Before Thanksgiving 2007, Washington Gas came to turn on service for the separately metered basement unit for new tenants. Instead, they wrote graffiti on the front of my house (it's still there), removed (and disposed of) the safety guard covering the pilot light on the hot water heater, turned off the gas to my house upstairs (no one was home for the holiday), switched the meters, put the tenant's billing information (phone number, etc.) on to my billing account, made changes to *my* account as to how it would be charged in response to requests from the tenant who had no authority to make those changes and was only trying to set up her own separate account.

So, my housemate went with no hot water nor heat nor gas for the stove for ten days while I was still out of town. During that time, Washington Gas was billing me for the gas used on my meter that was attached to my tenant's apartment! Needless to say, I refused to pay. So, they called "me" at my tenant's number since they have everything totally messed up. It's a clusterf*ck.

They routinely ignore my regular calls and letters documenting their incompetence. They are still trying to charge me for the billing changes made by my now previous tenant. They sent the bill to a collection agency since I only pay what I actually owe each month; the agency stopped all efforts to collect when I explained the situation and begged them to sue me so I can have a judge order Washington "we hate our customers" Gas to stop this harassment.

Wash Gas claim they turned off my gas last year (but the pilot lights on the hot water heater, furnace, etc., never went out) and then charged me for illegally using it and for reinstating it. It's all lies.

In short, this is June 2009 and the graffiti is still on the front of the house, the safety guard is still missing from the basement hot water heater (they've sent me multiple letters with dates when the were sending someone to fix these problems--they have acknowledged on the phone that it is in fact their policy to lie and that they never had any intention of sending anyone to fix the problems they caused). I get monthly discontinuation notices. It's been over a year since I made a formal complaint with the Public Service Commission, but it has made no headway.

This is the short version. I've truncated the gory details.

My complain about Washington Gas
The incorrect bill was sent for December, because of an incorrect miter reading and an investigation took a place. The miter was corrected and for January we got correct bill. I got new statement on 02/09/2009 and there are still incorrect amount for December plus late fee. I spoke with representative about this issue and with supervisor Ms. Shila at lease 5 times, but amount for December is still incorrect and now is February.
I sent three letters to customer service and I didn’t get any response at all. My problems with Washington Gas started last September (09/2008) as wrong miter reading, wrong bill and up today I can’t resolve all issues.
I’m going to submit this letter to all sources, which I could possible find.

I have been trying to get the service started at the above address for TWO (2) weeks now with no resolution.

It is terribly frustrating trying to utilize the Washington Gas Customer Service Department. The representatives are not knowledgeable nor do they understand the requests that are being made. They are rude when they are unable to assist you and I have been placed on hold and hung up on more than I can explain.

I called the service center a total of 10 times on 10/31/08 trying to get service started at the above residence. I was scheduled to have service cut on between the hours of 7am-5pm. A service technician came to the property at approximately 10:40am he came into the house and checked the furnace and went back out side to begin to cut the service on.

When he went out to the meter he informed me that the meter was old and the regulator was bad and needed to be changed. He informed me that he could not do the work because he did not have the equipment. He informed me that he would put the request into the system for another technician to do the work and that they would be out on that day to complete the work.

When the technician left the property he informed that someone would be out that day to change the regulator and that I should call customer service to inquire when they would be there.

Ten minutes after the technician leaving my property, I began to smell gas and my house filled with a gas smell. I called customer service to find out if someone else was coming to the property and it took 30 minutes for me to explain what the technician had told me when he came out, and what had happened. I was put on hold several times before I could even mention to them that the gas was now leaking. When I was able to tell them this and they actually listened and understood what I was saying they then transferred me to the emergency line to someone who spoke English who informed me to leave the residence and wait for the emergency unit to come and check for the gas leak.

The emergency unit arrived about an hour and a half later to assist me. He told me that the 1st technician had not turned the gas completely off nor did he turn off the valve to the furnace and that is why the gas was escaping into the property. He also informed me that he could change the regulator and turn the gas on but he had to call in to check and see if they would allow him to do so. He called in and they informed him that he had to report to another emergency in another area and that they were trying scheduled someone else to come out to the property but did not know if they would make it that day.

I called back to customer service to try to get verification on weather a technician was going to come to the property that day or if I needed to reschedule, again I was placed on hold, told that the technician had already been there and completed the job, hung up on. The 1st representative had me on the phone so long I asked to speak with a supervisor and she said they were all busy, I asked to be placed on hold and she said she needed to go to break so I needed to call back.

I called back and had to explain the whole scenario again to another representative who again told me that a representative had already gone to the property and completed the work. I again asked for a supervisor and was placed on hold for 45 minutes this time. Then the representative came back to the phone and told me that his supervisor was at lunch and he would have them call me back. I asked if there was another supervisor to speak with and he told me he could only speak and refer calls to his supervisor.

I hung up the phone and went down to the main office in Washington DC to speak with someone in person regarding the above events. The representative was very helpful and scheduled me for an appointment on Wednesday 11/05/08 7:30 am to 5:00pm.

On Wednesday the technician arrived at my property around 11:00am got out his truck walk up to the front of my house and look at the gas meter (never touched it) and informed me that he could not do the work it needed to be done by the construction group because the meter was so old. Mind you this is the second day I have taken off from work!

He informed me that he was going to put in the request and that someone would come out later that day to do the work, he informed me that I did not need to be there for them to do the work because it was outside work that needed to be done. He said that I could call and schedule another appointment to have someone come out to restart the service after the regulator was changed.

On Thursday 11/06/08 8:05am I called the customer service department to find out if the work had been completed and to schedule a time for restart and was informed that I was scheduled for someone to go out to do the work today. I spoke with a representative again had to explain the whole thing to them again and they did not understand, then I asked for a supervisor and she informed me that they would be doing the work today and that I did not need to be there. I asked her when they would be going to the property and again I was placed on hold for about 20 mins this time and when she returned she said that she could not give me time but they would do the work today. I asked her if I could get a call when they were done and she told me that she would have them give me a computer generated call when they were on the way to the property I even gave her my cell phone number.

I never got a call so I decided to call the customer service line at 6:30pm 11/06/08 to see if the work was completed and to schedule to have the service started. I was informed by the representative that the technician went out there and that there was no construction work to be done so nothing was done again.

This is extremely frustrating! When speaking with this representative and the supervisor who’s name was Jason. They informed me that I was supposed to be at the property and that the technician noted that there was no work to be done. I kept asking them if they read the prior notes on the account and that the regulator needed to be changed I kept explaining the whole issue to them but they did not understand I was so frustrated I just hung up the phone.

I need some assistance with getting this taken care of and can not get it done through your customer service department. It is truly a shame that customers have to endure such bad service and not be able to get simple assistance because the customer service department can not understand English it is like they are reading from a script and when you ask them something that is not on there they can not help you!


Thank you

In September/October 2007 Washington Gas cancelled my Washington Gas/Washington Gas Energy Services account and gave it to another individual but using my address and my account number.

When I discovered the mistake I hurriedly sent off a check for my budget account amount. I called both Washington Gas and Washington Gas Energy Services and was stonewalled. Finally in mid-November and very tired sounding customer service person told me she would try to straighten it out with "accounting" but I needed to know they were outsourcing customer service to the Phillippines.

I wrote a letter to Washington Gas and cc'd everyone I could think of: My DC City Council Rep, The Washington Post and the Mayor. I was connected to the DC Office of the Peoples Council who started negotiations with Washington Gas. There is a law in DC against slamming.

I thought some progress had been made in January but it was illusory. They have not credited me the $225 I paid, they keep billing me for both gas and distribution (slamming requires that I pay only distribution) and they have not given me back my budget account. In fact there has been no written communication, just bills and scary notices.

It is now August 4 and I have received two Notices to Disconnect, one July 3 (right before a holiday, how nice), and one August 1. I now have the DC City Council, the Counsel to the DC City Council, the Office of the People's Counsel and much of my time involved in fending off these arrogant suits.

I need a referral to an attorney who knows how to deal with these people.

I just received a bill for about $744 for the previous month of service, to my surprise, as my bill is usually around $70 or so since I move into this new resent mid last year. I later found out after, speaking with the customer service, this is because for the past 5 month, they have been using an "estimation" of the gas usage. As it turns out, I actually used a lot more then they billed me each month, for the past 5 month. I think part of the reason may be I just move into this new home last year, and maybe previous owner did not use as much gas.

Anyway, it is not that I do not want to pay my bill; I just want to caution other customers with regard to this practice by Washington Gas. If the upper left corner of your bill state “ESTMATED” then the reading of your gas meter is just an estimation, and your actual usage may be more/less then your are currently being charged (in my case is MUCH less), and if it states “READ BY CO.” then the reading would be your actual usage of gas.

I wonder if such practice is legal.

Only if I knew the actual cost a few months ago, I would have at least had the opportunity to try and reduce gas usage.