Gas issue, and they refused to fix their issue. I did my part, and they failed. They need to fix it and make it right.

I checked my account online on April 12th to see if they had received the payment. I noticed they had not. I found this strange since I've had previous payments arrive in one or two days. As of Saturday April 14th, People's Gas has not received my payments. My bill was due on April 13th. I will have to fax documentation to a number a customer representative provided me with on April 13th when I called to check the status of my payments and possibly make another payment to keep my account in good standing. The representatives I spoke to on both Friday and Saturday told me it can take up to five days for payments to post. Three days (payment was mailed first thing in the morning on April 10th) is more than enough time for a payment to be processed if in fact they are processing payments in a timely manner.

I would very much like to know the processing times for payments so I and other customers are caused endless worry and confusion. As a customer, I have done exactly what People's Gas has asked me to do and it has caused my account to now be late. I will be faxing in the money order receipts on Monday, April 16th, and would like to have it researched and reviewed and have this payment status marked as "on time".

In addition, he damaged the pilot switch on our water heater and attempted to say that it was broken before he turned off the water heater. This service goes against everything the company claims to support regarding customer service. It is now 6:55PM on April 5, 2012 and if it's not resolved, it will be 3 days without gas on April 6, 2012. The technician was technician number **.

So now we're in the apartment and I'm waiting for the technician to show up and turn my gas on on the date which I had selected, but no one ever came. I called up People's Gas and they told me that when I had set up the transfer, I had listed the new apartment's address as 4A, which was not in their system. The only entries in their system were 4F and 4R, therefore they had cancelled my appointment and no one bothered to call me and ask the appropriate apartment or even tell me that the appointment was cancelled. Not to mention, you'd think anyone with any common sense could look at 4F and 4R in the system, see which one had a date scheduled to turn their service off and say "Gee! This must be the one that people are moving into/out of".

But wait, it gets better! Because of this mix-up, my account was somehow flagged as needing an identity verification, even though I've been a customer for four years now, have never had a single complaint or issue and have never been late on a single payment. So yesterday morning, I had to take a couple hours off of work, dig through five or six boxes trying to find my passport, then drive to one of their shady "payment centers" which was really just a disposable cell phone/pager store and present to them my license and passport. They provided me with a confirmation number and instructions to give that number to People's Gas.

I called back, waited on hold for an hour, then gave an associate my confirmation number. "Great!", she said. "We will forward this information to our incoming accounts department, who will review the documents and determine whether or not this is enough information to continue and if so, we will give you a call to set up an appointment to get your services turned on". For those of you at home who are keeping track, that's another three days without service, plus however long their technicians are going to take to get to my place. I called back about five or six times, finally being put in touch with a manager, who after a 20-minute conversation, called the incoming accounts department and made them get their ** together. Small victory.

An hour later, I got a call from a different People's gas representative to set up an appointment to turn on my services. But the earliest a technician can come out is Tuesday, 4/10, 7 days later. So my girlfriend and I are apparently supposed to spend the next week without being able to take showers, prepare food and do laundry all in an apartment where the temperature is dipping down to the 40s every night. Since the appointment was scheduled, I've called back four times, each time demanding to speak to a manager and each time being told that all managers were currently occupied, but would call me back. So far, I have not received any calls back and there is still no sign of getting the gas turned on in a reasonable amount of time.

For a company this size, there is absolutely no reason why during peak times (such as the first week of the month, when everyone in the city is moving), they do not have enough technicians working to be able to provide their customers with reasonable turnaround times on service requests (1-2 days vs 1-2 weeks) and it's really hard to believe that there are no technicians anywhere near my area who couldn't spare ten minutes to read a meter and turn a ** valve on.

I will be contacting both the BBB, the Illinois Department of Consumer Affairs as well as the City of Chicago: Business Affairs and Consumer Protection division with a detailed explanation of all of the unacceptable service that I have received thus far, as well as anything that transpires up until my services are turned on, like they should have been two days ago.

My next appointment was scheduled for the 29th of November. Using the standards given to me by the technician, the clearance adjustment was made. I had an afternoon appointment. So, with both my cell phone and my house phone in my pockets, I waited in my home. I waited and waited and waited. At approximately 2:15 p.m., I called to inquire about the appointment. As I was on the phone, the technician pulled up. I sat in my reading room waiting for him to leave his truck. It appeared as though he was writing and I assumed he was doing either a pre or post-report. As I waited patiently, the strangest thing happened. He pulled off!

Frantically, I called Peoples Gas imploring you to contact this technician and have him return. I was told that was impossible. The customer service representative I spoke with was named Sharnise. As you know, she was not allowed to give her last name. She informed me that the technician (employee number **) reported that he called me but there was no answer, so he left. I asked to speak to a manager. Sharnise returned and said that a Ms. L. advised me to make another appointment. I asked Sharnise to advise Ms. L. to speak to me, a long standing customer. I was denied this request but was told she would call me within 24 hours.

When I spoke to Ms. L., I informed her that I had both phones with me all day and not only did he not call. He did not even get out of the truck and ring the doorbell. She told me he did not have to ring the doorbell and that the policy was to call. I refuse to believe that a business such as Peoples Gas would encourage such a policy. In terms of efficiency, it makes no sense. Feeling as though my situation was being dismissed, I implored her to check the technician’s phone log and she would see that he had not called.

She did not even acknowledge my statement. Instead, she told me that she was putting me down for January 5th and asked if I wanted morning or afternoon. I told her that I had already taken off 2 days of work for the gas company and unless I was the first appointment on that day, then Peoples Gas would not gain access. She said that was not possible. She did not control scheduling. I asked to speak with the person who did and was refused. She told me that she would email him on my behalf. I specifically asked, “So you will get back to me with his response?” She replied, “Yes.”

Time passed and I got no call. So I called again. Again I was not allowed to speak to a manager right away. Later that day, a Mr. M. called. I repeated the series of events. He listened politely and said, “I will look into this for you and if you do not hear from me or Ms. L., then everything is all set for you to have the first appointment on January 5, 2012.” No one called. So I woke up earlier than usual in the morning so I would be showered, dressed, and ready for work when the technician arrived at 7:30. He did not come.

I pray that this has not become a ** contest. What I know is that I have been ignored and disrespected in terms of customer service. And quite frankly, after 28 years of paying you thousands of dollars promptly, I am insulted and frustrated. Insulted and frustrated to the point where I am looking at alternatives. So, if you have time in your schedule, it would be great to hear from you. I would like to hear how you are going to address this issue and insure that I am treated fairly. I would like to hear how you are going to stick by your word and, in an effort to make things right, do what you promised to do which is to give me the first appointment so I don’t have to take off work again. If I get no response within the next few days, I will have to assume that you are no longer interested in retaining me as a customer. You can best reach me at **.

She clearly could care less that I'm supposed to stay in a home with no heat, in December, for a week. All she could say was a scripted, "I'm sorry you have to wait a week, but we have guidelines and policies". This was her idea of good customer service, by saying that I called for service and an appointment had been made for a start up in one week. I've never been so annoyed with a group of people or a company! If I had any recourse, I'd certainly be taking it immediately!

Peoples Gas have been taking people's money for years and screwing over them. Peoples Gas need some competition that would make them clean their act up. Nicore would welcome the competition and bring Peoples Gas to their knees. When I asked Mr.Norell where was his office located. He replied, North Carolina. This was the worst experience ever.

I was scheduled to have gas service established on Nov. 9 between the hours of 11:30am-3:30pm. I called at 3:06pm, 4:49pm, and 6:36pm, confirming that a technician would still be coming. The last time, I got the employee name and number (Aeshia, #**). When I called back at 7:39pm, I received the standard recorded message stating that their offices are now closed, and if I would please call back during normal business hours. I finally left to drive home to Michiana Shores, Indiana after about nine futile hours of waiting in an apartment with no heat other than an electric plug-in heater.

Emergencies happen, but toward the end, it would even have accepted a call from the technician saying, "Sorry, I'm drunk. Call to reschedule."! Anything would have been preferable to the absence of any kind of communication on their part.

I would like a credit on my first bill for my time and for gas money to drive to that unit and back home. But the irony is that it will probably be passed back onto me and the many other customers the next time this utility company stands in front of the Federal Regulatory Commission asking for a rate hike due to increased costs of operation.

What I would really like is to be paid from the offending employee's next paycheck. Not because I'm angry at him or her, but because of accountability. The person responsible for the mistake should bear the cost, so he doesn't do it again. It's the same as making the child who broke the window pay for a new one. Wise parents understand this principle; why don't mega-utilities?

Chicago needs to kick out this franchise or we as customers need to select another Gas Provider (equal access is available), to teach these guys a lesson. With all of the rest of the complaints, we are finally feeling terrible about buying a condo in Chicago.

When I called at 7:21 a.m. on 10/30/11, People Gas stated that it will be an hour or more before they contact me because their computers are not working and they have to see should my gas be off. It is 9:30 a.m. on 10/30/11, no one has contacted me. I wearing a down winter coat in my house because it is that cold in my house.

I finally hit paying my bill and I reached a live person. I told her I have a confirmation I printed out from the internet showing my appointment. She tells me that because I filled it out over the internet, that's why it never showed up in their system. What the heck is going on? So she gives me another appointment almost a month away.

No one has time to wait on these people and they don't show up. My cousin has been going through this since last year.

Now, I ask if I am threatened to have a safety inspection or have my gas turned off? They came out and told me everything was fine and then I, myself, find a gas leak? Where is the justice in this inspection? I called People's Gas but to no avail. They said they would come back out and I said, "For what? I already took care of the gas leak and replaced my water tank". There are no more gas leaks. I'm very disappointed with a service I pay royally for, in return, I receive no satisfaction at all from them. They say it is their commitment to deliver safe, clean and reliable natural gas every day. Now that's a joke, if I ever heard one. I would suggest if this is a federal law to do inspections, perhaps People's Gas could do a better job for the safety of their clients.

I am appalled that he would discuss someone else’s bill with the tenant and me, and I am disturbed that they are threatening to turn off the gas for all of the building although everyone else is paying their bill. Is this legal?

After talking to a female service rep Zekeiah, I was told that Supervisor Mrs. G would return my call within the hour. I never received that phone call. Every time I try to get a hold of someone to rectify this situation I'm told that there is no one available to return my service to me. Yet I have photographic evidence of truck number 3734 parked at the corner of the street I live on, with two workers sitting inside, at 11:15 this morning.

Why, are there a lot of people pretending to be other people trying steal cooking and heating gas? Is this a rampant problem that everyone must trek out of their way to prove this? What makes Peoples Gas a valid agency against identity theft? I don't really trust Peoples Gas to accurately and privately maintain my personal information. If I don't provide this information, my ability to heat myself and cook for myself will be turned off? I don't want to provide the information, but I need these utilities.

This time when they came they asked me to open the wall. I was surprised because I am not a carpenter or a handyman. I explained to the guy that you installed the meter where you wanted it to be and normally opened it up and sealed it back at your will, so why this time you wanted me to open it myself at my expense? I spoke to the supervisor and he said if they open it, it has to be at my expense. I told to move the meter outside then where they could have access to it at their will.

He said that will cost me again an amount he refused to disclose. I believed this is injustice. He threatened me to cut my gas off within a week. I believe I should not be a victim of their earlier error of hiding the gas meter inside my closet because the building was built before the meter was installed. Removing it from my closet should be at their expense not mine. Please help before my gas is unjustly cut off.

Still they cannot accommodate me. What kind of business does that? What kind of business treats their customers like this? Why isn't there any other company I can go to for my gas needs? Why am I stuck with people’s gas? I have no gas right now and I probably will not have any tonight and tomorrow (because I can't take off work and wait for them). So I won't have gas or heat or hot water until when? When I can take off work, lose a day's pay and wait for them to come out. Baloney!

Another 15 minutes later, my wife, our two children and I were exiting our car park when both of the reps from the utility company stormed the garage door and entered the building. At this point, I was very nervous and uncomfortable and stated my discontent at the individuals storming into private property without permission. I had no way of confirming the authenticity of their association with the utility company and the reps did not provide any identification. The reps became irate and refused to leave the premises and started to use foul language in front of my wife and children.

The commotion scared my wife and children. I ended up calling the police to help remove the individuals from our property. It took the police 15 minutes to arrive and during that time, the reps refused to leave our premises and I was unable to leave as I was uncomfortable allowing unfettered access to our complex without supervision. I would like to report this unusual and extremely aggressive behavior by the gas representatives.

I called to request that my bill payment date be adjusted from the second day of the month to the fourth or fifth day of the month to allow processing. I am requesting this change because I am sending my payments using online bill pay and I need an additional two days for processing. Also, I am on a fixed income and I would like to ensure that my payments are made on time. During the last call, I asked for a supervisor and was transferred to a Mr. M*** who was polite and professional. I was told by Mr. *** that the payment date adjustment will take effect for the October bill.

After several minutes and numerous attempts to make my very simple question understood, I asked her if I could please speak with someone else, as she would only reply with what sounded to be a scripted answer that did not actually address my question. She told me that the only way I would speak with someone else was to hang up and call back (and thus go through another 10 minute hold).

I asked several times for her to let me speak with someone else on her phone so that I could explain my question, which she refused to do. She provided two entirely contradicting answers to my question and, when I alerted her to this, she quite rudely informed me that she had already answered my question correctly. I continued to ask to please speak with someone else, and she continued to tell me that she would not transfer me to someone else and that my question had already been answered.

I had to say "hello?" approximately 5 times during the call because she would not respond to me. When I finally stated to her what I thought the answer to my question was (which I stated at the beginning of the call), she told me that that was what she had been telling me the entire time, and denied ever telling me otherwise (which she clearly had or I would not have spent 10 minutes speaking with her). She offered to transfer me so that I could pay my bill and, of course, she ended up hanging up on me.

All in all, I suppose I could have just avoided yet another completely frustrating and useless experience with the Customer Service Dept. at People's Gas, as I apparently had the right answer the whole time.

After 16 minutes, she finally got Miss Love on the phone, who was no better than Bevin! Both of them talking over me! I asked her for the department head of customer service and she had no idea who that was, so she gave me her supervisor's name of David **! They both said, I was getting hang up calls and recorded messages because of my bill, yet neither could tell me why, since I already talked to Denise! Neither seemed concerned to even check and make sure my transfer of service was all in order! I was on the phone for just under 20 minutes and was furious by time I was done. Both Bevin and Miss Love need to go back to training as they missed the part about listening to the customer and not to talk over the customer!

I do know, even if my service is set to be transferred or not on 6/30/10! People Gas is a joke, as they are anything but gas for the people! I have had them for 2 years now and had Nicor since 1997 and never once had a problem with Nicor. In 2 years with PG, I have been ridiculed and berated and hung up on and repeatedly overcharged, yet no one cares. Why is PG the only gas company to serve Chicago?

Then, a collection agency sends me a this same bill, and I told them after speaking with the gas company I realized that I did indeed own the $114 and paid the money on the spot. This all occurred within 30 days. However, this was reported to a credit agency; and now, my credit score has dropped 200 points! I need this corrected ASAP. Can someone please let me know what to do? My credit scores has been reduced from 820 to 680. I'm mad. I'm in the process of re-financing, and this is not good.

At 10:05 pm or so, two guys showed up, one in street clothes and the other one just had on a vest with Peoples Gas on the back. Because I’ve seen these two people before and the fact that it's 10 pm, I asked for ID. One had a problem with that and stated they could leave. I stated you would never let anyone in your house you didn't know. The other one showed it with no problem. After a minute of staring at each other, the other one showed ID. I still didn't really see the name. Oh, well. Long story short, I also asked if they had information on the gas being off, no.

While looking at the meter, they decided to replace the meter then checked the stove, dryer, and my furnace. While upstairs with the one guy checking the stove, the other one was downstairs by himself checking dryer and furnace. When I returned back downstairs, the guy was telling me he has to cap my furnace because of "rusted out flue pipe that have been replaced and inspected by the contractor." Also, he wrote this on a ticket. I asked what does that mean. He stated he could not leave this furnace on because it is rusted and could leak carbon monoxide. I explained I just moved in this house not even a year yet, not only was it inspected I had it serviced prior to turning it on for the winter.

He stated I should have licensed people look at and fix it. So in spite of my best effort not to have myself and my children in a cold house by paying hundreds of dollars in gas bills in full and on time, this what we got. On 04-20-10, I started calling Peoples Gas company at 8 am and continued all day talking to many people, but no one who really cared or who could really help. I did find a couple of things out: (1) The gas was shut off by mistake; (2) every other bill is estimated; (3) the estimated one is always the highest one. (4) No matter how many times you call and ask to speak to a manager, you never will. (5) When they tell you someone will call you back in 24 hours, they will not!

After getting home on 04-20-10, I decided to see what this technician was really talking about. At first sight you could clearly see a giant hole in the part the technician called the flue pipe. He pushed a hole in my flue pipe, and to cover it up, the technician from Peoples Gas had to cap off my furnace because for sure carbon monoxide would kill me and my children, just not understanding why. There is no way that the hole was there all this time. We also have detectors for fire and carbon monoxide, and it never ever went off. It's monitored by ADT. From 04-19-10 onwards, my family and I have not had heat in my home. My son is 13 years old and he has had asthma all his life.

I worry that he will get sick and must go to the hospital as a result of the gas being mistakenly shut off and the Peoples Gas technicians coming out. I now have to pay for my furnace to be properly repaired with money I don't have and just pray it warms up just a little faster. My house is brick and if it's 50 degrees outside, it feels like 20 inside. I do have pictures from inspection (Frank, the inspector) to show it was not rusted as stated by the technician and there was no hole. I do have pictures of the hole as of now, and will get a statement from the contractor (Rob) who inspected my furnace in October. I truly cannot afford to pay for this repair right now. As of May 1st, my mortgage has been going up over $300.00 due to taxes. Truly, if I would have known the gas would be a problem, I would not have paid $362.11 in March. By the way, the next bill is due on 04-23-10 in the amount of $60.97.