Avista Gas Utilities Illegitimate Billing Grants Pass, Oregon

This company is the local gas supplier in southern Oregon. We had a gas furnace that had a bad thermostat. We had it "repaired" by an Avista service person... but it never operated correctly. They refused to come back to fix it- it either ran full blast or not at all. We decided to simply use the wood stove for heat and shut the gas off. It was completely shut off, not even a pilot light. We continued to get bills for gas use, even when it was not running. Avista informed us that we were getting billed for "minimal use", a monthly charge that they levied for customers who were on the "active list." We requested a complete shutdown of the account so that we wouldn't continue to get billed for something we weren't using. They finally complied, and eventually came to remove the entire meter. We begrudgingly paid the $150 we were charged for non-use and just hoped that they would leave us alone. 3 years later, I was requesting a small loan from a local lender for a medical operation for a family member. I was surprised to find that my otherwise clean credit had an outstanding bill from Avista Gas for $225! I was not only outraged by this unjustified bill, I was equally furious that it ruined the opportunity for obtaining this crucial loan. We hadn't any idea that such a claim existed; we hadn't received any billing for it. It was evidently something that Avista simply generated on its own, and smeared my credit with it. We paid the $225 to remove it from my credit report, given no other option due to their act of extortion. This company's seedy practices is something to behold; I would recommend that people STEER CLEAR of AVISTA Utilities, lest they get screwed sideways as we were.