To protect the privacy of certain individuals the names and identifying details have been changed.
Mr. and Mrs. Green were married for 42 years. They met in high school, got married shortly after graduation and worked on their family farm. Eventually, the Greens retired and moved to the city to stay close to their children and grandchildren. The Greens enjoyed retirement, collected a pension, and loved to travel.
Along with many of their bills, their household utilities were in Mr. Green’s name. Unfortunately, Mr. Green was diagnosed with cancer in the spring of 2015. Mrs. Green took him to all of his appointments, paid all the bills on time and cooked family dinners for their children and grandchildren every Sunday. Mr. Green was sick for two years before he died.
After the funeral and some time had passed, Mrs. Green began switching their accounts and bills to her name. The first month after her name was on the account, Mrs. Green received a bill from her utility company that included a $200 fee to switch the account from her husband’s name to her own. As a pensioner with a fixed income, and a new widow who had always shared responsibility for the utility statements, Mrs. Green wanted the charge waived. She contacted her utility company and asked if they could waive the $200 fee for the name change. The utility company denied her request.
Mrs. Green was not happy with how things were going with her utility company so she decided to contact the Utilities Consumer Advocate (UCA). After learning more about her situation, a UCA consumer mediation officer contacted the utility company on Mrs. Green’s behalf and worked with them to waive the $200 fee.
Mrs. Green still cooks family dinners on Sunday in the home she and her husband shared and is grateful for the UCA’s help during a very difficult time in her life. All she had to do was call 310-4822.
Tip:
When you have exhausted known avenues of issue resolution, the UCA will investigate and attempt to resolve your concerns through mediation with your utility company.