[ale] [OT] utility billing errors

[Scott Castaline]

On 05/06/2010 10:19 PM, Jim Kinney wrote:
> In the past 3 months I've been closely watching my utility bills just
> get screwier and screwier. Makes me wonder what version of Windows 3.11
> they are running their accounting on.
>
> Ga Gas co screwed me over by cutting off my gas when I paid my bill in
> full the day before the due date. They issued the cut order the day
> after I paid the bill and their records supported my claim they cut
> first and queried the payment database later. It took 2 hours of phone
> calling and I finally got the consumer affairs dept to credit me back
> the reconnect fee which was not on any bill.
>
> Dekalb h2o must be using the same billing process. Last statement bill
> was due 4-24. Prior statement was paid in full before the due date. The
> statement had a 0 balance carried forward. So they cut me off on 4-20!!!
> I paid them _IN_FULL_ and the reconnected me the next day.
>
> this months bill arrives and it has no record of last months bill being
> paid. There is a balance carried forward of an exact $90.00 prior balance.
>
> Why is it I smell crappy database programming in all of this? Maybe I'm
> just jaded with all the financial crap having puked itself to pieces,
> but a loud, insistent voice in the back of my mind keeps saying "public
> company should be required to use publicly auditable software".  It's
> not enough that their "financial records" be available for viewing
> (although we all know they all pretty much keep two sets of books) but
> every bit of software they use, especially the ones in the regulated
> utility realm, should be source code available so anyone who wants to
> verify they're not getting hosed by the code can do so.
>
> I caught the power co fudging the bill 10 years ago and yelled at them.
> So now I have a internet capable power meter that send the usage to them
> automatically. OK. So it saves them the poor slob who had to walk around
> and read the meters. Maybe I'm just suspicious, but if they can _read_
> it from 40 miles away, what else can they do with it?
>
> --
> --
> James P. Kinney III
> Actively in pursuit of Life, Liberty and Happiness
> Doing pretty well on all 3 pursuits
>
>
>
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When I lived in Florida we used to call FP&L (real name Florida Power & 
Light) Florida Plunder & Loot, haven't come up with a similar name for 
GP, other than Georgia Plunder. Too bad they're missing the L